Canavero is adamant that the technology exists, but just how well do his claims stand to scientific scrutiny? Below are just three of the many important issues.

Study shows a large proportion of middle-aged drinkers are having risky sex with partners - and then regretting it afterwards.

Pacific Edge, the maker of non-invasive bladder cancer tests, has won US regulatory approval to commercially process test samples from its latest cancer detecting product at its Dunedin....

South African scientists have discovered that 400-year-old tobacco pipes excavated from the garden of William Shakespeare contained cannabis, suggesting the playwright might have written some of his....

Kiwi scientists are investigating how tiny organisms found all around us could be turned against the next superbug to hit the country.

Dr Michelle Dickinson, also known as Nanogirl, is an Auckland University nanotechnologist who is passionate about getting Kiwis hooked on science. Tweet her your science questions @medickinson.

Kiwi scientists are investigating how human skin could be synthetically grown in a lab - something that could revolutionise treatment for burns victims.

People who send text messages on the move are just like drunks, researchers have claimed.

The first drug that slows down Alzheimer's disease could be available within three years after trials showed it prevented mental decline by a third.

A fascinating new analysis of family data suggests that after a certain point, the risk of divorce starts to rise again as you get older.

Curvaceous women are more sensitive to pain than others, scientists believe. They said this vulnerability makes them even more attractive to men.

Ellie is a virtual human created by scientists at the University of Southern California to help patients feel comfortable talking about themselves so they'll be honest with their doctors.

A 15-year-old British boy has developed a potential test for Alzheimer's disease that could allow the condition to be diagnosed 10 years before first symptoms appear.

While we share travel photos and life musings with a long list of virtual friends, the average person still only relies on a few people.

Hope springs from 40-year-long study showing big disparity in rates of ageing.

Austrian scientists have come up with a method that allows calculation of the time of death even after ten days.

Researchers from the University of Vermont are the first to make a connection between eye colour and alcohol dependence.

"Couples who have experienced a stillbirth need to understand why it happened and want to know the risk for future pregnancies."

Scientists have found a way to read the mind, analysing brain waves and interpreting them as words and even complete sentences without having to listen.

Science has found an explanation for the impulsiveness that causes so much friction with parents – the adolescent brain hasn’t yet developed patience.

Earth has entered its sixth mass extinction with animals dying out at 100 times the normal rate, scientists have warned.

Pig cells are behind a new treatment which could help those living with Parkinson's disease combat its dramatic and sometimes debilitating effects.

In the largest study of its kind, the researchers monitored more than 1,100 proteins in the blood of 106 pairs of twins.

A Kiwi scientist is behind technology that could help a major pharmaceutical company make a remarkable cancer breakthrough.

Scientists have captured the moment a white blood cell dies - and the results are spectacular.

Dr Geoff Chambers sees an era, maybe only a decade away, where we'll all receive personalised medicine based on our own distinct DNA make-up.

Thirty-year-old Valery Spiridinov hopes to have his head transplanted on to another man's body in 2017 but some doctors have doubts.

It is often said that you are what you eat. But it seems that what your mother ate is also important. Research has linked a woman's diet before she becomes pregnant to the long-term health of her future child.

Children learn to associate science with men at early ages. Over 40 years ago, less than 1 per cent of American and Canadian elementary school children drew a woman when asked to draw a scientist.