Infotainment

BEIJING: A new Chinese carrier rocket made its first flight on Tuesday under a long-term plan to develop reusable launch vehicles aimed at reducing mission costs and speed up launch schedules for commercial clients. The medium-lift Long March 8 Y-1 blasted off at 12:37 p.m. (0437 GMT) from the southern Chinese island of Hainan carrying […]

SYDNEY: Kangaroos can learn to communicate with humans similar to how domesticated dogs do, by using their gaze to “point” and ask for help, researchers said in a study published on Wednesday. The study involved 11 kangaroos that lived in captivity but had not been domesticated. Ten of the 11 marsupials intently gazed at researchers […]

BRUSSELS: The European Union will unveil major proposals to regulate Big Tech, in what could force a revolution in the way Google and Facebook do business. The rules, packaged in a so-called Digital Services Act, will not only attempt to crack down on disinformation and hate speech but restrain Silicon Valley’s giants from making undisputed […]

Mastercard said on Sunday it was investigating allegations against Pornhub following a newspaper column which said many videos posted on the adult website depicted child abuse. The New York Times column, written by Nicholas Kristof, described videos on Pornhub that the author said were recordings of assaults on unconscious women and girls. “The issue is […]

TOKYO/ MELBOURNE: Japan has retrieved a capsule of asteroid dust from Australia’s remote outback after a six-year mission that may help uncover more about the origins of the planets and water, the Asian nation’s space agency said on Sunday. The mission of the Japanese spacecraft, Hayabusa2, spotlights Asia’s growing role in space exploration, with a […]

WASHINGTON: More than 1,000 Chinese researchers have left the United States amid a US crackdown on alleged technology theft, top US security officials said on Wednesday, adding that Chinese agents had already been targeting the incoming Biden administration. John Demers, chief of the US Justice Department’s National Security Division, told a discussion hosted by the […]

WASHINGTON: Large meat-eating dinosaurs attained their great size through very different growth strategies, with some taking a slow and steady path and others experiencing an adolescent growth spurt, according to scientists who analysed slices of fossilized bones. The researchers examined the annual growth rings – akin to those in tree trunks – in bones from […]

Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said on Friday there will probably be a wider roll out of a new “Full Self Driving” software update in two weeks. In October, Tesla released a beta, or test version, of what it calls a “Full Self Driving” software upgrade to an undisclosed number of “expert, careful” drivers. […]

The following is a roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for Covid-19, the illness caused by the virus. Certain blood groups less likely to get Covid-19 A large study adds to evidence that people with type O or Rh−negative blood may be […]