Are we heading for a human-powered future? Would you still watch your favourite television program if you had to cycle for an hour before you could view it? Couch potatoes will be horrified, but fresh advances in human-powered technology — where users power appliances through their own motion — could one day see a ‘workout-to-watch’ scenario become reality. — CNN

Ivory Poaching At Critical Levels. African elephants are being slaughtered for their ivory at a pace unseen since an international ban on the ivory trade took effect in 1989. But the public outcry that resulted in that ban is absent today, and a University of Washington conservation biologist contends it is because the public seems to be unaware of the giant mammals’ plight. — Environmental News Network

Too Many People, Too Much Consumption. Four decades after his controversial book, The Population Bomb, scientist Paul Ehrlich still believes that overpopulation — now along with overconsumption — is the central environmental crisis facing the world. And, he insists, technological fixes will not save the day. — Yale Environment 360

An Offshore Oil Boom in the Gulf of Mexico. While American voters listen to John McCain and Barack Obama debate the question of removing a moratorium on offshore drilling along the Outer Continental Shelf, the Gulf of Mexico, which is responsible for more than a quarter of the country’s domestic oil supply, is undergoing a drilling boom. — Yahoo News