A computer saves a Russian man from a bear attack

It's been a tough year for Arctic and other northern creatures, like polar and grizzly bears. In many cases, their traditional foods are in short supply — and that's forced them into greater contact with humans.

In Russia, one recent clash had an unexpected ending. According to the Moscow Times, a man rummaging through a dump in the Tomsk region, in central Russia, was spotted by a bear, who immediately charged at him. The man took some of the scrap metal he'd collected and hurled it at the bear as hard as he could. It turned out the scrap that he used was an old computer. 

Surprisingly, it worked. The bear ran away and the man suffered only self-inflicted injuries — it turns out he hurt his hand while throwing the computer.

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Why is China hesitant to let Hong Kong's people have free elections?

Protests continue in Hong Kong, though the protesters and the government are at least talking to each other now. But they don't seem to be moving any closer to a solution. Protesters are demanding the right to choose Hong Kong's leaders without interference from China. That's not possible, according to the Hong Kong's current leader. Why? The city has too many poor people.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the fear is that direct elections of the city's chief executive would give poor people too much sway over the elections — leading to policies that might favor the poor majority over the wealthy elite. It's not clear if the current chief executive, Leung Chun-ying, who made that comment in an interview with foreign reporters, actually thought the rest of the world would find that a reasonable argument.

Uncertainty is killing the Keystone XL pipeline

The proposed Keystone XL pipeline would carry oil from Canada’s tar sands fields through the US to ports in the Gulf of Mexico. Environmentalists have raised concerns that, so far, have successfully prevented the pipeline from winning US approval. The concerns haven’t killed the project, but the uncertainty they create is apparently just as deadly.

In the last year, four major oil companies — including Shell and Total — have stopped or postponed projects to develop oil production in the tar sands. The reason isn’t environmental concerns. The reason is economics. 

PRI’s Living on Earth reports that the price of oil is dropping on world markets and the cost of getting the oil to market — without the pipeline — is just too high. So oil executives are hesitant to make the big investments needed to develop the tar sands given the delays and uncertainty surrounding Keystone XL and alternative pipeline proposals.

US travelers be warned — you are coming from an Ebola-infected country

If you're following the debate about whether the US should be doing more screening for Ebola at the border — or should even be letting in travelers from Ebola-infected countries at all, the debate has taken a surprising turn. Some countries have already implemented these sorts of screening protocols — and Americans are now on a list of individuals coming from an Ebola-infected country.

That's right. According to Salon, Rwandan health officials on Sunday started screening travelers from the US and Spain for Ebola, on the grounds that Ebola has been transmitted in the US. Two nurses who worked at a Dallas hospital contracted Ebola after treating an infected patient.

Ironically, a New Jersey town recently quarantined a pair of Rwandan school children for 21 days over fears they might have Ebola — despite the fact that Rwanda is 2600 miles away from the current outbreak and has seen no cases of Ebola.

The last hope for US ash trees may be tiny wasps

The emerald ash borer beetles have been devastating ash trees across the US and Canada since at least 2002. They arrived from China and have killed tens of millions of trees. Now scientists have enlisted another Asian insect as their secret weapon to stop the borers.

That insect is called oobius agrili. It's a parasitic wasp that grows inside borer eggs and consumes them. PRI's The World reports that, after years of research, scientists are releasing the wasps in 18 states. And while the idea of killer wasps may sound worrisome, these wasps are about the size of a pinhead. Still, some scientists really are worried.

It's not the first time we have imported species to fight exotic pests. And in some cases, we have unintentionally created even bigger problems when those new species spread and affected the environment in ways we didn't expect.

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Weather around the world

A new moon Tuesday night means you'll have your best chance to catch this year's Orionid Meteor Shower. As many as 25 meteors per hour will soar through the night sky, between midnight and dawn, according to AccuWeather. They will start in the eastern sky, but eventually become visible across the entire sky. Visibility is expected to be best in the midwest and southwest.