ROBOTS
Autonomous robo-penguins can fly as well as swim Engineers have developed two types of robotic penguins that not only move autonomously but also communicate with each other and act as a group. AquaPenguins use 3D sonar to swim, while helium-filled AirPenguins float through the air, guided by ultrasonic signals.
GREEN TECH
Innovation challenge 鈥� the winners View a gallery of the winning entries to an international competition to find innovative ideas that reduce our impact on the environment. Winners include a solar-powered oven, aerodynamic hubcaps and a garlic extract to prevent flatulence in cows.
SPACE
Kepler gets a first glimpse of its planetary hunting ground NASA鈥檚 space telescope has delivered its first image of a patch of sky that it will scrutinise for the next three-and-a-half years in search of Earth-like planets.
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ENVIRONMENT
Extreme species rescue From frogs airlifted off a Caribbean island to mountain goats resurrected from frozen skin cells, we survey the most way-out examples of animals brought back from the brink of extinction.
HUMAN EVOLUTION
The function of the earliest tools Analysis of million-year-old bone tools suggests they were used for a range of tasks, including fruit processing.
Plus: How did we get to where we are today? Check out our interactive time line of 34 crucial steps on the road to humanity.
FUELS
Yeast and a bacterium are turned into fuel factory Some DNA detective work, combined with clever genetic engineering, could provide a way to make carbon-neutral petrol, more cheaply than the polluting kind derived from oil.