Sriharikota, India | AFP | India successfully put a record 104 satellites from a single rocket into orbit on Wednesday in the latest triumph for its famously frugal space agency. Scientists who were at the launch in the southern spaceport of Sriharikota burst into applause as the head of India’s …
Read More »Why some pedestrians see green light, even when it’s red
Paris, France | AFP | French pedestrians have the reputation of being a law unto themselves — but an unusual study has provided some scientific backing for the stereotype. Four times out of 10, French pedestrians cross the road when the lights are against them, according to a paper published …
Read More »Dubai aims to launch hover-taxi by July
Dubai, United Arab Emirates | AFP | Dubai has tested a Chinese prototype of a self-driving hover-taxi, its transport authority said on Monday, with the aim of introducing the aerial vehicle in the emirate by July. The test of the one-man electric vehicle comes as the city state in the …
Read More »Algorithms: the managers of our digital lives
Paris, France | AFP | Algorithms are a crucial cog in the mechanics of our digital world, but also a nosy minder of our personal lives and a subtle, even insidious influence on our behaviour. They have also come to symbolise the risks of a computerised world conditioned by commercial …
Read More »Data guru Hans Rosling dies at 68
Stockholm, Sweden | AFP | Data guru Hans Rosling, a Swedish public health expert famous for combating scientific ignorance with catchy YouTube videos in his mission to promote a “fact-based world”, has died at the age of 68, his foundation announced. Rosling, who described himself as an “edutainer”, was diagnosed …
Read More »Ugandans invent ‘smart jacket’ to diagnose pneumonia
Kampala, Uganda | AFP | Grace Matsiko A team of Ugandan engineers has invented a “smart jacket” that diagnoses pneumonia faster than a doctor, offering hope against a disease which kills more children worldwide than any other. The idea came to Olivia Koburongo, 26, after her grandmother fell ill, and …
Read More »Baboons make vowel-like sounds, similar to humans
Paris, France | AFP | Baboons make sounds that are similar to the vowels a,e,i,o and u, researchers said Wednesday, suggesting that some monkeys have had the physical capacity for language for millions of years. The findings in the journal PLOS ONE add a new dimension to the long-running debate …
Read More »Year 2016 will last a second longer
5. 4. 3. 2. 1. 1… An extra second to see out 2016 Paris, France | AFP | As if 2016 has not been long enough, the year’s dying minute will last an extra second to make up for time lost to Earth’s slowing rotation, timekeepers say. Countries that use …
Read More »Veggie stew on the menu 10,000 years ago
Paris, France | AFP | Humans used ceramic pots to cook wild plants more than 10,000 years ago, well before the advent of agriculture, researchers reported. The findings are the earliest direct proof that our species processed plants for food. The vessels, discovered in Libya, contained traces of wild grasses …
Read More »Pregnancy changes a woman’s brain: study
Paris, France | AFP | Pregnancy causes “long-lasting” physical changes to a woman’s brain, with significant, but seemingly beneficial, grey matter loss in parts of the crucial organ, a study said. Some alterations lasted at least two years, they reported, but did not appear to erode memory or other mental …
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