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NASA probe makes closest ever pass by the Sun

NASA's pioneering Parker Solar Probe made history Tuesday, flying closer to the Sun than any other spacecraft with its heat shield exposed to scorching temperatures of more than 1,700 degrees Fahrenheit (930 degrees Celsius).

Saving the mysterious African manatee at Cameroon hotspot

Ever since his first hard-won sightings of African manatees, award-winning marine biologist Aristide Takoukam Kamla has been devoted to protecting the little known and atrisk aquatic mammals.

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In Cameroon's arid north, climate stress boosts ethnic strife

Their homes are a scattering of huts made of branches and dry leaves that seem to almost dissolve into the arid landscape.

Toshiba: Japan's troubled megacorp

Once a symbol of Japan's advanced technology and economic power, Toshiba has been rocked by turbulence in recent years.

China backpedals on climate promises as economy slows

When China's President Xi Jinping issued his traditional Lunar New Year wishes from the country's coal heartland in January, the subtext was clear: Beijing is not ready to kick its coal addiction, despite promises to slash emissions.

Japan confirms cyberattack hit Toyota supplier

Japan's government said Tuesday that a cyberattack was behind disruption at a Toyota supplier that forced the top-selling automaker to halt operations at domestic plants for a day.

Tycoons bound for ISS aren't tourists, insists space company

Three tycoons and an ex-NASA astronaut are all set for the first fully private voyage to the International Space Station next month -- just don't call them tourists.

NASA exploring ways to keep ISS afloat without Russian help: official

NASA is exploring ways to keep the International Space Station in orbit without Russian help, but doesn't see any immediate signs Moscow is withdrawing from the collaboration following the invasion of Ukraine, a senior official said Monday.

UN report to lay bare harrowing scale of climate impacts

The devastating scale of climate change impacts will be unveiled Monday in a landmark UN report expected to show that warming already threatens billions of people and crucial ecosystems.

Russian official apologises for war in Ukraine at UN climate meet

The Russian head of delegation at a major UN climate conference apologised for his country's invasion of Ukraine on Sunday, which he said lacked justification, according to several sources who heard him speak at the virtual meeting.

US-Russia tensions spill into space, but ISS safe -- for now

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has placed a question mark over the future of the International Space Station, long a symbol of post Cold War cooperation, where astronauts and cosmonauts proudly live and work side-by-side.

Swiss fondue robot out to cause a stir in Paris

Switzerland's national dish is fondue, a simmering pot of heartwarming melted cheese -- that can now be prepared, stirred up and served by a robot, thanks to some hi-tech wizardry.

Dog kennel hit by meteorite sells at auction

A Christie's auction of rare meteorites Wednesday sold a rock from space that narrowly missed a German Shepherd when it smashed into his kennel in Costa Rica.

9,000-year-old ritual complex found in Jordan desert

Archaeologists deep in the Jordanian desert have discovered a 9,000-year-old ritualistic complex near what is thought to be the earliest known large human-built structure worldwide.

World must brace for more extreme wildfires: UN

The number of major wildfires worldwide will rise sharply in coming decades due to global warming, and governments are ill-prepared for the death and destruction such mega-blazes trail in their wake, the UN warned Wednesday.

Breeding ban for bulldogs and cavaliers in Norway

Cavalier King Charles Spaniels are known for their tiny heads, English bulldogs for their smushed wrinkled muzzles -- traits their owners love.

New name, little hope, in New York, Ukraine

The local billionaire's chemical plant stands on the edge of the frontline in New York, eastern Ukraine.

US climate envoy Kerry in Egypt to discuss COP27 summit

The United States and Egypt on Monday launched a working group to prepare for the COP27 climate summit this year, with US envoy John Kerry urging more countries to come on board.

Many anti-abortion Americans would still help friends and family seeking one

Almost half of Americans morally opposed to abortion would help a friend or family member with arrangements to get one, and a majority would offer emotional support, a new study said Friday.

Australia's largest coal-fired power plant to close

Australia's largest coal-fired power plant will shut in 2025 -- several years sooner than planned -- operators announced Thursday, saying the facility is no longer viable given the low cost of renewables.

Bananas to fish scales: fashion's hunt for eco-materials

Sneakers made from banana or pineapple leaves, dresses from nettles or fish scales -- the search for sustainable materials has taken the fashion industry to some wild places.

19th century all out: Lord's dumps Oxford v Cambridge, Eton v Harrow games

Two of English cricket's oldest fixtures, Oxford v Cambridge and Eton v Harrow, will no longer be staged annually at Lord's after this year.

