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Tourism Main Topic at Annual Antarctic Treaty Meeting

Brazilian Ministers of Environment, Foreign Affairs, and Defense, and the Commander of the Navy, during the opening session of XXXVII Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting in Brasilia on April 28, …more

Increased tourism on the world's iciest continent and its impact on the environment were set to top discussion at an annual Antarctic Treaty meeting that began Monday in Brasilia.

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Antarctic Prime Spot for Tuesday's Solar Eclipse

Earthlings get their first solar eclipse of the year Tuesday. But you have to be well south of the equator to see it.

The solar eclipse will be visible to skygazers in Antarctica, Australia, and the southern Indian Ocean about 0600 GMT (2 a.m. EDT). It's one of two solar eclipses in 2014, when the moon lines up between Earth and the sun. This one is a rare type of annular eclipse, meaning the sun will appear as a ring around the moon.

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Greenpeace Sends New Protest Ship as First Russian Arctic Oil Arrives

Greenpeace on Monday sent a protest ship to meet a Russian tanker carrying the first oil drilled offshore in the environmentally fragile Arctic.

The ship, Rainbow Warrior, is captained by Peter Willcox, who was among campaigners detained by Russian authorities last year after staging a high-profile protest against Arctic drilling.

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Carmakers Promise Chinese Drivers a Breath of Fresh Air

Air that's cleaner inside your car than on the outside -- in smog-weary China it's an attractive sales pitch, and the world's biggest automakers are racing to cash in.

To drive the point home, thick smog blanketed the Chinese capital when the Beijing auto show opened to the public in the past week, showcasing more than 1,000 vehicles in the globe's largest car market.

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Spanish Island to Be Fully Powered by Wind, Water

The smallest and least known of Spain's Canary Islands, El Hierro, is making a splash by becoming the first island in the world fully energy self-sufficient through combined water and wind power.

A wind farm opening at the end of June will turn into electricity the gusts that rake the steep cliffs and green mountains of the volcanic island off the Atlantic coast of Africa.

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German Mini Drones Rescue Bambis from Hay Shredders

A German wildlife rescue project is deploying small aerial drones to find and protect young deer hiding in tall grass from being shredded by combine harvesters cutting hay in spring.

The pilot project has shown great promise in spotting the young animals, about 100,000 of which fall victim in Germany every year to the large agricultural machines, said project spokesman Rolf Stockum on Friday.

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Japan Kicks off First Whale Hunt Since U.N. Court Ruling

A Japanese whaling fleet is set to leave port Saturday in the first hunt since the U.N.'s top court last month ordered Tokyo to stop killing whales in the Antarctic.

The departure of ships from Ayukawa in the country's northeast marks the annual start to a coastal whaling program not covered by the International Court of Justice's landmark ruling -- which found Japan's Southern Ocean expedition was a commercial activity masquerading as scientific research.

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Kazakh Satellite to Be Launched into Orbit

Kazakhstan's first-ever Earth observation satellite is to be fired into orbit next week from the European spaceport in Kourou in French Guiana, launch company Arianespace said.

The 830-kilogram (1,829-pound) orbiter will provide Kazakhstan with data for mapmaking and security, monitor changes in nature and agriculture, and provide support for rescue operations in case of natural disaster, it said in a statement.

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Genetic Code of Bloodsucking Tsetse Fly Cracked

Scientists said Thursday they have cracked the genetic code of the tsetse fly, potentially helping to tackle one of sub-Saharan Africa's most devastating livestock diseases as well as human sleeping sickness.

"Decoding the tsetse fly's DNA is a major scientific breakthrough," said Kostas Bourtzis from a joint body of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization and the International Atomic Energy Agency which sequenced the genome in a 10-year international effort.

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Bollywood Called to Arms against Climate Change

Bollywood's glitterati on Thursday heard an appeal to use their star power to fight climate change as they opened their first awards ceremony in the United States.

Bringing a somber note in the midst of Bollywood's trademark festive dancing, Rajendra Pachauri, the Indian scientist who leads the Nobel Prize-winning U.N. climate panel, took the stage in Tampa, Florida, to urge stars to channel their influence for the planet.

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