Justices promise at least 5 weeks between backlogged executions in South Carolina
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina’s Supreme Court promised Friday it would wait at least five weeks between putting inmates…
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina’s Supreme Court promised Friday it would wait at least five weeks between putting inmates…
The rescue took several days to complete as a hurricane approached the area.
Screamboat's teaser goes light on letting us actually see a live-action Mickey Mouse murder people, which is a shame.
[Note: This is an updated version of an earlier post.] Recently I spent some time tracing the very early history of gunpowder or Huo Yao (China, ca 850 AD). It turns out that the earliest clear description of a gunpowder-like composition was described in a document produced during the Tang Dynasty. A document titled “Classified Essentials […]
Sanaa (AFP) Aug 29, 2024
Yemen's Iran-backed Huthi rebels announced Thursday they had booby-trapped and detonated the Greek-flagged oil tanker Sounion, stranded in the Red Sea after a drone and missile attack earlier this month.
The group's leader said the operation took place earlier this week. Since then, the rebels have agreed to allow rescue teams to access the ship.
A video shared on the rebels' media outle
Seoul (AFP) Aug 29, 2024
South Korea's Constitutional Court ruled Thursday that much of the country's climate goals were unconstitutional, handing a landmark victory to young environmental activists, who wept for joy on the court steps.
The first such case in Asia, brought by children and teenagers who named an embryo as a lead plaintiff, claimed that South Korea's legally binding climate commitments were insufficie
Beijing (AFP) Aug 28, 2024
Leading Chinese automaker BYD announced Wednesday 24.4 percent growth in net profit for the first half of 2024, boosted by continuing strong demand for electric cars in its home and overseas markets.
The firm posted a net profit of $1.91 billion in the January-June period, up from $1.54 billion in the same period last year, according to results published at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange where
Port Sudan, Sudan (AFP) Aug 27, 2024
At least 30 people were killed in northeast Sudan after a dam collapsed due to flooding, the United Nations' humanitarian office has said.
The war-torn country has experienced an intense rainy season since last month, with intermittent torrential flooding mainly in the country's north and east.
"Thirty fatalities have been confirmed" following the Sunday collapse of the Arbaat Dam in Sud
Dakar (AFP) Aug 27, 2024
Senegal said Tuesday that it was temporarily suspending mining activities along the bank of a river that forms part of its southeastern border with Mali, in a bid to preserve the environment and protect locals' health.
The Faleme River, the main tributary of the Senegal River, faces significant pollution from the intensive use of chemicals in the mainly artisanal gold mines that are booming
Bangkok (AFP) Aug 28, 2024
A surprise improvement in air quality in South Asia in 2022 drove a decline in global pollution, with favourable weather a likely factor, a new report said Wednesday.
But the region continues to breathe the world's most-polluted air, with its residents losing more than 3.5 years of life expectancy on average, the annual Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) warned.
And globally, most countries h
Beijing (AFP) Aug 29, 2024
Chinese President Xi Jinping told top White House aide Jake Sullivan Thursday that Beijing remained committed to good ties with the United States, despite "great changes".
Sullivan, the first US national security advisor to visit China since 2016, met with Xi as he wrapped up three days of talks in the Chinese capital which also saw him meet Foreign Minister Wang Yi and other high-ranking of
London (AFP) Aug 29, 2024
British electricity generation firm Drax has agreed to pay GBP25 million ($33 million) for reporting inaccurate data on the wood it burns in its power plant, the UK's energy regulator Ofgem said Thursday.
Ofgem opened an investigation in May 2023 over Drax's claims that the wood it uses to generate electricity is renewable.
"Drax has accepted that it had weak procedures, controls and gove
London (AFP) Aug 29, 2024
Britain's Labour government on Thursday said it would not fight legal challenges brought against development of the Rosebank and Jackdaw oil and gas fields in the North Sea.
The decision means the future of the oil fields are now in the hands of the courts.
