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Secretive game developer codes hit 'Balatro' in Canadian prairie province

There are no photos or videos of LocalThunk, an anonymous computer programmer who lives in the vast and desolate prairies of Canada's Saskatchewan province, far from Silicon Valley.

Scientists observe 'negative time' in quantum experiments

Scientists have long known that light can sometimes appear to exit a material before entering it -- an effect dismissed as an illusion caused by how waves are distorted by matter.

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Tiny meteorite may have caused coolant leak from Soyuz capsule

Russian and NASA engineers were assessing a coolant leak on Thursday from a Soyuz crew capsule docked with the International Space Station (ISS) that may have been caused by a micrometeorite strike.

Swedish zoo shoots dead three chimps on the run

A Swedish zoo said Thursday it had to shoot dead three chimpanzees after they escaped from their enclosure, with the situation still not under control.

Israeli technology aims to curb male chick culling

Israeli scientists have created a species of egg-laying hens that only produce females, a breakthrough that could help end the annual culling of around seven billion male chicks globally.

UN nature talks teeter on brink as ministers arrive for home stretch

Hopes of sealing a historic "peace pact with nature" at a United Nations biodiversity summit will soon rest on the world's environment ministers, arriving in Montreal for the final phase of talks beginning Thursday.

EU meets facing subsidy race with US in trade spat

EU leaders meeting in Brussels on Thursday will focus on a trade dispute with key ally the United States that threatens to trigger a subsidy race between the economic superpowers.

Red Cross fears 'enormous suffering' in 2023

The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross warned Wednesday "an enormous level of suffering" awaits the world in 2023 with famine spreading.

Study explains surprise surge in methane during pandemic lockdown

A mysterious surge in planet-heating atmospheric methane in 2020 despite Covid lockdowns that reduced many human-caused sources can be explained by a greater release from nature and, surprisingly, reduced air pollution, scientists said Wednesday.

HSBC bank says to stop funding new oil and gas fields

Banking giant HSBC on Wednesday said it would end financing for new oil and gas fields, a decision welcomed by environmentalists who nevertheless urged greater action from banks and government.

Snakes have clitorises, scientists say, slamming research 'taboo'

Female snakes have clitorises, according to the first detailed study on the subject Wednesday, in which the scientists lashed out at how little female sex organs have been researched compared to males across species.

DR Congo leader blames climate change for devastating floods

The president of the Democratic Republic of Congo joined the United States on Tuesday in blaming climate change for major floods that have claimed around 100 lives in the capital Kinshasa.

Rich nations oppose new biodiversity fund

Creating a new global fund for biodiversity -- a core demand of developing countries at UN talks in Montreal -- "would take years" and be less effective than reforming existing financial mechanisms, Canada's environment minister said Tuesday.

Sound of a dust devil on Mars recorded for first time

The sound of a dust devil on Mars was recorded for the first time as the eye of the whirlwind swept over the top of NASA's Perseverance rover, a new study said Tuesday.

Hong Kong leader says Google has 'moral obligation' to remove wrong anthem

Google has a "moral obligation" to stop a democracy protest song appearing in search results, Hong Kong's leader said Tuesday, as row over China's national anthem widened to include the tech giant.

Nuclear fusion: harnessing the power of the stars

The US Department of Energy's nuclear fusion laboratory says there will be a "major scientific breakthrough" announced Tuesday, as media report that scientists have finally surpassed an important milestone for the technology: getting more energy out than was put in.

NASA capsule Orion splashes down after record-setting lunar voyage

NASA's Orion space capsule splashed down safely in the Pacific on Sunday, completing the Artemis 1 mission -- a more than 25-day journey around the Moon with an eye to returning humans there in just a few years.

Cash crops: Dutch use bitcoin mining to grow tulips

Tulips and bitcoin have both been associated with financial bubbles in their time, but in a giant greenhouse near Amsterdam the Dutch are trying to make them work together.

Lascar Volcano in Chile stirs, sending plume skyward

A volcano in the Andes in Chile's north rumbled to life early Saturday, triggering minor earth tremors and sending a plume of smoke and ash 6,000 meters (nearly 20,000 feet) into a clear sky.

Sea cows, abalone, pillar coral now threatened with extinction

Dugongs -- large herbivorous marine mammals commonly known as "sea cows" -- are now threatened with extinction, according to an official list updated Friday.

Sea cows threatened with extinction

Dugongs -- large herbivorous marine mammals commonly known as "sea cows" -- are now threatened with extinction, according to an official list updated Friday.

Japanese billionaire Maezawa announces crew of artists for lunar voyage

Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa announced Thursday eight crew members who will join him for a journey around the Moon planned for 2023 on a SpaceX rocket that is still under development.

Webb telescope spies hidden stars in stellar graveyard

It was one of the first famous images revealed by the James Webb Space Telescope earlier this year: a stunning shroud of gas and dust illuminated by a dying star at its heart.

'Downton Shabby': US producer quits Hollywood to do up UK family pile

As a child, Hopwood DePree heard stories about the family owning an ancestral country home in England but always thought it was the stuff of legends.

Biodiversity talks open as UN chief calls for 'peace pact' with nature

High-stakes biodiversity talks opened in Montreal Wednesday, amid calls for a "peace pact with nature" to save the planet's species and ecosystems from irreversible human destruction.

Meta sees itself as dwarfed by 'Giant Tech' Apple

Facebook parent Meta may be in the Big Tech club but it sees itself as being dwarfed by "Giant Tech" company -- and corporate foe -- Apple, a top executive, Nick Clegg, said Wednesday.

Webb telescope promises new age of the stars

The James Webb Space Telescope lit up 2022 with dazzling images of the early universe after the Big Bang, heralding a new era of astronomy and untold revelations about the cosmos in years to come.

UN biodiversity talks open, billed as 'last chance' for nature

High-stakes UN biodiversity talks open in Montreal Wednesday, in what is being billed as the "last best chance" to save the planet's species and ecosystems from irreversible human destruction.

Energy crisis fuels renewables boom: IEA

The energy crisis is fuelling an acceleration of the rollout of renewable power, raising hopes for efforts to meet ambitious targets against global warming, the International Energy Agency said Tuesday.

The end is nigh? Climate, nuclear crises spark fears of worst

For thousands of years, predictions of apocalypse have borne little fruit. But with dangers rising from nuclear war and climate change, does the planet need to at least begin contemplating the worst?

Ireland marks 100 years since founding of Irish Free State

One hundred years ago on Tuesday, Ireland gained statehood in the midst of a bitter civil war.

US, EU meet with little progress on green plan tensions

US and European Union officials met for trade and technology talks Monday, but hanging in the balance are heightened tensions over American subsidies for its green industry that Europe considers anti-competitive.

UK warns British Museum over Parthenon Marbles

The UK government Monday stressed the British Museum is legally forbidden from breaking up its vast collection, after a report said it could possibly hand the Parthenon Marbles back to Greece.

Australia starts building 'momentous' radio telescope

Australia on Monday started building a vast network of antennas in the Outback, its section of what planners say will eventually become one of the most powerful radio telescopes in the world.

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