Tom Chivers During a conversation with a doctor a couple of years ago, the subject of cancer diagnoses came up, in a tangential way.

A newly discovered beetle has been named after television naturalist Sir David Attenborough.

For many people, getting older brings a catalogue of vision problems that make everyday tasks such as reading and driving a challenge.

You can take a role in testing the effect of warming skin on memory. Or you can involve yourself in a bid to land a spaceship on the Moon....

A world-class surfing spot and one of Northland's most picturesque strands of coastline are among more than 40 swimming beaches hit with a "caution" label for water quality.

The Rosetta mission, which has for the first time put a spacecraft in orbit around a comet and landed a robotic probe on its surface...

The journal Science has put the Rosetta mission to a comet top of its list of this year's biggest science breakthroughs. What else got a mention?

It's not evidence of "little green men" but intriguing "burps" of methane have been recorded by Nasa's Curiosity Rover - which may be from primitive microorganisms.

French gourmets have traditionally shunned hot, spicy food - so they may be a little piqued by a study indicating that curry-loving men have higher testosterone.

Kiwis will have a chance to see one of the most world's spectacular meteor showers with the naked eye in the early hours of tomorrow morning.

The US Navy is working on a robotic fish that will be able to swim undetected into hostile waters and send back information on opponents' ships.

Exclusive: Some 268,000 tonnes of plastic are floating in the world's oceans. Here, we look at where it's to be found. Each dot on the map represents 20kg of plastic.

From potential taxes on sugary drinks to the ancestry of our kiwi, science has offered plenty of headlines this year.

Perth beachgoers are being urged to take extra care after a spate of shark sightings.

A proposed mission to the moon led by British scientists could pave the way for the construction of a lunar observatory.

It took months of planning, a nine-hour surgery and a team of 35 clinicians. But by the end, they had completed a ground-breaking double arm transplant on a quadruple amputee.

This year is set to be the hottest on record globally, with climate scientists pointing to rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide as the most likely cause.

Kiwi scientists have attracted global attention for shedding new light on how our cells switch their genes on and off - an important step to understanding disease.

Scientists studying the DNA of Richard III, whose body was found buried beneath a Leicester car park, have revealed that there was marital infidelity among his descendants.

A new way of treating incurable illnesses such as cancer and Ebola could be possible after a scientific breakthrough that also sheds light on the origin of life.

A researcher's tireless efforts to ensure every Kiwi can have a safe, warm and dry home has been rewarded with the country's largest prize for science.

A giant ancient penguin far taller than any species alive today has been described for the first time after its fossil remains sat for decades inside an Auckland storage shed.

Peter Schwerdtfeger's love of chemistry first caused the evacuation of his family's apartment block. Last night, it won him New Zealand's highest science honour.

Scientists have created a miniature model of human pain in the form of nerve cells growing in a laboratory dish.

From his office window Mick Clout can see the outline of Hauraki Gulf islands in the hazy distance.