Life

Global warming will make insects hungrier, eating up key crops: study

by Kerry SHERIDAN Agence France-Presse TAMPA, United States (APF) – Researchers have found a new way that global warming is bad for the planet: more hungry bugs. Rising temperatures will stimulate insects’ appetites — and make some prone to reproducing more quickly — spelling danger for key staples like wheat, corn and rice which feed billions of people, researchers said Thursday. And since these three crops account for 42 percent of the calories people eat […]

Unified Korea women’s basketball team trounce Taiwan to reach Asian hoops final

  by Alastair Himmer Agence France Presse JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — A joint Korean women’s basketball team slammed Taiwan 89-66 to reach the Asian Games final on Thursday, helped by Las Vegas razzmatazz and some good, old, northern grit. Roared on by around 100 fans waving Korean unification flags, North Korean Ro Suk Yong joint top-scored with 17 points in a blow-out victory for the defending champions in Jakarta. The Koreans advance to face China […]

300 endangered turtles found dead on Mexico beach

MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AFP) — More than 300 sea turtles from an endangered species were found dead on a beach in southern Mexico, trapped in a banned type of fishing net, environmental authorities said. In Mexico’s second mass turtle death in as many weeks, the Pacific Ridley turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) were found floating just off the beach of Puerto Escondido in the state of Oaxaca, their shells forming a bleak mini-island. “They had drowned at […]

Conch salad completes the Bahamian experience

By Tenny Tamulong EBC Florida Bureau NASSAU, Bahamas (Eagle News) — The combination of fresh sweet onion, chopped red tomatoes, green pepper, a pinch of salt to taste, a squeezed lime, orange and lemon juice, and most importantly, freshly-caught conch, make up the famous conch salad. This delicious meal has captured the heart of both tourists and locals alike. Conch salad is never missing when one visits the “Fish Fry”, an area in Arawak Cay […]

Bees get hooked on harmful pesticide: study

PARIS, France (AFP) — Bumblebees acquire a taste for food laced with a pesticide known to harm them, according to a study suggesting the chemicals pose an even greater threat to pollinators than previously thought. In experiments, researchers showed that bees initially put off by sugar water containing neonicotinoids — the most widely-used class of insecticide worldwide — soon started seeking them out to the exclusion of untainted food. The findings were published Wednesday in […]

Robot teachers invade Chinese kindergartens

by Elizabeth Law and Danni Zhu Agence France Presse BEIJING, China (AFP) — The Chinese kindergarten children giggled as they worked to solve puzzles assigned by their new teaching assistant: a roundish, short educator with a screen for a face. Just under 60 centimeters (two feet) high, the autonomous robot named Keeko has been a hit in several kindergartens, telling stories and challenging children with logic problems. Round and white with a tubby body, the […]

Facebook rolls out video service worldwide

PARIS, France (AFP) — Facebook said Wednesday it is rolling out globally its Watch video service, which has already been available in the United States for more than a year. “We designed the product not just in a mindless consumption but in order to get people engaged,” said Fidji Simo, Facebook’s vice president for video. Facebook launched Watch amid a shift in video viewing habits away from traditional television to online platforms including Netflix and […]

For first time in decades, astronaut quits NASA training

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — For the first time in five decades, a NASA astronaut candidate has resigned from training, the US space agency said Tuesday. Robb Kulin resigned from NASA effective August 31 for personal reasons, spokeswoman Brandi Dean said, declining to provide further details. It’s not an easy gig to get — some 18,000 people routinely seek the 12 spots that open each year. Kulin, who joined his class sounding upbeat, is the […]

Millions risk malnutrition as CO2 levels climb: study

by Marlowe Hood Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Rising levels of carbon dioxide in the air threaten to sap wheat, rice, and other staple grains of valuable nutrients, raising the specter of mass malnutrition, researchers warned Monday. On current trends, higher CO2 concentrations could reduce iron, zinc and protein levels in the crops that feed the world by up to 17 percent by mid-century, they reported in the journal Nature Climate Change. “Hundreds of […]

Fish oil supplements don’t ward off heart disease: study

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP)–Fish oil supplements do not help prevent heart attacks or strokes in people with diabetes, said a study Monday that adds to a growing body of research on the ineffectiveness of pills containing omega-3 fatty acids. More than 15,000 people with diabetes but no signs of heart disease enrolled in the study in Britain, the results of which were published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Half the participants were given […]

YouTube bout earns millions as boxing keeps distance

  SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP)–A boxing bout between YouTube celebrities Logan Paul and KSI has appalled aficionados of the noble art but left the two protagonists laughing all the way to the bank. More than 15,000 fans crowded into Britain’s Manchester Arena on Saturday to watch boxing novices Paul and KSI — real name Olatunji Olajide — clamber into the ring for a six-round contest. A further 773,000 fans were reported to have paid […]

Sleep shown to be linked to externalizing behavioral difficulties in children: a study review

  By David Oria There exist a large body of research in the area of childhood psychology that has examined the effects of sleep on behavioral issues in adolescents. In many of these studies, the behavioral problems explored were categorized into two: internalizing difficulties or externalizing difficulties. In the world of psychology, internalizing difficulties are behaviors that result from difficulty coping with negative emotions or stressful situations, so they directed inward (eg. withdrawal, loneliness, fearfulness, […]