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  Paris (AFP) Dec 16, 2016 Gazing upward to take in the majesty of the Eiffel Tower, visitors to Paris may be astonished to learn that a vicious war, pitting Man against Rat, is unfolding at their feet. The Champ de Mars park around the famous monument is a battleground in a city-wide anti-rodent campaign that has drawn both cheers and jeers. Several of the French capital's green spaces are off-limits for two weeks as rat catchers go about a grim task, baiting traps with powerful poison. "I haven't seen any rats, but ... read more |
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BodyCap's wearable health monitors being used aboard ISSBodyCap has announced that two of its wearable health monitoring devices are currently being used by European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Thomas Pesquet aboard the International Space Station (ISS) ... more 
Cow gene study shows why most clones failIt has been 20 years since Dolly the sheep was successfully cloned in Scotland, but cloning mammals remains a challenge. A new study by researchers from the U.S. and France of gene expression in dev ... more 
Smallpox, once thought an ancient disease, may have emerged in more recent timesNew genetic research from an international team including McMaster University, University of Helsinki, Vilnius University and the University of Sydney, suggests that smallpox, a pathogen that caused ... more  
Urgent appeal for supplies after strong Indonesia quakeAftershocks rattled the survivors of a devastating Indonesian earthquake that killed more than 100 people, as officials urgently appealed Thursday for medicine and doctors to treat the hundreds injured. ... more |
| Previous Issues | Dec 15 | Dec 14 | Dec 13 | Dec 12 |
 
 
Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison & Memory Foam Mattress Review |
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Paris rat catchers deployed to tackle rodent scourgeParis officials have announced a crackdown on rats which blight parks and gardens around the City of Light and are thought to easily outnumber humans. ... more  
Lost and found: Japan tags dementia sufferers with barcodesA Japanese city has introduced a novel way to keep track of senior citizens with dementia who are prone to getting lost - tagging their fingers and toes with scan-able barcodes. ... more  
Dylan snubs Nobel, Santos to accept Peace Prize in OsloOne sings of peace, the other makes peace: Bob Dylan will not travel to Stockholm on Saturday to accept his Nobel prize, but Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos will receive his award in Oslo for a deal signed with FARC rebels. ... more 
Overwhelming evidence of malaria's existence 2,000 years agoAn analysis of 2,000-year-old human remains from several regions across the Italian peninsula has confirmed the presence of malaria during the Roman Empire, addressing a longstanding debate about it ... more  
Construction of practical quantum computers radically simplifiedScientists at the University of Sussex have invented a ground-breaking new method that puts the construction of large-scale quantum computers within reach of current technology. Quantum comput ... more |
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 Archaeologists find 14th century Black Death 'plague pit' in England 
UN chief Ban apologizes to Haitian people over cholera epidemicUN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday apologized for the first time to the people of Haiti for the role played by the world body's peacekeepers in sparking a devastating cholera epidemic in the country. ... more 
Researchers develop novel wound-healing technologyA WSU research team has successfully used a mild electric current to take on and beat drug-resistant bacterial infections, a technology that may eventually be used to treat chronic wound infections. ... more |
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Lowly sawdust, the sawmill waste that's sometimes tossed onto home garage floors to soak up oil spilled by amateur mechanics, could receive some new-found respect thanks to science.
Researchers at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have chemically modified sawdust to make it exceptionally oil-attracting and buoyant, characteristics that are ideal for cleaning ... more China arrests 18 over fatal October blast Canada buys new Airbus search and rescue planes for Can$2.4 bn Urgent appeal for supplies after strong Indonesia quake |
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After 17 years and numerous setbacks and budget boosts, Europe's Galileo satnav system is due to go live on Thursday with promises of better-than-ever location services.
Initial services, free to users worldwide, will be available only on smartphones and navigation units already fitted with Galileo-compatible microchips.
Some devices may need only a software update to start using the ser ... more Europe's own satnav, Galileo, due to go live Lockheed Martin and USAF move ahead with GPS backup ground system upgrade OGC requests public comment on its Coverage Implementation Schema |
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During REM sleep, the brain inhibits the motor system, which makes the sleeper completely immobile. CNRS researchers working in the Centre de Recherche en Neurosciences de Lyon (CNRS/Universite Claude Bernard Lyon 1/INSERM/Universite Jean Monnet) have identified a population of neurons that is responsible for this transient muscle paralysis.
The animal model created will shed light on the ... more Neanderthals visited seaside cave in England for 180,000 years Dental hygiene, caveman style Sex of prehistoric hand-stencil artists can be determined forensic analysis |
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Up to now, if scientists wanted to study blood cells, algae, or bacteria under the microscope, they had to mount these cells on a substrate such as a glass slide. Physicists at Bielefeld and Frankfurt Universities have developed a method that traps biological cells with a laser beam enabling them to study them at very high resolutions.
In science fiction books and films, the principle is k ... more Scientists examine 'perfect storms' fueling vast tropical biodiversity Scientists trap bacteria with optical tractor beam Gene transfer on the fungal highway |
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  Gazing upward to take in the majesty of the Eiffel Tower, visitors to Paris may be astonished to learn that a vicious war, pitting Man against Rat, is unfolding at their feet.
The Champ de Mars park around the famous monument is a battleground in a city-wide anti-rodent campaign that has drawn both cheers and jeers.
