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LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — A team of international scientists led by the British Antarctic Survey set off on Wednesday to explore a mysterious marine ecosystem that has lain hidden under an ice shelf for up to 120,000 years. The BAS said that an iceberg known as A68 broke off from the Larsen Ice Shelf in July 2017, revealing a section of seabed measuring 5,818 square kilometers (2,245 square miles) — nearly four times the […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — More than 100 rarely seen fish species were hauled up from a deep and cold abyss off Australia during a scientific voyage, researchers said Wednesday, including a cousin of the “world’s ugliest animal” Mr Blobby. Scientists spent a month last year on a vessel off the country’s eastern seaboard surveying life lurking up to 4.8 kilometres (2.9 miles) below the surface, using nets, sonar and deep-sea cameras. Over 42,000 fish and […]
by Marlowe Hood Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Artificial intelligence could be deployed by dictators, criminals and terrorists to manipulate elections and use drones in terrorist attacks, more than two dozen experts said Wednesday as they sounded the alarm over misuse of the technology. In a 100-page analysis, they outlined a rapid growth in cybercrime and the use of “bots” to interfere with news gathering and penetrate social media among a host of plausible […]
by Marlowe Hood Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Chronic heavy drinking is a major risk factor for all types of dementia, especially early onset of the disease, according to a study published Wednesday in The Lancet Public Health. Researchers examining more than 57,000 cases of early-onset dementia in France found that well over half were either alcohol-related, or accompanied by an additional diagnosis of alcohol abuse. Overall, alcohol use disorders were associated with […]
by Julie Charpentrat Agence France-Presse SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Triumphant in online retail, cloud computing, organic groceries, and streaming television, Amazon founder and chief disruptor Jeff Bezos is turning his seemingly limitless ambition to health care. Amazon, launched as an internet bookseller nearly 24 years ago, has branched into offerings including voice-commanded speakers infused with Alexa artificial intelligence and original TV shows streamed online at its Prime subscription service. Health care now appears […]
by Marlowe Hood © Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — How quickly humanity draws down the greenhouse gases driving global warming will determine whether sea levels rise half-a-metre or six times that, even if Paris climate pact goals are fully met, researchers reported Tuesday in a study. “The trajectory of emissions in the next few decades will shape our coastlines in the centuries to come,” lead author Matthias Mengel, a scientist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate […]
SINGAPORE, Singapore (AFP) — Singapore said Monday it would impose a carbon tax from next year to cut its greenhouse gas emissions and make companies more competitive as global agreements on climate change take effect. Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat said the tax would be levied on all facilities producing 25,000 tons or more of greenhouse gas emissions a year. The tax, to be applied to all sectors, will be Sg$5.0 ($3.8) per ton of […]
MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AFP) — Archaeologists who have been exploring the world’s largest underwater cave — recently discovered in Mexico — presented their findings Monday, including fossils of giant sloths and an elaborate shrine to the Mayan god of commerce. Researchers discovered last month that two large networks of underwater caves in Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula, the Sac Actun and Dos Ojos networks, are in fact connected, forming the largest such structure on Earth. Diving with […]
by Marlowe HOOD Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — A few hours a week of light exercise — walking the dog, puttering about in the garden — lower the risk of death in older men, even if workouts are brief, researchers said Tuesday. Their findings, reported in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, challenge two long-held assumptions about the benefits of physical activity for the elderly. To improve health and reduce the risk of […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Artificial intelligence and its impact on weapons of the future has made US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis doubt his own theories on warfare. A question on the subject prompted the retired Marine general to give an impromptu seminar on his theory of war Saturday to reporters returning with him from a week-long tour of Europe. Recalling his own writings, he differentiated between the essential nature of war, which is unchanging […]
by Juliette Michel © Agence France-Presse NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Blockchain, the technology behind the cryptocurrency bitcoin, is taking root in a sector far from finance: the world of humanitarian aid. By offering refugees a virtual identity, reassuring donors that their money is being well spent, or rushing funds where they are needed most, aid charities are experimenting with the technology in the hopes that it can improve their work. “We are at the very […]
by Miguel SANCHEZ Agence France-Presse PARANAL, Chile (AFP) – It seems nothing can escape the inexorable spread of light pollution — not even the giant telescopes probing the heavens above northern Chile, a region whose pristine dark skies, long considered a paradise for astronomers, are under increasing threat. The Atacama desert, 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) north of the capital Santiago, provides ideal conditions where astronomers study the stars in darkness so profound they appear like diamonds on […]
