Mars explorer duo on course - space agency

Mariëtte Le Roux|Published

European-Russian spacecraft are on course for Mars on a daring mission to find evidence of life on the Red Planet.

Doping for gold - Olympians ignore health risks

Mariëtte Le Roux|Published

Drug cheating will not disappear, experts say, as long as a competitive spirit remains part of human nature.

Science drawing closer to alien world?

Mariëtte Le Roux|Published

Nasa's discovery of an Earth-like exoplanet has social media buzzing about the chances of finding a faraway world.

New data - and Ceres mystery deepens

Mariëtte Le Roux|Published

The more scientists learn about Ceres, the sphere circling our Sun between Mars and Jupiter, the weirder it becomes.

‘The water is ours!’

Mariëtte Le Roux|Published

Thousands of people marched in Lima, urging world leaders to ensure a global switch to 100-percent clean energy by 2050.

Fuel freeze ‘caused satellite mislaunch’

Mariëtte Le Roux|Published

Fuel that froze on a Soyuz rocket caused two satellites from Europe's troubled Galileo navigation system to be placed into the wrong orbit in August, a probe concluded. ...

Seals, not Columbus, brought TB to Americas

Mariëtte Le Roux|Published

A new study challenges the theory that Europeans introduced TB to the New World, where it killed millions of indigenous Americans.

How bats find their way at night

Mariëtte Le Roux|Published

Scientists have long wondered whether bats could read the pattern of sunlight scattered in the atmosphere to orientate themselves to Earth's magnetic field.

Higgs digs deeper into ‘new physics’ realm

Mariëtte Le Roux|Published

Some of the Higgs boson's newly discovered properties have left physicists scratching their heads, writes Mariette Le Roux.

Anaesthesia may harm memory - study

Mariëtte Le Roux|Published

General anaesthesia before the age of one may impair memory later in childhood, possibly life-long, a study has found.

New ozone-depleting gasses found

Mariëtte Le Roux|Published

Worried scientists say they have found four new ozone-destroying gases in the atmosphere, most likely put there by humans.

Experiment 'could lead to paralysis cure'

Mariëtte Le Roux|Published

How monkey uses only its thoughts to manipulate a sleeping fellow primate's arm to do its bidding.

How Neanderthals helped thick-skinned humans

Mariëtte Le Roux|Published

Humans acquired Neanderthal DNA through interbreeding which resulted in Europeans and East Asians, scientists believe.

Europeans once had 'dark skin, blue eyes'

Mariëtte Le Roux|Published

Genetic material recovered from skeleton dug up in Spanish cave reveals strange combination of dark skin and blue eyes.

Study fills some evolution theory gaps

Mariëtte Le Roux|Published

The last common ancestor of Man and Ape was not a knuckle-walking hominid resembling today's chimpanzee, says study.

UN climate talks amid new warnings

Mariëtte Le Roux|Published

Though the stakes are high, no specific targets have been set for this round, hosted by one of the world's biggest coal polluters.

Unusual activity found in NFL players’ brains

Mariëtte Le Roux|Published

Scans have revealed “profound abnormalities” in the brain activity of retired American football players, a study said.

Life in a bubble

Mariëtte Le Roux|Published

The secrets of the body’s cell transport system. . .

Scientists find new bird flu virus

Mariëtte Le Roux|Published

Paris - Scientists studying the H7N9 bird flu virus that has killed more than 40 people since March said Wednesday they had discovered another H7-type virus lurking ...

‘Safe’ sugar levels toxic for mice

Mariëtte Le Roux|Published

Sugar is toxic for mice in dosages that in humans would equal a “safe” diet that includes three cans of soda per day, scientists said.

Meteors to produce great balls of fire

Mariëtte Le Roux|Published

Stargazers will be treated to a spectacular fireball show when Earth hits a belt of comet debris known as the Perseids, astronomers say.

The unwitting medical heroine

Mariëtte Le Roux|Published

These abnormally resilient cells were taken from Henrietta Lacks shortly before she died and used for decades without her family's knowledge.

Europe readies for solar storm risks

Mariëtte Le Roux|Published

Europe launched its first space weather coordination centre to raise the alarm for possible satellite-sizzling solar storms.

People living longer, but not always healthier

Mariëtte Le Roux|Published

As we live longer, bigger chunks of our lives are marred by illness, with non-infectious maladies claiming ever more victims.

Rich nations alone ‘can’t halt global warming’

Mariëtte Le Roux|Published

All countries, rich and poor, were moving “recklessly slow” on reducing emissions, said a report issued on the sidelines of UN climate talks in Doha.