Sci-Tech

Facebook to launch independent body for calls on content

SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Facebook announced Thursday it is creating an independent body to make potentially precedent-setting calls on what content should be yanked from the social network. The announcement came as Facebook reported it has ramped up its ability to quickly detect “hate speech” and other posts violating community rules, with the leading social network under pressure from regulators in various countries and activists to root out abusive and inappropriate content. “I […]

‘Robocop’ on patrol at Singapore summit

SINGAPORE, Singapore (AFP) — Hi-tech Singapore has deployed an autonomous robot with a swivelling camera for a head and flashing lights to patrol a summit venue — arresting the attention of amused passers-by who stopped to snap selfies. The white, four-wheeled buggy, measuring about five-feet (1.5 meters), trundled around the perimeter of a convention center in the city-state, providing additional security at a meeting of world leaders. The so far unnamed robot, decked out with […]

First supply trip to space since Soyuz failure poised to launch

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A US spaceship loaded with supplies for the International Space Station is poised to launch Thursday, marking the first such trip since a Soyuz rocket carrying three people failed last month. At the last moment, NASA added some extra supplies for the three orbiting scientists, just in case. The next Soyuz launch, with three more astronauts on board — one Russian, one Canadian and one American — is planned for […]

How to drive a robot on Mars

by Ivan Couronne Agence France Presse GREENBELT, United States (AFP) — Some 78 million miles (126 million kilometers) from Earth, alone on the immense and frigid Red Planet, a robot the size of a small 4×4 wakes up just after sunrise. And just as it has every day for the past six years, it awaits its instructions. Around 9:30 Mars time, a message arrives from California, where it was sent 15 minutes earlier. “Drive forward […]

How to drive a robot on Mars

by Ivan Couronne Agence France-Presse GREENBELT, United States (AFP) — Some 78 million miles (126 million kilometers) from Earth, alone on the immense and frigid Red Planet, a robot the size of a small 4×4 wakes up just after sunrise. And just as it has every day for the past six years, it awaits its instructions. Around 9:30 Mars time, a message arrives from California, where it was sent 15 minutes earlier. “Drive forward 10 […]

China steps up drone race with stealth aircraft

by Ludovic EHRET Agence France-Presse ZHUHAI, China (AFP) — China is unleashing stealth drones and pilotless aircraft fitted with AK-47 rifles onto world markets, racing to catch up to US technology and adding to a fleet that has already seen combat action in the Middle East. Combat drones were among the jet fighters, missiles and other military hardware shown off this week at Airshow China, the country’s biggest aerospace industry exhibition. A delta-winged stealth drone […]

Benepisyo ng biotechnology, ilalahad ng DOST

Ni Belle Surara Eagle News Service (Eagle News) – Pangungunahan ng Department of Science and Technology (DOST) ang pagdiriwang ng National Biotechnology Week (NBW) sa taong ito. Layunin nito na mapalawak pa ang kaalaman ng mga mamamayan tungkol sa benepisyong idinudulot ng biotechnology sa buhay at pamumuhay ng tao. Ang tema nang naturang pagdiriwang ay “Pambansang Hamon, Pambansang Solusyon.” Ayon kay DOST Secretary Fortunato dela Peña, tatalakayin sa pagdiriwang ng NBW  ang mga biotechnology product,  […]

Google touts progress in fight against piracy

SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Google said Wednesday it is making strides in helping internet users legitimately get songs, films and apps while choking off revenue to websites with stolen digital content. A 64-page report released by Google claimed progress in the war on piracy, but also noted a new battlefront in the form of “add-on” software that can be installed on legitimate open-source media players such as the Kodi box to illicitly stream […]

A machine makes water out of air – Israel-based tech company showcases technology in Vietnam

  HANOI, Vietnam (AFP-Services) — Imagine you could quench your thirst with water that doesn’t originate from a river, spring or lake, but comes directly out of the blue sky, from the air that surrounds you. What sounds like a science fiction movie is already a reality, and it is potentially for everyone. The new technology, developed by Watergen, an Israel-based tech company, is currently being showcased in Vietnam’s capital city Hanoi. And this is […]

World Wide Web inventor wants new ‘contract’ to make web safe

    by Daniel Silva and Julie Jammot Agence France Presse LISBON, Portugal (AFP) — The inventor of the World Wide Web on Monday (Nov. 5) called for a “contract” to make internet safe and accessible for everyone as Europe’s largest tech event began in Lisbon amid a backlash over its role in spreading “fake news”. Some 70,000 people are expected to take part in the four-day Web Summit, dubbed “the Davos for geeks”, including […]

NASA’s Dawn asteroid mission ends as fuel runs out

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Dawn, a NASA spacecraft that launched 11 years ago and studied two of the largest objects in the asteroid belt, has ended its mission after running out of fuel, officials said Thursday. Scientists have known for about a month that Dawn was essentially out of hydrazine, the fuel that kept the spacecraft’s antennae oriented toward Earth and helped turn its solar panels to the Sun to recharge. When the spacecraft […]