Tag Archives: science

Paris, France | AFP | An asteroid the size of a house will shave past Earth at a distance of some 44,000 kilometres (27,300 miles) in October, inside the Moon’s orbit, astronomers said Thursday. The space rock will zoom by at an eighth of the distance from the Earth to the …

Paris, France | AFP | The first flower to appear along the path of plant evolution, during the time of the dinosaurs, was a hermaphrodite with petal-like organs arranged in concentric circles, researchers said Monday. The bloom had both male and female reproductive organs at the centre, surrounded by multiple layers …

Paris, France | AFP | Sugar may be bad not only for your teeth and your waistline, but also your mental health, claimed a study Thursday that was met with scepticism by other experts. Researchers at University College London (UCL) compared the reported sugar intake of more than 8,000 people in …

Paris, France | AFP |  The three-decade-old quest for an AIDS vaccine received a shot of hope Monday when developers announced that a prototype triggered the immune system in an early phase of human trials. Tested in 393 people in the United States, Rwanda, Uganda, South Africa and Thailand, the …

Paris, France | AFP |  From the start of the AIDS epidemic in 1981, here are 10 dates in the history of the disease. – 1981: First alert – On June 5, 1981, US epidemiologists report the first deaths among young homosexuals from a mysterious immune-wrecking disease later named acquired …

Paris, France | AFP |  Someone is infected with the AIDS virus every 17 seconds in the world, and the disease has killed the equivalent of the population of Canada, figures released Thursday by UNAIDS show. Here is a numerical snapshot of the disease. – 17 seconds – Roughly 1.8 …

Miami, United States | AFP | Some very “peculiar signals” have been noticed coming from a star just 11 light-years away, scientists in Puerto Rico say. The mystery has gripped the internet as speculation mounts about the potential for a discovery of alien life on the red dwarf star known …

Paris, France | AFP | It’s not quite E=mc2, but scientists unveiled Monday a simple, powerful formula that explains why some animals run, fly and swim faster than all others. Call it the “speed rule”: strength alone does not determine top velocity because land mammals, birds and fish can only accelerate …

Washington, United States | AFP | Our Sun is much like other stars, and not an anomaly because of its magnetic poles that flip every 11 years, scientists said Thursday. The report in the journal Science aims to lay to rest the controversy over whether our solar system’s star is cyclic, …

COMMENT: Scientists have developed an independent analytical framework to prioritise policies Anne-Sophie Stevance, David McCollum|   In just the latest example of popular support for science, tens of thousands of people around the world recently marched to advocate for a worldview based on facts, not fiction. They understand that science could actually …