Washington, Apr 24 : An international team of scientists has successfully sequenced cow's genome, thus paving the way for more sustainable food production.

A research team involving 300 researchers from 25 countries spent six years mapping and analysing the genetic make-up of a Hereford cow, named L1 Dominette.

The findings of this study provide the means to select animals with a smaller environmental footprint, particularly animals with less greenhouse gas emissions.

London, Apr 24 : Researchers at Seoul National University in South Korea have created the world''s first transgenic dog.

Cloned beagle named Ruppy - short for Ruby Puppy - and four other beagles all produce a fluorescent protein that glows red under ultraviolet light.

The research team led by Byeong-Chun Lee created the dogs by cloning fibroblast cells that express a red fluorescent gene produced by sea anemones, reports New Scientist.

London, April 24 : An ice collapse near the base of Mount Everest has blocked the route of scores of climbers hoping to scale the world's highest peak.

According to a report in The Daily Telegraph, no one was reported injured in the ice collapse, but the route has been blocked for a few days, Ang Tshering of the Nepal Mountaineering Association, told The Daily Telegraph.

The section of the route called the Khumbu Icefall just above the base camp is one of the riskiest areas on the way to Everest's summit.

Washington, April 24 : A new study has suggested that some coral reefs off East Africa are unusually resilient to climate change, and can be termed as `super reefs'.

The study, conducted by researchers at the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), showed that the reefs have become super tough due to improved fisheries management and a combination of geophysical factors.

The study found that Tanzania's corals recovered rapidly from the 1998 bleaching event that had wiped out up to 45 percent of the region's corals.

Washington, April 24 : In a new research of ice cores by scientists, it has been revealed that a vast, potential source of the potent greenhouse gas, methane, is more stable in a warming world than previously thought.

The finding includes Australian contributions from CSIRO and the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO).

Wetlands in the tropics and emerging from under receding Northern Hemisphere glaciers have been considered the primary source of rising atmospheric methane in a warming world.

Washington  - The fifth and last mission to repair the ageing Hubble Space Telescope could launch a day earlier than planned, officials at the US space agency said Thursday.

The space shuttle Atlantis was to take off from its Florida launch site on May 12 and could likely take off at 2:01 pm (1801 GMT) on May 11, officials at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said.

"I'm fairly confident that we can make a May 11 launch date," said LeRoy Cain, deputy manager of the Space Shuttle Programme.