A rare solar eclipse will sweep across parts of Africa, Europe and the United States on Sunday as the moon blocks the sun either fully or partially, depending on the location.

The round shape of the Earth explains why some viewers in west Africa will see a total eclipse, while others in the United States and Europe will only see the sun partly obscured.

The coldest place in the universe -- just one degree above absolute zero, the temperatures at which all atoms freeze -- is the Boomerang Nebula, astronomers in Chile said Wednesday.

It is about 5,000 light years away in the Centaurus constellation, the scientists at the ALMA observatory said.

Five large cannons from a sunken ship captained by the legendary pirate Blackbeard have been recovered by U.S. archeologists, authorities said Wednesday.

The cannons were raised from the wreck of the Queen Anne's Revenge, sunk off the coast of North Carolina, on Monday, state officials said.

Beirut Green Project, Lebanese Collective with a mission to promote and support public green spaces in Beirut, and WonderEight, Lebanese branding and interactive agency, announced the launch of Beirut Green Guide (BGG), an interactive map which highlights all public parks in Beirut and gives an overview of each, a press release said on Thursday.

The idea for the green guide was initiated in "Beirut Meets Hamburg", a workshop organized by BGP that brought together German and Lebanese students with the goal of coming up with creative solutions to the lack of green spaces in Beirut, the release added.

Scientists expressed "surprise and delight" Thursday after a new humpback dolphin species was identified off northern Australia, with genetic mapping singling out an animal not previously known to science.

A global team led by the U.S-based Wildlife Conservation Society made the discovery after examining almost 200 dead dolphins and tissue specimens from live animals across the four Atlantic, Indian and Indo-Pacific ocean areas where humpbacks are known to live.

A rare solar eclipse will sweep across parts of Africa, Europe and the United States on Sunday as the moon blocks the sun either fully or partially, depending on the location.

The round shape of the Earth explains why some viewers in west Africa will see a total eclipse, while others in the United States and Europe will only see the sun partly obscured.

France's Socialist government bowed to public pressure on Tuesday by suspending plans for an environmental tax on trucks, in its latest climbdown on a controversial tax hike.

Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said the new "ecotax" on commercial road transport, due to take effect on January 1, would be suspended after protests at the weekend in western France's Brittany turned violent.

The United States said Tuesday it would end most financing of coal projects overseas, taking a potentially significant step to curbing carbon emissions blamed for climate change.

The decision puts into action a pledge in June by President Barack Obama to pursue more climate-friendly development policies. The World Bank, where the United States holds the most voting power, also stated after Obama's pledge that it would stop most financing for coal, among the dirtiest forms of energy.

A line of mini-sharks thought to have perished in Earth's "Great Dying" event some 250 million years ago, in fact lived another 120 million years, said researchers Tuesday who found samples of their miniscule fossil teeth.

The strange creature, which measured no more than 30 centimeters (12 inches) in length and likely sported a hook-like protrusion in place of a dorsal fin, may have survived the calamity by hiding away in the deep seas, the research team wrote in the journal Nature Communications.

Australia launched a probe Wednesday into the agency responsible for protecting the Great Barrier Reef after some board members were urged to resign over alleged conflicts of interest related to the mining industry.

Environment Minister Greg Hunt ordered an investigation after the Australian Broadcasting Corporation aired allegations that coal and gas industry ties had seen the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) relax its stance on industrial development.