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200-fold boost in fuel cell efficiency advances ‘personalized energy systems’
The era of personalized energy systems — in which individual homes and small businesses produce their own energy for heating, cooling and powering cars — took another step toward reality today as scientists reported discovery of a powerful…
New South Pole Seismic Station One of World's Quietest, Most Sensitive
Data collected by a new seismic observatory at the National Science Foundation’s Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station indicate that it is the quietest listening post on the planet for observing shudders produced by earthquakes around the world as they vibrate through the Earth. The South Pole Remote Earth Science Observatory is located eight kilometers from the South Pole and the new seismometers have been installed roughly 300 meters beneath the surface of the continental East Antarctic ice sheet in specially drilled boreholes.
Europe's first deep space ground station opens in Western Australia
The inauguration ceremony for the European Space Agency’s first deep space ground station was held today in New Norcia, 150km north of Perth. The completion of the New Norcia facility, its first deep space ground station, is an important event for ESA. The station will play a major role in the Agency’s deep space missions, including Rosetta and Mars Express, the latter expected to launch in May this year. The key component of the ground station is its massive antenna which weighs over 600 tonnes and is over 40 metres high. It can move 540 tonnes of ballast, cantilever and 35 metre dish while maintaining precision accuracy of its beam.