London: The HIV pandemic began its global spread from Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), says a study. Between the 1920s and 1950s, a ‘perfect storm’ of factors, including urban growth, strong railway links during Belgian colonial rule, and changes to the sex trade, combined to see HIV emerge from Kinshasa and spread across the globe. “It seems a combination of factors in Kinshasa in […]
Everyone would like to increase their productivity at the workplace in a fun, creative and exciting way, and there are various ways of doing that. If you want to take your productivity further and make the best out of the hours spent at work each day, then the following tips will surely come in handy. 1. Invest in Movable Furniture One of the most exciting and creative ways to ensure […]
Officials in China this week examined the anuses of 10,000 pigeons that were set to be released today in celebration of National Day, amid government fears of a possible terrorist attack. According to reports from state-run media outlets, the birds had their feathers, legs, and anuses searched for “suspicious objects” yesterday, before being packed onto a truck and sent to Tiananmen Square in Beijing for today’s ceremony. Many reports on […]
The Daily Mail has a fascinating feature on David Latimer and his soon to be 54-year-old bottle garden that he started on Easter Sunday back in 1960. Using a ten gallon carboy, Latimer poured in some compost, a quarter pint of water and carefully lowered in a spiderwort seedling (Tradescantia) using a piece of wire. He then placed the bottle garden by a sun-filled window in his home and let […]
India’s recent debacles on the hockey turf prompted even their most die-hard fans to lose faith in the team. The eight Olympic gold medals were no longer an inspiration, but millstones around the current players’ necks. Indian hockey desperately needed to script a new success story to ensure the game stayed relevant for enthusiasts. Thursday night at the Seonhak Hockey Stadium provided such an opportunity, and skipper Sardar Singh and […]
Mothers outnumbered fathers throughout much of human history, a new DNA analysis of people around the world shows. The genetic findings offer evidence for polygyny, when one man has many wives, and other reproductive customs, as people migrated out of Africa. “[Historically] more of the women were reproducing than the men,” study researcher Mark Stoneking, a professor of biological anthropology at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, […]
Forbes released its annual Forbes 400 list on Monday, revealing the 400 wealthiest people in the US. It’s not just a list of privilege; it’s a story of opportunity. Many of these mega successes started with limited means. Just ask Jan Koum, the WhatsApp founder who once lived on food stamps. After selling his company to Facebook in February for $19 billion, he’s now worth $7.7 billion, Forbes estimates. Then […]
Initial blast from record-setting series of explosions was as much as 10,000 times more powerful than the largest solar flare ever recorded At its peak, the flare reached temperatures of 360 million degrees Fahrenheit (200 million Celsius), more than 12 times hotter than the center of the sun ‘Superflare’ came from one of the stars in a close binary system known as DG Canum Venaticorum located about 60 light-years away. […]
Sitting here and looking back, my entire life has been inspired by things that fly, things that are fast, things that move, things that can be understood and things that can be created. I was a curious kid and always used to wonder how stuff works, how wings generate lift, how steam engine operates etc. This curiousity gifted me with a passion to observe things, a passion to imagine things […]
The world’s animal population has halved in 40 years as humans put unsustainable demands on Earth, a new report warns. The World Wide Fund for Nature’s Living Planet Index, released Tuesday, revealed the dramatic decline in animal species, and said the trend could cost the world billions in economic losses. Humans need one and a half Earths to sustain their current demands, it said. The index, which draws on research […]
