Science News

Reuters - The ground shook and buildings swayed as billionaire Sebastian Pinera took over as Chile's president on Thursday, tasked with rebuilding after a massive earthquake killed hundreds just 12 days ago.

AFP - The consortium of agencies building the International Space Station (ISS) wants to see if the orbital outpost can operate until 2028, the European Space Agency (ESA) said on Thursday.

AFP - Europe's most powerful solar power plant is set to start operations in Italy later this year, the US company building the installation on an area as large as 120 football pitches said on Thursday.

Reuters - Chile's navy lifted a tsunami warning for the country's coast after strong aftershocks shook the capital Santiago on Thursday, following the swearing in ceremony for new President Sebastian Pinera.

AFP - US researchers have decoded the entire genome of patients to identify the root cause of their diseases paving the way towards individual genomic treatments, according to newly published studies.

AP - A second former New Orleans police officer pleaded guilty Thursday to covering up the deadly shooting of unarmed residents after Hurricane Katrina, with a judge calling the plot a "despicable" scheme that immeasurably compounded the storm's damage.

AFP - Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki thanked Japan's Crown Prince Naruhito Thursday for his country's support in programmes to combat climate change, the government said.

AFP - Japan's Coast Guard obtained an arrest warrant Thursday for an anti-whaling activist who has been held aboard a Japanese harpoon ship since boarding it in the Antarctic last month, press reports said.

Reuters - A growing number of Americans, nearly half the country, think global warming worries are exaggerated, as more people also doubt that scientific warnings of severe environmental fallout will ever occur, according to a new Gallup poll.

Reuters - Chevron Corp may pursue an international arbitration claim over environmental pollution allegations in Ecuador, a judge ruled on Thursday, part of a long-running case that carries a potential $27 billion liability for the second-largest U.S. oil company.

AP - Police say a New York woman who claimed her Toyota Prius accelerated on its own was on her way to have its gas pedal checked at the time of the accident.