Best of BBC news

Gandalf, the vulture who decided to go absent without leave during an airshow in Cumbernauld last Tuesday, has returned home

A rhesus monkey is observed inventing a new way to break coconuts, giving him a monopoly over a precious food source.

Microbes taken from a cliff face in the English fishing village of Beer survive for a year-and-a-half on the outside of the International Space Station.

Experts build a house to test energy-saving technologies

Bacteria taken from cliffs at Beer on the South Coast have shown themselves to be hardy space travellers.

The sketch that helped discover the 'secret of life'

An Arctic expedition finds polar bears are preying on the eggs of geese who migrate to the south of Scotland each year.

The hunt for aliens should allow for the fact that ETs may be thinking machines rather than like us, a leading researcher says.

A treatment for the Ebola virus could be nearer after US authorities approve human trials of a drug proven to be effective in monkeys.

Forty-nine pilot whales have been buried on a northern New Zealand beach following a two-day struggle by more than 200 rescuers to save them.

Hikers are once again walking on the slopes of the crater, where they are discovering some dramatic changes to the landscape.

Fresh outbreak threatens UK's remaining English elms

The European Space Agency battles to recover its Goce gravity satellite which has been struck by a second computer glitch, blocking data delivery to Earth.

NI could face EU fines over horse mussels in Strangford Lough

US researchers measure the amount of plastic accumulating in a region of the Atlantic Ocean over a 22-year period.

Some 58 pilot whales die after being stranded on a northern New Zealand coast, as volunteers battle to save remaining survivors.

A decline in the greenfinch population in the eastern counties has been blamed on an infectious disease.

Scientists working in Chernobyl find a way to predict which species are likely to be most severely damaged by radioactive contamination.

A diet rich in green leafy vegetables, such as spinach, may reduce the risk of developing diabetes, say researchers.

A galactic magnifying glass shows the Universe will probably expand forever, resulting in a slow death.