Every year, on April 22, the whole world celebrates Earth Day. First celebrated in the 1970s, this worldwide event is held to demonstrate support for environmental protection. Earth Day was founded by United States Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in. It was first held on April 22, 1970. Now, the event is globally coordinated by the Earth Day Network and is celebrated in more than 192 countries. In the Philippines, the event focuses on […]
Life
Saudi Arabia announces jump in new cases of deadly MERS virus
(Reuters) – Saudi Arabia has confirmed seven new cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), adding up to 36 infections in five days, a sudden increase of a disease that kills about a third of the people infected and has no cure. MERS, a SARS-like novel coronavirus that emerged in Saudi Arabia two years ago, has infected 231 people in the kingdom, of whom 76 have died, the Health Ministry said on its website. Meanwhile, another cluster of cases […]
LADEE spacecraft ends extended NASA mission by crashing into the moon
A spacecraft has ended a mission to map the dust and gases surrounding the moon with a planned kamikaze crash. Scientists believe the crash left no debris on the moon. On Friday, flight controllers confirmed that the orbiting spacecraft had crashed into the back side of the moon as planned, just three days after unexpectedly surviving the full lunar eclipse earlier in the week. Researchers believe the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) vaporized […]
Lack of insurance tied to more emergency surgery: study
By Andrew M. Seaman NEW YORK Fri Apr 18, 2014 3:01pm EDT (Reuters Health) – The type of insurance people have is tied to their risk of needing emergency aorta surgery, according to a new study. Insurance, or lack thereof, is also linked to how well those people fare after surgery. Compared to people with private insurance, people without insurance were more likely to need emergency surgery on their aorta, the largest artery that supplies […]
Yoga may help women ease PTSD symptoms
By Shereen Jegtvig NEW YORK Fri Apr 18, 2014 5:36pm EDT (Reuters Health) – Women enrolled in a small study reported a reduction in symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after a series of yoga classes. However, women in a comparison group that didn’t take the classes also reported a similar decline in symptoms, researchers found. “The yoga group did well – they improved in their PTSD symptoms – and our control group actually did […]
Earth-like planet found
(Reuters) – For the first time, scientists have found an Earth-sized world orbiting in a life-friendly zone around a distant star. The discovery, announced on Thursday, is the closest scientists have come so far to finding a true Earth twin. The star, known as Kepler-186 and located about 500 light years away in the constellation Cygnus, is smaller and redder than the sun. The star’s outermost planet, designated Kepler-186f, receives about one-third the radiation from […]
Tech workers seek to use Steve Jobs evidence in upcoming trial on no-hire accords
By Dan Levine SAN FRANCISCO Fri Apr 18, 2014 1:38am EDT (Reuters) – Four large technology companies should not be allowed to limit evidence about Apple Inc co-founder Steve Jobs at an upcoming trial over no-hire agreements in Silicon Valley, according to a court document filed late on Thursday by employees suing the firms. Tech workers brought a class action lawsuit against Apple, Google Inc, Intel Inc and Adobe Systems Inc in 2011, alleging they […]
About 12 million U.S. outpatients misdiagnosed annually : study
By Curtis Skinner Thu Apr 17, 2014 2:54pm EDT (Reuters) – Roughly 12 million adults who visit U.S. doctors’ offices and other outpatient settings, or one in 20, are misdiagnosed every year, a new study has found, and half of those errors could lead to serious harm. The study by a team of Texas-based researchers attempted to estimate how often diagnostic errors occur in outpatient settings such as doctors’ offices and clinics, as exact figures […]
Mediterranean diet may slow diabetes progression
By Kathryn Doyle NEW YORK Thu Apr 17, 2014 5:39pm EDT (Reuters Health) – For people recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, eating lots of olive oil, fish and whole grains slows progression of the disease more than restricting fat, according to a new analysis. In a trial that followed participants for more than eight years, those following a so-called Mediterranean diet went significantly longer before needing diabetes medication and more of them had their […]
Forty years on, bullying takes its toll on health and wealth
LONDON Thu Apr 17, 2014 7:03pm EDT (Reuters) – The negative social, physical and mental health effects of childhood bullying are still evident nearly 40 years later, according to research by British psychiatrists. In the first study of its kind to look at the effects of childhood bullying beyond early adulthood, the researchers said its impact is “persistent and pervasive”, with people who were bullied when young more likely to have poorer physical and psychological […]
Sony sells more than 7 million PlayStation 4 consoles
By Malathi Nayak SAN FRANCISCO Wed Apr 16, 2014 9:47pm EDT (Reuters) – Sony Corp said on Wednesday it sold more than 7 million PlayStation 4 videogame consoles in just over four months to April 6, double the number of the older version, PlayStation 3, sold in about the same time frame after its launch. Sony is struggling to keep pace with demand for the videogame console, the Japanese company said in a statement. “Although […]
Weibo valued at $3.46 billion after bottom-end IPO pricing
Wed Apr 16, 2014 11:25pm EDT (Reuters) – China’s Weibo Corp will be valued at a lower-than-expected $3.46 billion when it goes public on the Nasdaq on Thursday, amidst concerns about the microblogging service’s slowing user growth and the country’s highly censored media environment. The Twitter-like microblogging service, owned by web portal Sina Corp, sold 16.8 million American Depositary Shares (ADSs) for $17 apiece, raising $285.6 million, an underwriter told Reuters. The company had planned […]