EARTH

A pair of white dwarf stars whirling around each other once every 39 minutes will merge and reignite as a helium-burning star in about 37 million years, astronomers said.

The Arctic region has suffered an ozone column loss of about 40 percent from the beginning of the winter to late March this year, but the unprecedented ozone destruction was rather expected, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said.

A European Space Agency satellite has measured record low levels of ozone over the Arctic, creating a situation similar to the ozone hole over the Antarctic.

A new study by astronomers has shed light on new light on the evolution of stars, including our own sun.

Astronomers have found that a planet's rings can be affected by specific events that occurred decades, not millions of years, ago.

The star-studded Christie's Green Auction: Bid to Save the Earth which took place at Rockefeller Center in New York on March 29, raised a staggering $1.4 million.

China has set its total output of rare earth at 93,800 tonnes this year, 4,600 tonnes more or 5.16 percent higher compared to last year's, the Ministry of Land and Resources said on Thursday.

A sophisticated satellite of the European Space Agency (ESA) has mapped Earth's gravity with unprecedented precision, helping scientists have clearer understanding of the variation in the gravitational force in different parts of the planet and how this may affect crucial events like an earthquake.

The rare earth minerals company Molycorp Inc has announced that it has entered into a cooperative research and development agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory.

Some of the world's top international collectors, philanthropists, celebrities and designers were present at the 2011 Christie's Green Auction, Bid to Save the Earth, on March 29, 2011 at Rockefeller Center in New York.

The world turned off its lights on March 26 for an hour from 8.30 p.m. local time as a show of support for tougher action to confront climate change.

The symbolic action of turning lights out for an hour in an expression of concern for the environment is in the process of being officially observed in thousands of communities across 134 countries and territories on Australia, Asia, Africa and Europe.

Lights being turned off in homes, businesses and public buildings in Fiji and New Zealand at 8:30 PM local time marked the commencement of Earth Hour 2011, with widespread endorsement of the message that the world and its environment need commitments for action going “beyond the hour”.

As the world joins in the fight against climate change today, during the Earth Hour 2011, US-based Australian model and global ambassador of 2011 Earth Hour Miranda Kerr reaches out to her Myspace audiences through a unique program called Hijack.

Earth Hour has already passed for Asia and Australia. For the Middle East and Africa, it's hours away. For North America and Europe, there is plenty of time to prepare for Earth Day.

While countries around the world wait for clock to strike 8.30 p.m. tonight, here's an Earth Hour 2011 official video showing the world during the past years' Earth Hour campaign.

Two weeks has passed since a massive earthquake and the ensuing tsunami struck Japan to cause one of the most severe natural disasters in Japanese history.

At 8:30 PM on Saturday 26th March 2011, lights will switch off around the globe for Earth Hour and people will commit to actions that go beyond the hour.

The triple disaster in Japan and the ongoing turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa likely would have only a limited impact on the global economy - provided the twin shocks of higher oil prices and the supply chain disruptions from Japan do not get much worse, market research firm IHS said.

Corrects story from March 22 to make fourth paragraph read “on a free on board basis” instead of “including the cost of insurance and freight”

China's exports of rare earth metals burst through the $100,000-per-tonne mark for the first time in February, up almost ninefold from a year before, while the volume of trade stayed far below historical averages.