New lease of life for war-torn White Elephant

CARPATHIAN MOUNTAINS, Ukraine - Perched 2,000 meters up on a snowcapped peak in Ukraine's Carpathian Mountains, the Bilyi Slon observatory has stood empty and battered by the elements for some seven decades.

Abandoned only a year after it was built in what was then Poland due to the outbreak of World War II, it became a carcass of thick sandstone walls and missing windows that looked more like a ruined castle than a scientific outpost.

Now, with efforts under way to raise around $1 million in funding, scientists aim to restore the wreck and transform it into a learning center for young researchers studying wildlife, plants and weather patterns.