TomoNews US
How Astrazeneca Causes Blood Clots (Very Very Rarely): ‘Trigger’ Found
- Title
- How Astrazeneca Causes Blood Clots (Very Very Rarely): ‘Trigger’ Found
- Runtime
- 6:04
- Date posted
- 5 years ago
- Description
- OXFORD, U.K. — The trigger for rare blood clots occurring in patients who receive the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine may be a type of protein in the blood that is attracted to one element of the vaccine, according to a new study in the Science Advances journal, cited by the BBC.
The University of Oxford’s vaccine uses a genetically modified common cold virus from chimpanzees to carry blueprints for the coronavirus’s spike protein. This virus vector then helps program an immune response against a real coronavirus.
The new study found that if the vaccine enters the bloodstream, it can attract a type of protein called platelet factor 4.
From there, in extremely rare cases, the body’s immune system can confuse platelet factor 4 for the virus vector, and release antibodies to attack it.
When this happens, the antibodies and platelet factor 4 can cluster together, resulting in blood clots.
The BBC points out that v...
- Title
- Indonesia Volcano Eruption 2021: Mt Semeru Spewing Deadly Volcanic Material
- Runtime
- 7:48
- Date posted
- 5 years ago
- Description
- LUMAJANG, INDONESIA — Rescue workers were continuing to dig for survivors of Saturday’s catastrophic eruption at Mount Semeru on the evening of Monday, December 6, with flows of deadly ash, lava and mud responsible for the deaths of 22 people so far, according to the Head of Data and Information for Indonesia's National Board for Disaster Management, cited by CNN.
Semeru, on the island of Java, is one of the most active volcanoes in Indonesia, with small strombolian explosions frequently occuring, according to the Volcan Discovery site.
These explosions may have led to the accumulation of material in the crater area, causing instability. However, the head of the Indonesian Geological Agency said persistent rain eroded part of the solidified lava dome at Semeru’s summit, which led to its collapse, releasing an ash plume that reached 15 kilometers into the atmosphere.
At the same time, pyroclastic flows — clouds of solidified lava, ash and g...
- Title
- La Palma Volcano Eruption 2021: Longest Ever Eruption Coming
- Runtime
- 8:48
- Date posted
- 5 years ago
- Description
- LA PALMA, CANARY ISLANDS — The current La Palma eruption has a good chance of becoming the island’s longest in 500 years, according to El Pais English, as yet another new fissure vent opened on Saturday, releasing lava which headed through previously populated areas down towards the ocean.
The island’s El Martin volcano erupted for 82 days in 1646, but the record was set in 1585, when the Tahuya volcano erupted for 84 days, according to Spanish newspaper El Razon.
The Cumbre Vieja volcano began erupting on September 19, 2021, which means December 13 could be the day the record is broken.
Volcanologists think the activity is generated by a ‘hotspot’ beneath the Canary Islands, a reservoir of extremely hot magma that seeks ways to emerge, according to El Pais.
However, the Volcano Discovery site explains that while seismic activity has been decreasing at the volcano over recent days, emission of sulfur dioxide remains high, a...
- Title
- Aztec Sacrifice: Burned Human Remains Found Below Surface of Mexico City
- Runtime
- 6:36
- Date posted
- 5 years ago
- Description
- MEXICO CITY— An altar containing a pot of human ashes was found near a square in Mexico City. Archaeologists say it dates back to near the end of the Aztec empire, the BBC reports.
Archaeologists with Mexico's National Institute for Anthropology and History also found 13 intricately decorated incense burners carefully placed in what they say was the courtyard area of a family home, where they explain the inhabitants would have held a ritual “to bear witness to the ending of a cycle of their lives and of their civilisation.”
The altar dates to the time of the Spanish conquest. The house itself was located in one quarter of the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan, according to The American Post and would also have been made up of a large room which was connected by a corridor to five smaller rooms, one of which is believed to be a kitchen, according to the BBC.
SOURCES: BBC, CNN
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-59489046
h...
- Title
- Russian Debris Cloud Almost Hits Astronauts
- Runtime
- 10:07
- Date posted
- 5 years ago
- Description
- WASHINGTON — Two weeks ago, a Russian missile struck an old satellite, creating thousands of pieces of space debris that will whizz around Earth at hypersonic speed for centuries to come.
This cloud of micro bullets is now threatening the International Space Station. Here are the details:
The Guardian reports that NASA has called off a spacewalk on Tuesday, November 30 because of a cloud of space debris that was created when Russia blew up an old satellite
as part of a missile test.
Any piece of that cloud of space debris can puncture an astronaut’s suit or damage the International Space Station.
The space station and its crew of seven have been at increased risk from fast-moving pieces of debris since Russia blew up the satellite two weeks ago.
Two U.S. astronauts were scheduled to replace a damaged antenna on the outside of the space station, but late on Monday night, NASA says it learned that a pi...
- Title
- Paris Starts Testing Its Air Taxis for the Olympic Games
- Runtime
- 5:28
- Date posted
- 5 years ago
- Description
- PARIS — Paris is working hard to have a flying taxi service ready by the start of the Paris Olympics in 2024. Here are the details:
Bloomberg reports that Paris is about to start testing electric air taxis and plans to have a fully functioning air taxi service by the start of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
The flying electric taxis will be tested at a hub outside Paris, in an area called Pontoise. The city hopes to create two dedicated flight paths to ferry passengers for the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics.
One route will carry passengers via Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Le Bourget airports, while the second will travel between two suburbs southwest of the French capital.
Jean-Baptiste Djebbari, the French minister delegate for transport, said in a statement that “the French State is fully committed to the financing, with nearly 25 million euros already provided for the development of flying taxis”.
He added that ...
