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India launches 7-satellite rocket to record climate change

India fired off a rocket carrying seven satellites developed by various countries into space on Monday, according to BBC News, including one asteroid-watching satellite and another monitoring climate change on Earth. 

The asteroid-alerting satellite was developed by Canada and is "the only space telescope dedicated to searching for asteroids" according to Canadian satellite scientist Alan Hildebrand, said Reuters, citing local media. 

The asteroid orbiter will be on the alert for debris that might hit Earth after an undetected meteor recently landed in Russia and wounded over 1,000 people. The Canadian Space Agency described the Near-Earth Object Space Surveillance Satellite as a "sentinel in the sky," said Reuters. 

India's rocket launch is part of an expanding national space program that includes an unmanned Mars trip and plans for 10 space voyages in 2013, said BBC. 

President Pranab Mukherjee himself attended the take-off ceremony at Sriharikota launch center in Andhra Pradesh in southern India on Monday, according to Reuters.

There he saw the seven-satellite rocket lift off equipped with two Canadian satellites, two Austrian satellites, one from Denmark, one from Britain, and one Indo-French satellite that will monitor the Earth's climate activity, reported BBC.

The collaborative SARAL satellite will be recording ocean currents and sea levels on Earth to help track climate changes, said Reuters. 

Monday's trip sees the rocket carrying the load -- the seven-story-high Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle -- embark on its 23rd mission, said BBC. 

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Projected Water scarcity 2025

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Dirty fragrant Perfumes

That fragrance you wear, perhaps named after a celebrity, may make you feel sexy and irresistible, but chances are the label isn't telling you everything that's in it, according to a new report.

And that could spell trouble, says Jane Houlihan, co-author of the new report, issued by The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics in partnership with the Environmental Working Group (EWG). Some chemicals found in fragrances may be hazardous to your health, she says, yet makers of popular colognes, perfumes, and body sprays often don't disclose all the ingredients found in their products.

''The fragrance mixture itself can be comprised of dozens, even hundreds, of individual chemicals, and those don't have to be listed on the label," says Houlihan, senior vice president for research for EWG.

The report, "Not So Sexy: The Health Risks of Secret Chemicals in Fragrance," includes test results on 17 fragranced products. On average, Houlihan says, the researchers found 14 "secret" chemicals not listed on the label, and she says some of them have been linked to allergic reactions or hormone disruption.

Not surprisingly, industry officials took strong exception to the new report. The new findings, according to John Bailey, PhD, chief scientist for the Personal Care Products Council, is ''another example of a group releasing information without providing all of the information that's relevant. There may be a bit of selective science going on here."

The tests revealed that 38 ''secret'' chemicals were in the 17 name-brand products, with an average of 14 chemicals per product. American Eagle Seventy Seven had the most unlisted ingredients, with 24; Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue had the least, with seven.

When they looked closer, Houlihan and colleagues found an average of 10 chemicals linked with allergic reactions such as headaches, wheezing, or asthma. The researchers found 12 different chemicals they describe as potentially hormone-disrupting, such as benzyl benzoate, diethyl phthalate, and tonalide.

Of the 91 ingredients found, the researchers report, only 19 have been reviewed by the Cosmetic Ingredient Review, which is industry-funded, and only 27 have been assessed by the International Fragrance Association and the Research Institute for Fragrance Materials, which have developed voluntary standards for chemicals used in fragrance products.

According to the report, the fragrance industry has 3,100 stock chemical ingredients to choose from.

Source:http://www.webmd.com/healthy-beauty/news/20100512/does-perfume-have-hidden-health-risks?page=2

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Japan to replace Fukushima plant with world’s largest wind farm

In the wake of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, Japan has decided to build the world’s largest offshore wind farm to replace the crippled nuke plant.

The country plans to build a total of 143 wind turbines on platforms 16 kilometres off the coast of Fukushima by 2020, which is home to the stricken Daiichi nuclear reactor that hit the headlines in March 2011 when it was damaged by a severe earthquake and tsunami.

The wind farm will generate 1 gigawatt of power once completed, and is part of a national plan to increase renewable energy resources following the post-tsunami shutdown of the country’s 54 nuclear reactors. Only two have since come back on-line, the ‘New Scientist’ reported.

The project is part of Fukushima’s plan to become completely energy self-sufficient by 2040, using renewable sources alone. The prefecture is also set to build the country’s biggest solar park.

The wind farm will surpass the 504 megawatts generated by the 140 turbines at the Greater Gabbard farm off the coast of Suffolk, UK - currently the world’s largest farm.

The first stage of the Fukushima project will be the construction of a 2-megawatt turbine, a substation and undersea cable installation. The turbine will stand 200 metres high. If successful, further turbines will be built subject to the availability of funding.

Project manager Takeshi Ishihara of the University of Tokyo insists that the area’s seismic activity won’t be an issue for the turbines.

His team have carried out computer simulations and water tank test to verify the safety of the turbines not just in the event of an earthquake or tsunami but also in other extreme conditions such as typhoons.

“All extreme conditions have been taken into consideration in the design. This project is important - I think it is impossible to use nuclear power in Fukushima again,” he said.

A magnitude 9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami hit the eastern coast of Japan in 2011, destroying the nuclear power plant that lay on the coast of Japan’s Futaba District of Fukushima Prefecture.