If you have long feared that using a satellite navigation system to get to your destination is making you worse at finding the way alone, research now suggests your concern may be justified. Scientists studying what navigation systems do to the brain have found that people using them effectively switch …
your ad hereApple Cuts Prices on Lower-End iPads, Releases Red iPhones
Apple is cutting prices on two iPad models and introducing red iPhones, but the company held back on updating its higher-end iPad Pro tablets. A much-speculated 10.5-inch iPad Pro didn’t materialize, nor did new versions of existing sizes in the Pro lineup, which is aimed at businesses and creative professionals. …
your ad hereLA Sheriff’s Office Apologizes to Wyclef Jean for Handcuffing Incident
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department apologized on Tuesday for briefly detaining Grammy-winning hip hop artist Wyclef Jean in handcuffs during a robbery investigation, after Jean said he was “treated like a criminal” by law enforcement officers. The sheriff’s department released a statement describing its investigation in the early hours of …
your ad hereRusty Patched Bumblebee First of Species Called Endangered
The rusty patched bumblebee on Tuesday became the first officially endangered bee species in the continental U.S., overcoming objections from some business interests and a last-minute delay ordered by the Trump administration. One of many bee types that have suffered steep population declines, the rusty patched has disappeared from about …
your ad herePut Rainfall, Air Conditioning Back Into Trees, Scientists Say
International climate and environment agreements have a flaw which may jeopardize attempts to curb global warming quickly: they do not highlight the role trees play in creating rainfall and cooling the earth’s surface, 22 scientists said on Tuesday. Traditionally, international agreements have focused on how trees affect carbon levels in …
your ad hereThis Week in History: Obamacare Clears Final Legal Hurdle in 2010
“This legislation will not fix everything that ails our health care system, but it moves us decisively in the right direction.” Those were the words of then-President Barack Obama just after the U.S. House of Representatives voted 219-212 to overhaul the nation’s health care system seven years ago this week. …
your ad hereTwitter Cracks Down on Terrorism-related Accounts
Twitter suspended more than 376,000 accounts in the second half of 2016, most of which it said were promoting terrorism. Most of the accounts, 74 percent, were removed by proprietary software, the company said in its latest transparency report. The software reportedly determines a terrorism related account through how it …
your ad hereTrump Signs NASA Funding Bill
U.S. President Donald Trump has signed into law a bill that increases the budget of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), maintains the agency’s earth science program and adds human exploration of Mars as a goal. The measure increases NASA’s budget to $19.5 billion. Trump’s initial budget proposal submitted …
your ad hereStephen Hawking Calls for EPA Chief Ouster
Celebrity physicist Stephen Hawking, a vocal critic of U.S. President Donald Trump, said Trump’s environmental policies are particularly concerning, going so far as to call for Scott Pruitt, the Environmental Protection Agency’s chief, to be replaced. “He should replace Scott Pruitt at the Environment Protection Agency,” Hawking said in an …
your ad hereMars May Have Had Rings, and May Once Again
Mars may have had Saturn-like rings in the past and may have them again, a new study suggests. According to models developed by researchers at Purdue University, the Red Planet was likely hit by an asteroid or other body about 4.3 billion years ago. The debris from the impact might …
your ad hereTaxi-Hailing App ‘Grab’ Beats Uber to Myanmar
A Singapore-based ride-hailing service launched a trial in Myanmar’s biggest city Tuesday, making it the first international company to operate there. “Grab,” a company that currently operates in six other countries in Southeast Asia, would rival a number of local ride-hailing services already operating in Yangon, but beats global giant …
your ad hereStolen Van Gogh Paintings Return to Amsterdam Museum
The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam welcomed home two paintings by the Dutch master Tuesday, more than 14 years after they were ripped off the museum’s wall in a nighttime heist. “They’re back,” said museum director Axel Rueger. He called their return one of the “most special days in the …
your ad hereCherry Blossoms Herald Spring’s Arrival in Japan
