BBC News

Atmospheric levels of a little known by-product from diesel engines are up 70 times higher than expected according to a study.

A lack of investment will hamper efforts to ensure Africa's farmers can feed future generations in the face of a changing climate, a report warns.

As the commercial era accelerates, who owns outer space?

Over three winters in the waters of a Svalbard fjord, scientists have catalogued surprisingly high levels of animal activity during the long polar night.

US Nasa astronaut Tim Kopra, British ESA astronaut Tim Peake, and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko hold a news briefing

The design team behind the Bloodhound Super-Sonic Car put its near-complete vehicle on show in London, ahead of an assault on the world land speed record next year.

Dundee University scientists are called in to help investigate a decapitation in Brazil which took place 9,000 years ago.

The front grounds of London's Natural History Museum are to undergo a multi-million-pound redevelopment, which will also include a new position for "Dippy the Diplodocus".

Garden feeding is driving a shift in the migration of blackcaps, causing more of the birds to spend winter in Britain.

One of the most influential US energy politicians, Republican Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn, rejects the Pope's plea to tackle climate change.

Garden feeding is driving a shift in the migration of blackcaps, causing more of the birds to spend winter in Britain.

A modelling study suggests that if London Underground trains travelled slower, there might be less overall congestion.

Bird capture sheds light on Neanderthal sophistication

The UK's first official astronaut says he is "well prepared" as his December launch to the International Space Station approaches.

Environmental campaigners say they believe that manipulation similar to what happened at VW is going on in Europe.

Data from electronic tags is revealing complex behaviour in fish populations, raising questions about current fisheries management policies.

Household vinegar might provide a cheap new way to kill coral-eating starfish damaging the Great Barrier Reef, scientists in Australia have found.

What exactly is Autumn equinox?

UK researchers sign the contract that will lead to the development of one of the first instruments for the European Extremely Large Telescope.

Does burning tusks actually destroy them?

Former US Vice-President Al Gore urges the UK government to "resume" its former leadership on climate change.

Scotland has more than 400 words and expressions for snow, according to a project to compile a Scots thesaurus.

When the Bloodhound Super-Sonic Car is unveiled this week, the public will be able to see the many innovative technologies used in its construction.

Researchers at a Swiss university have programmed drones to build a rope bridge that is capable of bearing the weight of a human.

The government’s wholesale cuts to renewable energy subsidies are sending a worrying sign to investors, says business group the CBI.

Scientists say they are a step closer to growing fully functioning replacement kidneys, after promising results in animals.

The first Moonwalker's preparation for becoming an astronaut.

UK small satellite manufacturer SSTL releases details of a new spacecraft it launched in July that takes 1m resolution video of the Earth's surface.

The Thai authorities round up scores of long-tailed macaque monkeys near Bangkok to relocate them after complaints from villagers.

China is to invest in the Hinkley Point nuclear plant as Chancellor George Osborne announces the UK will guarantee the £2bn deal.

Engineering students in Belfast are hoping to make it into the record books for building the largest ever structure made of Meccano.

The Advanced Ligo experiment in North America formally begins the observations that will seek finally to detect the ripples in the fabric of space-time predicted by Einstein.

As Britain struggles to solve its housing crisis, experts have been looking at the best solutions to building the homes of the future.

Four captive-bred chicks are sent from Chester to Jerez in Spain, where they will be released as part of an effort to reintroduce the Northern bald ibis.

Tanzania obtains a court order preventing Malawi from burning 2.6 tonnes of ivory, saying it needs to use the tusks as evidence for the prosecution of suspected poachers.

UK researchers want to use a controversial new genetic technique on human embryos.

A study showing that nearly all mammals take the same amount of time to urinate wins one of the 2015 Ig Nobel prizes.

Shimmering phenomena in the night sky - and starry sights billions of light years away - see the finalists in the 2015 Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition.

How I survived two days on ice with three polar bears

Fresh images of Pluto from Nasa's New Horizons spacecraft have captured a low-lying haze near the surface.

A Muslim boy arrested in Texas for bringing a homemade clock to school continues to receive an outpouring of support from scientists and politicians.

An Australian photographer captures a rare moment of animal communion with a shot of a seal surfing a humpback whale off the New South Wales coast.

The first woman in space has revealed that the Soviet authorities thought it was "too dangerous" to send more female cosmonauts into orbit.

The US space agency says the Orion astronaut capsule, designed to go far beyond Earth, may not actually carry people now until 2023.

A couple who survived a close encounter with a humpback whale while kayaking say they "thought [they] were going to die".

How failures at Copenhagen climate summit still haunt the process

Intelligent automation now means that a dairy herd can be fed, cared for and milked by just one or two people.

In a tiny laboratory worm, scientists directly control brain cells using sound waves for the first time.

Scientists have been illuminating the vital role played by the Arabian Peninsula in humankind's exodus from Africa.

Scientists determine that the sub-surface body of water on the Saturnian moon Enceladus must be far more extensive than first thought.