- Title
- La Palma Volcano Eruption 2021: Lava Tunnels Threaten Island
- Runtime
- 7:26
- Date posted
- 5 years ago
- Description
- LA PALMA, SPAIN — As the La Palma volcano continues to erupt after two months, molten lava is travelling down toward the Atlantic Ocean at speeds of up to one meter per second through new lava tubes, according to the Canary Islands Volcanology Institute, cited by CNN.
Harvard University’s Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences explains that these tubes occur when the top surface of a lava flow cools more rapidly than the underlying lava, forming a crust that insulates the lava below, which stays hotter and flows further as a result.
According to the Canary Island Volcano Association, different types of activity at different vents are driving the lava flow.
Last month the extent of the damage prompted the president of a neighboring island to suggest bombing the volcano in order to change the direction of the flow, according to Live Science.
SOURCES: CNN, Harvard University, Volcano Discovery, Canary Islands Volcanology I...
- Title
- China’s Latest Taiwan Incursion Reveals Worrying Capability
- Runtime
- 7:40
- Date posted
- 5 years ago
- Description
- TAIPEI, TAIWAN — China surprised the world on Sunday when it practiced aerial refueling during its latest mass incursion into Taiwan’s air defense zone. Aerial refueling has long been considered a weak point of the Chinese air force. Here are the details:
Reuters reports that a large force of Chinese warplanes passed close to Taiwan on Sunday, November 28, prompting Taiwan to scramble fighter jets to track the incoming warplanes.
The Chinese force consisted of 27 aircraft that included five nuclear-capable bombers, 18 fighters, three large support planes, and an aerial tanker.
The aerial tanker was significant as it was the first time that China practiced a refuelling mission in Taiwan’s air defense identification zone.
Twelve of the fighter jets flew patterns around the southwest corner of Taiwan's air defense zone, just to the northeast of the Dongsha Islands, while the remaining aircraft flew in a large “V” pattern fro...
- Title
- China Facial Recognition Surveillance System Targets Foreigner Journalists and Students
- Runtime
- 6:57
- Date posted
- 5 years ago
- Description
- HENAN PROVINCE, CHINA — The Chinese province of Henan has awarded a contract to build a surveillance system that targets journalists, international students and migrant women, according to the BBC, which adds that it will categorize journalists as either red, yellow or green, based on the degree to which they are considered “harmful.”
The system will incorporate cameras that can identify faces partially covered by masks or glasses, and include information from cell phones, social media and travel records.
It will be operated by at least 2,000 officials and policemen, who can search for people by uploading pictures or searching facial attributes, according to Reuters.
Warnings will be set off if a journalist registers at a hotel, buys a ticket or crosses the provincial border in Henan, and they will then be tailed and ‘dealt with’ according to their category.
The contract for the system was put out for tender on July 29, days...
- Title
- Earth Getting a Ring Like Saturn’s
- Runtime
- 7:30
- Date posted
- 5 years ago
- Description
- SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH — There are currently around 170 million pieces of space debris flying at very high velocities in Earth orbit.
This number is set to increase as thousands of mini satellites are being added to the dangerous mix every year. Here are the details:
The Salt Lake Tribune reports that a new scientific study is looking at ways to keep the Earth from growing a visible ring made entirely of junk.
The study found that there are currently 170 million pieces of space junk in orbit around the Earth.
Of these, 23,000 are larger than a softball and dangerous enough to be tracked by the U.S. Department of Defense.
One of the study’s contributors, robotics professor Jake Abbot of the University of Utah, said that “Earth is on course to have its own rings. They’ll just be made of junk.”
The 170 million pieces of space junk travel at extremely high speeds and can each cause severe damage to s...
- Title
- Is New COVID Variant Omicron Ready to Take Over the World?
- Runtime
- 9:32
- Date posted
- 5 years ago
- Description
- JOHANNESBURG — Researchers in South Africa are tracking the rise of omicron, a new COVID-19 variant of concern, within the context of a large spike in cases in the South African province of Gauteng, 90 percent of which were from the new, highly mutated variant, according to Deutsche Welle.
The Guardian reports that scientists in South Africa and Botswana separately submitted discovery of the variant on November 23, and the journal Nature notes that many of the 30-plus mutations to the coronavirus spike protein that characterize it are linked to the ability to evade infection-blocking antibodies and heightened infectivity.
Penny Moore, a virologist in Johannesburg, told Nature there are also hints the variant could dodge herd immunity conferred by T cells, though omicron’s effect on vaccine efficacy and disease virulence is not yet clear.
Richard Lessells, an infectious-diseases physician, said at a press briefing organized by South Africa’s ...
- Title
- South Korea to Build World’s First Floating City
- Runtime
- 7:24
- Date posted
- 5 years ago
- Description
- BUSAN, SOUTH KOREA — The U.N. recently signed a deal with the Korean port city of Busan to build the world’s first floating city on Busan’s coastline. Here are the details:
Business Insider reports that a historic deal was signed on Thursday, November 18 to build the world’s first ever floating city on the coast of South Korea.
The South Korean city of Busan agreed to host such a floating city with the backing of the UN Human Settlement Program and Oceanix, the company that designed the floating city.
Like many coastal cities, Busan is threatened by rising sea levels, and the floating city is designed to help such cities to expand onto the sea.
The city will be based on a collection of hexagonal platforms that float on the water.
These platforms will be strengthened by a limestone coating that’s more than twice as hard as concrete while also being buoyant.
The city is designed to survive Catego...
- Title
- Overfishing: We Are Running Out of Fish
- Runtime
- 7:10
- Date posted
- 5 years ago
- Description
- GENEVA — The WTO’s 12th Ministerial Conference is meeting this week in an attempt to end 20 years of negotiations over harmful fishing subsidies, responding to the reality that global fish production is currently nine times higher than it was in 1950, and over 34 percent of the world’s assessed fish stocks are being overfished, according to the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization.
