Research Cruise Pairs U.S., Swedish Vessels on 3,000 Mile-Long Journey

The Swedish icebreaker Oden and U.S. Antarctic Program (USAP) research vessel Nathaniel B. Palmer will cross about 3,000 miles of ocean between Punta Arenas, Chile, and McMurdo Station. Scientists aboard the vessels will study everything from invasive crabs creeping up the continental slope to decades-old pollutants infiltrating the polar food web.

Since 2007, the NSF has had an agreement with the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat and the Swedish Maritime Administration to use the Oden to break a channel in the sea ice to McMurdo Station. The channel allows cargo and fuel ships to access the research station at the end of each austral summer to resupply it with everything from construction material to food to fuel for power plants, ships and planes. Read more.

ABB to Acquire U.S. Baldor Electric Company

Power and automation technology group ABB and Baldor Electric Company, a U.S. business in industrial motors, have agreed that ABB will acquire Baldor in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $4.2 billion, including $1.1 billion of net debt. ABB reports that the acquisition will strengthen its position as “a leading supplier of industrial motion solutions, and will also enable ABB to tap the huge potential in North America for rail and wind investments, both of which are expected to grow rapidly in coming years.”

ABB says the U.S. market for high-efficiency motors is expected to grow 10 to15 percent in 2011 on the back of new regulations. Read more.

U.S. Firms Up ‘Critical Habitat’ for Polar Bears

New York Times writes that the U.S. Interior Department has designated 187,157 square miles of Alaskan seas and lands as critical to the survival of the polar bear on Wednesday. More than 95 percent of it is offshore, including some areas that may have large undersea oil deposits. Any development in an area that has been declared critical habitat for an endangered or threatened species must undergo extensive scrutiny by federal biologists and is often eventually ruled out. Two populations of polar bears designated as threatened two years ago and thus protected under the Endangered Species Act roam widely in the areas designated by the Fish and Wildlife Service, part of the Interior Department. Read more.