Despite their greater age, big, old trees do more than small, young ones to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, said a study Wednesday that explores how well forests slow global warming.

The findings overturn the conventional view that old, large trees are relatively unproductive in absorbing heat-trapping greenhouse gases.

Ibises flying in a V formation synchronise the flapping of their wings with a degree of precision previously thought impossible, astounded researchers said Wednesday.

A team that measured every single wing beat of 14 birds during 43 minutes of a migratory flight found that each animal positioned itself in just the right place in relation to the others, and timed its flaps so as to gain the most aerodynamic advantage.

Thieves tried to steal the ashes of Sigmund Freud, regarded as the father of modern psychoanalysis, and his wife Martha from a Jewish cemetery in London, police said Wednesday.

The ashes were contained in an ancient urn dating back to the third century BC, which was severely damaged during the attempted theft sometime around New Year's Eve.

Astronomers on Wednesday reported a potentially rich source of exoplanets -- those in solar systems other than our own -- in stellar masses known as star clusters.

Hundreds of exoplanets have been found since the first was spotted in 1995, but very few have been found inside star clusters, where hundreds of stars, often born at the same time, gather in the same neighborhood of the galaxy.

European Parliament signed off Tuesday on new carbon dioxide restrictions for commercial vans that will slash emissions by 28 percent from 2020.

Under the rules, all new light commercial vehicles sold across the European Union will emit a maximum 147 grams of CO2 per kilometer instead of 203 grams as per the level set in 2007.

A 375 million-year-old fossil has shed new light on the theory of evolution, challenging the widespread view that large hind appendages first appeared after vertebrates transitioned from the water to land.

A report published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences said the well-preserved pelves and partial pelvic fin of a Tiktaalik roseae -- which looked like a cross between a crocodile and a fish -- indicated that hind legs actually began as hind fins.

Inspired by nature and by the aviation pioneers of the early 20th century, scientists in the United States said Wednesday they had built the world's first jellyfish aircraft.

The tiny, ultra-light lab machine, weighing just 2.1 grams (0.07 ounces), is the first man-made flying object to hover and move with a motion like that of the jellyfish in water, the inventors believe.

A scientist published a guide Wednesday to help authorities limit deaths from fallout after a city is hit by a nuclear bomb.

Taking cover in existing buildings is widely accepted as a critical first action after a nuclear blast in a major city.

Indonesia's Mount Sinabung erupted more than 30 times Tuesday spewing lava and ash clouds over a wide area, officials said, with more than 26,000 people now forced to flee their homes.

Sinabung, which lies in the northwest of Indonesia's Sumatra island, sent hot rocks and ash 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) into in the air, spreading hot clouds over a 4.5 kilometers radius, the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation told Agence France Presse.

Are people with kids happier than people without? In the United States, those with and without kids rate their lives about the same, but globally children tend to diminish well-being, said a study Monday.

The results were derived from two major surveys by Gallup that included almost three million people worldwide.