The primary issue at stake here is that much of the fishing behind those figures is economically unviable and thus is being effectively propped up by massive government subsidies, according to the U.N. Secretary-General's Special Envoy for the Ocean writing on the World Economic Forum’s website.
The current draft text of a deal is designed to eliminate subsidies that contribute to overcapacity or overfishing, as well as facilitating illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, which is rife in the industry.
It attempts to do this by blocking payments for t...
- Title
- Last Chance to See Titanic Before Bacteria Consume Its Wreck
- Runtime
- 6:20
- Date posted
- 5 years ago
- Description
- NEWFOUNDLAND, CANADA — The famous wreck of the Titanic is quickly disappearing. The iron giant is being eaten by metal-eating bacteria and battered by deep-sea currents, but for only a quarter of a million dollars you can dive down and get a look before it’s gone.
The Associated Press reports that you can now join an expedition to see the Titanic for as little as $250,000.
That’s the price OceanGate Expeditions is charging people to join its next expedition and dive down to the Titanic’s wreck in its five-person submersible.
For that price, you’ll be trained to be a mission specialist, operating some of the equipment and helping experts to survey the famous wreck.
The wreck itself is gradually disappearing, and the company’s next cluster of 10-day expeditions, slated for May to June next year, will focus on documenting all remaining objects with high-tech scanning devices.
The 109-year-old ocean liner is b...
- Title
- Arctic Warming Began Sooner Than Thought, and That Timing Is Important.
- Runtime
- 7:59
- Date posted
- 5 years ago
- Description
- CAMBRIDGE, U.K. — The Arctic Ocean has been warming since decades earlier than previous observations would suggest, according to a new study in the journal Science Advances that used marine debris to reconstruct 800 years of data.
The study found that the Arctic water’s temperature and salinity — or saltiness — remained relatively constant until the early 1900s, but at that point heat and salt transported from the Atlantic Ocean began to increase substantially, possibly chiming with the period in which humans had begun “supercharging” the atmosphere with carbon dioxide, and thus possibly suggesting the Arctic is more sensitive to greenhouse gases than previously thought, according to study co-author Francesco Muschitiello, who spoke to CNN.
The study is clear that the causes of this early “Atlantification” are not yet fully understood, but it does suggest changes in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation — currents that moderate temp...
- Title
- Refugee Crisis ‘Part of Russia’s Plan to Invade Ukraine’
- Runtime
- 9:44
- Date posted
- 5 years ago
- Description
- KIEV, UKRAINE — Ukraine’s intelligence chief says Russia is preparing to invade Ukraine, and Moscow created a refugee crisis in Poland to make it harder for Europe to fight back. Here are the details:
Bloomberg reports that the U.S. military is preparing for a possible invasion of Ukraine by Russia around January next year.
The news outlet says multiple sources say the Pentagon has shared intelligence with its allies showing a buildup of Russian troops and artillery that can quickly turn into a rapid, large-scale push into Ukraine from multiple locations, if President Vladimir Putin decided to invade.
Satellite images and other information shows that around 100 Russian battalion tactical groups comprised of around 100,000 troops could quickly push into Ukraine from Crimea, the Russian border and via Belarus.
Bloomberg’s sources also said Moscow called up tens of thousands of reservists on a scale unprecedented in post-Soviet ...
- Title
- Bus Crash in Bulgaria Kills At Least 45: Animated Reenactment
- Runtime
- 7:33
- Date posted
- 5 years ago
- Description
- SOFIA, BULGARIA — A bus has slammed into a highway barrier in Bulgaria, killing at least 45 people onboard, including 12 children, according to the BBC.
The bus had been part of a convoy of four, making a return trip from Istanbul to Skopje in North Macedonia.
However, the other busses were a few minutes ahead by the time of the accident, the cause of which remains unknown.
The New York Times reports one local mayor of a town close to the site saying that, ‘accidents are common in the area because of the steep gradient of the roads,’ while the BBC cites one of the investigators as saying ‘human error by the driver or a technical malfunction’ are currently the two most likely explanations.
SOURCES: BBC, CNN, The New York Times
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-59383852
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/11/23/europe/bulgaria-bus-fire-intl-hnk/index.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/23/world/europe/bulgaria-...
- Title
- Construction Starts on America’s Giant Solar Farm
- Runtime
- 7:14
- Date posted
- 5 years ago
- Description
- INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA — On farmlands near South Bend, Indiana, work has already started on what will be the largest solar farm ever built in the U.S. Here are the details:
The Associated Press reports that Northern Indiana will become the home of America’s largest solar farm. Dubbed Mammoth Solar, the project will cover around 13,000 acres, or 5,261 hectares, which is about the size of 9,850 American football fields.
Work has already started on the site, which straddles the border between Starke and Pulaski counties, 80 kilometers southwest of the city of South Bend.
The farm will eventually have a total of 2.85 million solar panels, and is expected to be fully operational by 2024.
At that point it will generate a total of 1.65 gigawatts of electricity — enough to power 250,000 homes. Most of the power will be used by the homes and businesses around the project.
Whatever isn’t used will continue to travel far...
- Title
- Architects Reveal the High-Rise That Sucks CO2 Out of Air
- Runtime
- 7:37
- Date posted
- 5 years ago
- Description
- GLASGOW, SCOTLAND — Architects recently presented plans for highrise towers that can absorb large amounts of carbon out of Earth’s atmosphere and ecosystems. Here are the details:
New Atlas reports that architects unveiled a revolutionary way to build carbon-capturing cities at the 2021 U.N. Climate Change Summit, also known as COP26.
Speaking at the summit on Thursday, November 11, senior partners at architectural firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill presented a blueprint for skyscrapers that can absorb up to four times as much carbon as they emit during construction and their lifetime.
The skyscrapers, called Urban Sequoias, would draw in air from outside and then use carbon-extraction systems to remove carbon from the air.
The buildings would also come with areas dedicated to growing plants and algae — both of which could be used to capture carbon and to provide fuel for the building. The carbon extracted from each building c...
