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By Nina LARSON PONTIMIA PASTURE, Switzerland, Aug 22, 2023 (AFP) – Using a powerful torch, Aliki Buhayer-Mach momentarily drenches a nearby mountain top in light, straining to see if wolves are lurking in the shadows. If the predator were to get past the electric wires stretched around this high-altitude pasture in the Swiss Alps, the 57-year-old biologist knows “it would be a massacre”. She and her 60-year-old husband Francois Mach-Buhayer — a leading Swiss cardiologist […]
GENEVA, Aug 21, 2023 (AFP) – Artificial Intelligence is more likely to augment jobs than to destroy them, a UN study indicated on Monday, at a time of growing anxiety over the potential impact of the technology. The launch in November of the generative AI platform ChatGPT, which is capable of handling complex tasks on command, was seen as a tech landmark foreshadowing a potentially dramatic transformation of the workplace. But a fresh study from […]
By Bahira Amin At the foot of an 800-year-old Cairo mausoleum, weeds rise from a murky green pool — a sign of massive loss of clean water that often goes to waste instead of reaching Egyptian consumers. Beneath intricate Koranic inscriptions, the thick shrubbery crawls upwards from waist-deep water towards the 13th-century Al-Ashraf Khalil dome in the Egyptian capital’s historic quarter. But “it’s not natural” nor the result of spring water, said heritage management expert […]
Firefighters struggled Thursday to control a huge wildfire on the Spanish holiday island of Tenerife that has forced the evacuation of thousands of people, local official said. The fire broke out late on Tuesday and has been raging through a forested area with steep ravines in the northeastern part of the island, which part of the Spanish archipelago off the coast of northwestern Africa. The blaze has so far ravaged over 3,200 hectares (7,900 acres) […]
By Esteban Rojas with Margioni Bermudez in Maracaibo Yusmary spends as much as half her weekly wage for water. Isora must go to the black market to get gas cylinders so she can cook. Rodrigo, weary of blackouts, bought portable generators for his home and business. Public utilities offer erratic service in Venezuela, and citizens pay steeply to make up for the shortcomings. When power shuts off and water and gas supplies run dry, people […]
By Lucie AUBOURG After a catastrophic wildfire that killed more than 100 people in Hawaii, eyes have turned toward an unexpected culprit: invasive grass species that have spread massively over the archipelago for decades, serving as the perfect fuel. Drought-resistant, capable of invading difficult terrain, and gradually muscling out local species, they are also a growing threat in the western United States, where devastating fires are increasing. “Invasive grasses are very ignitable. They change the […]
By Hashem Osseiran Already battling extreme heat, Bahrain is scrambling to ward off another environmental threat: rising seas that could swallow parts of its coast, the island nation’s oil and environment minister told AFP. By next year, the tiny Gulf state will begin building its coastal defences against sea levels that have begun advancing, by widening beaches, constructing taller sea walls and elevating land. “Bahrain is vulnerable,” Mohamed bin Mubarak bin Daina, Bahrain’s oil and […]
Scientists working in Peru have named a new species of snake after Harrison Ford in honor of the “Indiana Jones” actor’s support for conservation work. The 40 cm (16 inch) reptile was first discovered in May 2022 in the jungle mountains of Otishi National Park, San Marcos National University said Wednesday. But it was not until now that researchers concluded it was indeed a previously unknown species. This creature is a yellowish-brown color, with black […]
By Issam AHMED US surgeons who transplanted a genetically modified pig kidney into a brain dead patient said Wednesday the organ was still working well after a record 32 days — a significant step in the quest to close the organ donation gap. The latest experimental procedure is part of a growing field of research aimed at advancing cross-species transplants, testing the technique on bodies that have been donated for science. There are more than […]
By Chris Lefkow A US federal appeals court on Wednesday imposed restrictions on a widely used abortion pill, but the ruling will remain on hold as the Supreme Court decides whether to hear the case. The ruling by a three-judge panel of the New Orleans-based 5th Circuit Court of Appeals would limit use of mifepristone to the first seven weeks of pregnancy, instead of 10, and block it from being distributed by mail. It would […]
Social media app TweetDeck began going behind a paywall on Tuesday, with users of platform X, formerly known as Twitter, being diverted to a paid-subscription sign-up page when they tried to access it. X announced in July that TweetDeck, a popular program that allows users to monitor multiple accounts and lists of users at once, would be available only to “verified” account holders from August. On Tuesday, users attempting to access the service, now rebranded […]
By Ana FERNÁNDEZ Engineering student Somaya Faruqi had to flee Afghanistan to continue her studies after the Taliban government returned to power two years ago and banned more than 1.1 million girls and women from schools and universities. The 21-year-old, now living in the United States, is the face of a campaign launched Tuesday by the UN’s Education Cannot Wait global fund to combat the crisis, marking the two-year anniversary of the fall of the […]
