Sci-Tech

Look: Trio reach Earth from ISS with football slated for World Cup

by Dana Rysmukhamedova Agence France-Presse Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov made it back to Earth Sunday along with an official match football that could be used later this month in the opening game of the World Cup in Moscow. Shkaplerov, Scott Tingle of the United States and Norishige Kanai of Japan touched down on the Kazakh steppe on time at 1239 GMT after a 168-day mission aboard the International Space Station. Footage from the Russian space […]

Facebook to swap ‘trending’ topics for breaking news

SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Facebook on Friday said it is getting rid of a “trending” topics feature as it tests ways for publishers to deliver reliable breaking news. The Trending feature introduced four years ago listed stories buzzing on Facebook at any given time. “We’re exploring new ways to help people stay informed about timely, breaking news that matters to them, while making sure the news they see on Facebook is from trustworthy […]

Final Fruit-ier: Thailand plans to send smelly durian into space

  BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — It’s one small step for Thailand, one giant leap for Southeast Asia’s smelliest fruit. Thailand plans to shoot durian into orbit to test its durability in a project that could see the staple “king of fruits” consumed in zero-gravity conditions. “In the future we want astronauts to be able to eat Thai food,” said a spokesperson for Thailand’s Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA). “We want to see whether […]

‘Surprising’ methane dunes found on Pluto

TAMPA, United States (AFP) — Pluto is covered with surprising dunes made of methane ice, which have formed relatively recently despite the frigid dwarf planet’s very thin atmosphere, international researchers said Thursday. Pluto’s atmosphere has a surface pressure 100,000 times lower than Earth’s, which researchers suspected might be too little to allow tiny grains of solid methane to mobilize and become airborne. Yet mild winds blowing across Pluto’s surface at speeds of some 19-25 miles […]

Sharp drop in Facebook use among US teens, survey shows

  WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Facebook is rapidly losing ground against rival internet platforms in attracting and keeping US teenagers, a survey showed Thursday. The Pew Research Center report confirms a trend seen in other surveys, showing a sharp drop in Facebook’s share of what had long been a core age segment for the huge social network. The survey found 51 percent of US teens ages 13 to 17 use Facebook, compared with 85 […]

Smartphone market to stay cool this year: forecast

SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — International Data Corporation forecast Wednesday that global smartphone sales would cool this year before heating up with help from new 5G networks and India’s vibrant market. An IDC Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker expected smartphone sales to slip two-tenths of a percent this year to total 1.462 billion in a second straight year of slight decline. But IDC predicted that the smartphone market would reignite next year, growing about 3 percent […]

Papua New Guinea mulls ‘temporary’ ban on Facebook

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Papua New Guinea said Wednesday it was mulling a temporary shutdown of Facebook to uncover false accounts and block fake news in the Pacific nation, which hosts a major global summit later this year. The proposal, which Communications Minister Sam Basil said could lead to replacing Facebook with a locally developed social networking platform, was ridiculed as ill-timed and unworkable by opponents. Basil floated the idea of a one-month shutdown on […]

Jury tells Samsung to pay big for copying iPhone design

San José, United States (AFP) — A federal court jury on Thursday ordered Samsung to pay Apple $533 million for copying iPhone design features in a patent case dating back seven years. Jurors tacked on an additional $5 million in damages for a pair of patented functions. The award appeared to be a bit of a victory for Apple, which had argued in court that design was essential to the iPhone. The case was keenly watched as […]

Two sportscar-sized satellites in orbit to measure Earth’s water

by Ivan Couronne Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A SpaceX rocket Tuesday blasted off a duo of sports car-sized satellites built by the US and Germany to reveal changes in sea level rise, ice melt and drought on Earth. “Three, two, one, liftoff!” said a SpaceX commentator as the Falcon 9 rocket launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at 12:47 pm Pacific time (1947 GMT). The $521 million payloads, called […]

Facebook’s Zuckerberg agrees to live-stream EU parliament hearing

  BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg has agreed to live-stream his meeting with European Parliament members as he answers questions in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, a top official said Monday. The meeting on Tuesday with the parliament’s most senior members was initially set to be held behind closed doors. But influential MEPs had pushed for a public hearing following the worst crisis in Facebook’s history. “I have personally discussed […]