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OXON HILL, United States (Reuters) – The 90th Scripps National Spelling Bee got underway on Wednesday (May 31) with 291 word whizzes vying for the top prize, including the contest’s youngest-ever competitor. Competing for a $40,000 first-place cash prize, spelling virtuosos ranging from 6 to 15 years ago began facing off at Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center. The contest concludes with finals on Thursday (June 1) at the Washington-area resort. Competitors said it took […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Faceless fish and other weird and wonderful creatures, many of them new species, have been hauled up from the deep waters off Australia during a scientific voyage studying parts of the ocean never explored before. The month-long journey off the country’s eastern seaboard has been surveying life lurking in a dark and cold abyss that plunges four kilometers (2.5 miles) below the surface, using nets, sonar and deep-sea cameras. Chief scientist […]
RHENEN, Netherlands (AFP) — Cautiously at first and then with mounting curiosity, two giant pandas stepped outside into their new open-air enclosure at a Dutch zoo on Tuesday, met by a barrage of cameras and squeals of delight. Female Wu Wen (Beautiful Powerful Cloud) and her male companion Xing Ya (Elegant Star) were making their public debut, marking the culmination of a 16-year dream for the zoo and Dutch officials. The pair are now going […]
TOKYO, Japan (Reuters) — Scientists in Tokyo have replaced a ladybird beetle’s outer wing casing with an artificial see-through one, to better observe its complex folding mechanism. Assistant Professor Kazuya Saito, the lead researcher, said he was impressed with the speed with which the ladybird beetle or the ladybird can both deploy its wings for flight and store them when landing and walking. “The amazing thing about an insect’s wing is that it isn’t just […]
QUINGDAO, China (Reuters) — Algae, one of the smallest organisms on the planet, could soon be used to combat a looming global food crisis. Scientists at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) hope genetically engineered micro-algae could be the food of the future, and they’ve taken a step closer to that reality with an outdoor field trial approved by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Algae geneticist Stephen Mayfield and his team inserted […]
By Errah Jean H. Crusim Mexican embassy opens “The Galleon: Manila-Acapulco Galleon Museum,” a replica of an 18th century galleon based on the original naval architectural plans, which is also open to the public. The museum situated at the SM Mall of Asia complex is a reminder of the important role of Mexico in the first global economy. A vital part of Asia’s trade and commerce was carried on the Galleon, and Philippines was an […]
by Nina Larson Agence France Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — Smoking and other tobacco use kills more than seven million people each year, the World Health Organization said Tuesday, as it warned of the dire environmental impact of tobacco production, distribution and waste. The United Nations agency said tougher measures were needed to rein in tobacco use, urging countries to ban smoking in the workplace and indoor public spaces, outlaw marketing of tobacco products […]
PARIS, France (AFP) — Under a dual onslaught of global warming and localized urban heating, some of the world’s cities may be as much as eight degrees Celsius (14.4 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer by 2100, researchers warned Monday. Such a temperature spike can have dire consequences for the health of city-dwellers, robbing companies and industries of able workers, and putting pressure on already strained natural resources such as water. The projection is based on the worst-case-scenario […]
Reuters — Ski climbers Bernhard Hug and Tony Sbalbi recently (May 15-17) made an attempt to climb the highest peaks in Switzerland and France in 50 hours. This follows their seven-peak tour two years ago, which saw them climbing all peaks over 4000 meters in the Aletsch region using touring skis in just 20 hours. Setting off from Zermatt the two climbers encounter soft snow as they ascended the Dufourspitze, over 4600 m above sea […]
KATHMANDU, Nepal (Reuters) – Indian climber Anshu Jamsenpa has made the fastest double ascent of Mount Everest, becoming the first woman in the world to reach the highest point on earth twice in five days. The 38-year-old mother of two climbed the peak along the Southeast Ridge route on May 16. She repeated the feat on May 21 improving a record set by a Nepali woman, Chhurim Sherpa, who made the dual climb in seven […]
LUND, Sweden (Reuters) — Giving brief electric shocks to fresh herbs before drying them could vastly improve the taste of dried herbs. So say food technologists and biologists at Sweden’s Lund University. Food technology researcher Federico Gomez has conducted experiments with basil leaves and found leaves dried after short electric shocks tasted and smelled almost as good as fresh. Basil leaf pores are naturally closed once they go through the drying process, but Gomez posited […]
ENGLAND, United Kingdom (Reuters) — The British inventor of an “Iron Man”-style jet suit has lofty hopes for powering his creation from a curiosity to a tool in industries ranging from entertainment to the military. Richard Browning, a 38-year-old former commodities trader with little experience of engineering, developed his jet suit with the help of friends over the last 18 months, just for fun. But Browning is aiming to turn his hobby into a business […]
