The world’s largest radio telescope began operating in southwestern China Sunday, a project which Beijing says will help humanity search for alien life. The Five-hundred-metre Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST), nestled between hills in the…
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In Kenya, lion hunters become defenders
In the Maasai heartland of southern Kenya, some young men have swapped their ancestral role as lion-hunters to instead protect the big cats under a conservation scheme that also aims to help their community. Among…
Lake Victoria a ‘thunderstorm hotspot’ with climate change
Climate change could transform East Africa’s Lake Victoria into a dangerous thunderstorm hotspot, threatening some 200,000 fishermen who ply its waters at night, according to a study released Tuesday. Already some 3,000 to 5,000 fishermen…
Nigerian photographer captures Maiduguri life beyond Boko Haram
Maiduguri, Nigeria, capital of the northern state of Borno, has become almost synonymous with Boko Haram. But one photojournalist is trying to change that – by taking pictures that focus on life outside the Islamist…
#Conservation: Julius Yego on World Rhino Day combats illegal trade in Wildlife
Kenyan Olympian Julius Yego locked horns with the illegal trade in wildlife on World Rhino Day, joining a huge global campaign to conserve endangered species. Yego, a silver medalist in the Javelin at the Rio…
Coral fish stress out if separated from ‘shoal-mates’
Coral fish become stressed and lose weight if they are separated from each other, hampering their chances of survival, an Australian study revealed on Thursday. Scientists from James Cook University in Queensland state monitored blue-green…
Woman seeks sex change in first for UAE
An Emirati woman has sought leave to have a sex change operation in what would be a first for the United Arab Emirates, newspapers reported on Tuesday. The application to the court in the UAE…
Stone Age mummy still revealing secrets, 25 years on
When police heard about the frozen corpse up in the Alps in September 1991, they opened a criminal probe. Murder it was, but the crime was rather old — and the ultimate cold case. The…
World’s highest bridge nears completion in China
Chinese engineers have completed the structure of what is expected to become the world’s highest bridge, local authorities said. The Beipanjiang Bridge, in mountainous southwestern China, soars 565 metres (1,854 feet) above a river, the…
Many languages use similar sounds for common objects
Nearly two thirds of the world’s languages often use similar sounds for common objects, such as the “n” sound for nose, international researchers said Monday. The study challenges a long-standing principle of linguistics, which holds…