If there were mechanics on Mars, NASA may have taken the Curiosity rover into the shop by now. The 1-ton robot has accumulated quite a bit of wheel damage since touching down inside Gale Crater in August 2012.

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has reached another development milestone with the completion of static load testing of its primary mirror backplane support structure (PMBSS) moving the telescope one step closer to its 2018 launch.

The network will stop airing "debates" featuring members of the anti-science fringe

Science fiction is a literary field crowded with strong opinions, and no SF novelist delivered himself more memorably of his views -- on politics,...

Like many readers, Zadie Smith was scandalised by Crash, the first 'pornographic novel about technology'. She reflects on why she changed her mind about the novel – and her disastrous meeting with the author

An international team wants to closely watch how future technologies could make the world's deadliest poisons easier to produce and harder to regulate.

99% of the expected pollution turns out to be missing. Where did it all go?

This disease infiltrates the living portion of the tree called the cambium – the area where food, water and nutrients flow in the tree. This disease is like heart disease in humans – it plugs up the system – literally cutting off the supply of vital ...

The mountain pine beetle is perhaps the most infamous creepy-crawly in the Western United States. No larger than a grain of rice, the bug drills into trees and infects them with a blue fungus that makes them die of thirst. They’ve bored and left for ...

This little superconducting magnet may look serene, but it in fact it's a record breaker, capable of creating three metric tons of force.

Nearly 50 years after the Voting Rights Act, American Indians still don’t have equal access to the ballot box.

Lord of the Rings author's rediscovered message to fellow teacher talks about how frustrating he found the work

Facebook has announced that it's to start using app and website data from your browsing habits to provide more targeted ads--and you'll have to opt out if you don't like it.

That law enforcement agencies across the US are swiftly converting themselves into military outfits is hardly a surprise at this point. The problem is that nothing seems to be slowing them down, not even the dismayed reactions of citizens supposedly. ...

Half a million people are believed to be fleeing to the far north of Iraq as insurgent forces take Tikrit, a day after 35,000 Iraq soldiers reportedly fled an Isis force of 800 in Mosul

Fights between big companies could leave Internet users in the dark, the video site's lobbyist warns.

Multiple reports from Iraq say that Islamist militants have overrun the central city of Tikrit. It would be the second city to fall into insurgent hands in as many days.

Game of Thrones author will join other authors including Martin Amis and Haruki Murakami in 'a year of momentous events in Scotland'

We've seen a wide range of methods businesses have devised for dealing with less than praising online reviews of their operations. Some choose to threaten libel. Others promise fines. Still others invoke a sort of holy legal wrath, with the...

Some geniuses have found the way to turn violent men away from violence: Marriage contracts and diamond rings!