PARIS, France (AFP) — People infected with a common parasitic worm may be twice as likely to acquire the HIV virus that causes AIDS, a field study from Tanzania reported Wednesday. The parasite, Wuchereria bancrofti, is found in many areas in Africa where HIV infection rates are high, and can cause elephantiasis, a disease that horribly deforms the limbs and other parts of the body. Also endemic in Asia, the western Pacific and parts of […]
Life
Videographic explaining how hurricanes form
(AFP) Hong Kong shut down Tuesday as Typhoon Nida brought violent winds and torrential rain, with hundreds of flights cancelled and the stock market, schools and businesses closed, as the storm headed across southern China. Videographic explaining how hurricanes – also known as cyclones or typhoons – form. Marian Henbest Stéphane Koguc / AFP Videographics / AFP
Dutch activists sue government over air pollution
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AFP) – Dutch environmentalists said Tuesday they are suing the government over poor air quality, saying people’s “fundamental” rights to good health were being infringed. In a lawsuit filed on Monday, the Milieudefensie group alleged “the Netherlands exceeds the legal standards for air quality and is violating fundamental human rights by doing too little to combat air pollution.” “This pollution causes thousands of deaths every year, and leaves tens of thousands of people […]
China’s ‘mosquito factory’ aims to wipe out Zika, other diseases
GUANGZHOU, China (Reuters) – Every week, scientists in southern China release 3 million bacteria-infected mosquitoes on a 3 km (two-mile) long island in a bid to wipe out diseases such as dengue, yellow fever and Zika. The scientists inject mosquito eggs with wolbachia bacteria in a laboratory, then release infected male mosquitoes on the island on the outskirts of the city of Guangzhou. The bacteria, which occurs naturally in about 28 percent of […]
Sao Tome and Principe eyes tourism boost to economy
Situated off the Atlantic coast of Africa, the twin archipelago Sao Tome and Principe was once the world’s leading producer of cocoa. Today the island nation is promoting itself as a tourist destination and its numbers of visitors are, slowly, rising. https://youtu.be/yYvOvlPSVFU
Mexican inmates use tattoo skills for purse designs
Using homemade tattooing equipment, inmates of six Mexican prisons take part in a rehabilitation project called Prison Art, which pays them to draw designs for purses that sell for $400 at high-end stores in Mexico City and other towns. https://youtu.be/CMJQjJFG-ZE
Rare ‘corpse flower’ blooms again in New York after 80 years
Visitors flood into New York Botanical Garden to see a blooming “corpse flower”, a rare, gigantic plant famous for its stench. The last bloom occurred in the city in 1939, the phenomenon being so rare that witnessing it is “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity”, according to botanist.
Palestinian designer for rich and famous pops up in W.Bank
by Shatha Yaish RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories(AFP) — Rami Kashou’s designs are worn by Hollywood stars and royalty but for the past few days he has been back home in the occupied West Bank rather than London, Paris or New York. As on most days, Yasser Arafat Square in central Ramallah was crowded with pedestrians, taxis with screaming horns and fruit sellers lugging their goods on carts. But tucked behind a nondescript door another world beckoned: […]
Underwater microscope shows corals competing for space on reef
REUTERS — A new underwater microscope designed and built by researchers from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego has revealed “turf wars” between millimeter-scale coral. The Benthic Underwater Microscope is a two-part system operated by a diver. It consists of a microscopic imaging unit controlled by an underwater computer. During underwater experiments, researchers placed different species of coral close to each other on the reef and, using the underwater microscope, […]
Device para maiwasan ang paghilik, naimbento sa Israel
Malakas ka bang humilik sa tuwing ika’y natutulog? O di naman kaya ay hindi makatulog ang iyong katabi sa lakas ng iyong hilik? Alam nyo ba na hindi basta-basta ang ganitong kalagayan, dahil ayon sa mga eksperto ang mga taong humihilik sa habang natutulog ay mayroong seryosong karamdaman sa katawan. Dahil dito, nakaimbento ang mga technologist sa Israel ng device na makatutulong sa inyong mga partner o mga mahal sa buhay na humihilik. Itoy tinawag […]
Mga bagong panganak na hindi na breastfed, may mataas na health risks UNICEF
QUEZON City, Philippines (Eagle News) – -Mas mataas ang health risks ng mga bagong silang na sanggol na hindi na-breastfeed sa unang oras ng kanilang pagka-silang. Ito ang babala ng UNICEF sa pagsisimula ng World Breastfeeding Week. Ayon sa ahensya, mahalagang mapakain ang sanggol sa pamamagitan ng gatas ng ina sa unang oras pagkasilang dahil mapapangalagaan ang mga ito sa iba’t-ibang uri ng sakit Inihayag ng UNICEF na sa isinagawang pag-aaral ang mga bagong silang na […]
“Tangke” lagoon sa Iloilo, pansamantalang isasara sa mga turista
Dalawang buwang isasara sa mga turista ang Tangke lagoon sa Gigantes Island na nasa northern Iloilo. Bukod sa gagawing paglilinis, isa rin itong precautionary measure para sa kaligtasan ng mga turista lalo na at simula na ang panahon ng habagat.
