Washington, United States | AFP | In the ongoing hunt for more effective weapons against malaria, international researchers said Thursday they are exploring a pathway that has until now been little studied — killing parasites in the liver, before the illness emerges. “It’s very difficult to work on the liver …
Read More »East Africa may lose its crown as ‘cradle of mankind’
Algiers, Algeria | AFP | Archaeologists in Algeria have discovered stone tools and cut animal bones that may be up to 2.4 million years old, bringing into question East Africa’s title as the cradle of humanity, according to research published Thursday in the journal Science. The artifacts — more ancient …
Read More »US life expectancy drops again as overdoses climb
Tampa, United States | AFP | Life expectancy in the United States dropped yet again as drug overdose deaths continued to climb — taking more than 70,000 lives in 2017 — and suicides rose, a US government report said Thursday. The drug overdose rate rose 9.6 percent compared to 2016, …
Read More »China scientist defends gene-editing babies as trial paused
Hong Kong, China | AFP | The Chinese scientist who claims to have created the world’s first genetically-edited babies defended the highly controversial procedure Wednesday, but announced a halt to the trial following an international outcry. He Jiankui told a packed Hong Kong biomedical conference he was “proud” to have …
Read More »Waste not: South Africa makes world’s first human urine brick
Cape Town, South Africa | AFP | One day, when nature calls, your urine could be put to better use than to be flushed down the loo. Instead it could be a key ingredient in the construction of a greener office or new home. In one of the latest innovations …
Read More »Sitting, standing, walking
How do they affect your memory? Kampala, Uganda | MARIA COHUT | Previous research has shown that exercise is beneficial for the brain and that it helps treat depression and prevent cognitive decline. So, what is the importance of posture and movement for the brain? A new study investigates. Many …
Read More »Daytime naps could help us make better decisions
A new study in the Journal of Sleep Research, examines unconscious activity Kampala, Uganda | ANA SANDOIU | A short daytime nap could do wonders for our brains’ ability to process information, suggests a new study. Sleep is key in both memory formation and the consolidation of new information. Cutting-edge …
Read More »COMMENT: What is threatening science?
Scientists in recent decades have felt increasingly compelled to oversell their research for funding COMMENT | JEREMY J.BAUMBERG | Scientific knowledge and technological innovation, as Yuval Noah Harariemphasises in hisbookSapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, are among the key drivers of economic progress. Yet there is remarkably little reflection taking …
Read More »West African states in joint fight against root crop ‘Ebola’
Abidjan, Ivory Coast | AFP | Researchers from half a dozen states in West Africa have joined together in a battle against what one expert calls a root crop “Ebola” — a viral disease that could wreck the region’s staple food and condemn millions to hunger. Their enemy: cassava brown …
Read More »Candidate AIDS vaccine passes key early test
Paris, France | AFP | The near 40-year quest for an AIDS vaccine received a hopeful boost Saturday when scientists announced that a trial drug triggered an immune response in humans and shielded monkeys from infection. Shown to be safe in humans, the candidate vaccine has now advanced to the …
Read More »