A review of more than 230 "citizen science" projects says the involvement of volunteers offers "high value to research, policy and practice".

Nasa's Curiosity Mars rover completes its first big soil analysis but there is no definitive detection of organics - the carbon-rich molecules that can be the "feedstock" for life.

A small colony of black guillemots living on a gravel spit off Point Barrow is providing a unique insight into the changing Arctic environment.

A UK firm announces plans to build what they claim is the biggest solar power plant in Africa, which aims to provide electricity to 100,000 homes.

Edinburgh Zoo says the arrival of two giant pandas a year ago has boosted its ticket sales by about 50%.

EDF extends the operating life of two of its UK nuclear power stations - Hinkley Point B and Hunterston B - by seven years.

Richard Branson's passenger space-liner is also trying to position itself as a high-altitude science platform to study the Earth and beyond.

A poll commissioned by BBC Radio 5 Live suggests one in three people wants the government to ban all medical research experiments on animals.