A discovery that many small companion galaxies surrounding Andromeda seem to orbit in concert — and aligned in a vast, thin disk — could change scientists' understanding of how galaxies form, researchers said this week.

Scientists and broadcasters said Monday they have captured footage of an elusive giant squid, up to eight meters (26 feet) long that roams the depths of the Pacific Ocean.

Scientists have identified the first meteorite to originate from the surface of Mars, a 2.1-billion-year-old specimen that contains about 10 times more water than any other space rock from Mars.

Scientists are abuzz about a coal-colored rock from Mars that landed in the Sahara desert: A yearlong analysis revealed it's quite different from other Martian meteorites.

A cache of 1,000-year-old documents written by the Jewish community in Afghanistan and unveiled in Jerusalem on Thursday sheds unprecedented light on the mediaeval Jewish community in central Asia.

Astronomers using the most advanced land telescope in the world said on Wednesday they had unlocked knowledge about how formidable “gas giant” planets such Jupiter and Saturn come into being.

Two centuries after the French people beheaded Louis XVI and dipped their handkerchiefs in his blood, scientists believe they have authenticated the remains of one such rag kept as a revolutionary souvenir.

The people who lived in Eastern Germany around 7,000 years ago are thought to have been some of the first farmers. Now, new archaeological evidence suggests they were also surprisingly skilled woodworkers, crafting intricate water wells some two thousand years before metal tools were forged in Europe.

A comet blazing toward Earth could outshine the full moon when it passes by at the end of next year — if it survives its close encounter with the sun.

Archeologists in central Mexico uncovered the bones of 12 children and adults who may have been buried 800 years ago, a National Institute of Anthropology and History expert told AFP.