Science

AP - Snow, sleet and freezing rain have made roads hazardous across the Great Lakes into New England and closed hundreds of schools.

Reuters - Japan's space agency will launch a satellite later this month to monitor greenhouse gases around the world, officials said Wednesday, hoping the data it collects helps global efforts to combat climate change.

AP - The Grand Canyon, Mount Everest and Loch Ness will vie with more than 200 other spectacular places in the next phase of the global competition for the New 7 Wonders of Nature, organizers said Wednesday.

AP - Wet weather was predicted along the East Coast on Wednesday, with a wintry mix forecast for the Northeast and showers and thunderstorms expected in the Southeast. Another storm was targeting the Northwest.

AP - Radical conservationists who have been chasing Japanese whalers in the Antarctic Ocean said Wednesday they were heading to Australia to refuel their ship, a day after Japan argued they were pirates who should be barred from refueling.

AFP - Anti-whaling campaigners on Wednesday denied charges that they had harassed Japanese whalers searching for a missing crewman in Antarctic waters and said they were simply trying to help.

AFP - Some 200,000 US households will no longer get cheap heating oil from Venezuela after the state-owned CITGO subsidiary announced it was dropping the program due to falling oil prices, the organization in charge of distributing the oil said Tuesday.

AP - The Grand Canyon, Mount Everest and Loch Ness will vie with more than 200 other spectacular places in the next phase of the global competition for the New 7 Wonders of Nature, organizers said Wednesday. The 261 nominees from 222 countries include some of the most famous mountain peaks, lakes, and other attractions, such as the Great Barrier Reef and Niagara Falls.