Science News

Scientists are impressed with the flood of data beamed back by NASA’s most advanced Mars orbiter.

Launched from Florida in 2005, the reconnaissance orbiter reached Mars in March 2006. It is the most powerful probe ever sent to the Red Planet.

The space agency said Wednesday the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has sent back 100 terabits of information since 2006.

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Russia announced a halt to space tourism on Wednesday, saying it would struggle to ferry professional crews to the International Space Station after the U.S. mothballs its shuttle fleet this year.

Russia, sending crews to the ISS aboard its single-use three-man Soyuz ships, will double the number of manned launches to four this year because permanent crews of professional astronauts aboard the expanded station are set to rise to six.

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Sneezing, congestion, and runny noses from hay fever may be lasting longer because climate change may be extending pollen seasons, doctors in Italy said on Monday.

The team at Genoa University recorded pollen counts, how long pollen seasons lasted and sensitivity to five types of pollen in the Bordighera region of Italy from 1981 to 2007.

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Sustainable Energy Technologies Ltd, a solar equipment maker that recently relocated to Toronto from Calgary, may soon land its first large-scale orders in its new home province, the worlds newest “go-to” region for solar power.

Inverters are key components of power systems that turn the suns rays into electricity as they convert the direct current output generated by the solar panels into the alternating current that the power grid runs on.

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China and Kenya plan to search for ancient Chinese ships wrecked almost 600 years ago off Africa’s east coast.

Exploration work will be conducted for up to three months each year, with the first group of Chinese archaeologists due to arrive as early as July, Xinhua said.

An agreement was signed for a three-year project funded by China’s Commerce Ministry to explore waters near the popular tourist towns of Malindi and Lamu, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Friday.

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Australia Friday warned Japan that “diplomacy comes to an end this year” on whaling, after presenting a bold plan to phase out the controversial hunts in the Southern Ocean.

“We are saying loud and clear to our friends in Japan that Australia does not support the continuation of commercial or scientific whaling in the Southern Ocean, we have a very basic position,” Rudd told reporters.

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Industrialized and developing countries are not likely to reach a treaty this year on cutting greenhouse gas emissions, which have sparked fears of weather-related disasters, the U.N. climate chief said Thursday.

Bickering between rich and poor countries over emissions cuts and financial assistance undermined the talks and forced them to settle on a voluntary plan.

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The state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) is pushing to strengthen its presence in Africa and Latin America but is less interested in Canadian oil sands for now, its chairman said.

“We would like to have a more balanced portfolio,” Sharma said, citing Latin America and Africa, where it has been expanding its presence, as targets for further growth.

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OPEC member Kuwait posted a preliminary budget surplus of 27.8 billion dollars in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year on higher oil income, the finance ministry said on Wednesday.

Spending during the 10 months was 23.2 billion dollars, just 55.2 percent of projected spending for the whole year of 42.

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Spains Iberdrola, the worlds biggest wind-power generator, said Wednesday its annual net profit in the fourth quarter more than doubled to 795.3 million euros (1.07 billion US dollars).

But the company reported that for the full year 2009 net earnings weakened due to weakeness in core markets, which was offset by higher renewable energy output and greater income from its US unit.

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