Things seem to be heating up Campi Flegrei, the 12km-wide caldera west of Naples in Italy.

Mythical planets, nearby Earth-like worlds and unprecedented missions to Jupiter and Saturn. We learned a lot about our universe in 2016.

Kiwi scientists are exploring the emotions of livestock in pioneering research that could improve the way animals are farmed.

According to a study the pill won't curb your libido, but a long-term relationship might.

Retraining the brain to beat stress is the key to losing weight and keeping it off, a leading Australian neuroscientist says.

One of the most notorious forms of breast cancer is to be targeted in a new study by an Auckland University researcher and cancer survivor.

A brewery is promising the best beer of your life thanks to a personalised test using your DNA.

Mozart may enhance a man's performance in board games - while AC/DC may hinder their chances, according to new research.

Don't fall foul of campylobacter this festive season; cook chicken all the way through and wash down surfaces exposed to raw meat.

A new discovery by Kiwi and US scientists could lead to new ways to help New Zealand's agricultural sector slash greenhouse gas emissions.

NIWA marine ecology technician Mark Fenwick has observed the dramatic changes to Kaikoura's crayfish habitats.

Humans are marring the coherence of the natural world - by building endless numbers of roads.

Worlds with the mass of Neptune are the most likely planet to form in the icy outer realms of planetary systems, scientists have found in a pioneering new study co-authored by Kiwi researchers.

So how does Father Christmas do it? One physicist believes she has an answer - and Einstein is the key.

An international team of scientists have found an odd and slightly gross explanation for sticky, glowworm-made "fishing lines" that hang in the famous Waitomo Caves - urine.

It sounds like an idea that should remain firmly in the realm of Hollywood but NASA thinks one day we might need to nuke any Earth-bound asteroids to save humanity.

Kiwi couple donate seven works including pieces by Salvador Dali, Andy Warhol and Joan Miro at inaugural event.

Changes taking place in Antarctica are significant another to influence those on the other side of the planet, new research co-authored by a Kiwi scientist has found.

Guests at a central London hotel are not only being offered five-star luxury, they're also being given a brain boost.

Persistent, stored water inside of a floating East Antarctic ice shelf could be bad news, making it much more vulnerable to collapse.

Massey University chancellor Chris Kelly said a woman graduate is less of a vet because she has to take time out for marriage and family.

As 2016 draws to a close, the NZ Science Media Centre picked some of the biggest national and international science stories that made headlines

This year is set to become New Zealand's hottest on record, breaking the previous record set in 1998, scientists say.

Tests on brains of 3-year-olds can reveal who is likely to become part of the minority of adults to use the biggest share of social services, says study.

Long queues have formed at two petrol stations in Gisborne apparently driven by an earthquake predicted posted on Facebook.

The President-elect said he is "studying" whether the US should withdraw from the Paris agreement.

"The rocket's the easy part. It's people who really throw a monkey wrench into things."

There are an estimated one hundred million pieces of space junk floating around Earth.

COMMENT: Like in politics, fake news can also be a problem in the world of science - proliferated by the net, repeated many times over.

Hollywood has long been fascinated with the idea of communicating with space aliens. But is it even possible? Or wise?