- Title
- The Shocking Secret Behind Earth’s Strange Companion
- Runtime
- 8:12
- Date posted
- 5 years ago
- Description
- TUCSON, ARIZONA — Researchers just made a shocking discovery about one of only five Earth quasi-satellites ever discovered by humans. Here are the details:
A new study published recently in the journal Communications Earth and Environment casts new light on a strange 50-meter-wide rock that’s one of only five known quasi-satellites that orbit the Sun while staying close to Earth.
Earth’s gravity affects the orbits of these quasi-satellites, and they circle the Sun in a year like our planet, but they don’t orbit the Earth itself.
Yet, these unique asteroids do stay in sync with Earth as they orbit the Sun.
The study shows that the only one of these quasi-satellites that can be observed via strong telescopes, called 469219 Kamo‘oalewa, has the same color signature as rocks brought back from the moon by astronauts 50 years ago.
Researchers believe this rare color similarity, combined with the object’s unique ...
- Title
- Wisconsin Parade SUV Attack: Animated Reenactment of Incident
- Runtime
- 1:48
- Date posted
- 5 years ago
- Description
- WAUKESHA, WISCONSIN — Thirty-nine year-old Darrell E. Brooks has been charged with five counts of intentional first-degree homicide after he allegedly crashed through barriers and drove his car into spectators and participants at the Waukesha Christmas parade on Sunday.
According to The Guardian five people were killed in the incident and another 48 were injured.
CNN reports that Brooks had been released on $1,000 bail earlier this month, and the Milwaukee County District Attorney's office said in a statement released Monday that the bail had been set “inappropriately low.”
The incident that led to the previous charge also involved Brooks being accused of using a car to cause an injury, according to a criminal complaint cited by CNN.
SOURCES: The Guardian, CNN
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/nov/22/waukesha-christmas-parade-investigators-suspect-wisconsin
https://edition.cnn.com/us/live-news/wisconsin...
- Title
- A Chain Reaction Antarctic Ice Sheet Collapse May Have Already Begun
- Runtime
- 15:07
- Date posted
- 5 years ago
- Description
- BONN, GERMANY — The acceleration of Antarctic ice loss in recent decades may already mark the beginning of a “self-sustaining and irreversible period of ice sheet retreat,” according to a study measuring historical ice sheet debris, which has identified patterns behind eight episodes of ice sheet destabilization across recent millennia that could also apply now.
The Nature Communications journal study found that in the eight previous episodes, mass Antarctic ice sheet destabilization “switched on” within “only a decade or two,” with bursts of iceberg calving causing the sheet itself to destabilize within only a few years each time, before continuing for many centuries, according to a press release published on Eurekalert.
The study also found that sea levels responded to these tipping points accordingly, also rising for several centuries and up to a millennium in some cases.
One study co-author, Zoe Thomas, summarized why we should ...
- Title
- Don’t Look Up: Origin of Interstellar Space Rock Still a Mystery
- Runtime
- 9:44
- Date posted
- 5 years ago
- Description
- CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS — A recent attempt to explain the origins of Oumuamua, the first interstellar object ever detected passing through our Solar System, has been countered by two Harvard astrophysicists, one of whom, Avi Loeb, has famously suggested that it could be a piece of alien technology, according to SciTechDaily.
Detected on October 19, 2017, Oumuamua was initially difficult to categorize, before the “nitrogen iceberg” theory of the object emerged and satisfied many scientists.
That theory, presented in the AGU Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, suggested the 45-meter object appears to be made of frozen nitrogen, like the surface of Pluto.
Astrophysicists behind it said Oumuamua likely ejected from the surface of a Pluto-like exoplanet during a collision half a billion years ago and, what’s more, this type of collision was common enough to satisfy the statistical likelihood of Oumaumua being detected in our solar system...
- Title
- Global Warming is Inflating the Troposphere Like a Balloon
- Runtime
- 7:32
- Date posted
- 5 years ago
- Description
- BOULDER, COLORADO — Scientists have looked at data from weather balloons since 1980 and calculated that the Earth’s troposphere is expanding like a balloon. Here are the details:
Scientists recently published a study in the journal Science Advances, showing that the lowest part of Earth’s atmosphere, called the troposphere, is expanding at an increasing rate.
The troposphere stretches from sea level up to around 7 kilometers high at the poles, and up to around 20 kilometers at the equator.
It is the layer that contains most of the atmosphere’s moisture and heat, so it is where most of Earth’s weather is formed.
The researchers say the data shows that this layer has been expanding by 50 meters per decade between 1980 and 2000.
However, since 2000 the rate has increased to 53.3 meters per decade.
They say the expansion is mainly being caused by global warming, but another contributing factor is t...
- Title
- Top U.S. General: China’s New Hypersonic Missile ‘Went Around The World’
- Runtime
- 8:09
- Date posted
- 5 years ago
- Description
- WASHINGTON — The Chinese hypersonic missile test “went around the world” this summer, according to the second most senior U.S. general, John Hyten.
Speaking to CBS News, the general said the missile “dropped off a hypersonic glide vehicle that glided all the way back to China,” adding weight to the story broken by The Financial Times last month which described the glide vehicle’s ability to travel at five times the speed of sound, the minimum figure to be considered hypersonic.
The vehicle missed its target by around 40 kilometers, but General Hyten called this “close enough” to prompt U.S. concern about China’s new technological capability.
Behind this concern, USA Today reports that while ballistic missiles reach altitudes of 1,300 to 2,000 kilometers before descending and can be detected by radar systems, hypersonic glide vehicles keep a lower trajectory and can manoeuvre within the atmosphere, making them difficult to detect ...
- Title
- Kyle Rittenhouse Shootings: Updated Animated Reenactment
- Runtime
- 5:52
- Date posted
- 5 years ago
- Description
- KENOSHA, WISCONSIN — The jury is deliberating in the case of Kyle Rittenhouse, who fatally shot two men and wounded a third during protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin last year.
