A seven-year-old Australian boy who is missing most of his visual cortex has surprised doctors by being able to see well enough to recognise faces and play soccer - the first known case of its kind.

After 20 years of slow, careful excavation, the world's most complete skeleton of an ancient human ancestor has just been unveiled.

Chess isn't an easy game, by human standards. But for an artificial intelligence powered by a formidable, almost alien mindset, the trivial diversion can be mastered in a few spare hours.

As if experiencing a traumatic brain injury wasn't enough of a problem on its own, it turns out the consequences can have an unusual effect on a remote part of the body – the lower intestine.

While on a walk over the weekend, Pamela Wang, a resident of Kealakekua, Hawaii, found something miraculous: a 5.23-pound (2.37kg) avocado the size of her head.

Scientists are reporting what could amount to be the firmest evidence yet of genetic links to male sexual orientation, in the first published genome-wide association study (GWAS) examining the trait.

A new type of temperature-sensitive gel, which can protect a wounded eyeball and then later be removed with cold water, could be vital in saving the vision of people who get injured a long way from the nearest medical facilities.

More than 17 feet (5.2 metres) long and weighing more than 130 pounds (60 kg), with more rows of sharp teeth than you ever cared to imagine - a Burmese python has been captured and killed in the Florida Everglades.

CRISPR-Cas9 technology allows scientists to insert or remove genes by making a cut in a DNA molecule; an ability that has applications ranging from the creation of pigs with lower levels of body fat to the eradication of certain diseases.

New research has added to the growing pile of evidence that taking hormonal contraceptives increases your relative risk of developing breast cancer.

For the past few decades, something has been becoming increasingly clear: Earth constantly hums, even though we can't hear it.

Scientists have discovered a new type of bacterium, that most hardy of organisms, which can survive solely off the chemicals in air – and the discovery could change the way we think about life living on other planets.

Black Friday has come and gone, and the holidays are right around the corner - that means it's crunch time for gift shopping.

The search for extra-solar planets has turned up some very interesting discoveries.

Technically, most species of jumping spider could probably be accused of having eyes bigger than their stomach.

Sorry, folks. This is it. If new research is correct, this could be the best it's going to get for humanity in terms of physical fitness. According to the paper, humans have biological limitations - and there may be no more improvements for the spe

Many of us fear going to the dentist, and that fear is made worse by the dreadful prospect that on any given visit, you could be subjected to a whirring drill boring its way through your poor, hurty teeth.

Scientists just took a big step towards the goal of quantum computers, and even a quantum internet to connect them, after successfully using photons to transfer quantum information between a cold atomic gas and a solid crystal.

Like so many others, 26-year-old Nia Payne wanted to view August's historic solar eclipse but didn't have a pair of protective glasses.