The Rosebank oil field 145 kilometres (90 miles) off the Shetland Islands was approved by the previous Conservative government in Se
Geneva (AFP) Aug 27, 2024
Tokyo-Yokohama remains the world's largest science and technology cluster in 2024, though clusters in middle-income economies are seeing the fastest growth in the innovation sector, the United Nations said Tuesday.
The UN's World Intellectual Property Organization said Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou remained in second place, while Beijing overtook Seoul to grab third place.
WIPO, the UN ag
Beijing (AFP) Aug 29, 2024
A quarter of all the energy China consumes now comes from non-carbon sources, according to research published Thursday, as Beijing rapidly pivots its huge economy to a greener footing.
The country is the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases, though has in recent years emerged as a global leader in renewable energy.
It has pledged to bring its emissions of planet-warming carbon dio
Plainsboro NJ (SPX) Aug 30, 2024
Whether between galaxies or within doughnut-shaped fusion devices known as tokamaks, the electrically charged fourth state of matter known as plasma regularly encounters powerful magnetic fields, changing shape and sloshing in space. Now, a new measurement technique using protons, subatomic particles that form the nuclei of atoms, has captured details of this sloshing for the first time, potenti
Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Aug 30, 2024
Amid the ongoing energy crisis and the growing threat of climate change, the need to harness renewable energy sources has become increasingly urgent. Solar energy, in particular, is emerging as a leading candidate, with experts predicting it could become the primary energy source by the end of the century.
However, solar energy generation is not without challenges. Like wind power, solar i
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Aug 30, 2024
NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft, the largest ever built for planetary exploration, has been fitted with a set of gigantic solar arrays at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. These arrays, each measuring approximately 46.5 feet (14.2 meters) in length and 13.5 feet (4.1 meters) in height, are the largest ever developed by NASA for a planetary mission. Their size is crucial to harness the maximu
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Aug 30, 2024
Astrobotic's Peregrine Mission One (PM1), launched on January 8, 2024, aboard United Launch Alliance's Vulcan rocket, aimed to make history by landing on the Moon. However, a significant anomaly during the mission's early stages prevented the lander from achieving its primary objective. Despite this setback, the mission provided valuable insights and data that will inform future lunar endeavors.
Paris, France (SPX) Aug 30, 2024
ESA's Solar Orbiter spacecraft has delivered vital data that sheds light on the longstanding mystery of the energy source responsible for heating and accelerating the solar wind. In collaboration with NASA's Parker Solar Probe, the Solar Orbiter has unveiled that significant fluctuations in the Sun's magnetic field are the driving force behind this process.
The solar wind, a continuous flo
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Aug 30, 2024
Astronomers have achieved a significant milestone in understanding the darkness of deep space, thanks to NASA's New Horizons spacecraft. This mission has enabled the most accurate and direct measurements to date of the total amount of light generated by the universe.
After more than 18 years in space and nine years following its historic encounter with Pluto, New Horizons is now over 5.4 b
London, UK (SPX) Aug 26, 2024
Researchers at Imperial College London and Google DeepMind have harnessed neural networks, a form of AI modeled after the human brain, to address one of quantum chemistry's most challenging problems: modeling the states of molecules. Their findings could pave the way for new approaches to designing materials and chemical processes via computer simulations, potentially streamlining experimental e
Pasadena CA (JPL) Aug 30, 2024
Perseverance is officially headed into a new phase of scientific investigation on the Jezero Crater rim!
For the last 2 months, the Perseverance rover has been exploring the Neretva Vallis region of Jezero Crater, where rocks with interesting popcorn-like textures and "leopard spot" patterns have fascinated us all. Now, the rover has begun its long ascent up the crater rim, and is official
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Aug 30, 2024
NASA has awarded a $116.9 million contract to Intuitive Machines of Houston to deliver a new set of science experiments and technology demonstrations to the lunar South Pole in 2027 as part of the agency's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. The mission will involve transporting six NASA payloads to a region of the Moon characterized by extremely cold nighttime temperatures, rug