Astronomers are gearing for one the rarest events in the Solar System: an alignment of Earth, Venus and the Sun that will not be seen for another 105 years.

The celestial ballet known as the Transit of Venus is one of the most eagerly-awaited events in sky watching, an episode that has advanced the frontiers of knowledge, sometimes with dramatic consequences.

Climate researchers said Thursday the planet could warm by more than 3.5 degrees Celsius (6.3 degrees Fahrenheit), boosting the risk of drought, flood and rising seas.

The U.N.'s target is a 2 C (3.6 degree Fahrenheit) limit on warming from pre-industrial levels for manageable climate change.

Argentine experts have discovered the near-complete remains of a new species of Jurassic-era dinosaur that stood on its rear legs and had tiny arms, a leading paleontologist said Thursday.

The find belongs to the Abelisaurus family, "the most common carnivorous species in the southern hemisphere during the Cretaceous Period," some 70 to 100 million years ago, paleontologist Diego Pol told Agence France Presse.

The U.S. company SpaceX on Thursday prepared for the climax of its Dragon capsule's landmark mission to the International Space Station with a high-stakes bid to latch on to the orbiting research lab.

The unmanned, cargo-carrying supply ship on Friday aims to become the first privately owned craft to berth with the $100 billion space station, thereby restoring U.S. access to the space outpost after the shuttle program's end.

Australian researchers tracking life on the Great Barrier Reef said Friday they have proven a long-debated theory that fish born in marine reserves boost overall ocean stocks by dispersing widely.

The team, from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, used DNA testing to track the spread of baby coral trout and stripey snappers from their spawning on the reef's Keppel Island marine reserve, where fishing is illegal.

Street lights have an unexpectedly strong effect on insect populations, favoring some species while punishing others, according to a study released Wednesday that raises new questions about human impact on wildlife.

Researchers led by Thomas Davies at the University of Exeter, southwestern England, spent three days in August 2011 placing insect traps around Helston, a small town in Cornwall.

Biologists on Wednesday reported they had discovered a new sensory organ on blue, humpback, minke and fin whales that helps explain why these mammals are so huge.

In a study appearing in the journal Nature, researchers in the United States and Canada said the organ is located at the tip of the whale's chin, in a niche of fibrous tissue that connects the lower jaw bones.

The French media like to call him the "Indiana Jones of the graveyards", but perhaps a better tag would be the Sherlock Holmes of forensic science.

With powerful microscopes and hi-tech diagnostics that tease out chemical signatures and DNA telltales, pathologist Philippe Charlier pores over centuries-old remains to probe the riddles of history.

Opening a new, entrepreneurial era in spaceflight, a ship built by a billionaire businessman sped toward the International Space Station with a load of groceries and other supplies after a spectacular middle-of-the-night blastoff.

The launch of the Falcon 9 rocket and its unmanned Dragon capsule marked the first time a commercial spacecraft has been sent to the orbiting outpost.

A European envoy held out a possible compromise in a fight with China over carbon emissions charges on airlines, saying Wednesday that Europe might alter its system if Beijing helps negotiate global regulations.

China, India, the United States and Russia oppose the European Union charges that took effect Jan. 1. Beijing has barred its carriers from cooperating and has suspended purchases of European aircraft.