Nasa is aiming to get closer to the Sun than ever before, with plans to plunge a car-sized unmanned spacecraft into the star's outer atmosphere.

Israeli scientists believe they have identified why Arabic is particularly hard to learn to read.

The re-introduction of wolves to a US National Park has not helped re-establish quaking aspens, as many researchers had hoped.

Ultrafine measurements of atmospheric gases could help scientists track down the last sources of CFCs thought to be slowing the recovery of the ozone layer.

The government's chief environment scientist calls for more openness in admitting the UK's cuts in greenhouse gas emissions are an illusion.

A growing number of New York sky-scrapers switch off their lights at night to help reduce the number of migratory birds hitting the buildings.

A species of acacia tree found in Eastern Africa seems to be protected from elephant damage - by the ants that live on it.

BP says the cost of its Gulf of Mexico oil spill has risen to $8bn - a rise of more than $2bn in the last month alone.

The River Amazon has dropped to its lowest level in 40 years in north-eastern Peru, leaving boats stranded.

A potentially revolutionary circuit component, once a laboratory curiosity, is to be mass-produced for the first time.

There is no place for God in theories on the creation of the Universe, Professor Stephen Hawking concludes in a new book.

Europe's Herschel space telescope spies an aging star that has surrounded itself in hot water vapour.

An ancient reef may provide scientists with clues about what will happen to coral when sea temperatures rise.

A metal detecting enthusiast finds what is believed to be the only intact Roman lantern made out of bronze ever discovered in Britain.

Scientists have found evidence for an ancient sea passage linking currently isolated areas of Antarctica.

A further test ignition takes place on the giant booster intended to power Nasa's next big rocket.

The remains of a huge 12,000 year old feast have been found in a cave in Northern Israel.

Some 57,000 people have been forced from their homes because of dramatic floods in south-western Sudan over the past month, officials say.

An earthquake is recorded in the North Sea about 155 miles east of Aberdeen.

The UN's climate science body needs stricter checks to prevent damage to its credibility, an independent review concludes.

The vast majority of biofuels sold on UK forecourts are imported and do not conform to environmental standards, figures show.

The draft sequences of the wheat genome released by UK scientists may prove to be a vital contribution to the efforts of securing global food supply.

Plants are able to summon insects to their aid to avoid being eaten by caterpillars, scientists discover.

Great apes play tag in similar way to humans, an international team of scientists finds.

New-born twin giant pandas made their first public appearance at a zoo in Japan on Friday in Shirahama.

Researchers begin a three-year study to uncover the secrets of St Kilda's super-sized field mice.

Hundreds of sharks have been spotted off the Queensland coast.

There is no place for God in theories on the creation of the Universe, the physicist and mathematician Professor Stephen Hawking has said.

A rare Chinese tree has flowered for the first time in 23 years at Kew's country estate in West Sussex.

One of the giant booster rockets intended to power the first stage of flight on Nasa's next rocket has been tested in the US.

Researchers working on trials of genetically modified crops in Norfolk have grown potatoes which resist disease.

Dr Andy Harland of Loughborough University analyses what new free-kick trajectory findings mean for footballers.

Rare weather events caused last winter's freak snow storms

Why bed-bugs are on the march again

Darwin's artificial rainforest in the South Atlantic