Health & Science

Monday, October 26th 2009 - 09:26 UTC
US declares H1N1 flu emergency and promises vaccines for every citizen

United States President Barack Obama declared the spreading H1N1 swine flu virus to be a national emergency.
Thursday, October 15th 2009 - 02:59 UTC
Access to broadband connection becomes a right of citizens

As of next July 2010, access to a 1 Megabit-per-second broadband connection becomes a right for all Finnish citizens according to a decree from the Ministry of Transport and Communications.
Wednesday, October 14th 2009 - 06:59 UTC
Britain has the worst quality of life in Europe says uSwitch.com

Despite having the highest incomes, people in Britain have the worst quality of life in Europe, a study shows. According to the uSwitch.com European Quality of Life Index, Britons have longer working hours, lower holiday entitlement and a higher cost of living than their counterparts in other European countries, placing them at the bottom of the list in survey.
Wednesday, October 14th 2009 - 06:15 UTC
China begins 26th Antarctica season with a team of 251 scientists

Chinese scientists have set off from Shanghai for their 26th research mission to the Antarctic. The “Snow Dragon”, China's main research ship in the polar region, has gone through a series of maintenance and technical readjustments, according to Global Times.
Tuesday, October 13th 2009 - 04:06 UTC
Freshwater ecosystems the most threatened

Mismanagement and growing needs for water are causing freshwater ecosystems to collapse, making freshwater species the most threatened on Earth with extinction rates 4 to 6 times higher than their terrestrial and marine cousins, say scientists at the Diversitas 2nd Open Science Conference, in Cape Town, South Africa.
Friday, October 9th 2009 - 10:39 UTC
Mercosur/EU extend sanitary cooperation in agriculture and livestock

Mercosur and the European Union signed this week an extension of an agreement for the financing of an agriculture and livestock health cooperation project according to the UE delegation office in Montevideo.
Thursday, October 8th 2009 - 04:17 UTC
IAATO members’ passenger ships will be fitted with satellite tracking devices

The International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) has approved a resolution requiring members' passenger ships to be fitted with satellite tracking devices based on Iridium (Iridium Communications Inc.). The devices will report ships' positions at least once per hour when cruising in Antarctic waters.
Thursday, October 8th 2009 - 01:00 UTC
Rare vintage photo of first expedition to reach the South Pole

The only known vintage print of the first expedition to reach the South Pole has been uncovered at the National Library of Australia. The small brown photograph shows Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen's arrival at the pole in 1911.
Wednesday, October 7th 2009 - 09:46 UTC
NASA Operation Ice Bridge takes off from Punta Arenas

Starting next Monday and operating from Punta Arenas in the extreme south of Chile NASA will fly its largest aircraft, --a DC-8, a 157-foot-long airborne laboratory-- to study changes in Antarctica’s sea ice, ice sheets and glaciers as part of its Operation Ice Bridge.
Wednesday, October 7th 2009 - 05:53 UTC
Unasur agrees to create a council to combat drugs’ trade

Security ministers from the Union of South American Nations, Unasur, agreed to the creation of a South American Council to Combat Drugs Trafficking, announced Bolivia’s Home Secretary in an official release from La Paz.