ENVIRONMENT

Too many people spend money they haven't earned, to buy things they don't want, to impress people they don't like.

Environmental News You Shouldn't Miss

It is great to see Aussie brands we know and love taking an interest in the need to be green and putting their money and research into re-creating their traditional products.

A voice for endangered animals everywhere.

Salvage crews are in a desperate rush to off-load oil from Rena, a Liberia-flagged 47,000-tonne vessel, which crashed into a reef Wednesday morning. NZ weather forecasters have announced possible gale-force winds from Monday afternoon, causing fears of the cargo ship sustaining more damages and sinking in the waters with its oil cargoes.

Maritime New Zealand said some fuel from hydraulic pumps on the Rena, a Liberia-flagged 235m vessel, had leaked, but its fuel tanks were still intact.

British scientists warned on Thursday exposure to filtered sunlight is still dangerous. They said sunlight at the break and end of the day still places people at the risk of acquiring skin cancer.

A Princeton University graduate student has created a real flying carpet, a sheet of plastic that travels through the air in a manner not unlike the way giant manta rays swim through the water.

More evidence the Australian economy is better placed than all the business and consumer sentiment surveys have been suggesting.

Environmental News You Shouldn't Miss

British researchers have found in a new study that culling Tasmanian Devils will not stop the spread of the Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD) affecting the animals.

A container ship carrying around 1700 tonnes of fuel has crashed into a reef off the coast of Tauranga. New Zealand Dive and Salvage general manager Howard Saunders says Rena looks to be "well stuck."

The Tasmanian devil could become extinct in 25 years if an infectious cancer would not be properly managed, experts predict. A study's findings on the threat to the devils were reported in the Journal of Applied Ecology, published by the British Ecological Society.

More than one billion people are using Google Earth making the map app one of the most downloadable software of all time. Google Inc. announced the milestone on Wednesday as it revealed that the free online Earth atlas is not only a useful tool for travelers.

Growing your own fish food for aquaponics is the holy grail for many folk wishing to be autonomous and not dependent on commercial fish food pellets.

Watch out the Abominable Snowman, scientists are out to get you. An international team of scientists including Russian and the U.S. researchers will hunt down the mythical Yeti after a spurt of sightings in Kemerova region of Siberia.

Residents at Queensland State are outraged on the improper handling and management of the Queensland government after it failed to inform residents of the toxic gas coming out from explosive blasts in Queensland's giant open-cut coalmines.

Sea ice in the Arctic Ocean declined to its second lowest level on record last month, satellite observations show.

Environment Minister Vicky Darling has admitted water quality could have contributed to the poor health of fish in the Gladstone Harbour, as fishing and environmental groups have questioned the reliability of her report showing no significant changes were observed in the water analysis,

Scientists from various countries are joining forces in their search for the Siberian Yeti. Scientists estimate that there is a current population of at least several dozen Yeti in Kemerovo and the Altai region, considering reported sightings have tripled since 20 years ago.

University of Maryland's beautiful and butterfly-roofed WaterShed wins the 2011 Solar Decathlon in Washington, D.C., while Appalachian State's Solar Homestead picks up the People's Choice Award.

World's highest peak can now be viewed from the comfort of your personal computer.

The black-footed ferret was declared extinct in 1979, two years before a small band of survivors turned up in Wyoming. And now, after 30 years of rehab, the species is one of America's top conservation success stories.

The mysterious spotted creature was dropped off at the Chinese zoo is in fact a type of possum most likely smuggled into the country as a novelty pet. A Hong Kong animal enthusiast Danny Li contacted the zoo soon enough and informed them it was a spotted cuscus - a marsupial native to northern Australia, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia's Maluku Islands.

Bras, fake limbs and even sex toys can be kept out of the landfill through some innovative programs.

Not too long ago I was sitting with my step-brother Nicky in a small park in New York City, discussing the afterlife.

The demand for UV protection products could increase significantly in the near future with a reported unprecedented depletion of the Ozone layer above the Arctic this year. Decreases in overhead ozone lead to increases in surface ultraviolet radiation which have been known to have adverse effects to humans and other life forms.

Typhoon Nalgae is forecast to strike Vietnam at about 02:00 GMT on Oct. 5, with maximum sustained winds to the region of around120 km/h (74 mph).

US president Barack Obama copped a bit of flak in 2009 for appointing a Harvard law professor to a senior White House regulatory position.