Los Angeles CA (SPX) May 11, 2024 Visual experiences in early infancy play a critical role in the development of human vision, offering a unique visual ‘diet’ that differs significantly from that of older children and adults. This was demonstrated in a recent study titled “An edge-simplicity bias in the visual input to young infants,”…
Kathmandu (AFP) May 9, 2024 Nepali conservationists condemned on Thursday new regulations permitting hydropower and hotel projects in protected nature reserves, saying they threatened to damage the habitats of tigers and other endangered animals. A fifth of the Himalayan republic’s total lands have been designated as protected areas established to forbid infrastructure projects that could…
Kuala Lumpur (AFP) May 8, 2024 Malaysia intends to gift orangutans to palm oil-purchasing countries as part of an initiative similar to China’s panda diplomacy, the commodities minister said on Wednesday. Johari Abdul Ghani said the “orangutan diplomacy” strategy would gift the endangered great apes to palm oil trading nations, especially major importing territories like…
Washington (AFP) May 7, 2024 Changing the way food is produced around the world could significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the end of the decade, the World Bank said Monday. The so-called agrifood industry is responsible for almost a third of all greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, the Bank said in a report. Two-thirds of…
Billie Holiday’s recording of the anti-lynching song “Strange Fruit” has stirred and haunted generations of listeners. A new article in the Journal of African American History, titled “Professional Mourning: Billie Holiday’s ‘Strange Fruit’ and the Remaking of Black Consciousness,” presents a detailed history of the song and argues that Holiday’s rendition, released in the 1930s,…
Researchers at the Center for Research on Redox Processes in Biomedicine (Redoxome) in Brazil have identified extracellular matrix proteins modified by the action of hypobromous acid in normal and fibrotic lung tissues, suggesting a possible physiological role for protein bromination. This is the first study to identify brominated proteins in pulmonary fibrosis and non-fibrotic lung…
Particle-reinforced aluminum matrix composites (PRAMCs), in which the aluminum matrix is reinforced with nanoparticles, exhibit great potential for applications in the aerospace and automobile industries. These materials combine the advantages of both aluminum matrix and reinforcement particles, including high specific strength, high specific modulus, and good wear resistance. Particle-reinforced aluminum matrix composites (PRAMCs), in which the…
Fatal drownings are a big risk for small-scale fishers on Africa’s largest lake, with many of those deaths attributed to bad weather—conditions that are likely to worsen with climate change, according to a new study. Fatal drownings are a big risk for small-scale fishers on Africa’s largest lake, with many of those deaths attributed to bad…
Despite consumer efforts to sort and separate recyclables, most plastic bottles still end up in the landfill. Standard recycling methods to sort, shred and remake plastics are limited to just type-1 and type-2 plastics—basically only soda bottles, water bottles and milk jugs. Despite consumer efforts to sort and separate recyclables, most plastic bottles still end up…
Recent advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning, coupled with the evolution of large-scale data storage, access and processing technologies, have fueled interest among financial institutions in new data sources for credit scoring. Recent advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning, coupled with the evolution of large-scale data storage, access and processing technologies, have fueled interest…