SCIENCE

Despite the criticisms that the Labor government received for the proposed carbon tax, four major global green investment groups backed the carbon tax and said it will provide economic benefits to Australia.

Mark your calendars. October 21 is the end of the world, at least according to U.S. Christian broadcaster Harold Camping

Recently, scrotal elephantiasis caught the attention of people, especially men, worldwide. This happened after Wesley Warren Jr, a brave man from Los Angeles, exposed his unusual condition on Howard Stern’s radio and even on national television. He is hoping to raise $1 million for a surgery that will treat his swelling scrotum.

Several research studies have revealed cave-like formations about a meter deep in the moon which scientists believe were actually entrances to a complex labyrinth of lunar tunnels.

The formation of the youngest plant from gas and dust was captured by a University of Hawaii astronomer Adam Kraus.

More Australians are taking public transportation to move around and biking to reach their destinations. The shift toward more environment-friendly and healthier transport options is one of the findings of the State of Australian Cities 2011 report released on Thursday.

German satellite ROSAT is expected to fall directly on earth this weekend. A month ago, scientists and space experts were all worried about a deadly collision with the UARS satellite from NASA. And ROSAT is another falling junk that people should worry about.

Space tourists will soon be able to fly to suborbital space to experience moments of weightlessness and feel the thrill of seeing the Earth.

Some people panicked when soothsayers predicted that the approach of Comet Elenin would trigger catastrophic earthquakes and tsunamis, or worse, suggesting that Elenin was not a comet but a rogue planet called Nibiru that would usher in the Apocalypse.

The impact of a giant meteorite hitting the Earth may resemble a volcanic eruption.

Will government regulation on laser hair removal protect people from being burned as they have unwanted hair removed? If you asked consumer magazine Choice Australia, the answer will be yes.

Looks like the Space Race isn't over after all. The United States may have put the first man on the moon by Russian scientists and cosmonauts are now looking to start the first lunar base.

Oil and containers that have fallen off the ill-fated cargo ship Rena have begun washing up more than 130 kilometres away on scenic East Cape beaches.

Newsweek releases its 2011 Green Rankings. What other U.S. companies are seriously green?

Northern Queensland received a record 112 millimetres of rain on Tuesday in just 13 hours from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. The rainfall broke the 1964 record of 86.6 mm.

A 3.3 magnitude earthquake struck Adelaide CBD, waking up residents at 2:22am Wednesday. The shallow quake was felt across the city for about five seconds, with the epicentre believed to be in the south eastern suburb of Upper Sturt, according to ABC news.

Earlier this year, Enrique Lucero Leon, a fisherman in California, brought home something unexpected after fishing – a 22 inch albino Cyclops shark. It happened in July but photos released on the internet are still catching people’s attention.

Controversy appears to await Queen Elizabeth even before she arrived on Wednesday night in Canberra. An animal rights group is threatening to hold a protest while Queensland flood victims feel slighted by the non-inclusion of their area in what could be the royal's last visit to Australia.

Governments and private health institutions around the world have been engaged in a battle to fight Malaria, a disease that kills more than 1 million people annually and second to Tuberculosis in as far as effects on world health is concerned.

The latest controversy about the lost Da Vinci Masterpiece could have made Christie’s auction house $21,000 richer. Martin Kemp, an art historian from the University of Oxford, believes that the mystery painting came from a wedding book. The book was believed to be Da Vinci’s gift to the Duke of Milan’s daughter on her wedding.

A dead taxi driver from the U.K. became the first man in 3,000 years to be mummified like ancient Egypt's pharaohs; his body will not decompose for several millennia.

Commercial spaceflight company Virgin Galactic has officially opened its spaceport in New Mexico, USA to serve as the jump-off point of space tourists 12 months from now.

In 500 years some of man's greatest cities, like London and New York will be underwater. Unless the effects of global warming can be reversed, rising sea levels will continue to rise in the next 500 years and flood most cities on the coast.

Climate change and its menaces should be dealt with promptly to reduce possible threats to the well-being of people worldwide.

The Orionid meteor shower is the second meteor shower astronomers can look forward to in October. The more dramatic Draconid meteor shower blazed its way across the night sky in early October but for those who missed the Draconids, the Orionids offer a more reliable stargazing experience that is no less spectacular.

Robots still have a long way to go before they can rival humans in visual perception. A recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences proved that machines still struggle with interpreting visual patterns as compared to their human counterparts.

In August 1883, a Mexican astronomer took a picture that was later regarded as the first photographic evidence of extraterrestrial life. Now some astronomers think this photograph wasn't evidence of life on another planet but a comet that could have obliterated all life on Earth.

The chance of anyone being hit by the debris of the defunct German satellite ROSAT's X-ray telescope, expected to fall to Earth this week, is one in 2,000, but what is sure is that 1.6 tons space junk will re-enter the atmosphere.

The Orionid meteor shower 2011 will be seen on Friday, the dawn of October 21. So if you want to catch the meteor shower, you can either sleep early to wake up at dawn or not to sleep at all. The skies may not be perfectly dark but it will not be too bad for an amazing show.