News stories by Adrianne Appel* - Tierramérica

Stealthy submarine gliders slide through the depths of the Gulf of Mexico with the precision of birds of prey. Robot-like rovers search for droplets of oil thousands of metres under the surface. Powerful computerised analysers send instant results to scientists on board the ship above. All of this to assess the impact of disaster.

Warm ocean currents may have confused some 2,500 penguins from Argentina's Patagonia region that washed up -- dead and alive -- on Brazil's northern coast.