Rittenhouse, then 17, had travelled to Kenosha on Aug. 25, 2020, from Antioch, Illinois as protests marred by looting, arson and rioting gripped the city following the police shooting of a black man, Jacob Blake.
Rittenhouse was armed with an AR-15-style rifle and says he went to Kenosha to protect a car dealership.
Rittenhouse has pleaded not guilty to five felony counts. He faces life in prison for the most serious charge, first-degree intentional homicide.
SOURCES: The Associated Press
https://apnews.com/article/kyle-rittenhouse-madison-milwaukee-kenosha-police-brutality-a1ef20e8e1f69119c22d1dd2c2c49cc9
https://apnews.com/article/kyle-rittenhouse-wisconsin-shootings-george-floyd-kenosha-3b74864f491347cfdd09cfc22ffdf557
https://www.courthous...
- Title
- NASA Reveals Site Where Moon Robot Will Drill For Water Ice
- Runtime
- 7:40
- Date posted
- 5 years ago
- Description
- WASHINGTON — NASA aims to send three new types of robots to the moon by the end of next year, including the first drill to ever mine material from the moon. Here are the details:
NASA recently announced that it will send the first robotic drill to the moon by the end of next year, and that the drill site will be on a ridge near the moon’s south pole, called the Shackleton connecting ridge.
The plan is to send a moon lander equipped with a special drill robot, a flying drone, and a wheeled drone that will test the moon’s first 4G base station, which will also be housed in the lander.
The drill unit will stay attached to the lander, drilling a hole of up to a meter deep, while a mass spectrometer analyzes all the soil and gas particles that the drill brings up to the surface.
The main aim of the mission is to find water ice in the moon soil, as such a find would greatly boost the sustainability of any future moon base.
<...
- Title
- Chinese ‘Bacteria-Infected’ Fertilizer Sparks Diplomatic Row
- Runtime
- 9:35
- Date posted
- 5 years ago
- Description
- COLOMBO, SRI LANKA — Sri Lanka stepped into a world of hurt when it rejected a shipment of organic fertilizer from China, saying the Chinese fertilizer contains dangerous bacteria. Here are the details:
The BBC reports that Sri Lanka has sparked a diplomatic tussle with China by banning a shipment of Chinese organic fertilizer and ordering the shipment to be returned to China.
The tussle started after the Sri Lankan government suddenly banned chemical fertilizers for health reasons in May and allowed only organic fertilizers to be imported. The government later banned the shipment of 20,000 tons of organic fertilizer from Chinese biotech company Qingdao Seawin Bio-tech, saying that testing found dangerous bacteria in the organic fertilizer.
The Sri Lankan government also ordered state-owned People's Bank to stop a payment of nine million dollars for the cargo. The Chinese embassy in Sri Lanka responded by blacklisting the bank for not honoring ...
- Title
- Russian Missile Forces International Space Station Astronauts to Shelter
- Runtime
- 8:32
- Date posted
- 5 years ago
- Description
- A Russian anti-satellite missile test blew up one of its own satellites on Monday, November 15, according to the BBC, resulting in 1,500 pieces of trackable orbital debris and causing astronauts on the International Space Station to shelter in capsules for safety.
Politico reports that Russia did not warn the U.S. about the test in advance and subsequently the seven-member crew of the ISS, which included three Russian cosmonauts, was instructed to shelter inside the Soyuz and Dragon crew capsules for two hours, according to NASA.
The space station is now passing through or near the debris cloud from Cosmos 1408 every 90 minutes, though there is no need to shelter beyond the second and third passes.
More broadly, the BBC says space debris is a ‘rapidly worsening situation,’ with roughly a million 1-to-10 centimeter objects floating in uncontrolled orbit of Earth, and Time Magazine pointing out that much of it is moving at over 17,000 miles per ...
- Title
- How Bees ‘Scream’ When Murder Hornets Attack
- Runtime
- 9:29
- Date posted
- 5 years ago
- Description
- WELLESLEY, MASSACHUSETTS — Scientists have found that bees can scream in bee language when giant murder hornets attack their nests. Here are the details:
In a recent study published on the Royal Society Open Science website, researchers say they found that Asian honeybees have found a way to “scream” when giant murder hornets attack their nests.
The study found that the bees have developed a way to create intense vibro-acoustic signals, which are short pulses of vibration and sound frequencies produced by their wings and thoraxes.
When a scouting murder hornet comes close to the nest, the bees close to the nest’s entrance would suddenly increase their signalling seven-fold.
At the same time, these worker bees also begin making anti-predatory signals, which are harsher and more irregular in their frequencies.
Video recordings show the bees make this antipredatory signal by raising their abdomens, buzzing their ...
- Title
- Blood Moon Eclipse 2021: Micro Beaver Lunar Eclipse the Longest of This Century
- Runtime
- 13:03
- Date posted
- 5 years ago
- Description
- WASHINGTON — This week the moon will fly through Earth’s shadow and turn blood red for many hours. Here are the details:
NASA reports that the longest partial lunar eclipse in 580 years will take place this week.
The near-total eclipse will happen between November 18 and 19 while the moon is full and the Earth moves between the moon and the sun, causing the Earth’s shadow to fall on the moon for almost three-and-a-half hours.
The shadow will block most of the light from the sun, bathing the moon in a dramatic red color.
This dramatic reddening of the moon happens because light from the sun, despite being blocked by Earth, bends around our planet and travels through our atmosphere to reach the moon.
Earth's atmosphere filters out shorter, bluer wavelengths of light and allows redder wavelengths through.
After these red wavelengths pass through our atmosphere, they continue traveling to the moon, ba...
