Minke Whales, Adélie Penguins, Mars & Dunlop

Greenpeace vessels have been involved in a stand-off in the Antarctic with Japanese whaling ships in an attempt to disrupt the planned killing of 400 Minke whales.

Large numbers of Adélie penguins are dying from an unidentified disease near the Australian Mawson base.

The Mars Odyssey spacecraft has uncovered preliminary yet tantalising evidence for water near the surface of Mars and away from the permanently frozen north polar ice cap.

In a move that raises corporate branding to new levels, a North American tyre maker is offering $16,000 to people willing to alter their family name and embrace the company's Dunlop-Tire moniker as their own.