Engineers said Friday they had built a device using mass-produced video gaming equipment that lets disabled people control a computer with just their eyes -- with a price tag of under $30 (25 euros).

The gadget comprises two video game console cameras, costing less than $10 apiece, attached outside the line of vision to a pair of ordinary glasses, reported the team from Imperial College London.

South African scientists said Thursday they had uncovered the most complete skeleton yet of an ancient relative of man, hidden in a rock excavated from an archaeological site three years ago.

The remains of a juvenile hominid skeleton, of the Australopithecus (southern ape) sediba species, constitute the "most complete early human ancestor skeleton ever discovered," according to University of Witwatersrand paleontologist Lee Berger.

French scientists on Wednesday announced they had sequenced the DNA code of the banana, a vital crop whose future is darkened by emerging pests and complicated by its strangely inbred character.

Researchers unraveled the genome of a wild Asian banana strain called Musa acuminata in a bid to pinpoint genes that could help yields, fruit quality and resistance to fungus threats.

A small crustacean parasite which feeds on fish in the Caribbean has been named after Bob Marley, in what the biologist who discovered it calls a tribute to the late reggae icon.

The tiny shellfish, a blood feeder that inhabits the coral reefs of the shallow eastern Caribbean, has been called Gnathia marleyi after the Jamaican music legend.

Britain on Thursday released an archive of "X-Files" detailing government UFO briefings and probes into unexplained sightings, including one above Chelsea football club.

The 25 files released by The National Archives include "a lengthy briefing on UFO policy to then prime minister Tony Blair's office" along with a job description for the post of UFO desk officer, described as the "weirdest job in Whitehall."

In arid southern Peru, geologists are fighting time and the elements to preserve a precious find: a vast whale cemetery dating back millions of years.

The fossilized remains of roughly 15 of the majestic marine mammals alive three to 20 million years ago are currently on view in the Ocucaje desert some 310 kilometers (190 miles) south of the capital Lima.

South Korea says it may scrap research whaling plans that have been widely criticized.

Fisheries official Kang Joon-suk said Wednesday that Seoul may drop the plans if it finds ways to study whales without killing them.

Scientists held a mock funeral march Tuesday marking the "death of evidence" in Canada, accusing the ruling Tories of muzzling government scientists to advance a political agenda that ignores research findings.

The procession of 200 scientists in lab coats lead by pallbearers carrying a coffin winded silently through downtown Ottawa's streets to Parliament, where a mock funeral service was held for scientific programs cut in recent budgets.

The death of a baby panda in Japan stopped regular television programming and brought a Tokyo zoo director to tears Wednesday, a week after its birth sent ripples of excitement across the nation.

Newscasts had dedicated a nightly segment to the male cub's daily activities since his birth on July 5, with retailers unveiling a host of panda-themed products in celebration.

Severe droughts, floods and heat waves rocked the world last year as greenhouse gas levels climbed, boosting the odds of some extreme weather events, international scientists said Tuesday.

The details are contained in the annual State of the Climate report, compiled by nearly 400 scientists from 48 countries and published in the peer-reviewed Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society.