BBC News

New guidelines are passed to prevent pollution from ships passing through polar waters, but environmentalists are calling for tougher measures.

The metal that brought you cheap foreign holidays

Dozens of British beaches and lakes are at risk of failing to meet tougher European water quality standards this summer.

The deep-water opah becomes the first fish known to regulate its own temperature, using heat from its flapping fins to warm its heart and brain.

Roy Taylor will cross 68 miles of the Trans Pennine Trail in his wheelchair to help raise money to "get rid of obstacles" to give the disabled greater access to the countryside.

A massive eel caught by fishermen off the coast of Devon narrowly misses the British record.

A record number of England's beaches are at risk of failing to meet EU water quality standards this year, the Environment Agency warns.

A study suggests that when most galaxies stop forming stars, this death is a slow process that gradually chokes them of the necessary cool gases.

Italian engineers build a surgical arm inspired by the humble octopus, with a tube of coffee granules playing a key role in its action.

British soprano Sarah Brightman calls off her trip to the International Space Station citing "personal family reasons".

The global pharmaceutical industry is being called on to pay for a $2bn (£1.3bn) innovation fund to revitalise research into antibiotics.

The biggest British registered container ship has arrived in Southampton, as part of its maiden voyage.

Neuroscientists observe compass-like activity sweeping around a dense ring of cells inside the brain of fruit flies.

Prince Charles asked the Blair government to consider the culling of badgers, historic documents reveal.

A high level group of scientists is to be recruited to provide independent advice to the European Commission, replacing the former role of the chief scientific advisor.

The New Horizons probe, heading for its historic flyby of Pluto in July, has now caught sight of all the known faint moons of the dwarf planet.

The magnitude-7.3 earthquake that shook Nepal on Tuesday lies right under one of the most landslide-prone parts of the country.

Rescue work resumes after the latest deadly earthquake in Nepal, after thousands of scared residents spent the night in the open.

Russia delays for about a month the return of three astronauts on the International Space Station after the recent failure of its supply spaceship.

Dozens die as a new earthquake of magnitude 7.3 strikes Nepal, two weeks after a devastating tremor killed more than 8,000.

The El Nino event, which can drive droughts and flooding, is under way in the tropical Pacific, say scientists.

What triggered Nepal's second big quake?

Sri Lanka becomes the first nation to comprehensively protect all of its mangrove forests, using a model that conservationists hope other nations will adopt.

The water vole once populated our riverbanks and waterways in the UK, but in the last 15 years water vole numbers have halved, brining them to the brink of extinction.

Trounced by a brain-training octogenarian

Royal Dutch Shell wins approval from the US Department of Interior to explore for oil in the Arctic.

The sixth Sentinel in Europe's ambitious new multi-billion-euro Earth-observation project is contracted from industry.

A goldfish has gone under the knife for a third time for a 45-minute operation to remove multiple tumours from around its eye and back.

Jo Johnson, the brother of London Mayor Boris Johnson, is to be the new Minister for Universities and Science.

The fascinating bright spots on the surface of the dwarf planet Ceres are shown to be a clutch of many smaller dots in new, higher resolution images.

Green groups and low-carbon firms have welcomed the appointment of Amber Rudd as new head of the energy and climate department, DECC.

David Cameron is appointing his new cabinet with Amber Rudd, John Whittingdale and Sajid Javid among those promoted - but there's no job for Boris Johnson.

Why did Ancient Egyptians mummify animals in their millions?

A scanning project suggests that about a third of Ancient Egypt's animal mummies are empty.

Already legally defined as Australia's "National Gemstone", the country's precious opals are punting for a new international designation - that of Global Heritage Stone Resource.

The height of a swathe of the Himalayas has dropped by around one metre as a result of the devastating Nepal earthquake, scientists say.

A forensic laboratory opens in Kenya that will build up a DNA database of wild animals to help secure successful prosecutions of poachers

The Russian space agency says its out-of-control Progress spacecraft has burnt up after re-entering the Earth's atmosphere.

Oscar Holderer, a member of the post-WW2 German team whose rocket took US astronauts to the Moon, dies at 95.

Our own choices stop us from reading ideologically challenging content more than Facebook's algorithms, according to a study by Facebook researchers.

Underwater explorers in Madagascar say they have found what is thought to be the treasure of notorious Scottish pirate Captain William Kidd.

Ant behaviour may hold the key to developing for more effective techniques for search and rescue.

Global carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations have reached a new monthly record of 400 parts per million, according to scientists.

Who said building a 1,000mph car would be easy?

The polls may close tonight in Britain's general election but there is another big vote happening to find out Britain's favourite bird.

An architect in Thailand has come up with a new type of house to combat floods - one that rises with the water levels.

Researchers reveal the secret of the success of invasive fire ants - they can excavate any type of soil.

As the WWF releases a report on the economic value of the world's oceans, BBC News looks at their findings, and the value of auditing nature.

A newly discovered microbe could help solve one of the most controversial puzzles in modern biology.