BBC News

DNA tests show an ancient skeleton known as Kennewick Man is related to modern Native Americans - reigniting a debate over whether his bones should be returned to local tribes and reburied.

A pygmy hippopotamus calf has taken to the water for the first time with his mother at Melbourne Zoo.

Policymakers have a "once in a generation" opportunity to reform the insurance sector to help those at risk from climate change impacts, say researchers.

Pope Francis has blamed human selfishness for global warming in his long-awaited encyclical calling for action on climate change.

New onshore wind farms will be excluded from a UK government subsidy scheme from 1 April 2016 - a year earlier than expected.

Neuroscientists find that artificially stimulating a positive memory can cause mice to snap out of depression-like behaviour.

Scientists use genetic markers to build a criminal's face

One of the UK's most threatened birds - the bittern - is returning to England and Wales, according to conservationists.

A tiger that killed a man and wounded another after escaping from a flooded zoo in Georgia has been shot dead, the Georgian interior ministry says.

A global bioenergy assessment concludes that biofuels could provide up to a third of the world's transport fuel needs by the middle of the century.

France's Ecology Minister Segolene Royal urges people to stop eating Nutella because it is made with palm oil and damages the environment.

No new signals have been picked up from the Philae comet lander since a brief radio contact on Sunday, but controllers say this is not surprising.

Hunter Treschl, who survived a shark attack in North Carolina on Sunday, talks about the moment he was attacked and about losing his arm.

A flamingo in Brazil has been fitted with a prosthetic leg.

Almost 80% of crop pollination by wild bees is provided by just 2% of the most common species, say scientists.

Nobel laureate Sir Tim Hunt should not have had to resign over remarks he made about women in science, Prof Brian Cox says.

A humpback whale is spotted off the coast of Liverpool for the first time in more than 70 years.

Sediment from a lake in Romania reveals the environmental change linked to shifts in the political landscape, a study shows.

An Italian magazine has published a leaked draft of the Pope's encyclical on climate change, which is due for release on Thursday.

Pope Francis will call for swift action to protect the Earth and fight global warming, according to a leaked draft of the pontiff's encyclical.

Do butterflies hold the answer to life's mysteries?

China should be given more credit for its investment in clean electricity, the head of the International Energy Agency says.

European aerospace giant, Airbus, is going to build the world's largest satellite constellation for the OneWeb project to broaden global internet access.

Europe's comet lander has again been in touch with Earth, making three short contacts on Sunday.

A new campaign is asking us to give up meat for a day - claiming it is damaging both our health and that of the planet.

British space scientist Professor Monica Grady gives her reaction to news that Esa's comet lander, Philae, has woken up and contacted Earth.

Awakening could be one of space exploration's best good-luck stories

The European Space Agency says its comet lander, Philae, has woken up and contacted Earth, seven months after it lost power.

After her post was controversially axed, the former chief scientific advisor to the European Commission, Anne Glover, is made a Dame.

The Bloodhound Super-Sonic Car is not going to get into the desert this year to break the world land speed record because of a delay in its rocket development programme.

Does dumping fossil fuel investments make any sense?

The Jurassic problem in Jurassic World

The long-range camera on Nasa's New Horizons probe reveals clear evidence of discrete bright and dark regions on the dwarf planet Pluto.

Environment correspondent Helen Briggs assesses the progress being made towards a meaningful deal on climate change.

Women must fight sexism in science

Can farmed fish meet the world's appetite for seafood?

Police are investigating after footage of 16 fox cubs held in a barn near to hunt kennels in North Yorkshire emerges.

Three astronauts return from the International Space Station after their original departure was delayed by a month by a spacecraft failure.

Pictures posted by female scientists

International talks in Bonn have made progress towards a new global deal on climate change, says the UN, amid calls from NGOs for a faster pace.

Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti has spent 200 days in space - here's what she got up to.

The European Space Agency releases some pictures that may include its lost comet lander, Philae.

Interim climate talks in Germany are entering their final hours amid concern from environmental groups that progress has been slow.

Just how aggressive is the seemingly innocent robin?

A Nobel laureate resigns from his position as honorary professor at a UK university after making comments about the "trouble with girls" in science.

Rhino poaching in Africa is on the rise with syndicates making millions at the expense of the endangered species and their horns.

A look back at how astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti has been engaging with her 545,000 Twitter followers whilst on the ISS.

Goonhilly Earth Station is hosting a training course for future space mission controllers

Three astronauts have begun their return to Earth from the International Space Station, one month after a rocket failure delayed an earlier attempt.

The ability to digest milk appears to have become common only very recently in Europe, according to a new study.