Dozens were killed and a million people evacuated from their homes as Cyclone Mahasen roared into the southern coast of Bangladesh. Mud and straw huts were flattened by heavy winds, and entire villages were inundated with floods. But Mahasen, which weakened to a tropical storm as it hit landfall, did far less damage than expected.

Earth Focus looks at the film Rock the Boat, which follows a controversial kayaking expedition down the partially cemented Los Angeles River. This act of civil disobedience was led by satirical writer George Wolfe, whose goal was to have the Environmental Protection Agency declare the river navigable so that it could gain protection under the Clean Water Act.

The Colorado River is the lifeline for an expanding population in seven US and two Mexican states. Today, the Colorado River already runs dry before it reaches its natural end at the Gulf of California. Unless action is taken, the river will continue its retreat with potentially catastrophic consequences for the millions who rely on it.

After simmering for days, Mexico's Popocatepetl volcano has erupted in steam and dust, covering nearby towns in the central state of Puebla with ash. No injuries have been reported. Government officials have upped the alert level and are preparing emergency shelters for what they expect could be a major explosion in coming days.

With an eye toward sustainability, innovators in Greece are turning garbage into funky new uses from a bathtub chaise longue to a suitcase chair. Members of Scoopa consider it "upcycling," not recycling. "I've come to realize there is so much usable junk material lost in landfills," said a member. "My vision is to create a city of junk."

Astronomers who traveled to Australia's Northern Territory were treated to a "ring of fire" annular eclipse after dawn as the moon moved in front of the sun, leaving a dazzling circle of light. The phenomenon was Australia's second solar eclipse in six months.

From rainforests shrinking to cities mushrooming to deserts blooming, a new project from Google and Time magazine allows users to view timelapse images of the planet changing over the decades. The projects uses 28 years of satellite images from NASA and the US Geological Society.

Four German hikers and their Filipino guide were killed when Mount Mayon suddenly erupted and rained down ash and rock. Seven others among the 27 hikers on the mountain were injured. The eruption lasted about a minute. Mount Mayon, on the Philippine island of Luzon, has erupted nearly 50 times in the last 400 years.

Get ready for the invasion. After 17 years munching tree roots cicadas are beginning to pop up on the East Coast. Skies will soon be filled with tiny flapping wings and human ears will be ringing with the bug buzz of billions. They'll mate, lay eggs, then die. The offspring will vanish for another 17 years.

A pilot project in Baltimore has turned one of the city's 17,000 vacant lots into a city farm producing piles of ultra-fresh vegetables for local restaurants. The city plans a big expansion of urban farming to reduce blight and provide much-needed jobs.

Share nice, climbers. Three top European climbers were confronted by angry Sherpas on Mount Everest threatening to kill them because they reportedly upset climbing lines fixed by the Sherpas and kicked ice down on them. The fight came as the Sherpas ready for the most lucrative season. The parties have since signed a pact to share the mountain.

An ocean-animal-besotted US couple vacationing in Mexico had the ride of their life on a charter boat that was chased by a pod of 20 killer whales veering within inches of the boat apparently to play in the wake. "She was looking right at me," Laura Howard said of one of the whales.

Grease, fat, and other wastes from London's households and businesses are building up like mini-mountains, or so called 'fatbergs', in the city's 19th-century sewers. But the company that runs it plans to turn the accumulated fats into renewable fuel for new power stations.

An experimental house covered in living, energy-producing algae is the star of a futuristic urban housing show in Hamburg. Its creators say that if "algaetecture" can work in northern Germany's cloudy climate, it can work anywhere.

Nasa has created a time-lapse video of images of sun taken daily over past three years as it heads towards the peak of solar activity in its 11-year cycle.

Earthquake victims in remote villages in southwest China say they have been forgotten by the government and are desperate for aid. They are afraid that aftershocks will destroy what little they have left.

It was not your run-of-the-mill light show. "Rock" fans in northern Argentina were treated to a star performance by a suspected meteor that suddenly lit up the night skies in the middle of a concert by the high-energy electric folk band Los Tekis, and the gyrating mob stopped mid move to ooh, aah and cheer.

A Dutch company is looking for volunteers to travel to Mars in 2023. The catch? It's a one-way ticket. The wanna-be astronauts will have to stay to help establish the first human settlement on the red planet as part of Mars One. Some 10,000 people from 100 countries have already expressed interest via email.

April is leaving like a lion with up to five inches of snow forecast to hit the Denver area by Tuesday afternoon. The snow shut down sections of some major highways, and has been blamed for grounded flights.

What blows away Old Faithful fans? Scientists have found that a cavern filled with water is the reason the Yellowstone geyser erupts with searing water and steam every 90 minutes. The chamber of hot water is linked to the geyser by a rock "pipe" which creates a bubble trap that triggers the blast, a system scientists compare to a geyser bagpipe.