Japan’s cherry blossom season kicked off on Tuesday, when the Japanese Meteorological Agency confirmed the flowers were in bloom in Tokyo. Despite the drizzling rain, agency officials counted more than five flowers blooming on a sample tree at Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine, and confirmed that the cherry blossom could therefore …
your ad hereGeorge Clooney Pays Surprise Visit to Devoted UK Fan
Actor George Clooney has startled an 87-year-old fan in Britain by showing up at her assisted living facility with flowers and a card to wish her a happy birthday. The 55-year-old popped in for a chat and a picture with admirer Pat Adams on Sunday at the Sunrise of …
your ad hereGoogle Affiliate Offers Tools to Safeguard Elections
An organization affiliated with Google is offering tools that news organizations and election-related sites can use to protect themselves from hacking. Jigsaw, a research arm of Google parent company Alphabet Inc., says that free and fair elections depend on access to information. . To ensure such access, Jigsaw says, sites …
your ad hereEurope’s Biggest Construction Project Unearths 8,000 Years of London History
The biggest construction project in Europe is taking place beneath the British capital, London. The largely subterranean Crossrail route linking Heathrow airport to the eastern financial district and beyond is designed to ease congestion as London’s population grows; but, it has also unearthed a trove of archaeological finds that provide …
your ad hereHigh-Tech at SXSW – From Electronic Tattoos to Robot Delivery
The recent South By Southwest Festival in Texas showcased the world’s latest technologies – some in development and others already on the market. VOA’s Arturo Martinez was there and brings us highlights from the Interactive Innovation Awards. …
your ad hereHi Tech at SXSW — From Electronic Tattoos to Robot Delivery
The recent South By South West Festival is showcased the world’s latest technologies – some in development and others already on the market. VOA’s Arturo Martinez was there and brings us highlights from the Interactive Innovation Awards. …
your ad hereAn African Trade Conference With No Africans
The University of Southern California each year hosts the African Economic and Development Summit, bringing delegations of African business leaders, government officials and others to network with their counterparts in the U.S. But this year, the African summit has no Africans. All were denied visas. Michelle Quinn reports from Los Angeles. …
your ad hereGenetically Modified Larvae Could Replace Lab Animals
Animal testing has become problematic in the past few decades. Animal rights activists have uncovered numerous instances of animal cruelty, and it’s also expensive to keep animal test subjects, especially if they’re treated humanely. But how else can pharmaceutical companies test the effectiveness, and safety of their products, some of …
your ad hereNew Hospital to Serve 50,000 Impoverished Haitians
Fifty thousand Haitians will have access to quality health care for the first time after a modern new hospital opened Monday in the isolated and impoverished Cotes-de-Fer region. The Bishop Joseph M. Sullivan Center for Health will serve those who, until now, had to travel for hours on rough roads …
your ad hereNewest Technologies Becoming Weapons in Fight for Land Rights
Cutting-edge technologies — from drones to data collected by taxi drivers — are becoming key weapons in the global battle to improve land rights and fight poverty, experts said Monday. Advances in earth observation, digital connectivity and computing power provide an array of information, from detailed topographical maps to transportation …
your ad hereExperimental Vaccine Protects Against Two Strains of Malaria
An experimental anti-malaria vaccine has been developed that protects against more than one strain of the malaria parasite that causes the mosquito-borne illness. The vaccine, tested by principal investigator Kirsten Lyke and colleagues, is called PfSPZ and uses whole, live weakened early versions of the most common form of …
your ad hereAfrican Region to Receive $45 Billion in Development Aid
The World Bank reports Africa will receive the bulk of the $75 billion the International Development Association, or IDA, will spend to finance life-saving and life-changing operations over the next three years mainly in 30 of the world’s poorest, most fragile countries. The IDA is a part of the World …
your ad hereTanzania Doctors to Help Kenya Recover from Health Sector Strike
Tanzania has announced a plan to send 500 doctors to Kenya after a doctors’ strike paralyzed health services in the neighboring country for months. Kenyan doctors, however, say the government should not hire any foreign doctors but instead employ the more than 1,000 trained physicians who are unemployed. Tanzanian President …
your ad here