It's been one of the mildest flu seasons in 20 years, but the young, elderly and Pacific Island and Maori people are still at serious risk from the flu.

Drug-resistant "superbugs" represent one of the gravest threats in the history of medicine, leading experts warn.

Scientists have discovered possibly the earliest signs of life on Earth - remains of bacteria that are almost three-and-a-half billion years old - in a remote region of northwest Australia.

For years, scientists have been dogged by this evolution question: Just where did man's best friend first appear?

They call him Blinky - a tiny freshwater crab fished out of the Hoteo River on the Kaipara Coast that's made a splash around the world this week, thanks to its three eyes.

New electronic signs will alert trampers on the Tongariro Alpine Crossing to increased risk of volcanic eruption. Lights on the signs

Two University of Auckland professors whose technology stands to change the world have won this year's Prime Minister's Science Prize.

Scientists studying North Island robins, bowel bacteria and condensed matter physics are among the winners of prestigious research fellowships announced this morning.

The European Space Agency says its GOCE research satellite will crash to Earth on Sunday night or during the day on Monday, but debris is unlikely to cause any casualties.

The study of blood-splatter patterns, made famous by popular TV crime shows CSI and Dexter, is being looked at by NZ researchers.

The Curse of Mars also applies to Asian countries, writes Gwynne Dyer. About two-thirds of the attempted missions to Mars have failed, many of them even before leaving Earth's orbit.

The Milky Way galaxy is teeming with Earth-like planets that are not too hot and not too cold for liquid water to exist at their surface - and so be capable of supporting life.

Forget all that creaking and groaning of stressed metal as the pressure of millions of tonnes of water comes to bear. That's pure Hollywood. It's actually dead quiet.

A joint Japanese/New Zealand survey of the Kermadec Trench has returned with shots of the weird and wonderful life deep beneath the sea off New Zealand. Photos / Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology

For decades, scientists have observed how giant ice streams have flowed out of West Antarctica, eventually feeding the frozen continent's largest ice shelf.

Solving problems isn't exclusively human but working out how animals do it is tricky, writes Clint J. Perry.

A Kiwi invention is helping the blind to see - virtually.

A good night's sleep may be the key to preventing brain diseases such as Alzheimer's, a study has found.

We are usually told that daydreaming is a waste of time and mental power, but the ability to daydream offers us tremendous flexibility in our daily lives.

Every day, millions of tons of inadequately treated sewage, industrial and agricultural waste enters the world's waterways, writes Sam Judd.

New Zealand scientists have unearthed what may be a main reason nicotine replacement therapy is not a failsafe cure for tobacco addiction.

A British scientist says he may have solved the mystery of the Abominable Snowman - the elusive ape-like creature of the Himalayas. He thinks it's a bear.

The discovery of a 1.8-million-year-old skull of a human ancestor buried under a medieval Georgian village provides a vivid picture of early evolution and indicates our family tree may have fewer branches than some believe, scientists say.