Himalayas

The rise of Tibet and the Himalayas along its southern fringes are enduring riddles that SinoProbe II data might be able to crack, says Simon Klemperer, a geophysicist at Stanford University.

Red pandas are native to the eastern Himalayas and south western China but have become an endangered species, mainly due to habitat loss, human interference and poaching.

A British climber who went missing in the Himalayas has spoken of her relief after surviving for two days in "brutal" conditions that put her life in danger.

Pressure from the collision of the Indian and the Eurasian plates 40-50 million years ago formed the Himalayas and plate tectonics remains the major reason for their continued rise.

There are thousands of glaciers and glacial lakes in the Himalayas – but very few in the Everest region are monitored and have early flood warning systems installed.