BBC News

New lab results show how collisions between comets and planets can make the molecules that are the essential building blocks of life.

Evidence from a variety of sources suggests that the first people to resettle Britain after the Ice Age were more sophisticated than we could have imagined.

Chemists isolate the pleasantly perfumed active chemicals in sweetgrass - a plant used by Native Americans to fend off mosquitoes.

Is it worth treating everyone who could get infected?

Researchers at Glasgow University develop a new way to protect farmed salmon from sea lice.

The World Health Organization is calling for "intensified action" to protect health workers treating people in crisis and conflict zones.

The Oil and Gas Authority has announced 27 more locations in England where licences to frack for shale oil and gas will be offered.

Antibiotics really are wonder drugs - but we misuse them at our peril

Islamic environmental and religious leaders have called on rich and oil producing nations to rapidly embrace renewable energy.

Scientists, universities and farming leaders write to Scotland's rural affairs secretary raising concerns about a ban on growing GM crops.

Scientists in the US have come up with a book which can be used to filter contaminated drinking water.

Scientists say that grime on urban surfaces does not absorb and lock away nitrogen gases - it re-releases them when hit by sunlight.

Botanists in the US say an ancient plant that grew underwater in what is modern day Europe may have been the world's first known flowering plant.

Oil and gas giant Shell has been granted the final permit it needs to begin drilling below the ocean floor for oil in the Arctic.

A mass grave containing at least 26 skeletons is further evidence of the brutal conflict that appears to have beset central Europe 7,000 years ago.

London-based Inmarsat sets a launch date for the third of its next-generation spacecraft, allowing it to complete its £1bn Global Xpress network - the UK's biggest commercial space venture.

Working out what is necessary for life

Field trials show a so-called "drinkable book" can kill bacteria in drinking water, thanks to metal nanoparticles embedded in its pages.

Nasa astronaut Scott Kelly captures timelapse footage of Aurora Borealis, also known as the Northern Lights, from the International Space Station.

Forty years since weather symbols were introduced to BBC forecasts, BBC Weather's John Hammond looks back at the evolution of how the corporation has presented the weather.

A planet 100 light-years away resembles a young version of Jupiter, astronomers say.

Climate change is increasing the risk of severe 'food shocks' where crops fail and prices of staples rise rapidly.

Can the smell of the sea cool the Earth?

Scotland's salmon farming industry has begun farming a new type of fish, specifically to keep salmon clean.

Asda is to increase the price it pays its milk supplier to "a level that will assist farmers during the current crisis", the supermarket says.

A UK museum says it may hold Zimbabwean human remains, but cannot confirm if they are the "skulls of beheaded heroes" referred to by President Mugabe.

Comet 67P has passed the closest point to the Sun in its 6.5-year orbit, with the Rosetta spacecraft still in orbit around it.

Stargazers captured the dazzling display of the annual Perseid meteor shower as it reached its peak on Wednesday night. BBC News viewers sent in their photos.

The force of the explosions in the Chinese port city of Tianjin were so vast they "alarmed" China's National Earthquake Network.

The annual Perseid meteor shower reached its peak during the night, although weather spoilt viewing in some parts of the UK.

Environmental groups are angry at moves to give ministers the power to decide whether or not to approve applications for fracking if local authorities take too long.

Shale gas planning applications are to be fast-tracked under new government measures to crack down on councils that delay on making a decision.

A mass burial site that may contain 30 victims of the Great Plague is found underneath Liverpool Street station as part of Crossrail works.

One World Elephant day, the BBC is told how poaching could see the end of elephants in the wild by 2030.

A look at some of your photos of the Perseid meteor shower in 60 seconds.

The BBC's Pallab Ghosh explains why the Perseid meteor shower happens every year.

Arctic oil drilling may harm Shell's reputation and cost it dear, says the former BP boss Lord Browne, but Shell says the risks are manageable.

The figurehead from a 15th century ship, the Gribshunden, has been raised from the Baltic Sea near Ronneby, Sweden, more than 500 years after it sank.

Are Nasa's robotic spacecraft plans in trouble?

Researchers have developed a robot that can build "baby" robots that get progressively better at moving without any human intervention.

Engineers develop a robotic system that evolves and improves its performance.

IAAF retests from the 2005 and 2007 World Championships return "adverse findings" for 28 athletes tested for doping.

How does Australia's pledge on carbon emissions compare in the run-up to the Paris climate summit?

A second attempt to reintroduce an extinct bumblebee to the UK is proving successful, conservationists say.

Skywatchers are in for a dazzling display as the annual Perseid meteor shower reaches its peak on Wednesday.

Why is Japan restarting the Sendai reactor?

A survey examining 200,000 galaxies in multiple wavelengths offers the best estimate yet of how fast the Universe is fading.

Astronauts on board the International Space Station (ISS) sample some space-grown lettuce.

A toxic leak of wastewater that has turned a Colorado river mustard yellow is three times larger than US officials had originally estimated.

Drought sensitive butterfly species could be driven to extinction across the UK by 2050 according to new research.