A second group sets a date for launching a private craft into space, putting them in contention for the $10 million Ansari X Prize

Unlocking cars and activating devices could soon be securely achieved by simply touching them

Progress in finding a cure for the human form of BSE has been slow, but after years of wrangling a treatment trial is finally launching in the UK

A glitch in a chip in Spirit has stopped its science instruments working, while Opportunity has returned unexplained error messages

A security company is hoping that its new six-wheeled droid will soon be helping scare off, or help apprehend, intruders

Flight was built into the brain as well as the body of Archaeopteryx, a new CAT scanning study reveals

Half-hearted gamma ray bursts - powerful blasts of energy produced when stars collapse - may occur more than thought, say astronomers

Developed using Soviet hardware and expertise, the missiles could feasibly be fitted to ships instead of submarines

Evidence of planets in alien solar systems suggest our own system did not form in the same way and could be rather rare, argue astronomers

Mothers who think they will live to a ripe old age are more likely to have sons, suggests a UK study

The machine will be one of the fastest in the world, capable of 10 trillion mathematical calculations per second

Giving high-risk patients an extra copy of a gene could prevent permanent damage if they have a heart attack or stroke

High levels of a particular stress hormone may help counter its negative effects, suggests a study of soldiers in 'prisoner of war camp' tests

Sulphur pollution may have an unexpected benefit - reducing emissions of the global warming gas methane from natural wetlands

Primitive fish may have hauled themselves on to land to soak up energy from the Sun and become better hunters

An unexpected connection between a mysterious disease afflicting residents of a Pacific island and Alzheimer's is revealed by brain studies

The virtual system uses a neural network to recognise sounds, and then relay them visually to people with hearing difficulties

The space agency narrows its projects to probe the birth of the Universe down to just nine - including a proposed replacement for Hubble

Some sportspeople are prone to injury because of the way they move, suggests a model tested on cricketers

Low levels of a hormone give mothers their characteristic bravery in fighting off would-be attackers from their offspring

Black rhinos often die prematurely in captivity - now a study suggests too much iron in their zoo diets may to blame

Despite a stalemate over where to build an international nuclear fusion facility, the US is stopping work on a homegrown project

Widespread praise greets his passing - "Francis Crick was the Charles Darwin of the 20th century", says one

A new list of unusual symptoms linked to anthrax inhalation could make diagnosis quicker and enable a faster response

Stimulating the right acupuncture point cuts sickness and nausea by almost a third in people who have just had an operation

The genome sequence of the acne bacterium reveals a surprising arsenal, as well as potential weak spots

After 20 years of trying, the infectious prions that trigger diseases such as BSE and vCJD, are created in the laboratory

A lunar rock, blasted by several meteor impacts, has yielded its space adventures to scientists

But new regulations are needed to ensure nanoparticles do not damage public health, urges a UK government study

The exhaustion athletes feel is not caused by over-worked muscles but by a molecule in the mind, reveals a new study

The implant drives a continuous stream of blood, reducing the risk of strokes and blood clots - but also leaving people with no pulse