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by Rosa Sulleiro Agence France-Presse EL PASO, Spain (AFP) – As soon as he heard that La Palma’s volcano had erupted, Australian geologist Matt Pankhurst loaded his microscope into his car and raced to catch a ferry to the Spanish island. Like other scientists around the world, he was eager to get a first-hand look at the rare and valuable data spilling out of the Cumbre Vieja volcano off Africa’s northwest coast. “It’s a huge […]
by Nikolay KORZHOV Agence France-Presse BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan (AFP) – Malik Mutaliyev walks by an abandoned amusement park in wintry Baikonur, a secretive town in Kazakhstan’s inhospitable steppe that appeared alongside the eponymous Baikonur Cosmodrome where the Soviet Union’s space programme rose to glory. “Our town has lived through a lot: Perestroika, the fall of the Soviet Union, electricity shortages. We’ve been through it all,” says the 67-year-old former chief architect of Baikonur. The settlement located […]
BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan (AFP) – Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa said Tuesday he was feeling “excited” ahead of his mission to the International Space Station, which marks Russia’s return to space tourism. Maezawa, a space enthusiast who made his wealth in online fashion, and his production assistant, Yozo Hirano, will spend 12 days on the ISS. Their Soyuz rocket operated by Russia’s Roscosmos space agency will blast off from the Moscow-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Wednesday. “I […]
HOUSTON, United States (AFP) — NASA announced Monday its 10 latest trainee astronauts, who include a firefighter turned Harvard professor, a former member of the national cycle team, and a pilot who led the first-ever all-woman F-22 formation in combat. The 2021 class was whittled down from a field of more than 12,000 applicants and will now report for duty in January at the Johnson Space Center in Texas, where they will undergo two years […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Seoul has started trialling pint-sized robots as teaching aids in kindergartens — a pilot project the city government said would help prepare the next generation for a hi-tech future. The “Alpha Mini” is just 24.5 centimetres tall and can dance, lead sing-a-longs, recite stories and even teach kung-fu moves as children mimic its push-ups and one-legged balances. “The robots help with the kids’ creativity,” teacher Byun Seo-yeon told AFP during […]
LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — The longest partial lunar eclipse in nearly 600 years, which will bathe the Moon in red, will be visible Thursday and Friday for a big slice of humanity. The celestial show will see the Moon almost completely cast in shadow as it moves behind the Earth, reddening 99 percent of its face. The spectacle will be visible for all of North America, as well as parts of South America, […]
by Andrew BEATTY Agence France Presse SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australia on Wednesday announced measures to ring-fence dozens of sensitive technologies from foreign interference, stepping up efforts to safeguard against “national security risks” from China and others. Prime Minister Scott Morrison unveiled a list of 63 “critical technologies” to be promoted and protected at an online forum in Sydney — a step toward limiting what government, industry and universities can and cannot share with […]
by John BIERS Agence France-Presse NEW YORK, United States (AFP) – General Motors takes a leap Wednesday towards its much-touted “all-EV” future when it officially opens its first electric pickup truck factory. The auto giant will unveil Factory Zero, a 36-year old plant in Hamtramck, Michigan that has been retooled for electric vehicles (EV), commemorating the occasion with President Joe Biden. The celebration at the Detroit-area plant comes ahead of initial commercial deliveries of the […]
by Evan GERSHKOVICH MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia on Tuesday admitted to destroying one of its satellites during a missile test, but rejected US accusations that it had endangered the International Space Station. US officials on Monday accused Russia of a “dangerous and irresponsible” strike on a satellite that had created a cloud of debris and forced the ISS crew to take evasive action. The move reignited concerns about an escalating arms race in space, […]
by Abhaya SRIVASTAVA Agence France-Presse NEW DELHI, India (AFP) – Even as its capital was blanketed by toxic smog, India led the charge to weaken anti-coal pledges at the COP26 summit, with experts saying it is prioritising its economic growth over the planet’s future. The world’s third-largest emitter teamed up with China to water down language on fossil fuels at the Glasgow conference, forcing a compromise: a climate deal that bound countries to “phase down” […]
NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Tesla CEO Elon Musk sold approximately $1.1 billion in shares of his electric car company, after indicating over the weekend he would sell 10 percent of his stock based on the results of a Twitter poll. However the sell was put in motion on September 14, according to documents filed Wednesday, meaning it was not spurred by the survey’s outcome. Musk, the world’s richest man, sold about 930,000 […]
by Alexandra Vardi Agence France-Presse HAIFA, Israel (AFP) – As she walked her dog Luna near her northern Israel town, Elishya Ben Meir collected litter that had been reported through a new app which turns garbage into goods. For each bag she fills in the valley near her home, she receives around 10 “Clean Coins”, a virtual currency that can be redeemed for goods from participating businesses. The green scheme aims to encourage citizens to […]
