Life

Apple in talks to bring Google’s Gemini AI to iPhone: report

Apple is in advanced negotiations with Google to adopt its powerful Gemini AI models for the iPhone, Bloomberg reported on Monday. The move, if confirmed and resulting in a deal, would answer one of the big questions about the iPhone-maker’s AI strategy, which has been criticized as lagging its tech giant rivals. Google’s share price soared by well over six percent on the news. Apple’s was up by as much as 2.5 percent. According to […]

Elon Musk defends ketamine use, dismisses investor worries

Elon Musk suggested his use of drugs benefits Tesla investors in an interview released Monday, saying he takes prescribed ketamine to treat his “negative frame of mind.” The 52-year-old tycoon confirmed he takes the anesthetic — typically used for pain management and to treat depression — following reports in the US media that his drug use was spooking investors. “Ketamine is helpful for getting one outside out of a negative frame of mind,” Musk told […]

AI giant Nvidia unveils higher performing ‘superchip’

By Glenn CHAPMAN SAN JOSÉ, United States, March 18, 2024 (AFP) – Nvidia on Monday unveiled its latest family of chips for powering artificial intelligence, as it seeks to consolidate its position as the major supplier to the AI frenzy. “We need bigger GPUs. So ladies and gentlemen, I would like to introduce you to a very, very big GPU,” said CEO Jensen Huang at a developers conference in California, referring to the graphics processors […]

Record heat index of 62.3C scorches Rio de Janeiro

RIO DE JANEIRO, March 18, 2024 (AFP) – A heat wave stifling Brazil set new records on Sunday, with Rio de Janeiro’s heat index hitting 62.3 degrees Celsius, the highest in a decade, weather authorities said. The heat index measures what a temperature feels like, taking into account humidity. The actual maximum temperature in the city was 42 ºC on Monday, the Alerta Rio weather system said. The 62.3C record was notched in western Rio […]

How genetic therapies transformed the lives of sickle cell patients

By Issam AHMED WASHINGTON, March 18, 2024 (AFP) – Their stories are divided into before and after. First, those long years of pain which flooded every moment — school, relationships, work. And then — after agonizing treatments — what felt like the miracle of life after sickle cell disease (SCD). Two Americans whose lives were turned around by newly approved treatments tell AFP they want others to benefit too. But the eye-watering cost — up […]

Icelandic volcano erupts for the fourth time on Reykjanes peninsula

REYKJAVIK, March 17, 2024 (AFP) – Icelandic police declared a state of emergency Saturday as lava spewed from a new volcanic fissure on the Reykjanes peninsula, the fourth eruption to hit the area since December. A “volcanic eruption has started between stora Skogfell and Hagafell on the Reykjanes Peninsula,” said a statement from the Icelandic Met Office (IMO). Live video images showed glowing lava and billowing smoke. Iceland’s Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management […]

Dutch art fair reports ‘record’ prices for Van Gogh, Picasso

  THE HAGUE, March 15, 2024 (AFP) – Europe’s largest art fair closed its doors on Friday with organisers saying that sales, including a rare Van Gogh and works by Picasso and Kees van Dongen, fetched “record prices”. Although a total figure of sale for some of the world’s most sought-after artworks could not be given, organisers of The European Fine Art Fair (TEFAF) said that sales ran up to “tens-of-millions of euros”. “It’s impossible […]

Surging nervous system disorders now top cause of illness: study

  Conditions affecting the nervous system — such as strokes, migraines and dementia — have surged past heart disease to become the leading cause of ill health worldwide, a major new analysis said on Friday. More than 3.4 billion people — 43 percent of the global population — experienced a neurological condition in 2021, far more than had previously been thought, the analysis found. The study was carried out by hundreds of researchers led by […]

Sprawling storms, tornadoes kill 3 in US midwest

Devastating storms pounded three central US states Thursday night, spawning massive tornadoes including one that hit a trailer park in Indiana and killed three people, US media reported. More than 13 million people in the central United States were under tornado watches, the National Weather Service (NWS) said. A “very dangerous half-mile-wide tornado” touched down in Ohio state, NWS said. One struck the rural town of Indian Lakes in western Ohio. “It’s pure devastation. I […]

With bites rare, experts want sharks to shed scary reputation

By Gerard MARTINEZ JUPITER, United States, March 15, 2024 (AFP) – As the northern hemisphere edges toward spring and millions flock to the beach, headlines have dubbed the southeastern US state of Florida the world’s most likely place to be bitten by a shark. They’re right, but, at the same time, shark bites are exceedingly rare overall — a fact scientists wish more people knew, especially amid declining shark populations desperately in need of conservation. […]

Turks up in arms over killing of stray cat

The killing of a stray cat in Istanbul has triggered petitions, protests and death threats, pushing the president to intervene and the courts to retry the culprit. On January 1, Ibrahim K. was caught on a security camera in the lobby of the building where he lived kicking to death a stray cat named Eros that his neighbours regularly fed. He was sentenced in early February to 18 months in jail but was then released […]

Will AI save humanity? US tech fest offers reality check

By Julie JAMMOT AUSTIN, March 15, 2024 (AFP) – Artificial intelligence aficionados are betting that the technology will help solve humanity’s biggest problems, from wars to global warming, but in practice, these may be unrealistic ambitions for now. “It’s not about asking AI ‘Hey, this is a sticky problem. What would you do?’ and AI is like, ‘well, you need to completely restructure this part of the economy’,” said Michael Littman, a Brown University professor […]