Using satellite data, scientists have produced a first-of-its kind map that details the height of the world's forests. Although there are other local- and regional-scale forest canopy maps, the new map is the first that spans the entire globe based on one uniform method.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill.

Conditions favourable to life may once have existed all over Mars. Detailed studies of minerals found inside craters show that liquid water was widespread, not only in the southern highlands, but also beneath the northern plains.

ESA's Venus Express is helping planetary scientists investigate whether Venus once had oceans. If it did, it may even have begun its existence as a habitable planet similar to Earth.

A development model of the Mars Rover, called Bridget, was on display at the University today- Friday June 4- providing invited schoolchildren as well as staff and students with an exciting glimpse into the shape of things to come.

Each year The International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University names the Top 10 new species described in the previous calendar year. The list for 2009 was published to coincide with the 303rd anniversary on May 23rd of the birth of Carl Linnaeus. It contains only two new plant species, one of which was first published in the Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society.

Astronomers hunting for planets orbiting nearby stars similar to the sun are looking for signs of rocky, Earth-like planets in a "habitable" zone, where conditions such as temperature and liquid water remain stable enough to support

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Scientists have used quantum mechanics to reveal that the most common mineral on Earth, silica, is relatively uncommon deep within the planet.