Logic chips built from DNA


Loss of biodiversity could damage world economy, says UN

It's always worth appealing to peoples' pockets if appealing to their better nature doesn't work, and a new UN report warns that the world's loss of biodiversity is threatening national economies.

Toyota aims to slash price of hydrogen cars


Scientists see black hole being flung out of its galaxy

Dutch astronomers believe they have found a super-massive black hole that's recoiling out of its galaxy at high speed.

New reactor aims for fusion ignition

Russia and Italy have agreed to build a new fusion reactor outside Moscow that they hope could become the first to achieve ignition - the point where a fusion reaction becomes self-sustaining instead of requiring a constant input of energy.

Scientists defend climate change research in open letter

More than 250 US scientists, including 11 Nobel laureates, have published an open letter defending climate change research.

Herschel captures the birth of a giant star


Neanderthal genome sequenced - and they interbred with us


Plasma TV, GPS, DirecTV engineers inducted to hall of fame


Future temperatures could be too hot to survive

Huge swathes of the world could become too hot for human beings to survive, if current worst-case scientific projections of global warming turn out to be true.

Space project could revolutionize disaster management

A new space technology project will deliver near-real-time video, sensors and assessment results worldwide in the wake of natural disasters.

Astronomers glimpse birth of mega-stars


Google makes major wind farm investment

Google - one of the largest consumers of power in the world - is to invest for the first time in renewable energy with the purchase of a stake in two North Dakota wind farms.

Ash could continue to ground planes, says expert


Avatar director helps next Rover mission to film Mars in 3D

Avatar director James Cameron has persuaded NASA to let him help design a high-resolution 3D camera for the next Mars Rover.

Personal genetic medicine comes a step closer


Martian fossils could be right under Rover's nose

A rock commonly found on Mars could, against expectations, preserve fossils, raising hopes that evidence of life on Mars may one day be found.

Giant space balloon crashes on launch

A multi-million-dollar space balloon crashed on takeoff this morning in Australia, hitting a car.

New chip stores a billion pages in one square inch


Asteroid may show how life came to Earth

For the first time, water and organic molecules have been detected on an asteroid. The discovery lends plausibility to the theory that both  life on earth and water arrived through asteroid strikes.