Science & Health

Police officer plays divine game of football with Irish nun

Garda OConnell of the Henry St Community Policing Unit in Limerick city was spotted in a tense standoff with a member of the Dominican Sisters in Limerick during the Our Lady of Limerick Triduum and Festival. A video of the game was shared to Facebook by the Garda Siochanas Southern Region page on 31 May. 

Jun 2, 2017

Great Barrier Reef can no longer be saved, say scientists

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority may declare the reef as a World Heritage Site "in danger."

Jun 2, 2017

NASA's Curiosity rover: Ancient Martian lake might have supported life

The main aim of the Curiosity rover when it landed inside Gale Crater in 2012 was to find out if Mars ever possessed any environmental conditions which supported microbial life.

Jun 2, 2017

World's biggest floating solar power plant in China can power 15,000 homes

World's largest floating power plant in China can generate 40 megawatts of electricity -- enough to power 15,000 homes.

Jun 2, 2017

Leaders and influencers react to Donald Trump pulling U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement

Donald Trump has announced he is following through on one of his campaign pledges and is pulling the U.S. out of the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, stirring controversy with world leaders expressing disappointment at the withdrawal.

Jun 2, 2017

French President Macron: Make our planet great again

French President Emmanuel Macron categorically ruled out any renegotiation of the Paris climate accords on June 1 and said US President Donald Trumps decision to withdraw would harm American interests and citizens. During a televised address, the recently elected president echoed Trumps election slogan to convey his message, saying Wherever we live, whoever we are, we all share the same responsibility: Make our planet great again.

Jun 2, 2017

Einstein was right! LIGO detects gravitational waves for third time, confirming new population of black holes

Gravitational waves are incredibly fast ripples in space that travel at the speed of light, and would squeeze and stretch anything in their path.

Jun 2, 2017

Donald Trump announces decision to withdraw from Paris climate deal, targets India and China

Calling it a "self-inflicted major economic wound," Trump complained that the Paris climate accord allows other nations to receive monetary aid from the US and gives "unfair" benefits to India and China.

Jun 2, 2017

Zika Virus: Tips, causes and prevention

The fact that none of the Zika infected patients, their spouses or relatives had travelled to any country with Zika virus transmission, is making it more of a cause for concern.

Jun 1, 2017

Is Moon habitable? NASA's LRO discovers water ice on the lunar surface's south pole

In the late 1990s, hydrogen-rich areas were found on Moon with the help of NASA's LRO, but it was hard to identify whether hydrogen was present in the form of water or not.

Jun 1, 2017

World's strongest X-ray laser beam creates 'molecular black hole'

Special mirrors were used by the researchers to focus the X-ray beams into a spot over 100 nanometres in diameter. One nanometer is equal to one-billionth of a metre.

Jun 1, 2017

Donald Trump pulls US out of Paris climate agreement

Axios news outlet, which first reported that Donald Trump would withdraw the US out of the Paris climate agreement, said details of the pullout are being worked out by a team including EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. The choice is between a formal withdrawal that could take three years or leaving the U.N. treaty that the accord is based on, which would be quicker but more extreme.

May 31, 2017

Kenya marks industrial milestone as standard gauge railway transferred from China

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta launched the standard gauge railways (SGR) first cargo train following its transferal from China. The train transported goods loaded from Mombasa port.The construction of the SGR was initiated in Dec 2014 by CRBC. It has a length of 480km and is the first overseas SGR entirely meeting Chinese standards. The final completion of the SGR is believed to be a win-win achievement for China-Africa cooperation under the framework of Belt and Road Initiative.

May 31, 2017

World No Tobacco Day 2017: Beating tobacco for health, prosperity, environment and national development

Tobacco use kills more than seven million people every year and costs households and governments over $1.4 trillion through healthcare expenditure and lost productivity.

May 31, 2017

Weird faceless fish found in Australian abyss

A bizarre faceless fish has been found during a voyage to one of the deepest parts of the ocean ever visited. Pulled up for the Australias eastern abyss, the strange creature is only the second specimen of the species ever to be found, the first found in 1873 in the waters off Papua New Guinea.

May 31, 2017