EARTH

The US Department of Energy has released a critical materials strategy based on extensive research by the Department during the past year examining the role of earth metals and other materials in the clean energy economy.

China has assured the European Union its rare earths shipments to the bloc will not be disrupted, EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht said in Beijing on Tuesday.

The angry mob battling the police in their riots gear at the heart of Moscow screamed, Russia for Russians! The slogans spread to the Country's second largest city of St. Petersburg. In rather a dramatic fashion, the death of one Russian football fan sparked riots that soon engulfed the whole of the country. Local media has been reporting that city centers have been shut time and again and roads were frequently blocked, over the past couple of days, following sporadic incidents.

After Google Maps, Google Places and Google Earth, and a host of other ground-breaking products and apps, the Internet giant has now soft-launched the ‘Google Body Browser’, which tech analysts say is the Google Earth of the human body.

There’s hope for polar bears, but it depends on human behavior.

Toyota Tsusho Corp, the trading company part-owned by Toyota Motor Corp will build a rare earth processing plant in India to secure supply sources outside China.

Sumitomo Corp <8053.T> is in talks with Molycorp on a rare earth supply deal and may take a stake in the U.S. company, the latest move by a Japanese firm to secure supplies of the crucial minerals outside China.

Google has launched a new Google Labs product called Google Earth Engine at the International Climate Change Conference in sunny Cancun, Mexico, said Google blog post.

Thieves in Britain are using Google Earth to target lead roofs on Church of England buildings to sell on the lucrative metals market, a Church spokesman said.

The disappearance of coastal wetlands around the world by the end of the 21st century is a distinct possibility, a new study finds.

A magnetic filament erupted on Tuesday in the Sun, which is heading towards the Earth. The eruption might stimulate auroras particularly in the polar regions on December 3.

Armed with new researches and discoveries, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is back in the news again. While NASA promised to provide insights into its findings on astrobiology on Thursday, there have been several other developments at the agency this week.

The Stanford Law School and the Graduate School of Business have come together to drive the energy revolution forward through the establishment of the Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance - an interdisciplinary center to study and advance the development and deployment of clean energy technologies through innovative policy and finance.

Google has introduced its latest version of Google Earth, their interactive digital atlas.

The U.S. has many doubts about its long-term ally Turkey's dependability as a partner, according to diplomatic cables that were leaked by WikiLeaks on Sunday evening.

Voting is underway to elect a new president in the cholera-hit Haiti. International observers are on the watch hoping that the elections will lead to a stable government capable of administering the humanitarian aid flowing into the country. Almost $900 million of the pledged $2.12 aid has been disbursed by 24 donor nations. Armed peacekeepers are on guard at polling booth across the capital of Port-au-Prince.

Two Americans and a Russian have landed safely in Kazakhstan in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft after ending their 5-1/2 month stay at the International Space Station.

The European Union is attempting to find alternate sources of rare earth mineral after China's exports of the mineral fell drastically last month.

Researchers have found that one of the Jupiter's stripes that disappeared last spring is now showing signs of a comeback. The latest observations will help scientists better understand the interaction between Jupiter's winds and cloud chemistry.

Iceland’s decision to resume international trade in whale meat with Japan brought a sternly worded response from U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke.

London is better than Paris, at least according to French tourism officials who believe that London has replaced Paris from Europe’s leading spot for most tourist-friendly city, says a survey results.