That cool pinot gris you enjoy after a tough day at the office is really just a mutant spin-out of pinot noir - or so scientists have found.

Is there anyone out there? The answer is almost certainly yes, says a top Nasa scientist who believes we may know for sure within a decade.

A new type of HIV treatment involving the transfusion of a synthetic antibody has shown startling trial results.

Men are up to five times more likely to commit a sex crime than the average male if their father or brothers have been convicted of a serious sexual offence.

Violet Pietrok is two minutes older than her twin sister. She was born with a Tessier Cleft, a rare condition that left a fissure in her skull, so the facial bones didn't fully come together.

Tuatara have hatched in the wild in the South Island for possibly the first time in several hundred years, experts say.

Sexual behaviour is notoriously difficult to measure, and the findings often dubious. Rowan Pelling meets the Cambridge academic who is analysing our most intimate secrets.

New Zealand has been blasted as "stupid" by a top space engineer for not investing more in science and engineering.

A new form of commercial fishing has improved the survival rates for by-catch, scientists involved in the NZ project said.

Stargazers around the country were treated to a total lunar eclipse over the weekend - the last chance to witness the spectacle for several years.

NZ is home to tens of thousands of endemic plant, animal, insect and marine species. Jamie Morton looks at 10 new finds.

Venus may get its name from the goddess of love but it is more like a vision of medieval hell.

For all those who just about got their heads around THAT dress, the internet has thrown another curve ball. This optical illusion could tell you if you need glasses.

Too many energy drinks can trigger sudden heart attacks even in healthy people, according to scientists, who have warned parents to watch how many cans their children consume.

Why do we laugh? The obvious answer is that something is funny. But if we look closer at when and how laughter occurs in ordinary social situations, we see that it's not so simple.

The Government has relented to a campaign to ban animal trials for the second time in a year, this time within the cosmetics industry.

A thousand-year-old medieval remedy for eye infections which was discovered in a manuscript in the British Library has been found to kill the superbug MRSA.

Scientists have mapped the features of the world's most beautiful men and women - and Natalie Portman and David Gandy are the closest real-life examples.

A new method that screens embryos for more than 200 disorders is already making dreams come true, reports Sarah Knapton from London.

A state-of-the-art underwater glider - the first of its kind in New Zealand - is set to uncover new insights into our offshore environment.

Who volunteers to have sex in a laboratory? I was struck by this question when reading about an experimental study of ideal sexual positions for men with back pain.

When he was 5, Glenn Martin dreamed of flying to school.

On the quest to find true love, it is a well-used adage that one must kiss a few frogs before meeting a prince. And it would appear this theory is accurate.