MEXICO CITY, Mexico (Reuters) — Crowds gathered in Mexico City on Wednesday (July 26) to watch chefs craft a record breaking super “torta” sandwich. According to organizers, the 67-meter (220 foot) long “torta” sandwich set a new local record for the longest sandwich ever prepared in Latin America, for a fourteenth year running. The mega “torta” record attempt took place in Venustiano Carranza district of Mexico City. Local authorities and dozens of local establishments dedicated […]
Life
Heart rate study tests emotional impact of Shakespeare
by Rosie Scammell Agence France Presse STRATFORD-UPON-AVON, United Kingdom (AFP) — In a world where on-screen violence has become commonplace, Britain’s Royal Shakespeare Company is turning to science to discover whether the playwright can still make our hearts race more than 400 years on. The renowned theater company has started measuring the pulse of audience members as they are confronted by some of the most harrowing scenes ever written by Shakespeare in the Roman tragedy […]
Health risk alarm over water rationing in Rome
ROME, Italy (AFP) — Plans to ration water in drought-hit Rome could have serious consequences for public health, Italy’s health minister warned Wednesday. The Lazio region has said that emergency measures to battle the prolonged dry spell could lead to staggered water supply shutdowns in neighborhoods in the capital for eight hours daily, starting from this weekend. Such a move could “seriously compromise sanitary hygiene standards in accommodation structures and restaurants in the capital, as […]
Scientists find sunscreen potential in Antarctic plants
SANTIAGO, Chile (Reuters) — Scientists in Chile have discovered molecules in two species of Antarctic flowers that protect the plants from solar radiation and could potentially be used in products such as sunscreen for humans and protection for vulnerable crops. Researchers at the University of Santiago investigating the properties of Antarctic plants grown under controlled conditions found that Colobanthus quitensis (pearlwort) and Deschampsia antarctica (hair grass) could tolerate high levels of ultraviolet radiation. According to […]
US retailer Michael Kors to buy luxury shoemaker Jimmy Choo for $1.2 billion
LONDON, United Kingdom (Reuters) — United States retailer Michael Kors has agreed to buy luxury shoemaker Jimmy Choo for $1.2 billion, snapping up a British brand launched in the east end of London and made famous by celebrity fans including Princess Diana. Founded in the 1990s by shoemaker Jimmy Choo, the brand is known for its stiletto heals and accessories and sells in cities from London to Paris, New York and Tokyo. It put itself […]
Micro-CT scan shows mason bee in unprecedented detail
GRANADA, Spain (Reuters) — Detailed microcomputed tomography (micro-CT) scans of mason bees have been released by world-renowned microtomographer Professor Javier Alba-Tercedor, of the University of Granada. Alba-Tercedor’s images helped him win ‘Best Picture Award’ at June’s Bruker micro-CT users contest in Brussels. The Professor of Zoology uses a SkyScan 1172 scanner to produce the remarkably detailed images. The SkyScan uses microtomography, a non-invasive technique used by the scientific community, especially in the field of medicine, […]
Take a Look: Panda sisters wrestle, play basketball on new playground set
DUJIANGYAN CITY, China (CCTV) — Human children are not the only kids in town who love swing sets. A pair of panda sisters named Panyue and Yanhui who live at the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda (CCRCGP) in Sichuan Province can be found sliding, swinging, wrestling and climbing on their new playset at all hours of the day, when they are not reclining and munching on bamboo shoots that is. The sisters […]
WATCH: Spectacular thunderstorm wows locals in east China
LIANCHENG COUNTY, China (CCTV) –A spectacular thunderstorm has wowed Chinese netizens and smart phone users with its vertical column of downpours in east China’s Fujian Province. The thunderstorm occurred Friday last week. Even amateur footage cannot hide the awesomeness of this half-hour awe-struck celestial phenomenon. Most viewers of the footage aspired for an explanation. “This spectacle occurred due to localized strong convection, judging by our radar returns. The wet microburst against sunshine made it all […]
Researchers program plug-in hybrid cars to learn fuel efficiency
CALIFORNIA, United States (AFP) — Researchers at the University of California, Riverside have created a computer program for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) that learns how to save fuel, improving fuel efficiency by more than 30 percent. PHEVs can use either gasoline or electric power. Lab tests have shown the most efficient way for them to run is to switch between power from the battery and gas throughout the trip, rather than running exclusively on […]
Robot builders working on Swiss digitally fabricated house
ZURICH, Switzerland (Reuters) — Construction recently began on a three-storey house near Zurich that was designed and planned using digital techniques, and is now being built using mostly robotic systems and 3D printing technologies. The DFAB HOUSE in Dubendorf brings together a multi-disciplinary team of researchers from ETH Zurich and the Swiss National Center of Competence in Research (NCCR) Digital Fabrication who have teamed up with business partners to test new building technologies under real-life […]
Sri Lanka navy rescues two elephants washed out to sea
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AFP) — Two young elephants washed out to sea were saved from drowning Sunday by the Sri Lankan navy in the second such incident off the island in as many weeks. The navy said the pair of wild elephants were brought ashore after a “mammoth effort” involving navy divers, ropes and a flotilla of boats to tow them back to shallow waters. Photos showed the elephants in distress, barely keeping their trunks […]
“God spared my life,” says Filipina airline passenger in what could have been “worst aviation disaster” in history
(Eagle News) — A Filipina, Pamela Aguilar, from Fremont, California was one of the 135 passengers who were on board Air Canada flight 759 on July 7, 2017, that fateful Friday night when their plane almost collided with four other large planes on a taxiway at the San Francisco International airport. It was a long day, she recalled. She came from a vacation in Rome, Italy, and her flight out of Rome was […]