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Water has long been at the centre of conflict in the northern regions of Mali, in West Africa. This vast water-scarce area spans 827,000 square kilometres (320,000 square miles) between the Sahara in the north and the Sahel in the south – in total, about two-thirds of the national territory.

The origin of the giant sarsen stones at Stonehenge has finally been discovered with the help of a missing piece of the site which was returned after 60 years. Archaeologists pinpointed the source of the stones to an area 15 miles (25km) north of the site near Marlborough.

Airbus-France will build the huge satellite that brings the first Martian rock samples back to Earth. This material will be drilled on the Red Planet by the US space agency's next rover, Perseverance, before being blasted into orbit by a rocket.

image copyrightVan Gogh MuseumA postcard has helped to find the probable spot where Vincent van Gogh painted what may have been his final masterpiece, art experts say.The likely location for Tree Roots was found by Wouter van der Veen, the scientific director of the Institut Van Gogh.

The world's biggest nuclear fusion project has entered its five-year assembly phase. After this is finished, the facility will be able to start generating the super-hot "plasma" required for fusion power.

Republican Senator Tom Cotton said US founders viewed slavery as a "necessary evil upon which the union was built". His comments were criticised as an attempt justify the slavery of black people.

If you have ever doubted whether solar power can be a transformative technology, read on. This is a story about how it has proved its worth in the toughest environment possible.

Nasa's Perseverance robot will carry with it a meteorite that originated on the Red Planet and which, until now, has been lodged in the collection of London's Natural History Museum (NHM). The rock's known properties will act as a calibration target to benchmark the workings of a rover instrument.

Image source, ReutersA major DNA study has shed new light on the fate of millions of Africans who were traded as slaves to the Americas between the 16th and 19th centuries.

Nasa's Perseverance rover, due to launch to Mars this summer, will search an ancient crater lake for signs of past life. But if biology ever emerged on the Red Planet, how will scientists recognise it? Here, deputy project scientist Ken Williford explains what they're looking for.

China has launched its first rover mission to Mars. The six-wheeled robot, encapsulated in a protective probe, was lifted off Earth by a Long March 5 rocket from the Wenchang spaceport on Hainan Island at 12:40 local time (04:40 GMT).

With flights grounded and borders closed, some people have embarked on epic voyages to get home during the coronavirus pandemic. Here, we take a look at four such journeys - and the distances travelled just get longer and longer.

Amid the global debate about race relations, colonialism and slavery, some of the Europeans and Americans who made their fortunes in trading human beings have seen their legacies reassessed, their statues toppled and their names removed from public buildings.

New pictures of the Sun taken just 77 million km (48 million miles) from its surface are the closest ever acquired by cameras. They come from the European Space Agency's Solar Orbiter (SolO) probe, which was launched earlier this year.

image copyrightEPAA major agreement governing the transfer of EU citizens' data to the United States has been struck down by the European Court of Justice (ECJ).The EU-US Privacy Shield let companies sign up to higher privacy standards, before transferring data to the US.

image copyrightGetty ImagesA major new study published in the Lancet medical journal suggests falling fertility rates mean nearly every country could have shrinking populations by the end of the century, and warns of a "jaw-dropping" impact on societies.

Another telescope has entered the debate about the age and expansion rate of the Universe. This topic has recently become the subject of an energetic to and fro among scientists using different astronomical facilities and techniques.

image copyrightUniversity of Warwick / Mark GarlickA star has been sent hurtling across the galaxy after undergoing a partial supernova, astronomers say.

The world is ill-prepared for the global crash in children being born which is set to have a "jaw-dropping" impact on societies, say researchers. Falling fertility rates mean nearly every country could have shrinking populations by the end of the century.

The United Arab Emirates' historic first mission to Mars is under way, after a successful lift-off in Japan. The Hope probe launched on an H2-A rocket from Tanegashima spaceport, and is now on a 500-million-km journey to study the planet's weather and climate.

Pope Francis has said he's "pained" by Turkey's decision to convert Istanbul's Hagia Sophia back into a mosque. Speaking at a service in the Vatican, the Roman Catholic leader added that his "thoughts go to Istanbul".

New evidence has been found for epic prehistoric voyages between the Americas and eastern Polynesia. DNA analysis suggests there was mixing between Native Americans and Polynesians around AD 1200.

Among the towering spires and ceramic inlaid stupas of Bangkok’s Wat Pho temple are a group of inscriptions from the 19th Century.

Dinosaurs are often thought of as giant creatures, but new research adds to evidence they started out small. The evidence comes from a newly described fossil relative found on Madagascar that lived some 237 million years ago and stood just 10cm tall.