A hailstone weighing almost a kilo that fell in the state of South Dakota has been confirmed as the largest ever recovered in the USA.

A UN panel adds the Florida Everglades and Madagascar's tropical rainforest to a list of world heritage sites at risk.

The incoming BP chief executive has said it is time to scale back some parts of the oil spill clean-up in the Gulf of Mexico.

Land in the north of Chile is "ready" for another major earthquake, say researchers, adding that authorities did not act on previous warnings.

Scientists develop a device that allows people with severe disabilities to control a wheelchair and communicate by sniffing.

A desalination plant which begins operating in Madras on Saturday will provide some of the cheapest drinking water in India, backers say.

The largest wildlife census of its kind conducted in Chernobyl reveals evidence of mammals declining in the exclusion zone.

China is struggling with an arduous clean up after the country's worst oil spill, with grim conditions for those involved.

A wildlife reserve in the US has a new star attraction after a donkey there gave birth to a foal with stripy legs.

Animal welfare groups in Greece are calling for the closure of the country's first dolphinarium and urging schools not to visit the attraction.

Researchers identify rocks that they say could contain the fossilised remains of life on early Mars.

The X Prize foundation, best known for launching the private spaceflight industry, launches a $1.4 million oil clean-up challenge.

A UN panel votes to remove the Galapagos Islands from a "red list" of endangered heritage sites, to protests from a leading conservation group.

Russian sub searches Lake Baikal for energy reserves

Experts find new colonies of prehistoric shrimp

Rescue teams in north-east China are working to retrieve 3,000 barrels of chemicals washed into a major river, state media say.

The European Union and six member states have reached a deal on the experimental nuclear fusion reactor they are backing.

The cheetah, eradicated in India by hunting nearly a century ago, will run again in the country, as three sites are earmarked for its reintroduction.

A team of divers - known as Neptune's Army of Rubbish Cleaners - are stepping up efforts to keep Britain's coastline clean and litter free.

Environmental group WWF apologises to Saudi Arabia after one of its workers vandalised the country's nameplate at a climate conference.