Prof Martin Taylor, vice president of the Royal Society, heads the list of scientists recognised in the New Year Honours.

He operates under the female pseudonym Gill, but former rugby player Roger Sanderson has sold millions of his Mills & Boon novels.

In the era of the high-def DVD and the ubiquitous game console, the board games unwrapped around the world on Christmas Day are a refreshing throwback. But is it all just a bit of fun or can we learn any valuable lessons from the roll of a dice?

A unifying message for Lebanon's rival factions emerges from a DNA study into the genes of their Phoenician ancestors.

Key facts, figures and dates

The UK should seize on Barack Obama's victory to reshape its national security policy, a major report argues.

A profile of Chancellor Alistair Darling as he delivers his first Budget.

Scientists use DNA to trace the migrations of a civilisation which dominated the Mediterranean thousands of years ago.

The growth in sales of mobile phone handsets slowed in the July to September period, according to new figures.

A company is fined after failing to identify asbestos during surveys at two schools.

Wales' newest university is accused of racism after a would-be student said she was told a course was not suitable for "Oriental people".

Is it time for the government to be more focused on people's emotional rather than financial well-being... and if so how should happiness be measured.

The number of fake £1 coins in circulation has doubled in the last five years to more than 30 million, the BBC learns.

British and German engineers are working on a potential new European mission to bring back material from an asteroid.

A new million pound laboratory to handle the growing demand for DNA testing opens in Cheshire.

The key sections of the Citizenship programme of study for Key Stage 3, extracted from The National Curriculum 2007, which relate to BBC News School Report.

The key sections of the ICT programme of study for Key Stage 3, extracted from The National Curriculum 2007, which relate to BBC News School Report.

A new study by scientists behind the controversial "hockey stick" climate graph suggests their earlier work was broadly correct.

Controversial artist Tracey Emin admits she is "scared" an exhibition looking back at 20 years of her work will be criticised.

Plutonium leaks at a lab run by the UN's nuclear watchdog near Vienna but Austrian officials insist no-one is at risk.