The orbiter was launched on an Atlas V rocket from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 13:28 local time (18:28 GMT). Assuming the $671m (£416m) mission stays on track,…

Environmental groups have sharply criticised the Polish government for hosting a coal industry meeting while UN climate talks are held in the country. They are angry because they believe Poland…

The UK’s Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) has urged countries to take urgent action on climate change, as UN talks enter their second week. The committee, comprising 14 aid agencies, said…

The results of a DNA study suggest that dogs were domesticated in Europe. No-one doubts that “man’s best friend” is an evolutionary off-shoot of the grey wolf, but scientists have…

The world’s oceans are becoming acidic at an “unprecedented rate” and may be souring more rapidly than at any time in the past 300 million years. In their strongest statement…

The oldest big cat fossils ever found – from a previously unknown species “similar to a snow leopard” – have been unearthed in the Himalayas. The skull fragments of the…

A new “broadband” invisibility cloak which hides objects over a wide range of frequencies has been devised. Despite the hype about Harry Potter-style cloaks, our best current designs can only…

The European Space Agency’s (Esa) Goce satellite has re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere, burning up in the process. Early estimates suggested any surviving debris could have fallen somewhere along a path…

A US company that has developed an “electronic backpack” that fits onto a cockroach allowing its movements to be controlled by a mobile phone app has defended itself against cruelty…

The Hubble telescope has spotted an asteroid radiating six comet-like tails, making it resemble a “rotating lawn sprinkler”. Other asteroids appear as tiny points of light to astronomers, who are…