Science Minister David Willetts defends planned cuts to science research, saying the aim is to link innovation to business better.

Researchers say they may have found further evidence for the existence of an unusual type of black hole.

A BP report says "a series of failures" by BP and its contractors were to blame for the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

An overweight orang-utan, who was Britain's fattest primate, has been put on a strict new diet.

Palaeontologists uncover a new dinosaur with what may be the earliest evidence of feathers.

Four animal rights activists admit waging a hate campaign against people linked to a Cambridgeshire animal testing laboratory.

The EU agrees on new rules to reduce the number of animals used in lab experiments and tighten controls over such procedures.

A team of explorers and scientists will be soon setting out for Antarctica for what they hope will be the fastest land crossing of the continent ever.

A fungus that 'eats' cine film could cause irreversible damage important archive films which hold a record of British social history.

Domestic heat pumps need to be subject to tighter regulations in order for them to deliver widespread energy savings, a report suggests.

Business Secretary Vince Cable says "the bar will have to be raised" on science funding

Todmorden, in West Yorkshire, is striving to become self sufficient by growing fruit and vegetables and keeping livestock.

Mould, flies, and maggots - watch what happens when food is left to rot

Why people who say 'I don't know' are smarter than we think

Underwater 'flying machine' seeks investors

Scientists carry out the first rigorous analysis of dance moves that make men attractive to women.

Europe's gravity probe, Goce, is returned to health after being knocked offline because some onboard systems got too cold as the satellite circled the Earth.

Giant spiral galaxies caught "feasting" on their smaller neighbours

A massive expansion is to take place at Europe's largest onshore wind farm in East Renfrewshire.

High definition (HD) video is being used to assess how wave energy devices will affect the ecology of coastal areas.

Some of the UK's rarest bumblebees are at risk of becoming extinct as a result of inbreeding, research suggests.

A study suggests climate change is not responsible for civil wars in Africa, challenging widely held assumptions.

Carbon-rich organic molecules, which serve as the building blocks of life, may be present on Mars after all, say scientists.

Cockroach and locust brains are a rich source of antibiotics powerful enough to tackle MRSA, researchers say.

Former UK Prime Minster Tony Blair warns world leaders they may pay a heavy price in history if they fail to tackle global warming.

A mix of chemicals borrowed from plants with tiny tubes of carbon can spontaneously create tiny, self-repairing solar cells.

A group of Danish rocket enthusiasts trying to launch a dummy 30km into the sky abort the mission when a valve on their rocket freezes up.

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

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.

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

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

Researchers begin a study of the "super-sized" mice found on a tiny Scottish island in the Outer Hebrides.

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.

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

Physicists explain one of football's most spectacular free-kicks, showing that Roberto Carlos's 1997 "impossible goal" was not a fluke.

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