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NPR Science Correspondent Richard Harris traveled to Australia's Great Barrier Reef to find out how the coral reefs are coping with increased water temperature and increasing ocean acidity, brought about by our burning of fossil fuels. Day 4: Richard catches up with one of the gurus of climate science out on the reef.

Ken Caldeira loves a challenge, and he has a big one right under his feet. He's standing on an expanse of coral reef out in Australia's Great Barrier Reef. It's being washed with water as the tide streams over the reef, from a lagoon to the open sea.

Richard's Dispatches From Down Under

The Two-Way

Day 3: 'Birds Gone Wild' Out On Heron Island

NPR Science Correspondent Richard Harris traveled to Australia's Great Barrier Reef to find out how the coral reefs are coping with increased water temperature and increasing ocean acidity, brought about by our burning of fossil fuels. Day 3: Waiting for a boat to the next island, Richard meets some rowdy birds.

Weeds are not a true category of plant. A weed is simply a plant that's growing where a person wishes it weren't.

Richard's Dispatches From Down Under

The Two-Way

Day 2: A Turf Battle Rages On The Great Barrier Reef

Two Italian marines are returning to India to face charges stemming from the 2012 deaths of two Indian fisherman, Italian officials announced Thursday.

As we recounted recently, disagreement over how to handle the case had resulted in a diplomatic confrontation between India and Italy.

The marines had previously been allowed to leave India to vote in Italian national elections in late February, with the promise that they would return to face charges afterward. On March 11, the Italian government reversed course and decided it would not send the marines — Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone — back to face justice. In response, India was to insist that the Italian ambassador could not leave India.

Here's how the AP explains the shooting that led to the charges:

The Italian marines were on anti-pirate duty aboard a cargo ship off India's coast in February last year when the fishermen, aboard an Indian fishing boat, were killed.

Italy has insisted the shooting happened in international waters during an international anti-piracy mission and Italy should have jurisdiction.

Twenty years after multiple blasts ripped through India's commercial capital, Mumbai, killing more than 200 people, the country's Supreme Court has upheld the conviction of a leading Bollywood actor for his role in the attacks.

Sanjay Dutt was charged with possessing an AK-56 assault rifle and a pistol that were given to him by men who were later convicted for their role in the serial blasts in 1993. Dutt has already served 18 months of his original six-year prison sentence, but was released in 2007 pending an appeal. The Indian Supreme Court on Thursday reduced his sentence by a year, but ordered him to report to prison within the next month to serve out the remainder of his 3 1/2-year term.

Dutt has maintained that he'd asked for the guns for protection for his family. In a statement Thursday, he said he was "heartbroken."

"I have already suffered for 20 years and been in jail for 18 months," he said. "If they want me to suffer more, I have to be strong. I believe in the judicial system of India."

Here's more from The Associated Press about other ruling Thursday:

"A total of 100 people were convicted of involvement in the blasts.

"The court upheld the death sentence given to Yakub Memon, who is a brother of Ibrahim 'Tiger' Memon, a suspected mastermind of the bombings who remains at large. However, the court commuted to life in prison the death sentences given to 10 other men convicted of carrying out the blasts. Some of the men have been in prison for nearly two decades."