Washington, Dec 18 : A new research has determined that ocean acidification could result in broader disruptions of biological processes in the oceans.

The research was conducted by Donald Potts, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, US.

Ocean acidification is one of the side effects of the rising concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in Earth''s atmosphere due to the burning of fossil fuels.

Geneva - Officials from Russia and Georgia arrived along with mediators Thursday morning at the United Nations office in Geneva for their final day of talks before the end of the year.

This third round of meetings started the day before.

The sides to the talks - including the United States, European Union, UN and Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) - are expected to announce any progress in the afternoon.

Also attending the talks were officials from the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

London, Dec 18 : Hollywood actor Ben Affleck and musician Mick Jagger have joined hands to launch a short flick revealing the wretched plight of families living in the war-torn republic of Congo.

The flick named `Gimme Shelter' highlights the unbearable condition of 250,000 refugees in eastern DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo).

The UN''s refugee agency, the UNHCR, is hoping the film will help to raise 23million dollars to pay for emergency aid and clean water.

London, Dec 18 : If an international group of timekeeping experts has its way, this year's leap second will be one of the last, which might mean that Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) would lose its status as the zone in which local time is the same as the universal time by which clocks are set.

According to a report in The Times, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), which manages leap seconds, is proposing to abolish them in favour of adding a "leap hour" every 600 years or so.

The move would have important consequences for Britain.

London, Dec 18 : An Australian team of hypersonics engineers has suggested that a flawed calculation probably resulted in Beagle 2 tumbling out of control as it descended in 2003.

According to a report in New Scientist, mystery surrounds the loss of contact with the Beagle 2 spacecraft, which had entered the Martian atmosphere on Christmas Day
2003.

Until now, the loss of the probe has been attributed to the general failings of a poorly funded mission.

Despite an exhaustive enquiry by the European Space Agency, no single cause for the loss of the 50 million dollars spacecraft has been identified.

Beagle 2 was designed to self-stabilise during its descent through the Martian atmosphere.

Beijing - Chinese President Hu Jintao on Thursday hailed 30 years of economic reform and said the ruling Communist Party would continue to develop "Chinese Marxism."

"We will definitely hold high the great banner of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and continue to promote the sinification of Marxism," Hu said in a speech to mark the 30th anniversary of the start of economic reform.

Hu said the party would push forward its policies for reforming and opening the economy, while maintaining stability and promoting "contemporary Chinese Marxism."