Smithsonian opens first lab outside US

PANAMA • The Smithsonian Institution has opened its first lab outside the United States, a US$20 million (S$27 million) research centre in Panama that will study the effects of climate change on tropical forests.

Billed as the largest scientific laboratory in Central America, it will monitor carbon dioxide levels and study how trees are changing with the changing climate, said Dr Matthew Larsen, director of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

MH370-linked debris 'not exposed to heat'

SYDNEY • Possible debris from missing passenger jet MH370 handed over by a US amateur investigator was not "exposed to heat or fire", the Australian authorities said yesterday, following speculation that it was blackened by flames.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau, which is coordinating the search for the Boeing 777 Malaysia Airlines plane, added that it was not yet able to link the pieces to MH370.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE