BBC News

A human skull from a deep cave in northern Spain shows evidence of a lethal violent attack 430,000 years ago, a study shows.

A new species of ancient human has been unearthed in the Afar region of Ethiopia, scientists report.

Researchers develop a system that adapts to damage in less than a minute, paving the way for robots in the home.

A study of three mice that spent 91 days on the International Space Station finds abnormalities in their skin.

Tourism operators in earthquake-hit Nepal seek guidance from international experts on which areas can be declared safe for trekking and mountaineering.

Sending ice from the Alps to Antarctica

A study tests the idea that large crowds can be counted using data from mobile phone usage and Twitter.

A genetically engineered version of a virus that normally causes cold sores shows real promise for treating skin cancer, say researchers.

The Antarctic ozone hole would have been 40% bigger and a hole over the Arctic would have opened up if ozone-depleting chemicals had not been phased out, according to research.

A volcanic eruption on one of the Galapagos Islands potentially puts Charles Darwin's evolution ecosystem at risk.

Should animals be given human rights?

Parts of the iconic Great Orme headland in north Wales are safeguarded for the future after being bought by the National Trust.

The BBC's Andrew Bomford finds out where the millions of tonnes of earth go that have been excavated during the cross rail project.

The smallest and rarest marine dolphin in the world could be extinct within 15 years if protection is not stepped up, according to research.

The state-of-the-art hospital for poorly birds in Qatar

Is the lorry driver of the future a piece of software?

The planned flight of the sun powered plane, Solar Impulse 2, has been postponed.

Islamic State's capture of Palmyra in Syria threatens the last surviving colony of the northern bald ibis in the Middle East, experts says.

Beavers should be resident in Scotland says the National Trust as it announces its support for reintroduction projects.

In what will be its greatest challenge yet, the zero-fuel aeroplane Solar Impulse will soon try to fly non-stop from China to Hawaii - a journey of more than 8,000km across the Pacific Ocean.

The first round-the-world solar-powered flight, known as the Solar Impulse Two, is hoping to make the next and most difficult leg of its journey.

Renowned mathematician John Nash, subject of the film A Beautiful Mind, dies in a New Jersey taxi crash with his wife.

Jonathan Amos gets a first peek inside the UK aerospace laboratory where Europe's ExoMars rover will be assembled.

Can California learn to live with drought?

Breeding a new plant to save coffee from extinction

Purring spiders use leaves as microphones and speakers to transmit their purring courtship song to a female, scientists find.

The element that made the modern era gleam

Professor David Siveter from the University of Leicester explains how a 425 million year-old parasite was frozen in time at a site in Herefordshire.

Dogs may have been domesticated much earlier than previously though, Swedish researchers suggest.

Researchers discover the 425-million-year-old remains of a new species of parasite - still clamped to the host animal it invaded.

Thousands of species of the ocean's tiniest organisms are revealed in a series of studies.

Satellites have recorded a big sudden change in the behaviour of glaciers on the Antarctica Peninsula, according to a UK-based team.

Clean-up crews are working around the clock as investigators look into how tens of thousands of gallons of oil spewed into the sea off Santa Barbara.

Swedish researchers say that dogs may have been domesticated much earlier than some studies suggest.

New research reveals that a girl buried 3,400 years ago in Denmark who became one of the country's best-known Bronze Age relics was probably born in Germany.

Romania gripped by tensions over illegal logging

The Large Hadron Collider is smashing protons at the highest energy ever attempted - but they are only test collisions, as the LHC continues to gear up its second run.

The UK strawberry industry is expected to smash its sales record this year by £50m.

The El Nino event predicted for later this year has the potential to increase food prices, say climate scientists.

Stones tools that are 3.3 million years old have been unearthed pre-dating the earliest-known humans in the Homo genus.

Three firms working in very different fields make the 2015 shortlist for the MacRobert Award, the UK's longest-running engineering prize.

Scientists hold a dedication ceremony to inaugurate the Advanced Ligo facilities, which will be trying to detect gravitational waves from some of the most violent events in the cosmos.

The UK is among the worst countries in the EU for protecting its wildlife habitats, says an official report.

Animal protection groups and marine scientists say they have successfully suspended the recording of a TV series called "Dolphins with the Stars".

Organic farms act as a refuge for wild plants, offsetting the loss of biodiversity on conventional farms, a study suggests.

The Inuit people of Greenland are challenging an EU ban on seal hunting and the trade in seal meat and skins, arguing it has "crashed" the Inuits' economy.

US researchers say that they can distinguish individual right whales based on the sound of their vocalisations.

A titanium floor will protect the Bloodhound supersonic car from a maelstrom of grit when it tries to break the land speed record later this year.

New discoveries about ash clouds could help predict where planes can safely fly following volcanic eruptions, Edinburgh researchers find.