Water purification down the Nanotubes. Nanotechnology could be the answer to ensuring a safe supply of drinking water for regions of the world stricken by periodic drought or where water contamination is rife. Writing in the International Journal of Nuclear Desalination, researchers in India explain how carbon nanotubes could replace conventional materials in water-purification systems. — Science Daily

EPA ignores rocket fuel in drinking water. The Environmental Protection Agency in America has decided there’s no need to rid drinking water of a toxic rocket fuel ingredient that has fouled public water supplies around the country. The EPA reached the conclusion in a draft regulatory document not yet made public but reviewed Monday by AP. The ingredient, perchlorate, has been found in at least 395 sites in 35 states at levels high enough to interfere with thyroid function and pose developmental health risks, particularly for babies and fetuses, according to some scientists. — The Daily Green

Poachers turned protectors. Conservationists at the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE), University of Kent, are celebrating a double achievement – the success of a conservation programme in Rwanda that has helped turn gorilla poachers into ecotourism guides, and a major international award for the programme’s founder, alumnus Edwin Sabuhoro. — Science Daily

Consumption exceeds world resources. On September 23 — two weeks earlier than last year — the world will have consumed all the natural resources the Earth will provide for this calendar year. We’re building up “ecological debt” from there on out, according to The Global Footprint Network report. — The Daily Green

Nuclear waste for Oz. There are renewed calls for the Federal Government to scrap its plans to build a nuclear waste dump in the Northern Territory. A new storage facility for radioactive waste could be built at the Lucas Heights research reactor in Sydney. The Federal Government is also considering three sites in the Northern Territory for a long-term waste dump. — ABC