Japan-based car manufacturer, Nissan, develops a new quick-charging station for electric vehicles which is half the size and price of the current model, with initial installations planned in popular electric car regions throughout the country.

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/09/nissan-unveils-quick-charging-station-electric-cars.php
http://www.plugincars.com/quick-charging-plus-better-batteries-equals-mainstream-electric-cars-107844.html

A study by researchers at Australian National University published in the journal PNAS on Aug 29, 2011 combines decades of ecological data with direct field research as it concludes that logged forests are far more prone to burning and are thus at much higher risk of being consumed by catastrophic forest fires.

http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-09-forest-mega.html
http://www.sciencealert.com.au/news/20111209-22600.html

US geoscientists who have been studying Namibia's rock formations for a decade note as of September 2011 that this year's widespread, heavy rain has caused normally dry stream beds to flow from the desert all the way to the sea and is a phenomenon unlike any in the country's historic record.

http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-09-odd-namibia-weather.html
http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=121636&org=NSF&from=news
http://www.irishweatheronline.com/news/environment/climate-news/changes-in-climate-transform-namibian-
landscape/37653.html