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Forensic scientists could use DNA retrieved from a crime scene to predict the surname of the suspect, according to a new British study. It is not perfect, but could be an important investigative tool when combined with other intelligence.

An asteroid hurtled past the Earth on Friday in something of a cosmic near-miss, making its closest approach at about 1600 GMT. The asteroid, estimated to be about 11m (36ft) in diameter, was first detected on Wednesday.

Scientists have detected water-ice on the surface of an asteroid. The first-time observation was made on 24 Themis, a huge rock that orbits almost 480 million km out from the Sun.

Lutetia, the giant asteroid visited by Europe's Rosetta probe in July, is covered in a thick blanket of dusty debris at least 600m (2,000ft) deep. Aeons of impacts have pulverised the space rock to produce a shattered surface that in terms of texture is much like Earth's Moon, scientists say.

The chances of being hit by a chunk of space rock are measured in the billions-to-one. Roy Fausset, 59, had the closest of escapes last month when what scientists now say was a meteorite crashed through his New Orleans home.

A canister recovered from the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid and return to Earth, contains dust particles, say Japanese scientists. Japan's space agency (Jaxa) began to open the Hayabusa craft's sample container on 24 June.

Fire sirens will sound and church bells ring out at midday around Ecuador to mark the launch of the government's campaign to eradicate sloppy timekeeping - a vice which it says is hampering the country's economy.

Scientists have found that each cell of the body has an internal "clock", which can be affected by various genes. Research in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that skin cells can be used to measure the speed of a person's body clock.

Scientists have re-constructed part of the genetic code that would have existed in a common ancestor of placental mammals, including humans. The creature, thought to be a nocturnal shrew-like animal, lived alongside dinosaurs about 75 million years ago.

Scientists drew their conclusions after interviewing identical twins about their experiences of sharing exactly the same genes with somebody else. The team said the twins believed their genes played a limited role in shaping their identity.

Meat and milk from cloned cattle and their offspring are safe to consume, independent scientists have said. The Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes said it believed the food was unlikely to present any risk.

The creator of Dolly the sheep has been granted a licence to clone human embryos for medical research. Professor Ian Wilmut and Kings College London scientists will clone early stage embryos to study motor neurone disease (MND).

A US fertility specialist is planning to implant a cloned human embryo in a woman's womb but experts say it is "unethical and irresponsible". Doctor Panos Zavos is to hold a press conference in London on Saturday to announce the latest details of his cloning research.

Scientists have pieced together part of the genetic recipe of the extinct woolly mammoth. The 5,000 DNA letters spell out a large chunk of the genetic code of its mitochondria, the structures in the cell that generate energy.

Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit company has tried unsuccessfully to launch a rocket over the Pacific Ocean. The booster was released from under the wing of one of the UK entrepreneur's old jumbos which had been specially converted for the task.

Children can remember memories from their earliest years, but forget most of them later, according to research. Events from well before the age of two can be recalled, suggests a Canadian study of around 100 young children aged 4 to 13.

A gene therapy technique which aims to ease memory problems linked to Alzheimer's Disease has been successfully tested in mice.US scientists used it to increase levels of a chemical which helps brain cells signal to each other.

A study has shed light on how certain alarm cries made by meerkats are more effective than others at alerting the group to possible dangers.Researchers from Switzerland and South Africa suggest "non-linearities" make the cries "unpredictable", distinguishing them from other calls.

The monkey, known as 'Pinocchio' by the scientists studying him due to his big nose, first rolls a nut down to the docks on the island of Cayo Santiago, which lies to the east of Puerto Rico in the Caribbean Sea. He then throws the nut up into the air and watches it smash onto concrete.

At the ripe old age of 100, Dr Dolittle has been reincarnated in the form of Robert Downey Jr. In the latest screen version of the children’s literature classic, Dolittle, released in the US today, he is also Welsh… or at least Wales-adjacent.

For decades, scientists have been sending robotic probes deep into the Solar System, revealing a diverse and dynamic array of worlds orbiting the Sun. Unmanned spacecraft have transformed understanding of our cosmic neighbourhood. But this avalanche of data has also thrown up many new questions.

Not many scientists are prepared to take tales of alien abduction seriously, but John Mack, a Harvard professor who was killed in a road accident in north London last year, did. Ten years on from a row which nearly lost him his job, hundreds of people who claim they were abducted still revere him.

The next generation of telescopes could reveal the presence of oceans on planets outside our Solar System. Detecting water on Earth-like planets offers the tantalising prospect they could sustain life.

The US government has formally denied that it has any knowledge of contact with extraterrestrial life. The announcement came as a response to submissions to the We The People website, which promises to address any petition that gains 5,000 signatories.

Scientists think they may finally have seen evidence for a famously elusive quarry in particle physics. The Majorana fermion was first predicted 75 years ago - a particle that could be its own anti-particle.