(Eagle News) — Los Angeles was not always a car town. In this urban exploration video of Eagle News correspondent Ashlei Joy Latag, EBC’s Southwest California Bureau traced the history of Los Angeles, looking back at LA as a city that once relied on public transportation, and even passageways such as the stairs all around the city that were once used by hillside residents. Now, urban explorers rediscover these stairs and more as the […]
Life
Chinese giant panda gives birth in Belgium
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — A giant panda on loan to Belgium from China has given birth to a cub, a rare event for the endangered species, the Pairi Daiza zoo said Thursday. The zoo and the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda “have the great pleasures to announce the birth of a panda cub”, Pairi Daiza said in a statement. “Less than 2,000 pandas can be found in the wild, making every […]
Believe the hype? How virtual reality could change your life
by Michelle YUN TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Reducing errors made during surgery, bringing school books to life, enabling us to browse shops from the comfort of home — virtual reality is not just about gaming, it will change our lives, according to some tech leaders. “VR” is the buzz industry at Asia’s largest tech fair, Computex, being held in Taiwan’s capital Taipei this week. The island is hoping to become a development hub for virtual […]
Zuckerberg streams live chat with men in space
SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg took the leading social network on a new journey Wednesday, with a live-streamed chat with astronauts on the International Space Station. In a Facebook Live video broadcast shown at the NASA page of the social network, Zuckerberg praised the work going on at the station and launched a few questions, some submitted to him online. Zuckerberg effused that while Facebook’s mission has long been to […]
Master gene of disguise in moths, butterflies
PARIS, France (AFP) – by Marlowe Hood Scientists unveiled Wednesday the gene that allowed the off-white peppered moth to famously evolve dark wings to escape predators in sooty, 19th-century industrial England. That same gene, another team reported, also helps some 40 species of butterflies to flash bright yellow stripes — a sign of toxicity — to ward off hungry birds. The findings, published as separate studies in Nature, are surprising for many reasons, the researchers said. […]
China smartphone maker Xiaomi buys Microsoft patents
SHANGHAI, China (AFP) — Upstart smartphone maker Xiaomi has bought nearly 1,500 patents from US technology giant Microsoft, the companies and reports said, as part of a “global partnership” that will help the Chinese firm expand outside its home market. The patents cover wireless communications, video, cloud and multi-media technologies, Bloomberg News quoted a Xiaomi spokeswoman as saying. “This will help ease of operation in new markets,” spokeswoman Kaylene Hong said. Besides the patent […]
Hershey Park in Pennsylvania – Kristina Ann Acuesta reports
Explore the sweet finds at Hershey Park in Pennsylvania! Here’s KRISTINA ANN ACUESTA
URBAN EXPLORATION: LOS ANGELES – AJ Latag reports
What are some good urban exploring places in Los Angeles? Here’s AJ Latag to tell us more.
The Legend of the Seas visits the Philippines again
MANILA, June 1 — The Philippines continues to establish its position as one of the emerging cruise destinations in this part of the world, as the Legend of the Seas, the huge luxurious cruise ship of the Royal Caribbean International (RCI), made its way to Manila last 6 May 2016. Over 2,000 passengers were greeted with the warmth and enthusiasm unique only to Filipinos. The local music of Banda Kawayan and performances by the Ati-atihan dancers provided […]
Beijing’s smoke busters point the way for national ban
by Becky Davis BEIJING, China (AFP) — Wielding an “inspector” badge, volunteer Liu Li follows his nose as he sniffs out violators of China’s toughest-ever tobacco control law, enacted a year ago on Wednesday, as Beijing fights to keep its air smoke free. China has more smokers than any other country, but Liu’s efforts partly explain the relative success of the capital’s ban on smoking in public spaces. “We’re very sensitive. We can tell from […]
World’s longest rail tunnel set for grand opening
by Ben Simon ERTSFELD, Switzerland (AFP) — The world’s longest train tunnel will officially open on Wednesday, nearly seven decades after the initial design was conceived. Switzerland’s 57-kilometer (35-mile) Gotthard Base Tunnel runs under the Alps from Erstfeld in the central canton of Uri, to Bodio in the southern Ticino canton. The rough design for a rail tunnel under the Gotthard Pass was first sketched by Swiss engineer Carl Eduard Gruner in 1947. But bureaucratic […]
‘Baby dragons’ in Slovenia poised for rare hatching
by Bojan KAVCIC POSTOJNA, Slovenia (AFP) –The strange, slithery creatures inside Slovenia’s Postojna cave were once considered living proof that dragons existed, prompting locals to give it a wide berth. Now large crowds from all over the world queue up to witness the extremely rare hatching of the mysterious olms — ancient underwater predators, which can live up to 100 years and only breed once in a decade. Found primarily in Balkan cave rivers, the […]