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.

When scientist Dr Kimberlee Jordan returned to New Zealand after 10 years of study abroad, she couldn't face another research paper.

Students' needs increasingly met online but printed books still seen as key

The Antarctic ice sheet is disappearing at twice the speed of when it was last surveyed, losing 159 billion tonnes of ice to the ocean every year.

A quarter of people are unable to name a single famous female scientist, either living or dead, a European-wide study will reveal this week.

Calls are being made to remove dissections from first-year courses as the killing of animals at universities comes under fresh scrutiny.

Scientists have discovered a pre-historic mainland species of sea lion thought to have been wiped out by Polynesian settlers and replaced by the modern NZ sea lion.

Bones discovered over 30 years ago in the Waipara River in Canterbury have now been identified as the elasmosaurs. Here are eight sea monsters that once cruised in the earth's waters.

A new study has put even more genetic distance between the extinct moa and their old bush mates, the kiwi, but found similarities with a South American bird.

A research breakthrough could net our economy $125 million each year by combining cutting-edge technology with something New Zealand famously has in abundance - sheep.

Call it the Cretaceous cold case. For years scientists were puzzled by bones found in a Canterbury river in 1982. Which sea monster did they belong to?

Hollywood director James Cameron is among those lamenting the loss of a robotic research submarine which imploded in the Kermadec Trench.

How do you load a plane quicker? New research suggests a lengthy airport gate queues could be slashed by seating passengers according to their hand luggage.

Researchers in Germany have developed a way of enabling sleepers to control their dreams by applying electric current to the brain which prompts lucid dreams, involving a state of heightened awareness.

Polar bears may hold the answer to the obesity crisis in their genes, new research has shown.

A survey off the North Island's East Coast has uncovered a huge hidden network of frozen methane and methane gas.

It's one of NZ's biggest natural disaster risk zones. Now scientists hope to know more about a rare quake phenomenon happening off the North Island's Poverty Bay.