Life

Watch out Messi, here come the footballers at RoboCup

by Harumi OZAWA Agence France Presse NAGOYA, Japan (AFP) — With steely focus, player number 3 scored a stunning opening goal in the first few minutes of the high-stakes football match between a dominant Bordeaux and their plucky Chinese opponents. But as the crowds cheered, the pint-sized player, known as Arya, showed none of the customary swagger of triumphant strikers. In fact, robot number 3 and its teammates showed no emotion at all as they […]

Tesla begins to deliver “Model 3” electric car for the masses

  by Julie Charpentrat Agence France Presse FREMONT, United States (AFP) — Tesla began delivering on a dream to make an electric car for the masses, rolling out the first of its keenly-awaited “Model 3” cars, aiming to disrupt a world accustomed to automobiles powered by pollution-spewing fossil fuel. An initial batch of the ‘Model 3’ cars that rolled out of the Tesla plant in Fremont, California late Friday were given to customers, most of […]

Twitter dives; growth stall highlights contrast with Facebook

by Glenn Chapman  with Rob Lever in Washington SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Twitter shares were hammered Thursday after the company reported no gain in its user base in the past quarter, raising fresh fears about the future of the service as it loses more ground to Facebook. Twitter, which has been struggling to keep pace in the fast-moving world of social media, reported a net loss of $116 million in the second quarter, […]

Los Angeles to have fully electric bus fleet by 2030

LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — Known for its bouts of heavy smog, the city of Los Angeles on Thursday announced plans to have a fleet of fully electric, zero-emissions buses by 2030. Authorities in the United States metropolis said the project, which involves the purchase of 2,200 vehicles, would cost some $1 billion over the next ten years. “Today’s vote represents an enormous investment in the future of a healthy and prosperous Los Angeles,” […]

Pet cafe trend cat-ching on in Yangon

YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — It may be raining cats and dogs in Myanmar, but in Yangon two coffee shops are offering animal-lovers a chance to escape the monsoon as the global pet-cafe craze sweeps into the rapidly changing city. Inside Yangon’s ‘Catpuchino Cafe’ dozens of felines lounge around the room, some peeking out of baskets while others sit perched on fluffy stools or lie purring in the arms of adoring visitors. On one cushion, a […]

Scientists set sail to unlock secrets of ‘lost continent’ Zealandia

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Scientists are attempting to unlock the secrets of the “lost continent” of Zealandia, setting sail Friday to investigate the huge underwater landmass east of Australia that has never been properly studied. Zealandia, which is mostly submerged beneath the South Pacific, was once part of the Gondwana super-continent but broke away some 75 million years ago. In a paper published in the Geological Society of America’s Journal GSA Today in February, researchers […]

Climate change will feed wildfires: experts

by Dominique Schroeder and Mariëtte Le Roux Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Out-of-control wildfires like the ones that brought destruction to southern Europe, North America and parts of South Africa in recent weeks will likely become more frequent as global temperatures soar under climate change, experts say. More than 10,000 people had to flee raging fires in southern France this week, and several villages were evacuated in Portugal just weeks after another blaze […]

Sugar not so sweet for mental health

PARIS, France (AFP) — Sugar may be bad not only for your teeth and your waistline, but also your mental health, said a study Thursday that was met with skepticism by other experts. Researchers at University College London (UCL) compared the reported sugar intake of more than 8,000 people in a long-term British study, to their mood. The study participants, civil servants, were monitored from 1985-1988, and filled out a questionnaire every few years thereafter. […]

Robotic spray-painter creates huge multi-colored mural

TARTU, Estonia (Reuters) — Mihkel Joala wants to add a splash of color to the cities of the world. To do that the Estonian inventor has created a robotic five-color spray-painter that he says can produce murals 100-metres tall on buildings. With it, Joala says he is ready to break world records. To test his prototype, Joala’s startup company Sprayprinter decided to print one of the tallest buildings in Tartu – the chimney of a […]

Astronomers stunned by star ‘nursery’ age find

PARIS, France (AFP) — Surprised astronomers have found stars of three different ages in a stellar “nursery” in the Milky Way, throwing into question the scientific consensus on how stars are formed. The European Southern Observatory’s (ESO) Very Large Telescope in Chile spotted three distinct groups of baby stars in the Orion nebula — the closest star “factory” to Earth, a team reported Thursday. “Looking at the data for the first time was one of […]

Twitter dives, growth stall highlights contrast with Facebook

by Glenn Chapman with Rob Lever in Washington Agence France Presse SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Twitter shares were hammered Thursday after the company reported no gain in its user base in the past quarter, raising fresh fears about the future of the service as it loses more ground to Facebook. Twitter, which has been struggling to keep pace in the fast-moving world of social media, reported a net loss of $116 million in […]

UK to ban sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2040

LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Britain said Wednesday it will outlaw the sale of new diesel and petrol cars and vans from 2040 in a bid to cut air pollution but environmental groups said the proposals did not go far enough. Environment minister Michael Gove announced the move as part of the government’s keenly-awaited £3 billion ($3.9 billion, 3.4 billion euro) air pollution plan, which will demand that councils propose measures by March next year […]