Sci-Tech

NASA picks finalists to explore comet, Saturn’s moon

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — NASA on Wednesday announced two finalists for billion-dollar robotic missions — one to explore a comet and another Saturn’s moon Titan — with a launch by the winner planned in the 2020s. “These are tantalizing investigations that seek to answer some of the biggest questions in our solar system today,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. Titan is Saturn’s largest moon, and is seen as one […]

US woman delivers baby from embryo frozen for 24 years

MIAMI, United States (AFP) — An American woman has given birth to a healthy baby girl from an embryo that was frozen a quarter century ago, in what hospital officials say may be a world record. The baby, named Emma Wren Gibson, was born November 25, according to the National Embryo Donation Center (NEDC) in Knoxville, Tennessee, which revealed the birth announcement this week. The embryo was conceived by another couple and frozen on October 14, 1992. Tina Gibson, […]

Facebook lets people know when their pictures pop up

SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Facebook on Tuesday added a way for people to know when their pictures are posted anywhere on the leading social network. The notifications will rely on optional new tools that tap into face-recognition capabilities and already suggest friends to “tag” in pictures uploaded to Facebook. Users will now get word when their images pop up at the social network, according to director of applied machine learning Joaquin Quinonero Candela. […]

YouTube seals deal with top music label amid streaming moves

 NEW  YORK, United States (AFP) — YouTube said Tuesday that it had sealed a licensing agreement with the world’s largest music label conglomerate Universal as the video behemoth explores creating a new streaming service. YouTube, which is part of Google, said it reached a long-term agreement with the Universal Music Group, months after a deal with competitor Warner Music. A joint statement did not specify the terms but hinted that the agreement would address compensation by YouTube, […]

‘Dragon back’ as cargo reaches space station

MIAMI, United States (AFP) — SpaceX’s unmanned Dragon cargo ship docked on Sunday with the International Space Station, bringing supplies and experiments for the astronauts in orbit. “Dragon installed,” a NASA commentator said at 1326 GMT after the delicate, hours-long process of sealing 16 bolts joining the two craft was complete. At that moment, they were flying 250 miles above the North Atlantic. Earlier, as the Dragon arrived, the space station’s robotic arm, operated by […]

Questions and answers on ‘net neutrality’

by Rob Lever Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) m– US regulators voted Thursday on a plan overhauling rules for internet services providers. The action by the Federal Communications Commission is likely to end so-called “net neutrality.” Here are some questions and answers: What is net neutrality and why is it important? The concept dates back to the early days of the web, and requires internet service providers to treat all data equally — prohibiting […]

No alien ‘signals’ from cigar-shaped asteroid: researchers

PARIS, France (AFP) — No alien signals have been detected from an interstellar, cigar-shaped space rock discovered travelling through our Solar System in October, researchers listening for evidence of extraterrestrial technology said Thursday. The object, dubbed Oumuamua, was spotted by several Earthly telescopes two months ago. Given its weird trajectory, surprised researchers immediately concluded it was from beyond our planetary system — the first interstellar object ever identified in our midst. The rock is thought […]

Daimler delivers its first all-electric trucks in Europe

FRANKFURT AM MAIN, Germany (AFP) — German carmaker Daimler on Thursday delivered its first fully electric lorries to companies in Europe, as the global race to mass produce the first generation of “green trucks” heats up. Among the first customers for Daimler’s Fuso eCanter light-weight truck was express delivery service DHL, which said it would use its six vehicles to navigate Berlin’s inner city traffic. The keys to eight other eCanter trucks were handed over […]

Artificial intelligence finds solar system with 8 planets like ours

by Kerry Sheridan Agence France Presse MIAMI, United States (AFP) — A solar system with as many planets as our own has been discovered with the help of NASA’s Kepler space telescope and artificial intelligence, the US space agency said Thursday. “Our solar system now is tied for most number of planets around a single star,” NASA said in a statement. However, none of the planets are expected to be hospitable to life. The eight-planet […]

Ticked off: Tiny ‘dracula’ with a taste for dino blood

by Mariëtte Le Roux Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Dinosaurs, the most fearsome creatures ever to walk the Earth, were bugged already 100 million years ago by a paltry pest that still plagues animals today: the bloodsucking tick, scientists have discovered. Preserved for eternity in amber, fossilised tree resin, researchers have found a hard tick — uncannily similar to those we know — clinging to a 99-million-year-old dinosaur feather, a team wrote in the […]

Oh my stars! Stage set for ‘spectacular’ meteor show

PARIS, France (AFP) — A thin, waning moon should allow for uninterrupted views Wednesday night of the annual Geminid shooting star show, set to be “spectacular” this year, astronomers say. At its height, the meteor shower should yield a shooting star every minute, offering plenty of opportunity for wish-making, they said. Peaking on Wednesday night, it will be “particularly rich in bright meteors, or fireballs,” the Irish Astronomical Association (IAA) said. “There will be no […]

Will Trump send Americans to the Moon? Money talks: experts

by Kerry Sheridan Agence France-Presse MIAMI, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump’s decision this week to return Americans to the Moon makes sense as a way to develop technology to one day reach Mars, but only if Congress allocates the money, experts say. Reviving an American program to explore the Moon is seen as a way to boost jobs and morale at home, while encouraging international collaboration with Europe, Japan, China and India […]