Planting crop varieties that better reflect sunlight back out to space could reduce summertime temperatures by more than one degree Celsius in some parts of the world, researchers announced yesterday (15 January).

The reduction, they say, would at certain latitudes be equivalent to a seasonal offset of about 20 per cent of the regional warming expected by the end of this century due to the build-up of carbon dioxide.

Bizarre carnivorous sea squirts, large spider-like creatures and an ancient fossilised coral reef have all been found in a voyage into ultra-deep Australian waters.

The scientific examination Chronology of the Tasman Fracture, a four kilometre-deep crack in the earth's crust off the coast of Tasmania's south-west, has led to the discovery of creatures never seen before.

Ethiopia…land of the original coffee bean, breathtaking waterfalls, and the history-making, inspired leadership of Emperor Haile Selassie I. Ethiopian people are some of the most beautiful in the world, as well as some of the poorest. Too many people in this country suffer and die from diseases that are completely preventable, like podoconiosis.

Randy Truby's wardrobe -- broad, rectangular glasses; a long-sleeve navy blue corduroy shirt; navy slacks; and oxblood cowboy boots on an 80-degree day in Southern California -- does little to minimize his distinct physical presence. But an almost elfin energy animates Truby's big-fella frame when he starts talking about water. "If you consider rainfalls, and you look at rivers and lakes -- all that water is pretty well known," he says. "If you look at the Colorado River, that water is all adjudicated and consumed.

AUSTIN, Texas -- Austin seeks to go "zero waste or darn near" it according to drafters of the proposal adopted by the city.
The city has committed to reducing per capita solid waste sent to landfills and incinerators by 20 percent by 2012 and diverting 90 percent by 2040.