Life

How to drive a robot on Mars

by Ivan Couronne Agence France Presse GREENBELT, United States (AFP) — Some 78 million miles (126 million kilometers) from Earth, alone on the immense and frigid Red Planet, a robot the size of a small 4×4 wakes up just after sunrise. And just as it has every day for the past six years, it awaits its instructions. Around 9:30 Mars time, a message arrives from California, where it was sent 15 minutes earlier. “Drive forward […]

WHO maps dangerous misuse of antibiotics

GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The World Health Organization warned Monday that antibiotics consumption is dangerously high in some countries while a shortage in others is spurring risky misuse, driving the emergence of deadly superbug infections. In a first, the United Nations health agency said it had collated data on antibiotic use across large parts of the world and had found huge differences in consumption. The report, based on 2015 data from 65 countries and regions, […]

How to drive a robot on Mars

by Ivan Couronne Agence France-Presse GREENBELT, United States (AFP) — Some 78 million miles (126 million kilometers) from Earth, alone on the immense and frigid Red Planet, a robot the size of a small 4×4 wakes up just after sunrise. And just as it has every day for the past six years, it awaits its instructions. Around 9:30 Mars time, a message arrives from California, where it was sent 15 minutes earlier. “Drive forward 10 […]

Pneumonia to kill nearly 11 mn children by 2030, study warns

PARIS, France (AFP) — Pneumonia will kill nearly 11 million children under five by 2030, experts warned Monday on a global day aimed at raising awareness of the biggest infectious killer of infants worldwide. While in the developed world the severe lung infection mainly affects the elderly, in developing nations it is children who bear the brunt, with hundreds of thousands dying each year from the easily preventable disease. More than 880,000 children — mainly […]

China steps up drone race with stealth aircraft

by Ludovic EHRET Agence France-Presse ZHUHAI, China (AFP) — China is unleashing stealth drones and pilotless aircraft fitted with AK-47 rifles onto world markets, racing to catch up to US technology and adding to a fleet that has already seen combat action in the Middle East. Combat drones were among the jet fighters, missiles and other military hardware shown off this week at Airshow China, the country’s biggest aerospace industry exhibition. A delta-winged stealth drone […]

Benepisyo ng biotechnology, ilalahad ng DOST

Ni Belle Surara Eagle News Service (Eagle News) – Pangungunahan ng Department of Science and Technology (DOST) ang pagdiriwang ng National Biotechnology Week (NBW) sa taong ito. Layunin nito na mapalawak pa ang kaalaman ng mga mamamayan tungkol sa benepisyong idinudulot ng biotechnology sa buhay at pamumuhay ng tao. Ang tema nang naturang pagdiriwang ay “Pambansang Hamon, Pambansang Solusyon.” Ayon kay DOST Secretary Fortunato dela Peña, tatalakayin sa pagdiriwang ng NBW  ang mga biotechnology product,  […]

Lions suspected in drowning of 400 buffaloes in Botswana

  GABORONE, Botswana (AFP) — More than 400 buffaloes believed to have been chased by lions drowned in a river in northern Bostwana this week, the government said. The mass drowning occurred in Chobe River near the border with Namibia. Early investigations by authorities in both countries “suggest that an exceptionally large buffalo herd was grazing in Namibia when they stampeded into the Chobe River,” Botswana’s Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism said […]

Superbugs to ‘kill millions’ by 2050 unless countries act

  by Patrick Galey Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Millions of people in Europe, North America and Australia will die from superbug infections unless countries prioritize fighting the growing threat posed by bacteria immune to most known drugs, experts predicted Wednesday. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) warned of “disastrous consequences” for public healthcare and spending unless basic hospital hygiene is boosted and unnecessary antibiotic use slashed. Drug-resistant bacteria killed more […]

Google touts progress in fight against piracy

SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Google said Wednesday it is making strides in helping internet users legitimately get songs, films and apps while choking off revenue to websites with stolen digital content. A 64-page report released by Google claimed progress in the war on piracy, but also noted a new battlefront in the form of “add-on” software that can be installed on legitimate open-source media players such as the Kodi box to illicitly stream […]

Recovery of endangered whales hampered by humans long after hunting

by Marlowe HOOD Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — When an endangered female North Atlantic right whale spends months, even years, disentangling itself from cast-off fishing nets, there’s not much energy left over for mating and nursing calves. Coping with such debris, along with ship collisions and other forms of human encroachment, have severely stymied recovery of the majestic sea mammals long after explosive harpoons and factory ships nearly wiped them out, according to a […]

Publiko, pinag-iingat ng DOH sa pagbili ng battery operated devices

Ni Belle Surara Eagle News Reporter (Eagle News) – Muling pinayuhan ng Department of Health (DOH) ang publiko na maging maingat sa pagbili ng mga produkto online lalo na ang mga battery operated devices. Ayon kay Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, ang mga naturang devices ay hindi laruan. Ito aniya ay nagtataglay din ng tinatawag na “concomitant health at safety hazards”. Magugunita na isang binatilyo ang nasabugan ng vape sa bibig matapos umanong makipag-swap ng […]

Actor Michael Douglas gets star on Hollywood Walk of Fame

HOLLYWOOD, CA (AFP) — Oscar-winning actor Michael Douglas got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Tuesday in honor of his 50 years in show business. The megastar was joined at the ceremony by his 101-year-old father and Hollywood legend Kirk Douglas as well as Jane Fonda, who starred with him in the 1979 drama “The China Syndrome,” about an accident in a nuclear power plant. Also attending was Douglas’s wife, the actress […]