Dozens of space scientists are desperately scouring the skies after losing track of a quarter-of-a-billion-dollar Japanese satellite that was sent to study black holes.

The ultra-high-tech "Hitomi" -- or eye -- satellite was supposed to be busy communicating from orbit by now, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said, but no one can say exactly where it is.

After almost two years of coral bleaching, with some reefs bleaching twice and possibly three times since 2014, scientists have said that dire predictions of global coral decline made almost two decades ago may now be manifest.

The rolling underwater heatwave has now arrived upon the Great Barrier Reef, with mass die-offs expected along the northern quarter of the world’s preeminent coral ecosystem.

The hunters searching for mammoth tusks were drawn to the steep riverbank by a deposit of ancient bones. To their astonishment, they discovered an Ice Age puppy's snout peeking out from the permafrost.

Five years later, a pair of puppies perfectly preserved in Russia's far northeast region of Yakutia and dating back 12,460 years has mobilised scientists across the world. 

Fresh supplies shipped out late Tuesday for the International Space Station, where the shelves finally are getting full after a string of failed deliveries.

Launching beneath the light of a nearly full moon, the unmanned Atlas V rocket provided late-night sparkle as it headed north with its precious cargo and paralleled the East Coast on its way to orbit.

The United Nation's cultural body UNESCO has added 20 new sites to its network of protected biosphere nature reserves, including two in Canada and two in Portugal.

The status was conferred during a two-day meeting in Lima that ended Saturday, which brought the total number of biosphere reserves to 669 across 120 countries.

SeaWorld built its brand on a leaping and splashing killer whale named Shamu. She was part of its logo, gave her name to stadiums in the theme parks and was the inspiration for rides. The orca image sold T-shirts and soft, stuffed animals for the kids to take home.

With the company phasing out its killer whale program, it is forced to ponder the question: What is SeaWorld without Shamu?

Three new crew members have joined the International Space Station, including a U.S. grandfather who is poised to enter the record books during his time there, NASA said.

The Russian spacecraft carrying the astronauts docked at 0309 GMT Saturday some 407 kilometers (253 miles) above the Pacific Ocean, off the western coast of Peru, according to the American space agency.

The Swedish government said Friday it had asked the European Union to block the import of live American lobster, in a bid to avoid contamination of its native species.

Mexican officials late Thursday lifted a four-day air pollution alert in the nation's densely-populated capital after ozone levels dropped to acceptable levels.

Mexico City authorities issued the first air pollution alert in 14 years due to high ozone levels, restricting traffic, encouraging children to stay indoors and ordering factories to cut emissions.

NASA said it will test the effects of a large fire in space by setting off a blaze inside an orbiting unmanned space craft.

NASA has set off tiny controlled fires in space in the past, but never tested how large flames react inside a space capsule in space.