How world's most precise clock could transform fundamental physics

US scientists have measured Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity -- which holds that gravity slows time down -- at the smallest scale ever, demonstrating that clocks tick at different rates when separated by fractions of a millimeter.

Virgin Galactic re-opens ticket sales for $450,000

Virgin Galactic, which last year flew its flamboyant founder Richard Branson to space, will re-open ticket sales to the general public starting Wednesday, for the sum of $450,000.

Plastic, chemical pollution beyond planet's safe limit: study

The torrent of man-made chemical and plastic waste worldwide has massively exceeded limits safe for humanity or the planet, and production caps are urgently needed, scientists have concluded for the first time.

Rocket set to hit Moon was built by China, not SpaceX, say astronomers

Astronomy experts say they originally misread the secrets of the night sky last month: it turns out that a rocket expected to crash into the Moon in early March was built by China, not SpaceX.

US billionaire announces three more ambitious SpaceX flights

US billionaire Jared Isaacman, who chartered the first all-civilian orbital spaceflight, announced Monday three more private missions with SpaceX -- which will include spacewalking and culminate in the first crewed flight of the next-generation Starship rocket.

US billionaire charters three more ambitious SpaceX flights

Billionaire Jared Isaacman, who chartered the first all-civilian orbital spaceflight, announced Monday three more private missions with SpaceX -- which will include spacewalking and culminate in the first crewed flight of the next-generation Starship rocket.

Stakes 'never been higher' in climate fight: IPCC head

The stakes in the fight against global warming are higher than ever, the UN's climate science chief said Monday as nearly 200 nations met to finalise what is sure to be a harrowing report on climate impacts.

Toshiba sets March date for vote on spin-off plan

Japanese conglomerate Toshiba said Monday it would hold an extraordinary meeting of shareholders on March 24 to vote on its plan to spin off its devices unit.

Nations to review harrowing catalogue of climate impacts

Nearly 200 nations kick off a virtual UN meeting Monday to finalise what is sure to be a harrowing catalogue of climate change impacts -- past, present and future.

Killed for witchcraft, Scotland's forgotten victims find a voice

Claire Mitchell and Zoe Venditozzi are fighting for pardons for all those executed for witchcraft in Scotland, the vast majority of whom were women, and for a memorial to those forgotten by history.

Swiss poised to ban nearly all tobacco advertising

Swiss voters appeared set Sunday to back a near-total ban of advertising for tobacco products but were expected to reject a blanket ban on animal testing.

Swiss vote on banning tobacco advertising, animal testing

The Swiss head to the polls Sunday to decide whether to ban almost all advertising of tobacco products and separately on a blanket ban on all animal testing.

Webb telescope spots its first star -- and takes a selfie

Star light, star bright, the James Webb Space Telescope has seen its first star (though it wasn't quite tonight) -- and even taken a selfie, NASA announced Friday.

Musk 'confident' of Starship orbital launch this year

Elon Musk delivered updates on SpaceX's efforts to develop its interplanetary Starship rocket on Thursday night, but stopped short of announcing a firm launch date for an orbital test or new missions, despite considerable buildup ahead of the rare presentation.

Las Llamadas: Uruguayan festival born from African struggle

As a little boy, Cesar Pintos -- now 86 -- played "drums" with his friends in the streets of Montevideo's black-majority neighborhoods, beating tin cans with twigs to ancestral rhythms brought to Uruguay by enslaved Africans.

Musk to give rare presentation on ambitious Starship rocket

Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk is set Thursday night to deliver an eagerly-awaited update on SpaceX's Starship, a prototype rocket the company is developing for crewed interplanetary exploration.

Luc Montagnier: HIV discoverer who ended a pariah

French researcher Luc Montagnier, who has died at 89, shared the Nobel medicine prize for his vital early discoveries on AIDS, but was later dismissed by the scientific community for his increasingly outlandish theories, notably on Covid-19.

Dozens of SpaceX internet satellites lost to geomagnetic storm

Up to 40 SpaceX high-speed internet satellites have been knocked out of orbit by a geomagnetic storm shortly after launch, but pose little threat to Earth as they burn up in the atmosphere, the company said.

Climate change fuels drop in Albania's migrant birds

Thousands of migratory birds have failed to make their annual visit to Albania's western coast this winter, experts say, pointing to climate change, overfishing and urbanisation as likely factors.

Bombay Durpun - Technology (English)