Tag: science

In Moroccan desert, meteorite hunters seek to strike it rich

https://youtu.be/axUOKaHzOLM   by Hamza Mekouar Agence France Presse ZAGORA, Morocco (AFP) — They roam Morocco’s southern desert, braving the searing heat to scour the undulating sands for bounty fallen from the sky. These celestial treasure hunters are searching for meteorites to sell on a burgeoning international market. Equipped with a “very strong” magnet and magnifying glass, retired physical education teacher Mohamed Bouzgarine says that discoveries “can be more valuable than gold”. The price “depends on […]

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Should I stay or go? Birds migrate to save energy: study

by Mariëtte Le Roux Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Why have some birds opted for a taxing life of constant migration — seeking out temperate climes to feed as winter arrives, only to return months later to breed? Seemingly paradoxically, the behavior is driven by a quest for energy efficiency, a study said Monday. Migrating birds, researchers found, gain more energy from whatever is on the destination menu than they expend getting there […]

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UK, US launch biggest-ever study of Antarctic glacier

  LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Britain and the United States on Monday launched a research program billed “the most detailed and extensive examinations of a massive Antarctic glacier ever undertaken” to gauge how quickly it could collapse. Teams from Britain’s Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the US National Science Foundation (NSF) will visit the Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica to assess if its cave-in could begin in the next few decades or centuries. […]

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Ants that ‘explode’ to fight foes discovered on Borneo

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AFP) — A species of ant that “explodes” and gives off a toxic, sticky liquid to fight off foes and keep its colony safe has been discovered in the jungles of Borneo island, scientists said Friday. The creatures, which have the scientific name Colobopsis explodes, were found by a team of researchers in the tiny state of Brunei, which inhabits a sliver of land in the north of the biodiverse island. When […]

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Japan to trial ‘world’s first urine test’ to spot cancer

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A Japanese firm is poised to carry out what it hailed as the world’s first experiment to test for cancer using urine samples, which would greatly facilitate screening for the deadly disease. Engineering and IT conglomerate Hitachi developed the basic technology to detect breast or colon cancer from urine samples two years ago. It will now begin testing the method using some 250 urine samples, to see if samples at room […]

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‘Footquakes’: Messi really does make the Earth tremble

by Marlowe Hood Agence France Presse VIENNA, Australia (AFP) — It’s a scientific fact: when living football legends Neymar or Lionel Messi scores a goal, the Earth moves and the ground shakes. Don’t believe it? Ask Jordi Diaz, a researcher at the Institute of Earth Sciences Jaume Almera in Barcelona. He’s got the hard proof. “We put a seismometer inside a building in Barcelona,” he explained at a geosciences conference in Vienna, where he presented […]

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China says Earth-bound spacelab to offer ‘splendid’ show

BEIJING, China (AFP) — An out-of-control space laboratory that will plunge back to Earth in the coming days is unlikely to cause any damage, Chinese authorities say but will offer instead a “splendid” show akin to a meteor shower. China’s space agency said on Thursday that the nearly eight-tonne Tiangong-1 will re-enter the atmosphere sometime between Saturday and Monday. The European Space Agency has a smaller window between midday Saturday and early Sunday afternoon GMT […]

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Astronomers find the ‘impossible’: a galaxy without dark matter

by Marlowe Hood Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Stupefied astronomers on Wednesday unveiled the first and only known galaxy without dark matter, the invisible and poorly-understood substance thought to make up a quarter of the Universe. The discovery could revise or even upend theories of how galaxies are formed, they reported in the journal Nature. “This is really bizarre,” said co-author Roberto Abraham, an astronomer at the University of Toronto. “For a galaxy […]

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Wearable brain scanner is gamechanger for neural care

by Patrick Galey Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — British scientists on Wednesday unveiled a next-generation wearable brain scanner that can be donned like a helmet and allows patients to move freely while being scanned, potentially revolutionizing neural care for children and the elderly. Researchers hailed the “transformative” imaging set-up, which for the first time gave them access to brain activity while patients make natural movements, including nodding, stretching and even playing ping pong. […]

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SpaceX poised for 50th launch of Falcon 9 rocket

MIAMI, United States (AFP) — SpaceX is poised for the 50th launch of its signature Falcon 9 rocket early Tuesday, marking a swift ascent to a milestone many aerospace giants take far longer to attain. The launch of the Falcon 9 carrying the Hispasat, Spanish telecommunications, and broadband satellite, is scheduled for 12:33 am (0533 GMT) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. “At six metric tons and almost the size of a city […]

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All the wild horses are extinct: study

by Kerry SHERIDAN Agence France-Presse MIAMI, United States (AFP) — All the world’s wild horses have gone extinct, according to a study Thursday that unexpectedly rewrites the horse family tree based on a new DNA analysis of their ancestry. What most people thought were the last remaining wild horses on Earth — known as Przewalski’s horses — were actually domesticated horses that escaped their owners, said the report in the journal Science. “This was a […]

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Andromeda galaxy was formed in ‘recent’ star crash: study

PARIS, France (AFP) — The Milky Way’s neighboring galaxy, Andromeda, was formed in a colossal crash between two smaller star systems no more than three billion years ago when Earth already existed, researchers said Wednesday. Calculating the birth date of the galaxy has been a major challenge for astrophysicists given the vast age gap between the different stars it is made up of. For the latest study, French and Chinese researchers led by Paris Observatory […]

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