C/2012 S1, Comet ISON, is intriguing because it has never approached the sun before and that is scientifically terrific. 

Comet ISON began in the Oort cloud almost a light year away and has traveled for over a million years. Unlike more famous comets, Halley's as an example, it has never come this way before - and that means it is still made of pristine matter from the earliest days of the solar system's formation. Its top layers haven't been lost by a trip near the sun.

To study it as it approached Sol, a vast fleet of solar observation experiments have been watching. Would it break up or slingshot? 

Rip currents claim more lives in Australia on average each year than bushfires, floods, cyclones and sharks combined - but don't get too nervous, rip currents only cause about 21 confirmed human fatalities per year.

Rip currents are strong, narrow seaward-flowing currents that can easily carry unsuspecting swimmers significant distances offshore, leading to exhaustion, panic and often drowning.

An analysis of data from Australia's National Coronial Information System shows there was an average 21 confirmed deaths involving rips per year during the period 2004 to 2011.

Can you control noisemaking chaos? Brazilian planners hope so.

They'd rather not have the ear-splitting vuvuzela which took over the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Tens of thousands of those instruments blaring in packed stadiums became a major annoyance, disrupting players and even fans watching on TV. 

There has been a snowfall decrease in Canada's subarctic regions and that has led to worrisome desiccation of the regions' lakes - this has happened in the past also, of course, but it was less noticeable. 

Researchers came to this conclusion after studying 70 lakes near Old Crow, Yukon, and Churchill, Manitoba. Most of the lakes studied are less than one metre deep. According to the analysis, more than half of those located on relatively flat terrain and surrounded by scrubby vegetation show signs of desiccation. The problem stems chiefly from a decline in meltwater; for instance, from 2010 to 2012 average winter precipitation in Churchill decreased by 76 mm compared to the averages recorded from 1971 to 2000.

Will fish stop swimming due to global warming?

It's not the craziest mainstream media headline you are likely to read, but researchers from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University say that fish share something in common with people; when it's hot, they just want to lay around. 

Researcher Dr. Jacob Johansen noted that fish rely on swimming for almost all activities necessary for survival, including hunting for food and finding mates. "However, global warming may reduce the swimming ability of many fish species, and have major impacts on their ability to grow and reproduce."

A $500 
three-dimensional
 "nano-camera" that can operate at the speed of light has been developed by researchers in the MIT Media Lab and was presented at Siggraph Asia in Hong Kong. It could be used in medical imaging and collision-avoidance detectors for cars, and to improve the accuracy of motion tracking and gesture-recognition devices used in interactive gaming.