Breaking News, Latest Philippines Headlines, World, Entertainment, Politics, Weather & Video News
NEW YORK (AFP) – Elon Musk announced Saturday that Twitter would temporarily restrict how many tweets users could read per day, in a move meant to tamp down on the use of the site’s data by artificial intelligence companies. The platform is limiting verified accounts to reading 10,000 tweets a day. Non-verified users — the free accounts that make up the majority of users — are limited to reading 1,000 tweets per day. New unverified […]
MIURA, Japan, June 30, 2023 (AFP) – It’s cheap, recycled, and has centuries of tradition: “shimogoe” or “fertiliser from a person’s bottom” is finding new favour in Japan as Ukraine’s war hikes the price of chemical alternatives. As in several parts of the world, the use of “night soil” to fertilise crops was once common in Japan. However, the advent of sewage systems and treatment facilities, as well as chemical fertilisers, saw it fall out […]
By Moisés ÁVILA Agence France-Presse HOUSTON, June 30, 2023 (AFP) — Extreme temperatures have combined with habitual smog in Houston for more than two weeks, and Erandi Trevino feels the hazardous combination in her body. “It burns my face. I feel it in my nostrils,” Trevino says. The heat wave sprawling across the southern United States has lasted since June 14, and the sultry air and humidity make for temperatures that feel like they are […]
By Issam AHMED WASHINGTON, June 29, 2023 (AFP) – Virgin Galactic is set Thursday to finally begin commercial spaceflights, a major milestone for the company founded in 2004 by British billionaire Richard Branson. Its first paying customers are a three-member crew from the Italian Air Force and National Research Council of Italy, with a fourth seat occupied by a Virgin Galactic astronaut instructor. Dubbed Galactic 01, the 90-minute mission will take off from Spaceport America, […]
TORONTO, Canada, June 28, 2023 (AFP) – Geoffrey Hinton, one of the so-called “godfathers” of artificial intelligence, urged governments on Wednesday to step in and make sure that machines do not take control of society. Hinton made headlines in May when he announced that he was quitting after a decade of work at Google to speak more freely on the dangers of AI, shortly after the release of ChatGPT captured the imagination of the world. […]
PARIS, June 29, 2023 (AFP) – Astronomers across the world announced on Thursday that they have found the first evidence of a long-theorised form of gravitational waves that create a “background hum” rumbling throughout the universe. The breakthrough — made by hundreds of scientists using radio telescopes in North America, Europe, China, India and Australia after years of work — was hailed as a major milestone that opens a new window into the universe. First […]
By Cat BARTON Agence France-Presse SEOUL, June 28, 2023 (AFP) — Lee Jung-hee was set to turn 60 next year but South Korea dropped its traditional age counting system Wednesday, so the Seoul-based housewife just got a year younger — and she’s thrilled. South Korea is the last East Asian country to officially still use a method of calculating age that determines babies are aged one at birth, counting their months in the womb as […]
By Jonah Mandel Agence France-Presse EYAL, Israel, June 28, 2023 (AFP) – As climate change and global population growth pose ever greater challenges for agriculture, Israeli technology offers a wealth of inventions and advanced tools to help farmers adapt. At an avocado orchard in a kibbutz in central Israel, a tractor slowly pulls a device through the trees. Flag-sized attachments that evoke canoe paddles on the mobile platform gently stroke the plants to draw the […]
The iconic skyline of Chicago was veiled in a thick blanket of smoke originating from the raging wildfires in Canada. The 360 Chicago Observation Deck of the John Hancock Building provided a striking view of the city obscured by the heavy haze on June 27, 2023. In response to the deteriorating air quality, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson issued a statement urging residents to exercise caution. “The City of Chicago is carefully monitoring and taking precautions […]
By Amal JAYASINGHE Agence France-Presse HORANA, Sri Lanka, June 27, 2023 (AFP) — Heart-wrenching images of revered elephants and cattle eating plastic in Sri Lanka have prompted politicians to toughen pollution laws, but skeptical conservationists warn past bans were repeatedly ignored. After an estimated 20 elephant deaths and countless other wild animals perishing due to single-use plastics in the past decade, officials say a law banning many such items is expected to come into force […]
By Eugenia LOGIURATTO RIO DE JANEIRO, June 27, 2023 (AFP) – What’s the longest river in the world, the Nile or the Amazon? The question has fueled a heated debate for years. Now, an expedition into the South American jungle aims to settle it for good. Using boats run on solar energy and pedal power, an international team of explorers plans to set off in April 2024 to the source of the Amazon in the […]
By Anastasia CLARK Agence France-Presse EXMOUTH, United Kingdom, June 23, 2023 (AFP) — A leisure centre in Exmouth, southwest England, is using a small data centre to heat its indoor swimming pool, trialling an innovative solution that reduces its energy bills and carbon footprint. An on-site installation captures heat generated by a bank of computers, bringing the 25-metre swimming pool to the required temperature around 65 percent of the time, cutting reliance on gas boilers. […]
