Tag: science

Dimming Sun’s rays to cool planet will affect storms too: study

by Marlowe Hood Agence France-Presse BONN, Germany (AFP) — Injecting billions of reflective particles into the stratosphere could help cool an overheating planet, but would also alter the intensity of tropical storms, researchers said Tuesday. Depending on the hemisphere in which such aerosols are released, hurricanes in the North Atlantic would become weaker or stronger, they reported in Nature Communications. Moreover, efforts to engineer lower global temperatures could induce severe drought in northern Africa’s Sahel, a region […]

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China maintains reign over world supercomputer rankings: survey

BEIJING, China (AFP) — China now has more high-performance supercomputers than ever before, again besting the United States in global rankings, a supercomputer tracking organization said. The standing corresponds to China’s growing reputation as the global leader in supercomputers, as the Asian power prepares to launch in June 2018 a prototype exascale computing machine — a “super supercomputer.” Some 202 of the world’s fastest supercomputers are in China — compared with 143 in the US […]

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Nature’s nastiest beasts on show in London

LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — From a hairy-legged Goliath spider to a 2.5-foot (0.7-meter) Komodo dragon, a fear-inducing exhibition opens Friday at London’s Natural History Museum showcasing the world’s most venomous creatures. More than 200,000 venomous species live on land, in the air or in the sea — including the huge living spider that welcomes visitors to the museum from inside its tank. “It’s not dangerous, it’s one of the biggest misconceptions. The little spider […]

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Hunting Africa’s Einstein with a science lab on wheels

by Aminu Abubakar Agence France Presse MUDURU, Nigeria (AFP) — A dozen other students look on as Umar Amadu uses a glass pipette to draw a solution from a conical flask as part of a chemistry experiment. It could be a scene from any school laboratory around the world, but until two months ago Amadu and his fellow students had no access to any science equipment. Science subjects at his rural secondary school outside the […]

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Stephen Hawking, other scientists share research at 2017 Tencent WE Summit

BEIJING, China (Reuters) — World-renowned physicist Stephen Hawking and other scientists offered a surreal glimpse into the future as they shared their latest research findings at the 2017 Tencent WE Summit in Beijing on Sunday. Hawking made a video appearance at the annual exploration and innovation summit, saying that the human race has to “boldly go where no one has gone before” if it wants to continue on for another million years. According to him, […]

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WATCH: Newly discovered orangutan species is most endangered great ape: study

https://youtu.be/66jNt5KLWqI JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — A new species of orangutan has been discovered in the remote jungles of Indonesia, immediately becoming the world’s most endangered great ape, researchers said Thursday. “It’s the first declaration of a new great ape species in about 100 years,” Ian Singleton, co-author of the study and director of the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme, told AFP. The species, called ‘Tapanuli orangutan’, lives in the Batang Toru forest on Sumatra island, and […]

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Dog star: Scientist recalls training Laika for space

  by Marina LAPENKOVA Agence France-Presse   MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) – “I asked her to forgive us and I even cried as I stroked her for the last time,” says 90-year-old Russian biologist Adilya Kotovskaya, recalling the day she bid farewell to her charge Laika. The former street dog was about to make history as the first living creature to orbit the earth, blasting off on a one-way journey. The Soviet Union sent Laika up […]

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The Noah’s Ark of animals sent in to space

  by Janet MCEVOY Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) – Three and a half years before Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space, a dog called Laika was in 1957 the first living creature to orbit the Earth. The stray from Moscow is one of many animals who preceded humans in the conquest of space; like most of the others, she did not survive. “These animals performed a service to their respective […]

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Mice, fish and flies: the animals still being sent into space

by Pascale MOLLARD-CHENEBENOIT Agence France-Presse   PARIS, France (AFP) – Sixty years after Laika the dog became the first living creature to go into orbit, animals are still being sent into space — though these days much smaller creatures are going up. Julie Robinson, chief scientist for the International Space Station programme, explains what we are still learning from animals in orbit.   Why no more dogs, cats or monkeys? When those animals were sent […]

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Monster planet found orbiting dwarf star: ‘surprised’ astronomers

PARIS, France (AFP) — A “monster” planet, which should in theory not exist, has been discovered orbiting a faint dwarf star far, far away, surprised astronomers said Tuesday. The existence of the gassy giant challenges long-standing theories that such a big planet — about the size of Jupiter — cannot be formed around a star so small. The star has a radius and mass about half that of the sun. Theory had predicted that small […]

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In desert of Oman, a gateway to life on Mars

by Alison Tahmizian Meuse Agence France-Presse DHOFAR, Oman (AFP) — In sunglasses and jumpsuits, a crew of European test astronauts is laying the groundwork for a Mars simulation in the barren expanse of the Omani desert, a terrestrial mission intended to pave the way to the red planet. The “analog astronauts” of the Austrian Space Forum — a volunteer-based collective — have arrived in Oman to begin preparations for a four-week simulation mission due to […]

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First joint France-China satellite to study ocean storms and cyclones

BEIJING, China (AFP) — France and China’s space agencies unveiled their first joint satellite in Beijing Friday, which will be used to improve forecasting of ocean storms and cyclones. The satellite, named CFOSAT (China-France Oceanography Satellite), is due to be launched next year by China and will primarily be used to study wind and ocean wave patterns. “In practical terms, it will be used to improve forecasts of strong storms, cyclones or waves for all […]

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