Energy Star

The Energy Star program was started in 1992 by the U.S. government. The site has a lot of information for consumers, businesses and public sector organizations. It’s a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy about “helping (Americans) all save money and protect the environment through energy efficient products and practices”.

In the European Union, the EU Energy Star programme is concerned more specifically with energy efficient office equipment (not as easy to navigate, but still useful). This is managed by the European Commission.

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Moon footprint [NASA]

ChinaView reports that pictures by Chang’e-1 will not show U.S. astronauts’ footprints left on moon. What they don’t explain is that this is because the footprints aren’t there. After all, everyone knows the Americans never made it to the Moon, except in their dreams and a TV studio.

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Chang'e-1 in flight

China launched its first Moon orbiter yesterday, and it’s now moving towards a stable orbit, as is its Japanese counterpart, with the Indians to follow in early 2008.

The Chang’e-1, named after the Chinese goddess who flew to the Moon, cost surprisingly little, looks like a great deal for the Chinese, and will surely mark an interesting period of space exploration and exploitation.

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