World | Common News Update

Jan222019 by adminNo Comments

Natural world at severe risk, Attenborough tells Prince William

Sir David Attenborough warned of the "echoes and implications" in the natural world of everything humans do in the urban world as he took questions from old friend Prince William. In front of a packed audience at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the Duke of Cambridge spoke to the 92-year-old broadcaster and naturalist for half an hour, talking about their shared passions for conservation, tackling climate change and Sir David's long broadcasting career.After William asked what advice Sir David would give to people of his age, the broadcaster said: "We have to recognise that every breath of air we take, every mouthful of food that we take comes from the natural world, and that if we damage the natural world we damage ourselves."We are one coherent eco-system, it's not just...

Dec312018 by adminNo Comments

NASA spacecraft hurtles toward tiny, icy world beyond Pluto

Technology

The NASA spacecraft that yielded the first close-up views of Pluto hurtled toward a New Year's Day rendezvous with a tiny, icy world a billion miles farther out, in what would make it the most distant cosmic body ever explored by humankind. New Horizons was on course to fly past the mysterious, ancient object nicknamed Ultima Thule at 12:33 a.m. Tuesday. The close encounter comes 3½ years after the spacecraft swung past Pluto. This time, the drama was set to unfold more than 4 billion miles (6.5 billion kilometers) from Earth, so far away that it will be 10 hours before flight controllers at Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel find out whether the probe survived the flyby. A few black-and-white pictures of Ultima Thule might be available following that ...

Dec42018 by adminNo Comments

Human-altered environments benefit the same cosmopolitan species all over the world

Science

Dec. 4 (UPI) -- As humans continue to alter the landscape and transform environments, ecosystems across the globe are becoming increasingly homogenous. New research suggests the same cosmopolitan species are taking advantage of humankind's environmental disruption. And as the same cosmopolitan species thrive across planet Earth, more unique species are disappearing. To quantify the phenomenon, a team of researchers surveyed dozens of studies focused on population dynamics in human-influenced habitat -- urban, suburban and agricultural environs. "We sourced data from other published papers that measured populations in different types of habitat -- natural habitats and areas used by humans," Tim Newbold, a researcher at the University College London, told UPI in an email. Newbold and his r...

Nov292018 by adminNo Comments

Heartbreak for American challenger in world chess final

World

The chess player hoping to become America's first world champion in nearly forty years fell short at the final hurdle in an intriguing match in London. Fabiano Caruana, 26, could have been the first American to win the World Chess Championship since Bobby Fischer took the title in 1972, but in the end the reigning champion Magnus Carlsen proved too strong for him. The final score after the tiebreakers was 3-0. You could hear a pin drop before the match started as photographers from around the world assembled to capture the opening moves. Both players appeared confident, but it was Carlsen who came out on top after a dominant performance against the young American challenger, who will have to wait a while longer to fulfill his ambition of one day becoming world champion. After drawing...

Nov272018 by adminNo Comments

Sam Burgess says individual egos and selfish players cost England at World Cup

Sports

England's early exit from the 2015 World Cup was the result of "individual egos and selfish players", says cross-code international Sam Burgess.England became the first World Cup hosts not to reach the knockout stage, after defeats by Wales and Australia.Burgess joined Bath from South Sydney Rabbitohs a year before the World Cup, but his selection by coach Stuart Lancaster sparked much debate. The 29-year-old said he was "committed" but "others had their own agendas".Former Bradford Bulls player Burgess was responding to the news Andy Farrell will replace Joe Schmidt as Ireland coach after the 2019 World Cup.Farrell, himself a former dual-code England player, was Lancaster's assistant coach d...