Life

Germany rolls out world’s first hydrogen train

BREMERVORDE, Germany (AFP) — Germany on Monday rolled out the world’s first hydrogen-powered train, signalling the start of a push to challenge the might of polluting diesel trains with costlier but more eco-friendly technology. Two bright blue Coradia iLint trains, built by French TGV-maker Alstom, began running a 100-kilometer (62-mile) route between the towns and cities of Cuxhaven, Bremerhaven, Bremervoerde and Buxtehude in northern Germany — a stretch normally plied by diesel trains. “The world’s […]

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Melting permafrost threatens climate rescue plan: study

by Patrick GALEY Agence France-Presse Global targets aimed at warding off runaway planetary warming could be breached sooner than expected, experts warned Monday, as gases released by melting permafrost threaten to undermine human efforts to avert climate disaster. Under the current rescue plan, outlined in the 2015 Paris climate treaty, countries have agreed to limit global temperature rises to “well below” two degrees Celsius, and 1.5C if deemed possible. That course of action assumes that […]

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Japanese billionaire businessman revealed as SpaceX’s first Moon traveler

by Ivan Couronne Agence France Presse HAWTHORNE, United States (AFP) — A Japanese billionaire and online fashion tycoon, Yusaku Maezawa, will be the first man to fly on a monster SpaceX rocket around the Moon as early as 2023, and he plans to bring six to eight artists along. Maezawa, 42, will be the first lunar traveler since the last US Apollo mission in 1972. He paid an unspecified amount of money for the privilege. […]

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Robots, machines will do more tasks than humans by 2025: WEF

  PARIS, France (AFP) — Robots will handle 52 percent of current work tasks by 2025, almost twice as many as now, a World Economic Forum (WEF) study said Monday. The sharp increase could also see a net gain in “new roles” for humans, who will have to revamp skills to keep pace with the “seismic shift” in how we work with machines and computer programmes, the forum estimated. “By 2025 more than half of […]

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Machines will do more tasks than humans by 2025: WEF

PARIS, France (AFP) — Robots will handle 52 percent of current work tasks by 2025, almost twice as many as now, a World Economic Forum (WEF) study said Monday. The sharp increase could also see a net gain in “new roles” for humans, who will have to revamp skills to keep pace with the “seismic shift” in how we work with machines and computer programmes, the forum estimated. “By 2025 more than half of all […]

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Cholera death toll climbs to 28 in Zimbabwe

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AFP) — The death toll in Zimbabwe’s cholera outbreak has risen to 28, state media said Sunday, as the health minister announced new antibiotics were being used after the disease strain was found to be resistant to some drugs. The cholera outbreak, first detected in a township outside the capital Harare earlier this month, prompted the government to declare an emergency in the city after at least 3,000 cases were reported. “Although I cannot […]

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Researchers turn to oysters as pollution-tracking sentinels

by Régine LAMOTHE Agence France Presse ARCACHON, France (AFP) — French researchers hoping to get an early warning on pollution in the ocean have found an unlikely ally in a mollusk more often destined for the dinner table. Their findings reveal that much like canaries in a coal mine, oysters stationed near offshore oil platforms can detect minute amounts of hydrocarbons as each one constantly filters dozens of gallons of water every day. That could […]

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Apple unveils new smartwatch, nears 2 bn devices

  CUPERTINO, United States (AFP) —  Apple unveiled a redesigned smartwatch on Wednesday as the California tech giant said it was nearing its two billionth device for its mobile operating system. “We are about to hit a major milestone, we are about to ship our 2 billionth iOS device,” Apple chief executive Tim Cook said as he opened a media event expected to unveil a new lineup of iPhones. “This is astonishing, iOS has changed the way we […]

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NASA counts down to launch of laser study of ice sheets

  by Kerry Sheridan Agence France Presse TAMPA, United States (AFP) — NASA counted down Saturday to the launch of its $1 billion ICESat-2 mission, using advanced lasers to uncover the true depth of the melting of Earth’s ice sheets. The mission will inform sea level rise forecasts and is “exceptionally important for science,” according to Richard Slonaker, ICESat-2 program executive at NASA. The half-ton satellite should reveal unprecedented detail about the current thickness of […]

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NASA space lasers to reveal new depths of planet’s ice loss

by Kerry SHERIDAN Agence France Presse TAMPA, United States (AFP) — NASA is poised to launch Saturday its most advanced space laser ever, ICESat-2, a $1 billion dollar mission to reveal the depths of the Earth’s melting ice as the climate warms. The half-ton satellite, about the size of a smart-car, is scheduled to blast off atop a Delta II rocket on September 15 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The 40-minute launch window […]

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SpaceX announces new plan to send tourist around Moon

  LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — SpaceX on Thursday announced a new plan to launch a tourist around the Moon using its Big Falcon Rocket (BFR), a massive launch vehicle that is being designed to carry people to deep space. “SpaceX has signed the world’s first private passenger to fly around the Moon aboard our BFR launch vehicle — an important step toward enabling access for everyday people who dream of traveling to space,” […]

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Amazon’s Jeff Bezos unveils $2 billion philanthropic fund

  by Rob Lever Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, the richest person on the planet, said Thursday he was creating a philanthropic fund to help homeless families and launch preschools in low-income communities, committing an initial $2 billion to the cause. Bezos made the announcement on Twitter a year after asking for ideas on how he could use his personal fortune — now estimated at more than $160 […]

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