Egypt's Sisi ditches army fatigues, quits as defence minister
Cairo, Egypt (AFP) March 27, 2014 -
Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ditched his military fatigues on Thursday and resigned as Egypt's defence minister, a day after announcing he would run for president.
Sisi turned up in civilian clothes at the weekly cabinet meeting to submit his resignation as minister after quitting as army chief the previous night, state news agency MENA reported.
Meanwhile, General Sedki Sobhi was ...
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Suu Kyi among spectators at Myanmar army parade
Naypyidaw, Myanmar (AFP) March 27, 2014 -
Tanks and missile carriers rumbled through Myanmar's showpiece capital Thursday as fighter jets soared overhead at an annual parade attended by top generals and pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
The show of military strength came as the opposition campaigns to remove unelected soldiers from the country's fledgling parliament, three years after the end of junta rule.
Suu Kyi attended ...
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Hopes fading with 90 still missing in US landslide
Darrington , United States (AFP) March 27, 2014 -
The death toll from the monster US landslide is expected to rise "substantially," somber officials warned Thursday as the scale of the disaster becomes clear with 90 still missing five days on.
The confirmed number of dead stands at 16 with at least eight more bodies believed located after the monster mudslide crashed onto the town of Oso.
But Snohomish County District 21 Fire Chief Trav ...
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S.Africa and Lesotho move forward on mega water project
Maseru, Lesotho (AFP) March 27, 2014 -
South Africa and Lesotho ceremonially launched Thursday the second phase of a massive water transfer project, their biggest joint infrastructure investment.
Work on the 14-billion-rand ($1.3-billion, 950-million-euro) second phase of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project is expected get underway next month with the construction of a 155-metre (508-foot) high Polihali Dam and tunnels.
South ...
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Storms ground MH370 air search after new debris sighting
Perth, Australia (AFP) March 27, 2014 -
Thunderstorms and gale-force winds grounded the international air search for wreckage from Flight MH370 on Thursday, frustrating the effort again as Thailand reported a satellite sighting of hundreds of floating objects.
The Thai report was the second in two days suggesting a possible debris field from the crashed jet in the stormy southern Indian Ocean.
But a major air and sea search ha ...
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Italian navy rescues 128 boat migrants
Rome (AFP) March 27, 2014 -
Italy's navy said Thursday it had rescued 128 migrants from Egypt, Eritrea, Sudan and Syria from a boat crossing the Mediterranean which got into difficulty off the coast of Sicily.
The migrants, including eight women and 13 minors, were spotted by a helicopter patrolling the seas off Italy on Wednesday as part of an operation launched after two October shipwrecks in which hundreds drowned. ...
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Taiwan protesters vow mass rally in 'war' against China pact
Taipei (AFP) March 27, 2014 -
Taiwanese protestors opposed to a contentious trade pact with China on Thursday vowed to escalate their "war" with the government, calling for a huge weekend rally to increase pressure on President Ma Ying-jeou.
The student-led demonstrators who have occupied parliament for more than a week urged people to take to the streets of Taipei on Sunday after failing to reach an agreement with Ma's ...
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Chinese man stabs six to death over property dispute
Beijing (AFP) March 27, 2014 -
A Chinese man went on a killing spree following a dispute over family properties Thursday, leaving six people dead in a village outside Beijing, police said.
The 34-year-old, identified only by his surname Zhao, stabbed several people with a knife in Wanghua in Huairou, in the suburbs of the capital, before being overpowered by police, said the Beijing Public Security Bureau.
Six people ...
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Chinese farmers make 'Transformers' out of used cars
Beijing (AFP) March 27, 2014 -
A group of farmers have brought to life the "Transformers" films, toys and TV series and built giant robots out of old car parts, in rural China.
The original toys, which were a huge hit with children in the 1980s, could be turned from cars into robots and back again. Their popularity spawned a hit television show, and more recently, the movie franchise.
In Shandong province, they have i ...
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Pesticides make the life of earthworms miserable
Odense Denmark (SPX) Mar 28, 2014 -
Pesticides are sprayed on crops to help them grow, but the effect on earthworms living in the soil under the plants is devastating, new research reveals: The worms only grow to half their normal weight and they do not reproduce as well as worms in fields that are not sprayed.
Pesticides have a direct impact on the physiology and behaviour of earthworms, a Danish/French research team report ...
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Clean cooking fuel and improved kitchen ventilation linked to less lung disease
London, UK (SPX) Mar 28, 2014 -
Improving cooking fuels and kitchen ventilation is associated with better lung function and reduced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to research published in this week's PLOS Medicine. The study, led by Pixin Ran from the Guanzhou Medical University, China, followed 996 villagers from southern China for 9 years to examine the effects of cleaner fuels and better kitchen ven ...
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New Method Yields Potent, Renewable Human Stem Cells with Promising Therapeutic Properties
New Rochelle NY (SPX) Mar 28, 2014 -
The curative and therapeutic potential of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) offers much promise, as these multipotent cells are currently being tested in more than 300 clinical trials in a range of diseases.
A new, easier, and more reliable way to make large quantities of highly potent MSCs could accelerate progress toward their use in regenerative medicine, as described in an article in Stem ...
