Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

The recent resignation of the scientific director of the Biomedical Research Foundation (BRFAA) of the Academy of Athens has cast a shadow over Greece's stated objective to plug the brain drain that has scarred the country and pave the way for a much-needed brain gain.

In a former gold mine a mile underground, inside a titanium tank filled with a rare liquified gas, scientists have begun the search for what so far has been unfindable: Dark matter.

Scientists have discovered the world's largest bacterium in a Caribbean mangrove swamp.

Most bacteria are microscopic, but this one is so big it can be seen with the naked eye.

The chief source of new problems is solutions to old problems. The ammonia that we used in domestic fridges as a coolant in the early-20th century was poisonous if it leaked, so in the 1930s we replaced it with chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which you can breathe all day without harm. Problem solved.