- Title
- Ahmaud Arbery Killing: Animated Reenactment
- Runtime
- 8:35
- Date posted
- 5 years ago
- Description
- BRUNSWICK, GEORGIA — The owner of the home Gregory McMichael, his son Travis McMichael and William ‘Roddie’ Bryan Jr. accused Ahmaud Arbery of burgling before he was killed has told a jury in the murder trial that he had not asked the men to protect the property and he had called the police to report various people entering the property in the months before Arbery was killed.
The three men, all white, are accused of chasing Arbery, a black man, in vehicles before killing him on February 23, 2020, according to CNN, with Arbery's mother telling CNN's Anderson Cooper Thursday night that her son was “jogging: and “in the midst of his jog” he stopped by an ‘unoccupied home under construction and looked around’ and was “killed immediately.”
The three men involved in the killing have pleaded not guilty to charges of malice and felony murder, plus charges of aggravated assault, false imprisonment and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment.
- Title
- Scientists Say ‘Cannibal’ Solar Storms Heading Toward Earth
- Runtime
- 7:01
- Date posted
- 5 years ago
- Description
- The sun’s ‘coronal mass ejections’ will increase significantly over the next four years as it ramps up into the next solar cycle maximum in 2025, according to scientists at the Space Weather Prediction Center who spoke to Space.com. and one type in particular could have knock-on consequences for our internet connectivity.
Coronal mass ejections are billion-ton clouds of plasma gas with magnetic fields that are ejected by the sun towards the Earth, where they then create geomagnetic storms.
However, as their frequency increases, larger CMEs can form when later CMEs ‘catch up’ with those that have been ejected before them and the two merge.
One problem with this is that we can only learn a CME's magnetic field when it reaches the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Deep Space Climate Observatory, so its likely effects are not clear until 20 to 30 minutes before it hits Earth and, at that point, in a worst-case scenario, a c...
- Title
- NASA Says Asteroid Nereus Coming Toward Earth
- Runtime
- 6:49
- Date posted
- 5 years ago
- Description
- HOUSTON — A 330-meter-wide ‘Don’t Look Up Style’ asteroid, around the size of the Eiffel Tower, is heading towards Earth, and is expected to pass us by on December 11, 2021.
The asteroid, known as 4660 Nereus, is calculated to be passing about 2.4 million miles away from Earth, however The Scotsman explains that because its diameter is wider than 140 meters and it will approach Earth at less than half the distance from the Earth to the sun, it is classified as “potentially hazardous,” which means only a relatively slight deviation in its massive orbit could place it on a collision course with Earth and that that could cause “major regional damage.”
An unlikely chance of a collision, however, is actually more likely in 2060, when 4660 Nereus will pass within just 745,000 miles of Earth on Valentine’s Day.
SOURCES: The Washington Post, NASA, The Scotsman, Deseret.com, SCMP, Space Debris Observation and Data Application Centre at t...
- Title
- Kyle Rittenhouse Kenosha Shootings: Animated Reenactment
- Runtime
- 8:41
- Date posted
- 5 years ago
- Description
- KENOSHA, WISCONSIN — New drone footage and a medical examiner's explanation may have enhanced the case against Kyle Rittenhouse in his homicide trial, according to USA Today.
Drone footage suggested that although Joseph Rosenbaum had chased Rittenhouse, he was not as close to him during the chase as previous footage indicated, and the medical examiner suggested Rittenhouse shot Rosenbaum twice before firing a lethal shot into his back as he reached a horizontal position.
CNN reports Rittenhouse also shot at three people who confronted him in the aftermath of that shooting on the night of August 25, 2020, during chaotic protests following the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
He fired two shots at one unidentified person and killed Anthony Huber with another shot after Huber had hit him with a skateboard, and finally he shot off most of Gaige Grosskreutz’s right bicep after Grosskreutz had briefly raised his hands to surrender, before moving towa...
- Title
- Georgia Home to Giant New Joro Spider Species
- Runtime
- 12:04
- Date posted
- 5 years ago
- Description
- WINTERVILLE, GEORGIA — People in northern Georgia are freaking out because their yards are being taken over by huge alien spiders that are covering everything in thick clouds of spider web. Here are the details:
The Guardian reports that northern Georgia is suffering from an infestation of giant invasive spiders called Joro spiders.
Going by the scientific name Trichonephila clavata, these spiders are having a very visible effect on the people of the region, as they spin dense clouds of spiderweb that can be as deep as 3 meters.
The invasive species was first spotted in Georgia in 2014, but this year their numbers have exploded and people are finding their yards covered in dense clouds of spiderweb.
It doesn’t help that these large and spooky webs also contain multiple large spiders that, when fully grown, can each easily cover a large man’s hand. Joro spiders are common in Japan, China, Korea and Taiwan.
It is ...
- Title
- Travis Scott Astroworld Crowd Crush: Animated Reenactment
- Runtime
- 3:21
- Date posted
- 5 years ago
- Description
- HOUSTON — At least eight people were killed and dozens injured in a crowd crush at a Travis Scott concert at the Astroworld Festival in Houston, according to CNN.
The incident occured on Friday night, November 5, and witnesses said people began being compressed against one another when a countdown timer appeared 30 minutes before Scott began to perform.
With around 50,000 people in the crowd, the pressure got worse and worse as the timer counted down, according to one witness who was eventually crowd-surfed to safety having passed out.
According to CNN, several witnesses noted a lack of medical personnel at the site as many people lost consciousness and some members of the crowd attempted to perform CPR themselves.
While questions remain over why the show was not immediately stopped, witnesses cited by CNN say that for his part Travis Scott did pause the show several times.
Meanwhile, crowd safety expert Paul Wertheime...
- Title
- China Potentially Building More Nuclear Missile Silos Than Thought
- Runtime
- 11:14
- Date posted
- 5 years ago
- Description
- YUMEN, CHINA — The scale and speed of construction at possible missile silo fields in China suggests its government is putting significant resources into developing its nuclear capabilities, with a new Federation of American Scientists report increasing an estimate of the total number of new silos being built from the 229 described in a previous report to 300.
