In today’s Bulldog wrapup of science, space and technology news:

  • Solar farms banned after complaints in North Carolina county
  • Google-bred company accuses Uber of self-driving car theft
  • High court ruling limits international reach of patent laws
  • NASA’s Jupiter-circling spacecraft stuck making long laps

The details:

  • Solar farms banned after complaints in North Carolina county

County commissioners in eastern North Carolina have imposed an indefinite ban on the construction of solar farms after neighbors complained that they seem unsightly and said they’re afraid of flying glass in the event of severe weather.

Local media outlets report that Currituck County commissioners voted Monday to extend a two-month moratorium into an indefinite ban.

Board chairman Bobby Harig said commissioners have had many plans come at them in addition to the two large solar farms the county has already approved in the last three years. One, in Moyock, covers 2,000 acres and stretches for nearly 2 miles, and its neighbors in the adjacent Ranchland community aren’t happy.

  • Google-bred company accuses Uber of self-driving car theft

A self-driving car company founded by Google is accusing a former top engineer of stealing pivotal technology that is propelling Uber’s effort to assemble a fleet of automated vehicles for its popular ride-hailing service.

The alleged chicanery is outlined in a lawsuit filed in a San Francisco federal court by Waymo, which began working on self-driving cars eight years ago as a secret Google project. Waymo now operates as a part of Google’s corporate parent, Alphabet Inc.

The complaint cites evidence that Anthony Levandowski, a former manager in Google’s self-driving car project, loaded 14,000 confidential files on a laptop before leaving to start his own company in 2016. Uber subsequently bought Levandowski’s startup, Otto, last year for $680 million.

Uber didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

  • High court ruling limits international reach of patent laws

The Supreme Court on Wednesday sided with California-based Life Technologies Corp. in a patent infringement case that limits the international reach of U.S. patent laws.

The justices ruled unanimously that the company’s shipment of a single part of a patented invention for assembly in another country did not violate patent laws.

Life Technologies supplied an enzyme used in DNA analysis kits to a plant in London and combined it with several other components to make kits sold worldwide. Wisconsin-based Promega Corp. sued, arguing that the kits infringed a U.S. patent.

A jury awarded $52 million in damages to Promega. A federal judge set aside the verdict and said the law did not cover export of a single component.

The federal appeals specializing in patent cases reversed and reinstated the verdict.

Patent laws are designed to prevent U.S. companies from mostly copying a competitor’s invention and simply completing the final phase overseas to skirt the law. A violation occurs when “all or a substantial portion of the components of a patent invention” are supplied from the United States to a foreign location.

Writing for the high court, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said the law addresses only the quantity of components, not the quality. That means the law “does not cover the supply of a single component of a multicomponent invention,” Sotomayor said.

Only seven justices took part in the ruling. Chief Justice John Roberts heard arguments in the case, but later withdrew after discovering he owned shares in the parent company of Life Technologies.

  • NASA’s Jupiter-circling spacecraft stuck making long laps

NASA’s Jupiter-circling spacecraft is stuck making long laps around the gas giant because of sticky valves.

It currently takes Juno 53 days to fly around the solar system’s biggest planet. That’s almost four times longer than the intended 14-day orbit.

After repeated delays, NASA decided late last week to scrap an engine firing that would have shortened the orbit. Officials said the maneuver is too risky because of the valve problem.

Only the second spacecraft to orbit Jupiter, Juno has been circling the planet since July.

NASA said the quality of science won’t be affected and stressed that stunning pictures of Jupiter will keep coming this way. But it will take more time to gather the data, given Juno’s longer loops. The mission will have to be extended at tens of millions of extra dollars if scientists are to collect everything under the original plan. It’s already a billion-dollar mission.

On the plus side, according to scientists, Juno now will spend less time in Jupiter’s abrasive radiation belts.