Life

Tokyo stocks fall, Nintendo up on new console

Tokyo, Japan (AFP) — Tokyo shares finished lower on Friday after three days of gains, but Nintendo jumped as the videogame giant launched its newest console. Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 0.49 percent, or 95.63 points, to end the day at 19,469.17, while the Topix index of all first-section issues slipped 0.42 percent, or 6.64 points, to 1,558.05.

Switch console goes on sale as part of Nintendo strategy reboot

by Kyoko HASEGAWA / Miwa SUZUKI Agence France Presse TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Nintendo’s Switch console went on sale Friday in a global launch seen as key for the Japanese video game giant to reverse flagging sales and compete with Sony’s top-selling PlayStation 4. The $299-unit, which works both at home and on-the-go, blends the Super Mario maker’s history in the console business with its fledgling mobile gaming strategy, which got a big brand win […]

Study: Fat intake has direct effect on spread of cancer

The amount of fat we eat has a direct link to a cancer’s ability to spread around the body, according to scientists in Spain. The growth of cancerous tumors at secondary sites in the body is called metastasis and is the main cause of cancer related deaths. The researchers say a protein called CD36 absorbs fat from the cell membrane and is the agent that determines whether a cancer metastasizes or not. “When one looks […]

Robotic rehab platform helps predict injury risk

Italian engineers have developed a robotic rehabilitation platform that can analyze a patient’s biometrics to predict their risk of injury, and then guide them through exercises designed to counter that risk. Designed at the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), the device, called Hunova, has received CE certification for Europe and is seeking approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It was developed over five years and is now being marketed by spin-off […]

NASA Mars satellite moves to avoid hitting planet’s moon

Reuters — A NASA science satellite circling Mars had to maneuver this week to avoid crashing into one of the planet’s two small moons, the U.S. space agency said on Thursday (March 2). The MAVEN spacecraft, which is studying Mars’ vanishing atmosphere, fired up its engine on Tuesday to boost its speed by about 1.3 feet per second (0.4 meters per second) so it could steer clear of the Martian moon Phobos, the National Aeronautics […]

George W. Bush exhibits his portraits of US war veterans

by Nova SAFO Agence France Presse CHICAGO, United States (AFP) — After putting down his executive pen former US President George W. Bush picked up a paint brush — and the hobby has become something of a career. An exhibition of his oil paintings depicting US military veterans will open Thursday at the former president’s library in Dallas. The collection, on display at the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Texas until October 1, features […]

Going to Dubai? Come ‘dine in the sky’

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (Reuters) — Sweet treats, sandwiches and drinks – all while dangling mid-air 50 meters off the ground. That’s what a group of diners in Dubai enjoyed recently as part of a “Dinner in the Sky” event that has been held in several countries. The event features diners lifted high in the air on an open platform suspended from a construction crane. Turnout for the brunch, lunch, dinner and tea services that […]

Atlas 5 rocket blasts off carrying military satellite

CALIFORNIA, United States (Reuters) — A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas 5 rocket lifted off successfully from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Wednesday morning carrying a military satellite. The rocket is carrying the NROL-79 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office, the ULA said in a statement. The rocket lifted off in favorable conditions. The rocket launch marks the 70th Atlas 5 launch, the ULA said.

Moon tourists in for a rough ride, experts say

by Laurence COUSTAL / Mariëtte Le Roux Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Non-stop vomiting, a puffy face and the constant need to pee: Volunteers for a week-long loop around the Moon may be in for a rough ride even if all goes to plan. In the week that SpaceX announced it would launch two tourists to skirt Earth’s satellite in 2018, experts agreed the health effects would chiefly be minor and short-lived. These […]

Oldest fossils ‘direct evidence’ of life on Earth some 4 billion years ago

by Marlowe HOOD Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — The oldest fossils ever found are “direct evidence” of life on Earth 3.8 to 4.3 billion years ago, when our planet was still in its infancy, researchers reported Wednesday. Even at the lower end of the spectrum, “the microfossils we discovered are about 300 million years older” than any runners-up, said Dominic Papineau, a professor at University College London who made the discovery. The dating […]

Compliment or harassment – what’s the diff?

QUEZON CITY, Philippines (Eagle News) — “Hey baby you have a nice body. Are you single?” This may be a usual scenario in our everyday lives. It may sound like an ordinary compliment,  but by definition, it is actually already  a form of harassment. So what is harassment? According to the ever-reliable Merriam-Webster Dictionary, to harass means either one of two things: (1) to annoy or bother (someone) in a constant or repeated way; (2) […]

Shanghai expands public smoking ban

SHANGHAI, China (AFP) — Shanghai widened its ban on public smoking Wednesday as China’s biggest city steps up efforts to stub out the massive health threat despite conflicts of interest with the state-owned tobacco industry. Nearly a quarter of adults in the commercial hub of 24 million people are smokers, according to the state-run People’s Daily newspaper, citing data from the Chinese Association of Tobacco Control. Shanghai has had a limited ban on public smoking since […]