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The discovery of a branched carbon molecule 27,000 light-years from Earth suggests the building blocks of life may be ubiquitous throughout the galaxy.

The sentencing of a British couple for making fake bomb detectors marks the end of a series of trials after a global scam which saw the devices end up in conflict zones and used by governments around the world.

At an artists' studio in a run-down part of Brussels, the next chapter in Belgium's rich comic-book history is being sketched out.

A dinner-party encounter with a homeopathy fan was the spark for my rationalist anthem, now a YouTube hit thanks to Storm the Animated Movie, writes Tim Minchin

The Philae robot, soon to attempt a landing on Comet 67P, takes another dramatic image of the icy object.

A species of acacia tree found in Eastern Africa seems to be protected from elephant damage - by the ants that live on it.

A 15-year-old girl sentenced to 100 lashes for having premarital sex has her controversial punishment overturned by a Maldives court.

Uranium is the most divisive of elements. It's been used in nuclear bombs and power stations - both of which fray tempers.

US researchers measure the amount of plastic accumulating in a region of the Atlantic Ocean over a 22-year period.

Fresh information is being obtained on the Philae obelisk, the stone monument that played such a key role in helping to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphs.

Over 3,000 idiots and counting.

Welcome to BBC Earth, a place to explore the natural world through awe-inspiring documentaries, podcasts, stories and more.

The men who rescued two hostages from captivity in Somalia are part of the same team elite special forces unit who killed Osama Bin Laden. Who are they?

A hardline cleric in Pakistan is teaching the ideas of Osama Bin Laden in religious schools for about 5,000 children.

US commandos disagree in public over who fired the shot that killed Osama Bin Laden, more than three years after the al-Qaeda leader's death.

After a historic but awkward comet landing, the robot probe Philae is now stable and sending pictures - but faces concerns about its battery life.

The Philae comet lander finally loses power and drops into standby mode, but is able to send back a crucial batch of scientific data just in time.

The Philae lander has attempted to drill into the surface of Comet 67P, amid fears that its battery may die in hours.

European Space Agency controllers will continue to listen for Philae in the days ahead, hopeful that the comet lander will somehow become active again.

Images of the Philae probe moments after its initial touchdown on Comet 67P are published by the European Space Agency.

High-resolution pictures have now been released of the Philae probe around the time of landing on Comet 67P last Wednesday.

Answer (1 of 3): It would be impossible with any current technology. Laser beams spread. Over distances of millions of miles, the laser beam would spread to the point of irrelevance unless we fired a ridiculously large number of them. And, we would have to have line of sight to the space craft,...

Ben Affleck's film Argo tells how in 1980 the CIA - with Canadian help - sprang a group of Americans from Iran. But how much of it is true and how much is fiction?