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Technofossils are an unprecedented legacy left behind by humans
Leicester, UK (SPX) Mar 28, 2014 -
A new study by an international team of scientists, including Dr Jan Zalasiewicz and Professor Mark Williams of the University of Leicester's Department of Geology, suggests that the fossil impact humans have made on the planet is vast and unprecedented in nature - and that there's been nothing remotely like it since the Earth formed, over four and half billion years ago.
The study, entitl ...
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Loblolly pine's immense genome conquered
Davis CA (SPX) Mar 28, 2014 -
The massive genome sequence of the loblolly pine - the most commercially important tree species in the United States and the source of most American paper products - has been completed by a nationwide research team, led by a UC Davis scientist.
The draft genome - approximately seven times bigger than the human genome - is the largest genome sequenced to date and the most complete conifer g ...
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Salamanders shrinking due to climate change
Clemson SC (SPX) Mar 28, 2014 -
Wild salamanders living in some of North America's best salamander habitat are getting smaller as their surroundings get warmer and drier, forcing them to burn more energy in a changing climate.
That's the key finding of a new study co-authored by a Clemson University biologist and published Tuesday in the journal Global Change Biology that examined museum specimens caught in the Appalachi ...
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Famous paintings help study the Earth's past atmosphere
Brussels, Belgium (SPX) Mar 28, 2014 -
A team of Greek and German researchers has shown that the colours of sunsets painted by famous artists can be used to estimate pollution levels in the Earth's past atmosphere. In particular, the paintings reveal that ash and gas released during major volcanic eruptions scatter the different colours of sunlight, making sunsets appear more red.
When the Tambora volcano in Indonesia erupted i ...
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Pocket diagnosis
Cambridge, UK (SPX) Mar 28, 2014 -
A recently-developed mobile phone application could make monitoring conditions such as diabetes, kidney disease, and urinary tract infections much clearer and easier for both patients and doctors, and could eventually be used to slow or limit the spread of pandemics in the developing world.
The app, developed by researchers at the University of Cambridge, accurately measures colour-based, ...
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New Technique Sheds Light on Human Neural Networks
Chicago IL (SPX) Mar 28, 2014 -
Using spatial light interference microscopy (SLIM) techniques developed by Gabriel Popescu, director of the lab, the researchers were able to show for the first time how human embryonic stem cell derived neurons within a network grow, organize spatially, and dynamically transport materials to one another.
"Because our method is label-free, we've imaged these type of neurons differentiating ...
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Diversity in UK gardens aiding fight to save threatened bumblebees
Plymouth, UK (SPX) Mar 28, 2014 -
Ecologists at Plymouth University, in a study published this week, have shown the most common species of bumblebee are not fussy about a plant's origin when searching for nectar and pollen among the nation's urban gardens.
But other species - and, in particular, long-tongued bees - do concentrate their feeding upon plants from the UK and Europe, for which they have developed a preference e ...
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VIMS model now capable of street-level storm-tide predictions
Gloucester Point VA (SPX) Mar 28, 2014 -
The water that surged into the intersection of New York City's Canal and Hudson streets during Hurricane Sandy-to choose just one flood-ravaged locale-was ultimately driven ashore by forces swirling hundreds of miles out in the Atlantic.
That simple fact shows not only the scale and power of a tropical cyclone, but the difficulty of modeling and forecasting its potential for coastal floodi ...
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Mars One building simulated colony to vet potential colonists
Washington DC (UPI) Mar 26, 2014 -
Mars One is a a private, Netherlands-based push to realize a human colony on the red planet by 2025.
In an email statement to Popular Science Thursday, Mars One announced plans to build a simulated colony here on Earth to vet astronauts and make sure they can withstand the cramped and isolated conditions colonists will have to endure before awarding them their one-way ticket.
The ...
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Russian spacecraft brings three-man crew to ISS after two-day delay
Moscow (AFP) March 28, 2014 -
A Russian spacecraft carrying a three-man Russian and US crew on Friday docked successfully at the International Space Station after an unprecedented two-day delay caused by a technical hitch.
The Soyuz TMA-12M carrying Russia's Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev and NASA's Steve Swanson docked at 03:53 am Moscow time (1153 GMT Thursday), Russia's mission control said.
"The docking o ...
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US Air Force fires nine in nuclear missile cheating scandal
Washington (AFP) March 27, 2014 -
The US Air Force said Thursday it sacked nine nuclear missile officers and will discipline dozens of others over an exam cheating scandal that has sparked concerns about lax ethics.
The officers, including chiefs of four squadrons, were all working at Malmstrom Air Force base in Montana, which has been rocked by cheating allegations that implicated up to 100 airmen.
"Nine officers in lea ...
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Approval given for Griffin missile launch system
Washington DC (UPI) Mar 26, 2014 -
The U.S. Navy and Raytheon report that the Navy's MK-60 missile system for use in littoral waters has gained initial operating capability status.
The Patrol Coastal Griffin Missile System features a laser targeting system and a Navy-designed launcher and battle management system combined with Raytheon's combat-proven Griffin missile.
The missile, used in the wars in Iraq and Afgh ...
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Britain, France sign anti-ship missile deal
London (AFP) March 27, 2014 -
Britain and France will develop new anti-ship missiles in a 500-million pound project that stems from a major defence cooperation agreement, Britain's Ministry of Defence said Thursday.
The multi-national group MBDA has been awarded the contract to produce the helicopter-mounted missiles, which use sophisticated homing technology to attack small and medium-sized targets.
The Royal Navy will u ...
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