Washington: Scientists have moved closer to being able to stop a huge asteroid colliding with Earth and potentially wiping out human life. This fast-spinning asteroid will pass close by earth in the year 2880 and an Armageddon-style blasting it into pieces may not be a good idea. Researchers have found that the asteroid, named “1950 DA”, is a loose agglomeration of particles that cling together much as moon dust collects […]

Eating seven nuts a day could improve a man’s sperm count and quality, say  Italian doctors. They are testing the theory in a trial of 100 men being treated for infertility at a hospital in Turin. One group will add seven nuts (walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds or peanuts) to their normal diet; another group will reduce their intake of saturated fat by cutting down on processed meat and dairy products, and […]

As India races to catch up on infrastructure, its military is increasingly engaged with the PLA. For the Indian military, this is a time of some fairly fundamental changes. After decades of pursuing Pakistan-centric war planning, the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force are recalibrating their sights towards the hitherto neglected northern frontiers with China, giving a hard push to improving its war-fighting capabilities against its more powerful neighbor […]

United Nations: Saudi Arabia on Wednesday gave USD 100 million to the United Nations to support counter-terrorism efforts and called on other countries to do the same. The donation follows a USD 500 million Saudi gift to the UN effort to help Iraqi refugees fleeing a jihadist advance. “We have been stung by the evil of terrorism,” Saudi Ambassador to the United States Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir told reporters. “We […]

A zoo in southern China has unveiled newborn panda triplets, thought to be the world’s first known surviving trio. Guangzhou’s Chimelong Safari Park described the trio, who were born on 29 July, as “a new wonder of the world”. Their mother, Juxiao, was too exhausted to care for them at first but is now nursing the triplets with assistance from feeders throughout the day. Female pandas are able to conceive […]

Oscar-winning actor and comedian Robin Williams apparently took his own life at his Northern California home Monday, law enforcement officials said. Williams was 63. “He has been battling severe depression of late,” his media representative Mara Buxbaum told CNN. “This is a tragic and sudden loss. The family respectfully asks for their privacy as they grieve during this very difficult time.” Coroner investigators suspect “the death to be a suicide […]

Washington: A new study has revealed how we form habits and change existing ones and that they emerge through associative learning. According to the study, about 40 percent of people’s daily activities are performed each day in almost the same situations, as habit is automatic and we don’t always recognize habits in our own behavior. Wendy Wood said that we find patterns of behavior that allow us to reach goals. […]

Swedes have flocked to social media to muse at the passing of “the world’s oldest European eel”, which lived in a well to the age of 155. It was found dead in the southern town of Brantevik when the well owners removed the lid to show it off to visitors, The Local said on Friday. A boy dropped it in back in 1859, when it was apparently common to use […]

The US has launched two additional air strikes against militants from the Islamic State (IS) group in northern Iraq, the Pentagon has said. US drones and Navy fighter jets attacked targets near the Kurdish city of Irbil – a similar location to the first strike earlier on Friday. The Sunni Muslim group IS has taken control of swathes of Iraq and Syria. Tens of thousands of people from minority groups […]

Nairobi:  A Kenyan consumer lobby group says that 5,000 Chinese nationals who are coming to Kenya for the construction of a railway line pose a threat to the country’s elephants. Consumer Federation of Kenya official Steven Muturo said on Thursday that conservationists have seen a rise in elephant poaching deaths in Kenya as the number of Chinese nationals in the country have risen. Kenya recently signed an agreement with China […]