Back in 2012, the Sun erupted with a powerful solar storm that just missed the Earth but was big enough to "knock modern civilization back to the 18th century," NASA said.

The extreme space weather that tore through Earth's orbit on July 23, 2012, was the most powerful in 150 years, according to a statement posted on the U.S. space agency website Wednesday.

Earthlings often wonder if life exists on other planets, and researchers said Wednesday that hunting for traces of pollution from distant worlds could provide the answer.

A cargo craft successfully docked with the International Space Station, the Russian space agency Roskosmos said Thursday.

A food shortage likely caused by climate change is shrinking a South Antarctic fur seal colony and changing the profile of its surviving members, researchers said Wednesday.

Dogs show jealousy when their owners spend time with what appears to be another dog, suggesting that the emotion may have survivalist roots, U.S. researchers said Wednesday.

Scientists tested 36 dogs and their owners with an experiment in which the owners were told to play with three separate objects in front of their dog.

A robot ship will be launched from Kourou, French Guiana, after a five-day delay on July 29 to deliver provisions to the International Space Station, space transport firm Arianespace said Tuesday.

The new date follows "the completion of complimentary verifications and control measures" of the Ariane 5 ES launcher that will bear the vessel aloft, it said in a statement.

Elephants possess a sense of smell that is likely the strongest ever identified in a single species, according to a study by Japanese scientists out Tuesday.

The African elephant's genome contains the largest number of olfactory receptor (OR) genes -- nearly 2,000 -- said the study in the journal Genome Research.

Astronomers said Tuesday they have examined the remotest parts yet of an elliptical galaxy, Centaurus A, and discovered its starry halo was bigger, more lopsided and richer in heavy elements than expected.

The Hubble Space Telescope, a joint project of NASA and the European Space Agency, scanned the outskirts of the giant galaxy from its position in low Earth orbit, using ultra-sensitive onboard cameras.

Scientists said Tuesday they hope that radar technology will help them find a century-old Aboriginal burial ground on an Australian island, bringing some closure to the local indigenous population.

Peter Davies, from Queensland's University of the Sunshine Coast, is researching the ancient shoreline of World Heritage-listed Fraser Island, popular with tourists for its sandy beaches and dingo, or wild dog, population.

Last month was the hottest June since record-keeping began in 1880, according to a monthly report out Monday by U.S. government climate scientists.

The combined average temperature over land and ocean surfaces was a "record high for the month at 61.20 Fahrenheit (16.22 Celsius)," said the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.