Life

SpaceX rocket launches Intelsat communications satellite

FLORIDA, United States (Reuters) – A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched an Intelsat communications satellite from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral on Wednesday evening (July 5). The rocket delivered Intelsat 35e to a Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO), according to SpaceX. SpaceX said due to mission requirements, it would not try to land Falcon 9’s first stage after the launch. Two launches were scrubbed this week. On Monday, the […]

US lifts laptop ban on flights from Istanbul: airline

Ankara, Turkey (AFP) — The United States lifted Wednesday a ban on carrying large electronic devices such as laptops in the cabin of US-bound flights from Turkey’s main international airport, Turkish Airlines and local media reported. “Dear Passengers, #WelcomeOnBoard to our US-bound flight. Please fasten your seatbelts and enjoy your own electronic devices,” Turkish Airlines, the country’s flag carrier, said on Twitter late Tuesday. The ban’s lifting comes after Turkey began using sophisticated tomography imaging devices for X-ray […]

Malaysia hit by first rabies deaths in almost 20 years

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (AFP) — Two Malaysian children have died after contracting rabies, the country’s first such deaths in almost two decades, as authorities battle a rare outbreak of the disease, officials said Wednesday. A six-year-old girl and her four-year-old brother died Tuesday after becoming infected with the disease in a rural area on the Malaysian part of Borneo island. They were among three people confirmed to have been infected with rabies, which in most cases is transmitted […]

Guinean former fashion model digs into west African mining

GUINGOUINE, Ivory Coast (AFP) — Leaving behind chic gowns and catwalks to stomp in the mud in heavy work boots, Guinean former fashion model Tiguidanke Camara has made herself west Africa’s first woman mine owner. In the small forest village of Guingouine, in the west of Ivory Coast, Camara runs a team of 10 geologists and labourers who are probing the soil for gold deposits. She readily wades into a mucky pond to help take laboratory samples. […]

Mysterious Planet 10 may have warped the Kuiper Belt

(REUTERS) — United States scientists have found evidence to support the existence of the unseen Planet 10, which is much closer than the previously reported Planet Nine, a planet that has not yet been fully proven to exist. The Kuiper Belt is a disc-shaped region that contains icy bodies, space rocks and dwarf planets such as Pluto. It is understood that Kuiper Belt objects orbit the sun with an orbital tilt, while those at least […]

Scientists test robots on Etna moonscape ahead of next lunar mission

MOUNT ETNA, Italy (Reuters) — A robot scuttles across a dry and arid moonscape but it is not in outer space, it is on Europe’s most active volcano, Mount Etna, which is being used for research by the German Aerospace Center, testing robots ahead of the next mission to the moon. A variety of experts from Germany, England, the United States and Italy are involved in Robotic Exploration of Extreme Environments, which aims not only […]

Motorized surfboard rises above water as it travels

AGUADILLA, Puerto Rico (Reuters) — A company in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, is preparing to launch an electric motorized surfboard which can rise up above water and reach top speeds of 25 miles per hour. Nick Leason, the co-founder of the company Lift Foils which creates the boards named eFoil, told Reuters he envisages their use to be on inland waterways where there are no waves to surf. The 13.6-kilogram (30 pounds) boards run on batteries […]

French smokers, at 10 euros a pack, may finally think twice

PARIS, France (AFP) — The cost of lighting up at a French sidewalk cafe may finally dissuade even the most ardent smoker, if Prime Minister Edouard Phillippe gets his way. With 80,000 tobacco-related deaths in France each year, “doing nothing is not an option,” Philippe said Tuesday, announcing a plan to raise the price of a packet of cigarettes to 10 euros ($11.3) from the current seven euros. Tobacco “is the leading cause of preventable […]

1st Outstanding Parents’ Awards set by Filipino community in New Jersey

  By Percival Cunanan Eagle News Service, EBC US Bureau The family is considered as the basic unit of society. Parents play a significant role in building a solid foundation, in having strong relationships, and rearing their children to become morally, socially and spiritually upright. It is not easy to become a parent, but to become an outstanding parent is much harder. You need to pass a series of tests and trials –the “test of […]

Don’t look down: glass bottom skywalk thrills in China

CHONGQING, China (AFP) — Suspended more than 120 meters (400 feet) above a gaping chasm, the world’s longest cantilevered glass skywalk is delighting and terrifying visitors in China. The v-shaped walkway stretches almost 70 meters from a sheer cliff face in southwest Chongqing, offering intrepid tourists a vertigo-inducing view of the ground some 123 meters below. No more than 30 people are allowed on the skywalk at any one time. While some pause to pose […]

South Korean barista recreates ‘The Scream,’ ‘The Starry Night’

SEOUL, South Korea (Reuters) — A South Korean barista is gaining popularity online with his recreation of famous paintings like Vincent van Gogh’s ‘The Starry Night’ on the tops of cups of coffee. Lee Kang-bin’s passion started at the age of 17 when he first learned how to make coffee. Three years later, he even made it for his fellow troops during his military service at a camp near the border with North Korea. He […]