Sci-Tech

Millions pour into US towns in path of total eclipse

by Kerry Sheridan Agence France Presse CHARLESTON, United States (AFP) — On Monday, when a total solar eclipse sweeps across the United States for the first time in 99 years, people gathering in Charleston, South Carolina, will be the last on the continent to experience it. They are ready. Historic Charleston, with its cobblestone streets and elegant antebellum mansions, was clearly a-bustle on Sunday, in full pre-eclipse mode. Its restaurants were packed and downtown parking […]

Freediver creates underwater wingsuit

Monaco-born freediver Pierre Frolla creates an underwater wingsuit that allows users to glide through the water with minimal movement of the arms and legs. He hopes the discretion provided by his new technology will allow divers to get closer to marine life and increase awareness of the fragility of the world’s oceans. (AFP Video) https://youtu.be/3qwQqjjgaFk

America’s total eclipse a ‘once in a lifetime event’ – NASA scientist

(Reuters) — America’s coast-to-coast total solar eclipse on Aug. 21 is a must-see, “once in a lifetime event,” a National Aeronautics and Space Administration scientist said on Wednesday. Michelle Thaller also urged the public to use safety glasses or other homemade devices to avoid looking directly at the sun. “It’s never safe to look at the sun with unprotected eyes. If even a little bit of the sun’s surface is still exposed you can hurt […]

300x faster WiFi promised by light ray technique

EINDHOVEN, Netherlands (Reuters) — Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) researchers say their new wireless network based on harmless infrared rays will mark a sea change in WiFi delivery if rolled out globally. Researcher Joanne Oh and professor of broadband communication technology Ton Koonen have devised a system in which wireless data is delivered by central ‘light antennas’. A wavelength demultiplexing unit separates individual wavelengths coming from a laser into multiple separate fibres, each of which […]

Nigerian innovator uses app to fight food waste

ABUJA, Nigeria (Reuters) — Nigerian entrepreneur, Oscar Ekponimo is working to reduce food waste in Nigeria by getting stores to donate groceries they don’t need to poor families. The software engineer has developed a web app known as Chowberry which enables charities shop for products that are about to expire at a discounted price. The organizations later distribute the products to children’s homes and low-income communities. Ekponimo says his own experiences growing up without enough […]

Los Angeles tests cooling pavement paint to beat heat

LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP ) — Can a splash of gray pavement paint help combat global warming? In Los Angeles, where summer temperatures regularly surpass 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius), workers are coating streets in special gray treatments in a bid to do just that. The City of Angels, home to four million people, is the first major city to test the technology. Normal black asphalt absorbs 80 to 95 percent of sunlight, while the gray “cool […]

SpaceX to launch supercomputer to space

by Kerry Sheridan Agence France-Presse MIAMI, United States (AFP) – SpaceX is poised to launch an unmanned cargo ship toward the International Space Station Monday, including a super-computer that could direct astronauts on future deep-space missions. The liftoff of the Falcon 9 rocket, carrying the Dragon cargo ship, is planned for 12:31 pm (1631 GMT) from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The weather forecast is 70 percent favorable for launch. The mission is the 12th official trip […]

Moroccan scientists develop machine that milks scorpions for cancer research

  Extracting venom from scorpions can be a dangerous task. The poisonous secretion can be fatal to humans but the venom, when broken down at a molecular level, contains hundreds of components that can be used in cancer research and to develop new drugs. Manual extraction can also be harmful for the scorpions, as there is a risk of puncturing the venom gland. Now scientists at Morocco’s Ben M’sik Hassan II University have found a […]

Asteroid to shave past Earth on Oct 12: ESA

by Mariëtte Le Roux Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — A house-sized asteroid will shave past our planet on October 12, far inside the Moon’s orbit but without posing any threat, astronomers said Thursday. The space rock will zoom by harmlessly at a distance of about 44,000 kilometers (27,300 miles) — an eighth of the distance from the Earth to the Moon, according to the European Space Agency, This is just far enough to […]

Mars Rover visits Atlanta; tours US Eastern Seaboard

By Phillip Toledo EBC Florida Bureau ATLANTA (Eagle News) – Residents of Atlanta, Georgia caught a rare glimpse of space travel to the Red Planet this summer at The Battery at Sun Trust Park as the Kennedy Space Center kicked off the east coast summer tour of its Mars Rover concept vehicle. Curious children and adults were able to see a prototype or concept of what an actual Mars Rover would look like. The exhibit […]

Battery-free cell phone harvests ambient power

SEATTLE, Washington (Reuters) — Researchers in the United States have developed what they believe is the world’s first battery-free cellphone. The phone is the work of a group of researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle and works by harvesting tiny amounts of power from radio signals, known as radio frequency or ‘RF’ waves. At first glance it looks little more than a circuit board with electronics equipment connected to it, but it could be […]

If you’ve ever needed an extra pair of hands, researchers in Tokyo, Japan might be able to help

LOS ANGELES, United States (Reuters) — If you’ve ever needed an extra pair of hands, a team of researchers in Tokyo, Japan might have the solution – a set of wearable robotic arms controlled by the motion of the wearer’s feet. The scientists from the University of Tokyo and Keio University showed off the proof-of-concept prototype for their “MetaLimbs” project at the SIGGRAPH Emerging Technologies showcase in Los Angeles, where it was awarded the “Best […]