Science - AFP

THE HAGUE (AFP) - A Boeing 747, one of four engines powered by a 50-percent biokerosene mix, circled the Netherlands for an hour on Monday for what airline KLM called the world's first passenger flight using biofuel.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States will announce a target for reducing its greenhouse gas emissions before the UN climate conference in Copenhagen, removing a major obstacle to a deal, a senior official said Monday.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Thousands of animal species thrive in the ocean depths beyond the reach of sunlight, between 200 to 5,000 meters below the surface, an international team of scientists has reported after nearly 10 years of research.

SYDNEY (AFP) - More than 100, and possibly hundreds, of Antarctic icebergs are floating towards New Zealand in a rare event which has prompted a shipping warning, officials said on Monday.

GENEVA (AFP) - Greenhouse gas emissions have kept increasing, reaching a record level since the pre-industrial era, the UN climate agency warned Monday, just weeks before a crucial climate change summit.

PARIS (AFP) - Tackling climate change should also include providing low-carbon energy to the poor, UN agencies said Monday, pointing out that almost one third of the world?s population remains in the dark at night.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Astronauts from the US shuttle Atlantis Monday concluded the third and final spacewalk of their mission to maintain and install more high-tech equipment on the International Space Station.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A new detailed map of Mars shows what was likely a vast ocean in the north and valleys around the equator, suggesting that the planet once had a humid, rainy climate, according to research published Monday.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Monday that the emerging economy was ready to do more on climate change if developed nations make financial commitments.

OSLO (AFP) - After wind, sun, currents and tides, a company is preparing to make clean electricity by harnessing another natural phenomenon, the energy-unleashing encounter of freshwater and seawater.

PARIS (AFP) - The East Antarctic icesheet, once seen as largely unaffected by global warming, has lost billions of tonnes of ice since 2006 and could boost sea levels in the future, according to a new study.

DALI, China (AFP) - In the mountains above the southwestern Chinese town of Dali, dozens of new wind turbines dot the landscape -- a symbol of the country's sky-high ambitions for clean, green energy.

LONDON (AFP) - Prime Minister Gordon Brown warned fellow world leaders on Sunday that they "cannot afford to fail" to strike a substantial deal on climate change in Copenhagen next month.

GABORONE (AFP) - Tourists love to watch herds of elephants trekking across Botswana's famed Okavango Delta, but nearby farmers watch in dismay when the animals trample their crops, leaving them little to eat.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Shuttle Atlantis astronauts on Saturday completed the second of their mission's three spacewalks to maintain and install more high-tech gadgets on the International Space Station.

SYDNEY (AFP) - Australia has issued "catastrophic" alerts after record-breaking temperatures and wild lightning storms sparked more than 100 fires across the country, officials said Saturday.

GUATEMALA CITY (AFP) - Central American nations will demand 105 billion dollars from industrialized countries for damages caused by global warming, the region's representatives said on Friday.

MORELIA, Mexico (AFP) - The mysterious Monarch butterfly, which migrates en masse annually between Canada and Mexico, is now facing a new peril: another insect thriving in Western Mexican forests.

JAKARTA (AFP) - Hundreds of Greenpeace activists rallied Saturday in support of a commitment by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to reduce greenhouse gas emissions caused by deforestation.

GENEVA (AFP) - The world's biggest atom smasher, the Large Hadron Collider, began firing beams of protons in opposite directions on Monday, with scientists describing initial progress as an "enormous success."

BRUSSELS (AFP) - European labour markets have seen employment gains since 2000 virtually wiped out by the economic crisis of the past two years, a European Commission report said Monday.

BRUSSELS (AFP) - The UN's top climate negotiator voiced optimism Monday that a deal can be salvaged next month at world talks on global warming, but said US President Barack Obama must offer a target and financing.

GENEVA (AFP) - Scientists on Monday hailed the restart of the the Large Hadron Collider as an "enormous success," as two beams began circulating simultaneously in the world's biggest atom-smasher.

BRUSSELS (AFP) - The UN's top climate negotiator voiced optimism Monday that a deal can be salvaged next month at world talks on global warming, but said US President Barack Obama must first get on board.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Astronauts from the US space shuttle Atlantis began the third and final spacewalk of their mission aimed at building the International Space Station, NASA reported on Monday.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Astronauts from the US space shuttle Atlantis were to venture into open space on a third and final spacewalk of their mission aimed at maintaining and installing more high-tech equipment on the International Space Station.

GENEVA (AFP) - Flooding in the world's major port cities caused by melting icecaps could cause up to 28 trillion dollars (18 trillion euros) in damage in 2050, environmental group WWF said in a report Monday.

LAS TABLAS DE DAIMIEL NATIONAL PARK, Spain (AFP) - Columns of smoke and the acrid smell of burning peat now greet visitors to one of the largest wetland zones in Europe, where smouldering fires in the subsoil are causing alarm among environmentalists.