US wins biotech dispute
After eight years of wrangling, a trade dispute between the US and Europe over genetically modified crops has reached a conclusion. In a ruling issued on 29 September, the World Trade Organization broadly backed claims by the US, Canada and Argentina that in 1998 Europe illegally introduced a moratorium on approvals of GM crops.
Martian Spirit intact
The Mars rover Spirit has survived the planet鈥檚 winter. NASA announced on 29 September that the rover鈥檚 solar power rose to around 296 watt-hours this week, up from a winter low of 275 watt-hours on 18 August. NASA has uploaded new software to Spirit and says the rover is operating well.
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Record ozone hole
The ozone hole over the South Pole reached record proportions on 2 October. The European Space Agency鈥檚 Envisat satellite found that the hole was big enough to hold 40 million tonnes of ozone, exceeding the previous record of 39 million tonnes set in 2000. The hole is typically biggest in September and persists until November or December.
No creationism please
Christians and atheists joined forces last week to urge the British government to prevent creationism infiltrating school science classes. The UK Christian think tank Ekklesia and the British Humanist Association wrote a joint letter to the Department for Education and Skills after an anti-evolution group distributed materials to UK schools.
Egg payments nixed
Arnold Schwarzenegger, the governor of California, signed in a law on 26 September forbidding researchers from paying women to donate eggs for embryonic stem cell research. The law also makes it compulsory to warn donors of potential risks and to acquire written and oral consent beforehand.