Plans ranging from space walks to new navigational systems will underscore China's space programme in the next five years. But officials insisted yesterday that the high goals carry a low price tag.

The Chinese government spends less than a tenth of NASA's budget on space activities, an official said Thursday in Beijing.

Differences in natural estrogen levels may explain why higher rates of breast cancer are found among post-menopausal women in some racial and ethnic groups, according to a study released on Wednesday.

Scientists with NASA's Cassini mission have found a new, changing feature that reveals a recent collision between a comet or asteroid with Saturn's innermost D ring.

China aims to enable its astronauts to spacewalk in the next five years, according to a white paper on China's space activities issued on Thursday.

Space agency officials from China and the United States are to meet annually to discuss the development of bilateral space cooperation, said Sun Laiyan, administrator of China National Space Administration, on Thursday.

China's first independently developed hydrogen-fuelled car has been successfully built.

The Information Office of China's State Council on Thursday issued a white paper titled "China's Space Activities in 2006". The following is the full text of the document: China's Space Activities in 2006 Information Office of the State Council of the People's Republic of China October 2006, Beijing Contents Preface I. Aims and Principles of Development II. Progress Made in the Past Five Years III. Development Targets and Major Tasks for the Next Five Years IV. Development Policies and Measures V. International Exchanges and Cooperation

The highest wind speeds in Jupiter's Little Red Spot have increased and are now equal to those in its older and larger sibling, the Great Red Spot, according to observations with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope.

Infants, whose parents suffer from allergies that produce symptoms like wheezing, asthma, hay fever or hives, risk developing allergic sensitization much earlier in life than previously reported, according to a study by U.S. researchers.