Sci-Tech

Plea from Ukraine first lady kicks off annual tech summit in Portugal

  Lisbon, Portugal | AFP | One of the world’s biggest tech conferences will get going in Lisbon on Wednesday, after Ukraine’s first lady formally opened the event by urging participants to use their skills to save lives rather than end them. Olena Zelenska told an audience of several thousand at the Web Summit’s opening ceremony late on Tuesday not to put “technology at the service of terror” — unlike some in Russia. “Some IT […]

Musk announces $8 monthly charge for verified Twitter accounts

by Julie JAMMOT Agence France-Presse SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — New Twitter head Elon Musk said Tuesday the site will charge $8 per month to verify users’ accounts, arguing the plan would solve the platform’s issues with bots and trolls while creating a new revenue stream for the company. The announcement comes only days after the world’s wealthiest man took sole control of the social media giant in a contentious $44 billion deal. “Power […]

Meteorite that smashed into Mars shook planet, NASA says

Washington, United States | AFP | by Lucie AUBOURG Scientists who study Mars on Thursday revealed the remarkable gift they received from the planet last year. On December 24, 2021, a meteorite hit Mars’ surface, triggering magnitude 4 tremors, which were detected by NASA’s InSight spacecraft  — which landed on the planet four years ago — some 2,200 miles (3,500 kilometers) away. The true origin of this so-called marsquake was only confirmed when the Mars […]

YouTube to certify health care providers’ accounts

Washington, United States (AFP) — Doctors, nurses and other health care professionals can apply to have their YouTube channels certified, the video sharing platform said Thursday, in a push to limit misinformation on the site. The change will allow viewers to more easily access videos containing “high-quality health information,” YouTube said. “This is a big step towards helping people more easily find and connect with content that comes from the extraordinary community of healthcare professionals […]

China Covid curbs disrupt production at world’s biggest iPhone factory

  Beijing, China | AFP | Wednesday  Millions of people in China were under tight Covid restrictions on Wednesday as sporadic outbreaks across the country prompted business closures and disruption at the world’s largest iPhone factory. China is the last major economy welded to a zero-Covid strategy, persisting with snap lockdowns, mass testing and lengthy quarantines in a bid to keep infections to a minimum. But fast-spreading virus variants have challenged that approach in recent […]

Partial solar eclipse begins in Iceland headed towards India

Paris, France | AFP | A partial solar eclipse began over Iceland on Tuesday as the rare celestial spectacle started to make its way east across a swathe of the Northern Hemisphere. The partial eclipse began at 0858 GMT and will end off the coast of India at 1302 GMT, crossing parts of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East on its way, according to the IMCCE institute of France’s Paris Observatory. Amateur astronomers must […]

Partial solar eclipse from Iceland to India on Tuesday

  Paris, France | AFP | A partial solar eclipse will be visible across a swathe of the Northern Hemisphere on Tuesday, with amateur astronomers warned to take care watching the rare phenomenon. The eclipse will start at 0858 GMT in Iceland and end off the coast of India at 1302 GMT, crossing Europe, North Africa and the Middle East on its way, according to the IMCCE institute of France’s Paris Observatory. Solar eclipses occur […]

Iconic ‘Pillars of Creation’ captured in new Webb image

Washington, United States | AFP | The James Webb Space Telescope captured the iconic “Pillars of Creation,” huge structures of gas and dust teeming with stars, NASA said Wednesday, and the image is as majestic as one could hope. The twinkling of thousands of stars illuminates the telescope’s first shot of the gigantic gold, copper and brown columns standing in the midst of the cosmos. At the ends of several pillars are bright red, lava-like […]

Magma symphony could help predict volcanic eruptions

Sydney, Australia | AFP | Inaudible sonic rumblings from deep in a volcano’s bowels could provide a warning when it is about to blow, scientists said Thursday, offering threatened communities the prospect of a life-saving heads-up. A team studying “infrasounds” — sounds too deep for humans to hear — from volcanoes like Italy’s Mount Etna has discovered that magmatic gurgles change markedly as an eruption nears. As magma explodes, soundwaves reverberate through the crater “just […]

Musk jokes new perfume launch to fund Twitter purchase

SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Elon Musk now has his own musk: the Tesla founder said he has launched a new fragrance called “Burnt Hair” and sold $1 million worth of the perfume in days. “Please buy my perfume, so I can buy Twitter,” he wrote on the platform Wednesday. Musk is expected to complete a $44-billion takeover of Twitter by the end of the month. If he fails to do so, a trial […]

Google allows Donald Trump’s Truth Social in Play Store

  San Francisco, United States | AFP | Google on Wednesday said it has allowed Donald Trump’s Truth Social app in its Play Store for Android devices — after receiving assurances it would meet the platform’s standards for moderating harmful content. The app — which Trump launched after being barred from Twitter over the 2021 Capitol riot — had been kept out of Google’s store over its lack of moderation tools, including for violent threats. […]

Japan space rocket ordered to self-destruct after failed launch

by Kyoko HASEGAWA Agence France-Presse TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan’s space agency said it sent a self-destruct order to its Epsilon rocket after a failed launch on Wednesday because of a problem that meant the craft could not safely fly. The unmanned rocket, on its sixth mission, was taking satellites into orbit to demonstrate “innovative” technologies. “The rocket can’t continue a safe flight, because of the danger it would create if it falls on the […]