The new report is careful to state that it is not certain what is in the silos, but says there is “increased confidence” that they are related to the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force’s modernization program and, based on commercially available satellite images, it describes significant progress on construction since the earlier report in July.
It also describes how China appears to be experimenting with different types of shelters at the three silo field sites near Yumen, Hami and Ordos in north-central China, before concluding that although China is currently still far behind the U.S. an...
- Title
- Greenland’s Ice Sheet Is Melting Faster Than Ever
- Runtime
- 13:56
- Date posted
- 5 years ago
- Description
- LEEDS, U.K. — Scientists published a new study in the journal Nature Communications, in which they show that Greenland’s ice sheet is melting at such a fast pace that it’s heightening worldwide flood risks.
The study, which was published on Monday, November 1, found that the Greenland ice sheet has lost more than 3.5 trillion tons of ice over the past decade, which increased global sea levels by one centimeter.
This one ice sheet contains enough ice to raise global sea levels by 6 meters, or 20 feet, and it has been experiencing an increasing number of extreme melting events over the past 40 years.
The new research is the first to use satellite data to detect Greenland ice sheet runoff.
The satellite images showed significant annual variation in ice melt and showed that heat waves were increasingly a major cause of ice loss — above and beyond global temperature increases.
In 2012 alone, for example, when chang...
- Title
- How We Can Live on Mars
- Runtime
- 8:04
- Date posted
- 5 years ago
- Description
- The success of the new Dune movie has people speculating about whether humans changing Mars’s surface and atmosphere to be more like Earth’s, known as terraforming, is possible and, according to the BBC, the primary issue is creating a breathable atmosphere to match Earth’s, where currently plants and bacteria give out oxygen through photosynthesis.
For Earth, large-scale oxygenation initially occurred 2.3 billion years ago, when bacteria began releasing oxygen as waste, according to the Nature Communications journal, but the BBC explains the difficulty in artificially introducing bacteria to do the same on Mars is that water which could be used for photosynthesis is currently frozen.
One solution to that problem could be building automated factories on Mars that produce greenhouse gases which warm up the planet and melt the ice.”
However, any additional atmosphere that was generated would still have to deal with an additional problem call...
- Title
- Nigeria Building Collapse: Building Had Six More Floors Than Approved
- Runtime
- 7:18
- Date posted
- 5 years ago
- Description
- LAGOS, NIGERIA — Rescuers are searching for survivors after a building collapsed in Lagos, Nigeria, on Monday, and its owner has been arrested on undisclosed charges.
The Associated Press reports the building was under construction at the time of the collapse but dozens of people were inside, including construction workers, and as of Tuesday, November 3, 14 had been found killed.
However, officials said the building’s developers had added six floors to plans originally allowed under their building permit and there is speculation the additional weight could have caused the collapse.
One civil servant in a nearby building described looking through the window, only to see the building collapsing “floor after floor,” according to CNN. One construction worker told the BBC he and 15 others escaped the collapse, but as many people were still trapped on Tuesday the Associated Press reported crowds of angry people accusing authorities of being slow...
- Title
- Tokyo Knife Attack Suspect Says His Aim Was to Receive the Death Penalty
- Runtime
- 6:16
- Date posted
- 5 years ago
- Description
- TOKYO — The Associated Press reports that a 24-year-old Japanese man stabbed multiple people on a Tokyo subway train on Halloween, Sunday, October 31.
Police said 17 people were injured, but most of these injuries were caused when people fled the scene.
The man stabbed several people, including a man in his seventies, before setting fire to some of the train carriage’s seats with lighter fluid.
The suspect was arrested at the scene. Although no one died at the scene of the attack, at least three people were hospitalized with serious injuries, including the elderly victim, who was stabbed in the chest.
The suspect told police he wanted to kill at least two people so that he could be sentenced to death.
Earlier reports indicated that the attacker was dressed like the Joker from the Batman movies, but photos showed that he was simply clothed in slightly colorful clothes and had no facial makeup that resembled the Jo...
- Title
- Construction Begins on Futuristic Mega-City With Underground Layers
- Runtime
- 10:43
- Date posted
- 5 years ago
- Description
- NEOM, SAUDI ARABIA — Saudi Arabia has begun construction on an eco-friendly, ‘linear city,’ according to a Bloomberg interview with its chief executive, Nadhmi Al-Nasr, who says it could be inhabitable by 2024.
The idea is that the city, called ‘The Line,’ will be the first part of a wider region-building project known as Neom, and will operate without cars, streets and carbon emissions.
Designs available on the city’s website show three layers: a surface layer for pedestrians, and two subterranean layers for transport and infrastructure.
According to Dezeen, the city will consist of city modules, linking the Red Sea coast with the northwest of Saudi Arabia to create the 100-mile or 170- kilometer-long “line.”
A.I.-driven transportation will be facilitated by massive data harnessing, and the city will ultimately be home to one million people, all living within a five-minute walk of essential daily services, such as sch...
- Title
- How Facebook’s Super-Immersive New ‘Metaverse’ Will Look
- Runtime
- 5:41
- Date posted
- 5 years ago
- Description
- SAN MATEO, CALIFORNIA — Facebook is betting big on creating a future where you can simply don a virtual reality device and step into a 3D world filled with 3D versions of real people. Here are the details:
The Guardian reports that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on Thursday, October 28 that the company is rebranding as Meta.
He also announced that the company will now be spending billions on creating a so-called “metaverse.”
With “metaverse” company officials say they mean a digital world that will be much more immersive than before, and will feature many more virtual reality, or VR, elements.
For instance, instead of current interaction with others via written comments discussing posted 2D videos and photos, Meta’s vision would be for users to use VR headsets and other technologies to create the experience of stepping into a 3D world where they can interact verbally and visually with 3D representations of other...
