BBC News

A study of ancient DNA has shed new light on the genetic history of Europeans, confirming that farming spread across Europe due to an influx of ancient people from what is now eastern Turkey.

The Philippines, which is vulnerable to climate change, has confirmed controversial plans for more coal-fired power stations.

A DNA study confirms London was an ethnically diverse city from its very beginnings, BBC News has learned.

The BBC's Sarah Rainsford speaks to Tim Peake, who will soon be making history as the first British astronaut to visit the International Space Station.

The chief executive of the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya, Richard Vigne, tells the BBC that in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) is the best option to save the northern white rhinoceros.

Nicole Kidman was named best actress for her role as pioneering British scientist Rosalind Franklin in the play Photograph 51.

A giant plant using energy from the sun to power a Moroccan city at night will open next month.

Royal Society photo award winners

Five US states where climate change could be disastrous

British Astronaut Tim Peake and his crew have completed training ahead of their trip to the International Space Station.

A wave of toxic mud in the Rio Doce river in Brazil from a collapsed dam at an iron ore mine reaches the sea amid concerns of severe pollution.

More than half of all tree species in the Amazon face extinction, warn international scientists.

Tesla boss Elon Musk appeals for software engineers to accelerate plans to build self-guiding cars, as the carmaker recalls all Model S cars sold over a potential seatbelt problem.

The skull of the bear that inspired the Winnie-the-Pooh books is going to be put on public display for the first time in a London museum.

A study finds that pigeons, with training, can identify breast cancer in mammagrams just as accurately as human experts.

A pygmy hippo has been born at Bristol Zoo

What can trees and plants teach us?

A baby pygmy hippo has been born at Bristol Zoo, it is revealed.

The European Space Agency will build a satellite to map from orbit the glow of photosynthesis taking place on Earth.

Using high-speed cameras, scientists glimpse songbirds doing a rapid-fire dance that is invisible to the naked eye.

Scientists capture high-speed footage of songbirds performing a rapid-fire "tap dance" that is invisible to the naked eye.

Should politicians have more say on science funding?

US regulators have given the go-ahead to genetically modified salmon, making it the first GM animal destined for human consumption.

A government-commissioned review says UK science funding should be determined by a single independent agency, and overseen perhaps by the chancellor himself.

Reflective paint, which could "save hundreds" of Dartmoor's livestock from being killed by vehicles, is put on ponies after an initial trial is deemed a success.

Scientists say the contribution of a melting Antarctica to sea level rise this century will be significant and challenging, but that some nightmare scenarios are just not realistic.

Bees exposed to widely-used nicotine-like pesticides are not as good at pollinating crops, according to a study.

The UK's remaining coal-fired power stations will be shut by 2025, energy secretary Amber Rudd proposes.

For the first time, researchers eliminate a devastating amphibian fungal disease in a population of toads.

A new study sheds light on unanswered questions about the risks of pesticides to bees.

Scientists say a particular fold at the front of the brain tends to be shorter in those schizophrenia patients who experience hallucinations.

A new calculation fixes the total amount of groundwater on the planet, held in rock and soil below our feet, at 23 million cubic km.

Wet and cold spring and summer weather is blamed for one of Scotland's rarest breeding birds having a poor season.

Some of the UK's dung beetle species are becoming scarcer and could even face extinction, according to scientists gathering information on the insects.

The "huge dependency" of refugees on wood and charcoal-based fuels has horrific consequences on refugees' health, a report has warned.

This year's El Niño weather event is expected to gain in strength before the end of this year according to the latest research.

Geneticists have detected a fourth ancestral "tribe" which contributed to the modern European gene pool.

The sequence for firing up a supersonic car

A humpback whale is freed by fishermen from a buoy and rope that were attached to lobster pots.

Actor Peter Sarsgaard talks about his challenging new movie Experimenter about the 1961 electric shock experiment that stunned the world.

Human societies will soon start to experience adverse effects from manmade climate change, a prominent economist has warned.

The villagers living next to a burning dump 15m tall

The world's largest crystal structure model - a 3D replica of the repeating ionic lattice found in table salt (NaCl) - is assembled in Vienna's city hall.

The European Commission says it will provide seven million euros (£5m) for research into a disease that poses a "very serious threat" to the continent's olive production.

Scientists are using a neutron beam to study what happens when human bones burn - tackling a problem that plagues both archaeology and forensics.

DNA analysis of a child mummy sheds light on the genetic history of the Inca civilisation.

Star City in Moscow continues to function as a space training centre, oblivious to events in the outside world.

Global investment portfolios could be hit hard amid changes in short-term market sentiments, triggered by climate impact concerns.

The UK is "ignoring known risks of flood and erosion at the coast" and immediate action is needed to manage the threats, the National Trust warns.

The people whose land is turning to dust