Zurich, Switzerland | AFP | Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis on Tuesday announced $100 million of funding over the next five years for research into new treatments for malaria, a mosquito-borne disease with a devastating impact that killed 445,000 people in 2016. There were some 216 million cases of malaria worldwide in …
Read More »New brain cells in the old? Study stokes debate
Tampa, United States | AFP | People as old as 79 may still generate new brain cells, US researchers said Thursday, stoking fresh debate among scientists over what happens to our brains when we age. The report by scientists at Columbia University in New York, published in the journal Cell …
Read More »Samsung, Fujitsu pick France for new AI research centres
Paris, France | AFP | South Korean giant Samsung said Wednesday it will set up its third-biggest research centre for artificial intelligence in France. The announcement was made by Samsung Electronics president and chief strategy officer, Young Sohn, during a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris. At the same …
Read More »Doctor’s own diagnosis drives quest for a cancer cure
Bethesda, United States | AFP | Christian Hinrichs knew his life had forever changed the day he thought he was pouring milk into a glass, but heard it splashing on the floor instead. It was 2005, and the young cancer surgeon had just undergone the removal of his right eye …
Read More »‘Top bottled water brands Aqua, Dasani contaminated with plastic particles’
Miami, United States | AFP | The world’s leading brands of bottled water are contaminated with tiny plastic particles that are likely seeping in during the packaging process, according to a major study across nine countries published Wednesday. “Widespread contamination” with plastic was found in the study, led by microplastic …
Read More »Today’s elephants don’t interbreed like ancient species
Miami, United States | AFP | Ancient species of elephants and mammoths interbred, swapping genes that helped them adapt to new habitats and climates, a practice that is lost among modern-day elephants, researchers said Monday. Today, the two kinds of living elephants in Africa — savanna and forest elephants — are …
Read More »Whistle while you work
Researchers explain what makes employees happy Kampala, Uganda | AGENCIES | What is the key to being happy? More specifically, what is the key to being happy at work? More money, more time off, family benefits? Researchers suggest that they may have found the answers. Unless you’ve been hiding under a …
Read More »Precision cancer therapy works in 3/4 of patients: study
Miami, United States | AFP | A precision cancer treatment that targets rare genetic mutations that exist in about 5,000 people in the United States instead of the tumor’s location in the body has shown success in three-quarters of patients, researchers said Wednesday. The medicine, called larotrectinib, is made by …
Read More »Sea level rise is accelerating: study
Miami, United States | AFP | Sea level rise is accelerating and could reach 26 inches (66 centimeters) by century’s end, in line with United Nations estimates and enough to cause significant problems for coastal cities, a study said Monday. The past annual rate of sea level rise — about three …
Read More »Ocean plastics raise risk of coral reef disease
Miami, United States | AFP | When coral reefs come in contact with plastic trash in the ocean, their risk of becoming diseased skyrockets, said an international study out Thursday. Researchers examined more than 120,000 corals on 159 reefs — some polluted with plastic, others not — from Indonesia, Australia, Myanmar …
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