NZ is joining the space race, with Rocket Lab building a world-first launch vehicle in Auckland to make it cheaper to send satellites in to orbit.

Helping close achievement gaps in our classrooms will be a priority for a leading academic appointed to a major new science education role.

A future where a health check-up could take just a few taps of your smartphone has moved a step closer.

Australia's decision to repeal its levy limiting fossil-fuel pollution makes it the first nation to turn back from a market approach to fighting global warming.

The storms that lashed Northland last week are a taste of the weather Kiwis can expect more often, says the co-author of an international study of climate change.

Rare fishlife, a juvenile great white shark and what could be a new species of seahorse have been found in a newly surveyed underwater area off Northland's east coast.

Hours stuck on our car-clogged city motorways could be just a memory by 2030, says a visiting Stanford University energy expert.

As a young child growing up in the UK, Hong Kong and the US, Dr Michelle "Nanogirl" Dickinson was fascinated by science and superheroes.

Stunt scientist Tom Pringle last night claimed a Guinness World Record by using a potato bazooka to fire nine potatoes through a tennis racket in three minutes.

Maddie Hannah, 8, earned the title of "super-taster" after triumphing at a jellybean science experiment, hosted at the NZ International Science Festival in Dunedin.

A blood test to predict if someone will develop Alzheimer's within a year has been created, in a breakthrough that raises hopes that the disease could become preventable.

Some of the biggest volcanic eruptions of the last 2,000 years have left their indelible mark deep within the pristine ice sheet of the Antarctic, a study has found.

Bruises, cuts and bite marks amid a moshpit's rough and tumble aren't the worst injuries you can suffer at a heavy metal concert.

A young Kiwi scientist has spent the past few days playing chess with Richard Branson on his private island and being served lunch in the pool via a sushi boat.

This winter was not a good one for farmers in the Fertile Crescent.

The chances of an El Nino playing with our weather this summer have become more likely, according to a just-released report from the World Meteorological Organisation.

Scientists are searching in an unlikely place for the next big breakthrough - New Zealand's postcard hot springs.

The discovery of 44 critically endangered Archey's frogs just a few kilometres from Whangamata has heartened an amphibian expert.

Cancer was the leading cause of death in New Zealand in 2010, accounting for nearly a third of all deaths, writes Simon Sutcliffe. That's an increase of nearly 13 per cent between 2000 and 2010.

Genes associated with schizophrenia may also make people more likely to use cannabis, a new study has shown.

A sea floor diva known as the “disco clam”, which earned its name from vivid displays of flashing light, has revealed the secrets of its dazzling moves.

The world is turning to New Zealand's most threatening fault to better understand the levers that cause catastrophic earthquakes.

Driven by exceptionally warm ocean waters, Earth smashed a record for heat in May and is likely to keep on breaking high temperature marks, experts have said.

It will take another three decades for the Southern Hemisphere's humpback whale population to recover from the slaughter of the whaling era, scientists say.