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.

University of Auckland senior lecturer Dr Michelle Dickinson, reveals five ways that science is bringing comic-book superpowers closer to reality.

In the mid-1990s, Gus, a polar bear in the Central Park Zoo, alarmed visitors by compulsively swimming figure eights in his pool, sometimes for 12 hours a day.

Environment category: Colin Ogle is Wanganui's go-to man on all things botanical and has dedicated years to the area's parks and bush.

It's The Hangover-meets-Jurassic Park. While most stag parties involve paintballing, the pub or a strip club, one group of friends spent did some impromptu palaeontology.

An eerie photo of millions of spiders fleeing flooded farmland in Hikurangi last week has gone viral, after it was posted by a popular science Facebook page.

Fillings and the dentist's drill could soon become just an unpleasant memory thanks to a new technique aimed at rebuilding damaged teeth.

A ground-breaking development by a Kiwi is expected to reduce death and injury from dangerous button batteries worldwide.

Research spanning the effects of hormones on a pregnant mother's brain to the potentially negative health effects that pets may have on families can begin.

Bare-knuckle fighting has left its mark on the human face, according to scientists who believe it helped to shape how we look today.

Scientists are being told to use art and poetry to win public support in the battle to curb climate change.

The fossil of a squid-like creature wiped out with the dinosaurs has been discovered in a Hawkes Bay streambed. What makes it such a 'significant' find for NZ?

"Sea," said King Canute, the 11th-century Danish King of England, "I command you to come no further!"

The creator of 'Big Brother' is to turn the "world's toughest job interview" - for a one-way ticket to Mars - into the ultimate reality show.

An endless video loop of cooking shows could hold the key to robots that can unstack a dishwasher and play Lego with the kids, a New Zealand student of robotics says.

Scientists in America are hopeful of a breakthrough in curing Alzheimer's, following a study that shows a way of bringing back the lost memories of dementia patients.

Six University of Canterbury students are taking part in what has been called a once-in-a-lifetime research opportunity.

Australian and Kiwi researchers have edged closer to the "holy grail" of plant science with a groundbreaking study that could change the way farmers irrigate and fertilise their land as the world warms.

Debate over New Zealand's stance on genetic engineering is set to reignite with a review of the rules defining what is - and what isn't - GM research.

Sea ice, winds and invertebrates will go under the microscope in the next stage of a major science programme turning to Antarctica to answer crucial questions about how the Earth will respond to climate change.

An animal believed to have been extinct for four million years has been found near Picton.

Large waves are apparently to blame for breaking up sea ice on a larger scale than thought, explaining a rapid decrease in Arctic ice.

A sleek Gulfstream V worth nearly $100 million is set to soar into the South Island next month, but it won't be carrying magnates or celebrities.

American scientists are attempting to breed chickens that can cope with scorching heat as part of a series of government-funded programmes.