Several of the French capital's green spaces are off-limits for two week ... more Smallpox, once thought an ancient disease, may have emerged in more recent times Paris rat catchers deployed to tackle rodent scourge Overwhelming evidence of malaria's existence 2,000 years ago |
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  A former Hong Kong security chief who stepped down after mass protests and is loathed by the city's pro-democracy camp said Thursday she will run for leader, as opponents warn she would be a Beijing puppet.
The race for chief executive was thrown open when unpopular hardline leader Leung Chun-ying declared last week he would not seek reelection after a term marked by political crises and ant ... more Chinese official's wife jailed in new vaccine scandal Popular Chinese Muslim website shuttered after Xi Jinping petition Anti-China protesters rally in Hong Kong as vote looms |
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Stemming the astronomical losses caused by crime in the oceans surrounding Africa is the focus of a major continental summit on Saturday in the Togolese capital, Lome.
"Over recent decades, the accumulated revenue losses resulting directly from illegal activities in the African maritime sector add up to hundreds of billions of US dollars, without counting the loss of human lives," the Africa ... more US to deport ex-navy chief drug trafficker to Guinea-Bissau Gunmen ambush Mexican military convoy, kill 5 soldiersMexican army to probe killings of six in their home |
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Chinese growth stabilised in the third quarter, data showed Wednesday, as ample credit and hot property markets propped up the world's second-largest economy.
But while the forecast-beating reading was in line with state targets, it came as experts warned that authorities have relied too much on easy credit, which has in turn increased financial risks.
The economy grew 6.7 percent in Jul ... moreChina data and US banks propel equities higher No debt-for-equity cure for zombie firms, says China China's ranks of super-rich rise despite economic slowdown |
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  New satellite imagery shows China has apparently installed "significant" defensive weapons on a series of artificial islands it built in the South China Sea, a US-based think tank said Wednesday.
Beijing has created seven islets in the Spratly Islands in recent years, built up from much smaller land protuberances and reefs.
Although Beijing has said it does not intend to militarize the c ... moreChina says weapons in S. China Sea not militarisation China says S. China Sea military overflights 'routine' India names new military, spy chiefs; China protests Dalai Lama meeting |
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On 7 December, LISA Pathfinder started the extended phase of its mission, an additional six months during which scientists and engineers will push the experiment to its limits in preparation for ESA's future space observatory of gravitational waves. LISA Pathfinder, a demonstration mission to validate important technologies to observe gravitational waves - fluctuations in the fabric of spacetime ... more Magnetic mirror could shed new light on gravitational waves A population of neutron stars can generate gravitational waves continuously Verlindes new theory of gravity passes first test |
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  Raytheon has received a $458.9 million contract to modernize various cryptographic equipment for the U.S. Air Force.
The contract includes modernization services for existing VINSON and Advanced Narrowband Digital Voice Terminal capabilities used by the National Security Agency, and involves foreign military sales. The U.S. Department of Defense did not yet disclose which countries may ... more The Link Between Cybersecurity and Information Assurance Facebook lets users click to report fake news White House points to Putin over election hack |
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  Iraqi civilians displaced by the battle to recapture Mosul long to return home but bombs left by jihadists and ongoing fighting makes going back now a dangerous proposition.
More than 100,000 Iraqis have fled their homes since the massive operation to recapture Mosul from the Islamic State (IS) group was launched on October 17, and the battle is far from over.
Hisham, in his 20s, cannot ... more Iraqi children battle trauma after life under IS rule UN fears further looting of wrecked ancient Iraqi city Coalition strikes near Palmyra killed 38 jihadists: monitor |
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  Two clubs from Iraqi Kurdistan announced on Saturday their withdrawal from the country's football championship in protest at anti-Kurdish chants during a match against a Shiite club.
The match itself was briefly suspended after Arbil's players walked off when home club supporters in the Shiite city of Najaf south of Baghdad chanted slogans associating the Kurdish regional capital Arbil in th ... more Pentagon works to ease Kurdish-Turkish tensions in Syria Uzbek interim leader scores landslide election win Kurdish curbs harm recovery of Iraq Yazidis: rights group |
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The global fight against climate change and Beijing's efforts to combat choking pollution have been a disaster for Lu Fanyuan.
Facing unemployment after years working with explosives deep in a coal mine on the outskirts of the Chinese capital, Lu has little hope of finding another job, no rights to farmland in his rural hometown, and fears he is dying of occupational disease.
"They'll ju ... more Coal demand shifting to Asia, IEA says China halts North Korean coal imports China coal mine blasts kill 59: report |
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  The US government on Wednesday announced it was taking aim against illegal Chinese restrictions on imports of American grain, as well as price supports China provides for domestic farmers.
In what it says is the 15th challenge against China, and the second involving agriculture this year, the US Trade Representative said it filed a dispute in the World Trade Organization charging China has v ... more In Benin, 'Smart-Valleys' bring rice bounty EU court upholds Monsanto GM soybean approval Corn yield modeling towards sustainable agriculture |
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At first glance, Ceres, the largest body in the main asteroid belt, may not look icy. Images from NASA's Dawn spacecraft have revealed a dark, heavily cratered world whose brightest area is made of highly reflective salts - not ice.
But newly published studies from Dawn scientists show two distinct lines of evidence for ice at or near the surface of the dwarf planet. Researchers are presen ... more Rosetta's last words: science descending to a comet Ceres: Water ice in eternal polar night NASA mission to search for rare asteroids |
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