- Title
- Earth’s Poles Wandered Because Its Crust Slipped
- Runtime
- 10:35
- Date posted
- 5 years ago
- Description
- PASADENA, CALIFORNIA — Scientists say that the Earth tipped sideways in relation to the sun a few million years ago, but then it tipped back up again, like a giant yo-yo. Here are the details:
Live Science reports that a new study has confirmed a longstanding theory that the Earth’s crust was tilted on its side around 84 million years ago.
The research paper was published online on June 15 in the journal Nature Communications.
The researchers looked at rock samples containing fossilized bacteria that lived millions of years ago.
These special bacteria can create chains of tiny magnetite crystals, which naturally orient with Earth's magnetic field at the time of their creation.
When these particular bacteria died and were fossilized, these magnetite chains got locked in place.
By studying these data points, the scientists found that the Earth’s crust had slowly slipped off its molten core.
- Title
- Two Trains Crash Into Each Other After Derailment in England
- Runtime
- 6:59
- Date posted
- 5 years ago
- Description
- SAILSBURY, U.K. — Two trains have collided in Salisbury, England, on Sunday, October 31 after the first hit an object and derailed, according to the BBC, with a Network Rail spokesperson cited by the Press Association explaining that the 1708 Great Western Railway service from Portsmouth Harbour to Bristol Temple Meads hit the object inside a tunnel as it approached Salisbury station at around 6:46 p.m.
The derailment then knocked out signalling in the area as the 1720 South Western Railway service from London Waterloo to Honiton approached the tunnel.
]
From there, one local resident said they heard ‘no screeching like brakes, just a long rumbling sound like thunder hitting the railway line, and one woman on the second train said she was “thrown against the wall and there was a massive rumbling,” as it collided with the first train, injuring 17 people and initially trapping one of the train’s drivers in their train.
SOURCES: Washington ...
- Title
- Cheap Antidepressant May Reduce Severe COVID-19 Symptoms
- Runtime
- 6:59
- Date posted
- 5 years ago
- Description
- ST. LOUIS COUNTY, MISSOURI — “The antidepressant fluvoxamine, sold under the brand name Luvox, could reduce risk of severe COVID-19 symptoms by almost a third in high risk patients, according to a new study in The Lancet Global Health journal which gave around 1,500 volunteers with COVID-19 100 milligrams of the drug twice a day for 10 days.
According to one study author cited by CNN, the drug targets two dangerous immune responses prompted by COVID-19 infections: the production of inflammatory molecules called cytokines and the production of blood platelets, both of which account for some of the most serious COVID symptoms.
Cytokines are small proteins produced by the body’s immune cells after coronavirus infects the lungs, according to pharmaceutical company Incyte. They bind to receptors on cells, signalling for those cells to adjust how they grow or behave in order to direct an immune response against a pathogen, including causing inflammation.
- Title
- U.S. Says Iran Directed Drone Strike Against U.S. Force
- Runtime
- 7:54
- Date posted
- 5 years ago
- Description
- WASHINGTON — U.S. officials say Iran was behind the kamikaze drone strikes against U.S. forces in Syria last week. Here are the details:
The Associated Press reports that U.S. officials said on Monday, October 25 that they believe Iran was behind the drone attack on the al-Tanf military outpost in Syria where U.S. troops are based.
The drone attack happened on Wednesday, October 20, and U.S. officials say the drones were Iranian and Iran appears to have facilitated their use.
Officials said they believe the attacks involved as many as five kamikaze drones laden with explosive charges, and that they hit both the U.S. side of al-Tanf garrison and the side where Syrian opposition forces stay.
The proliferation of these crude kamikaze drones is part of Iran’s regional strategy.
The country supports proxies, such as the Houthis in Yemen and Hezbollah in Lebanon, with weapons platforms, says David Schenker, a senior fel...
- Title
- Alec Baldwin Shooting Incident: Animated Reenactment as New Details Emerge
- Runtime
- 6:29
- Date posted
- 5 years ago
- Description
- BONANZA CITY, NEW MEXICO — The .45-caliber Colt revolver that killed Halyna Hutchins on the set of ‘Rust’ was not thoroughly checked, according to a new court filing, cited by Reuters.
Assistant director David Halls said that when armorer Hannah Gutierrez showed him the firearm he could only remember seeing three rounds and couldn’t recall if she spun the drum before he told those on set that it was ‘cold’ — in court documents taken to indicate it does not contain live rounds — and handed it to actor Alec Baldwin.
Santa Fe Sheriff Adan Mendoza has since said a suspected live round killed Hutchins, despite armorer Gutierrez telling investigators no live ammo was ever kept on set.
As investigators look to explain this, CNN notes that Gutierrez told investigators that while firearms were secured inside a van, ammo was left on a cart on the set, while The Wrap reports that the gun which killed Hutchins was used by crew members earlier ...
- Title
- We Have Eight Years to Halve Emissions and Avoid 2.7 Degrees of Warming
- Runtime
- 7:19
- Date posted
- 5 years ago
- Description
- NEW YORK — Current international plans to cut carbon emissions will not stop the planet’s temperature rising above the 1.5 degree Celsius target before the end of this century, according to the U.N. Emissions Gap report, which says Earth will hit 2.7 degrees of warming unless humanity changes course drastically.
The report says to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees this century the world must halve annual greenhouse gas emissions in the next eight years.
The BBC explains that as things stand around 50 countries have pledged to hit ‘net zero,’ balancing the amount of greenhouse gas produced and the amount removed from the atmosphere, by 2050, and this could reduce projected temperature rises by 0.5 degrees, to 2.2 degrees, by the end of 2100.
However, this level of warming would still see “dramatic and deadly impacts”, and the report suggests two further problems with even those seemingly ambitious targets: First, the plans are quite...
