Life

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 […]

Whale of a tail: Scientists track unique humpback ‘fingerprint’

By Juan RESTREPO, Juan BARRETO ON BOARD THE ARC SIMON BOLIVAR , Antarctica, March 15, 2024 (AFP) – In Antarctica, a scientist waits patiently for two frolicking humpback whales to poke their tails out of the icy waters so she can take a photographic “fingerprint” of the unique colors and patterns that allow researchers to identify individuals of the species. Andrea Bonilla, a Colombian scientist at Cornell University in the United States, has been working […]

SpaceX mega rocket lost in final phase of test flight

By Chandan Khanna with Issam Ahmed in Washington BOCA CHICA, United States, March 14, 2024 (AFP) – Starship, the world’s most powerful rocket, flew further and faster than ever before during its third test flight Thursday, although it was eventually lost as it re-entered the atmosphere over the Indian Ocean, SpaceX said. Lift-off from the company’s Starbase in southeast Texas came around 8:25 am local time (1325 GMT) and was carried live on a webcast […]

‘Man in iron lung’ dead at 78: family

A polio survivor known as the “man in the iron lung” has died aged 78, according to his family and a fundraising website. Paul Alexander of Dallas, Texas contracted polio at the age of six, leaving him paralyzed from the neck down and reliant on a mechanical respirator to breathe for much of the time. Though often confined to his submarine-like cylinder, he excelled in his studies, earned a law degree, worked in the legal […]

Brazil revs up for jolt of hybrid car investments

By Louis GENOT RIO DE JANEIRO, March 13, 2024 (AFP) – Brazil is charging up for a hybrid revolution as global car manufacturers race to pump billions of dollars into the development of green vehicles in Latin America’s biggest economy. Globally, hybrid cars sales are booming, offering consumers fuel savings, sustainability, and the assurance that they won’t find themselves stranded far from a public charging station in a fully electric vehicle. Brazil, with its population […]

SpaceX poised for third launch test of Starship megarocket

By Chandan KHANNA BOCA CHICA AND MEDFORD COLONIA, United States, March 14, 2024 (AFP) – SpaceX plans on Thursday to attempt another launch of Starship, the world’s most powerful rocket that is vital to NASA’s plans for landing astronauts on the Moon later this decade — and Elon Musk’s hopes of eventually colonizing Mars. Two previous attempts have ended in spectacular explosions, though that’s not necessarily a bad thing: the company has adopted a rapid […]

Protect Earth instead of colonising Mars, Obama says

Humanity must preserve Earth before dreaming of colonising Mars because even nuclear war and unbridled climate change cannot make the red planet more liveable, Barack Obama said Wednesday. Speaking at a renewable energy conference in the French capital Paris, the former US president mentioned Silicon Valley “tycoons, many of whom are building spaceships” that could take humans to Mars. “But when I hear some of the people talk about the plan to colonise Mars because […]

What’s included in the new EU law on AI

By Raziye Akkoc The European Parliament on Wednesday gave the final nod to far-reaching rules on artificial intelligence that the EU hopes will both harness innovation and defend against harms. The law, known as the “AI Act”, was first proposed in April 2021 by the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm. But it was only after Microsoft-funded ChatGPT burst onto the scene in late 2022 that the real AI contest began — and also the […]

Whale menopause sheds light on human evolutionary mystery

By Daniel Lawler Why do humans experience menopause? It’s a question that some women going through the symptoms might have asked themselves more than once. Scientists are also baffled. From an evolutionary perspective, animals generally take every chance they can get to have as many offspring as possible to boost their odds of survival. So why have some species evolved to have menopause, in which females live many years after they stop being able to […]