Most of the spiral galaxies that decorate our universe have emerged from surprisingly violent pasts, says a new study. They grew their delicate spiral arms after being mashed into a pulp by vast collisions.

Heavy pummelling by icy comets could explain why Jupiter's two biggest moons – apparently close kin – look so different inside. At first glance, Ganymede and Callisto are virtually twins. The colossal moons are similar in size and mass, and are a roughly 50:50 mixture of ice and rock. However, visits by the Galileo spacecraft beginning in 1996 tell a different story.

Elaborate eye make-up worn by Ancient Egyptians not only made for a dramatic look, but also protected against disease, says a new study.

Starting 4,000 years ago, Egyptians manufactured the make-up with lead and lead salts in mixtures that sometimes took a month to concoct, said lead author Philippe Walter, of the National Centre for Scientific Research and the Louvre Museum in Paris, France.

Astronomers have made the first direct capture of a spectrum of light from a planet outside the Solar System and are deciphering its composition.

The light was snared from a giant planet that orbits a bright young star called HR 8799 about 130 light-years from Earth, said the European Southern Observatory (ESO).

Scientists from the University of South Florida in Tampa have found a green sea slug is able to synthesize chlorophyll like a plant, which makes it the first animal known to be capable of the feat.

An Australian Aboriginal dreaming story has helped experts uncover a meteorite impact crater in the outback of the Northern Territory.

Duane Hamacher, an astrophysicist studying Aboriginal astronomy at Sydney's Macquarie University, used Google Maps to search for the signs of impact craters in areas related to Aboriginal stories of stars or stones hitting the ground.

Telescopic surveys have detected a handful of very faint nearby galaxies, the dimmest of which is just a few hundred times as bright as the sun.

But even dimmer galaxies are likely hiding out there, say James Bullock of the University of California in Irvine and his colleagues.

A complex form of mathematical symmetry linked to string theory [called E8] has been glimpsed in the real world for the first time, in laboratory experiments on exotic [super chilled] crystals.

For those who fret that their hard-earned money might be wasted on a dud computer game, help could soon be at hand. A new breed of game aims to suit everyone by adapting to an individual's playing style.

Some people see lemons and make lemonade. William Kamkwamba saw wind and made a windmill.

This might not seem like a mighty feat. But Kamkwamba, who grew up in Masitala, a tiny rural farming village off the grid in Malawi, was 14 years old in 2001 when he spotted a photo of a windmill in a U.S. textbook one day. He decided to make one, hacking together a contraption from strips of PVC pipe, rusty car and bicycle parts and blue gum trees.