Tag: science

Highlights of 2017 Consumer Electronics Show

LAS VEGAS, United States (AFP) — Here are some key highlights of the 2017 International Consumer Electronics Show, which concluded Sunday: – Alexa everywhere – Amazon’s virtual assistant Alexa was the surprise star of the show, with dozens of new products and services integrating the voice-accessed machine smarts into appliances, TVs, speakers, lamps, cars and more. Analysts said the gains for Alexa could help unify a fragmented market for connected devices, and bring artificial intelligence […]

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Climate report says 2016 on pace to be hottest year yet

MIAMI, United States (AFP) — A monthly global climate report by US government scientists Monday offered more evidence that 2016 is likely to be the warmest year in modern times, as sea ice at both poles hit record lows. Climate scientists say the continued burning of fossil fuels is spewing greenhouse gasses that trap heat in the atmosphere, making the planet warm up. In addition, a strong El Nino trend in the first half of the […]

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Researchers find neuron protein triggers release of insulin

BALTIMORE, Maryland (Reuters) — A team at Johns Hopkins’ Department of Biology has discovered that a protein which helps neurons grow, known as ‘nerve growth factor’ (NGF), also triggers the release of insulin in the pancreas. Associate professor of biology Rejji Kuruvilla says the study may one day lead to early intervention in cases of Type 2 Diabetes. Kuruvilla began studying NGF as a post-doctoral fellow. When setting up her laboratory at Johns Hopkins in […]

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Lost treasures of Syria’s Palmyra rise again in new 3D show

by Antoine FROIDEFOND Agence France-Presse Palmyra may just have fallen yet again to the Islamic State group, but a new “immersive” 3D show in Paris lets you walk through the Syrian city’s classical colonnades as they were before the jihadists blew them to bits. The “Eternal Sites” exhibition uses high-definition images often shot by drones to allow the public to visit four of the most threatened heritage sites in the world in war-torn Syria and […]

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Fiji ants farm plants, study shows

PARIS, France (AFP) — Ants found in the Pacific islands of Fiji behave as miniature farmers, carefully sowing and fertilising the seeds of at least six types of plant, a study said Monday. Ants have previously been observed farming fungi for food, but this is the first study to show the insects cultivating plants, said researchers from the University of Munich who published their findings in the journal Nature Plants. The ant, known as Philidris […]

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Bill Gates urges UK to invest in science as Brexit looms

by Ruth HOLMES LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — US billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates urged Britain on Wednesday to step up investment in science and research as it prepares to leave the EU. “The world needs innovative leadership now more than ever,” the Microsoft co-founder told the Grand Challenges conference in London attended by more than 1,000 scientists from around the world. “The complexity of our most urgent global problems — extreme poverty, the persistence and […]

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Science reveals male widow spider’s dastardly deeds

by Mariëtte Le Roux PARIS, France (AFP) — Whenever the “widow” spider is mentioned, people tend to sympathise with the hapless male — best known for its tendency to end up as a post-coital snack. Well, pity them no more. Widow spider males have developed a rather gruesome method of saving their own skins, scientists revealed on Wednesday. To avoid becoming the lunch of adult females, some males have taken to inseminating juveniles which have no […]

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Japan scientists detect rare, deep-Earth tremor

MIAMI, United States (AFP) — Scientists who study earthquakes in Japan said Thursday they have detected a rare deep-Earth tremor for the first time and traced its location to a distant and powerful storm. The findings, published in the US journal Science, could help experts learn more about the Earth’s inner structure and improve detection of earthquakes and oceanic storms. The storm in the North Atlantic was known as a “weather bomb,” a small but […]

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New ‘giant thief’ dinosaur discovered in Argentina

MIAMI ,United States (AFP) — A previously unknown species of meat-eating dinosaur from 80 million years ago has been unearthed in Argentina, adding to the dino family known as the “Giant Thieves,” researchers said Wednesday. The fossil found in Patagonia — an area rich in bone discoveries from the Late Cretaceous Period — is named Murusraptor barrosaensis and may reveal more about the origins of the group known as the megaraptorids, according to the study […]

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Chinese professors make breakthrough in quantum information

A quantum information research team led by Professor Pan Jianwei won the first prize in 2015 China’s State Natural Sciences for being the first in the world to make achievement in quantum information. The team is the first to achieve the simultaneous quantum teleportation of two inherent properties of a fundamental particle Quantum teleportation is a process in which quantum information, like the exact state of an atom or photon, can be transmitted from one […]

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NASA holds daily briefing as New Horizons makes its final approach to Pluto

  (REUTERS)  NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft is poised to become the first probe to visit distant Pluto, capping a reconnaissance of the solar system that began more than 50 years ago. NASA said images they are recieving from New Horizons, taken on July 9 from 3.3 million miles (5.4 million kilometers) away, are “tantalizing signs of geology on Pluto”. “It is just amazing what we are seeing now. It was a gradual approach and every […]

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Meteor Shower To Light Up The Sky On April 21- 22

  Astronomers said that if the weather on Monday, (April 21, 2014) cooperates, stargazers can look forward to a meteor shower. According to PAGASA acting administrator Vicente Malano , the Lyrids meteor shower may peak from April 21 to before dawn of April 22. “The shower typically generates a dozen meteors per hour under optimal conditions with a brief maximum that lasts for less than a day. The shower’s peak this year will be in progress on […]

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