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Canadian lake ground-zero for Anthropocene epoch
Scientists on Tuesday designated a small body of water near Toronto, Canada as ground-zero for the Anthropocene, the proposed geological epoch defined by humanity's massive and destabilising impact on the planet.
Foxconn pulls from $19.4 bn deal in India to make semiconductors
Taiwanese electronics giant Foxconn withdrew from a $19.4 billion deal with India's Vedanta to make semiconductors in the South Asian nation owing to "challenging gaps", it announced Tuesday.
Australia, New Zealand revive 'football's Ashes'
Australia and New Zealand will play this year for the "Soccer Ashes", sporting officials said Tuesday, a long-forgotten trophy recently rediscovered almost 70 years after it was lost.
ChatGPT dragged to US court over AI copyright
US comedian Sarah Silverman and two other authors have sued Open AI over copyright infringement in the latest pushback by creatives since the company's release of ChatGPT took the world by storm.
Signs of the human era, from nuclear fallout to microplastics
As scientists make the case that humans have fundamentally transformed the planet enough to warrant our own geological epoch, another question arises: is there anything left untouched by humanity's presence?
'Like a mirror': Astronomers identify most reflective exoplanet
A scorching hot world where metal clouds rain drops of titanium is the most reflective planet ever observed outside of our Solar System, astronomers said on Monday.
In vaccination champ Brazil, many have stopped getting shots
Two years after Brazil began emerging from its pandemic horror show thanks to a massive immunization campaign, officials face a paradoxical predicament: vaccination rates have plunged, and not just for Covid-19.
Startup bets on kitesurf to blow away shipping pollution
Inspired by kitesurfing, French firms want to deploy the same wind technology to propel everything from yachts to cargo ships in order to cut the shipping industry's massive carbon footprint.
US destroys its last chemical weapons, watchdog hails milestone
President Joe Biden announced Friday that the United States has fully destroyed its decades-old stockpiles of chemical weapons, a milestone hailed as completing the elimination around the world of all known stores of the agents of mass death.
US has destroyed all its chemical weapons: Biden
President Joe Biden announced Friday that the United States has fully destroyed its decades-old stockpiles of chemical weapons, fulfilling a commitment under the three-decade-old Chemical Weapons Convention.
AI robots at UN reckon they could run the world better
A panel of AI-enabled humanoid robots told a United Nations summit on Friday that they could eventually run the world better than humans.
Musk predicts Tesla self-driving cars 'later this year'
Electric car giant Tesla is set to realise fully autonomous vehicles "later this year", CEO Elon Musk said Thursday, in the billionaire's latest forecast for the long-anticipated milestone.
Final Ariane 5 blasts off amid Europe rocket crisis
Europe's workhorse Ariane 5 rocket blasted off for a final time on Wednesday, with its farewell flight after 27 years of launches coming at a difficult time for European space efforts.
US court limits officials' contacts with social media firms
A US federal court on Tuesday restricted some top officials and agencies of President Joe Biden's administration from meeting and communicating with social media companies to moderate their content, a ruling that could curtail government efforts to fight online falsehoods.
Disinformation researchers lament 'chilling' US legal campaign
The study of disinformation has emerged as a political lightning rod in the United States, with conservative advocates launching a sweeping legal offensive that researchers fighting falsehoods denounce as an intimidation campaign ahead of the 2024 election.
Carbon 'capture' climate tech is booming, and confusing
Humanity's failure to draw down planet-heating carbon dioxide emissions -- 41 billion tonnes in 2022 -- has thrust once-marginal options for capping or reducing CO2 in the atmosphere to centre stage in climate policy and investment.
UN talks aim to harness AI power and potential
The United Nations is convening this week a global gathering to try to map out the frontiers of artificial intelligence and to harness its potential for empowering humanity.
Britain's public health service at 75: on life support?
Deeply loved but wracked by crisis, Britain's National Health Service (NHS) on Wednesday marks 75 years since it was founded as the Western world's first universal, free healthcare system.
Time appears five times slower in early universe: study
Time appears to run five times slower in the early universe, scientists said on Monday, for the first time using extraordinarily bright cosmic objects called quasars as "clocks" to confirm this strange phenomenon.
Europe's space telescope launches to target universe's dark mysteries
Europe's Euclid space telescope blasted off Saturday on the first-ever mission aiming to shed light on two of the universe's greatest mysteries: dark energy and dark matter.
NASA's Mars helicopter 'phones home' after no contact for 63 days
Long time, no speak: NASA has re-established contact with the intrepid Ingenuity Mars Helicopter after more than two months of radio silence, the space agency said Friday.
Virgin Galactic finally takes its first paying customers to space
Virgin Galactic successfully flew its first paying customers to the final frontier Thursday, a long-awaited achievement that puts it back on track in the emerging private spaceflight sector.
Take off for Virgin Galactic on first commercial spaceflight
Virgin Galactic on Thursday officially commenced commercial spaceflights, a major milestone for the company founded in 2004 by British billionaire Richard Branson.
Gene variant linked to multiple sclerosis severity
Scientists have discovered a genetic variant linked with multiple sclerosis becoming more debilitating over time, in research hailed as a first step towards a new drug.
Europe's space telescope to target universe's dark mysteries
Europe's Euclid space telescope is scheduled to blast off Saturday on the first-ever mission aiming to shed light on two of the universe's greatest mysteries: dark energy and dark matter.
After long wait, Virgin Galactic begins commercial spaceflights
Virgin Galactic is set Thursday to finally begin commercial spaceflights, a major milestone for the company founded in 2004 by British billionaire Richard Branson.
Astronomers reveal evidence of universe's 'background hum'
Astronomers across the world announced on Thursday that they have found the first evidence of a long-theorised form of gravitational waves that create a "background hum" rumbling throughout the universe.
'Godfather of AI' urges governments to face dangers
Geoffrey Hinton, one of the so-called "godfathers" of artificial intelligence, urged governments on Wednesday to step in and make sure that machines do not take control of society.
Every 1C of warming means 15% more extreme rain, researchers say
Global heating incrementally boosts the intensity of extreme rainfall at higher altitudes, putting two billion people living in or downstream from mountains at greater risk of floods and landslides, researchers said Wednesday.
UK, EU sign delayed financial services pact
Britain and the European Union signed a long-awaited cooperation pact on financial services regulation on Tuesday in a new sign of improving post-Brexit relations between the two sides.
Pompeii fresco shows pizza precursor -- but hold the cheese
Even the ancient Romans liked their pizza.
New date for Ariane 5 rocket's final launch after delay
Europe's workhorse Ariane 5 rocket will blast off for the final time on July 4, its operator Arianespace said on Friday, after a previous launch was called off due to a technical problem.