SCIENTISTS STUDY LIZARDS’ DEFENSES AGAINST SNAKE VENOMS

Tue 12 August 2025: A study led by the University of Queensland discovered that Australian skinks have evolved molecular defenses to protect their muscles from deadly snake venom, which provides insights into how to treat snakebites in humans. The research, published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences, described the skinks’ adaptations as “evolution at its most ingenious,” according […]

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‘PIG BUTCHERING’ SCAMS HAVE STOLEN BILLIONS FROM PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD. HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Mon 11 August 2025: At the beginning of 2025, panic about fraud and human trafficking erupted on Chinese social media. It started when a Chinese actor called Wang Xing was tricked into travelling to Thailand for an audition, where he was abducted by criminals and taken to a scam centre in Myanmar. Wang was reported missing and, within […]

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ISRAEL KILLS ANAS AL-SHARIF AND FOUR AL JAZEERA STAFF IN GAZA: WHAT WE KNOW

  From left: Anas al-Sharif, Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal, Moamen Aliwa and Mohammed Qreiqeh [Al Jazeera] Mon 11 August 2025: Israel deliberately attacked the tent the journalists were working out of, at the gates of al-Shifa Hospital. Late on Sunday, an Israeli strike shook al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, targeting a journalists’ tent by the […]

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OVER 240,000 CHIKUNGUNYA CASES, 90 ASSOCIATED DEATHS RECORDED ACROSS 16 COUNTRIES THIS YEAR

Mon 11 August 2025: Mosquito-borne viral fever chikungunya cases are rising, and since the beginning of this year some 240,000 infections have been recorded across the world, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). The virus cases were recorded until July in 16 countries and regions across the Americas, Africa, Asia, […]

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WHATSAPP SUSPENDS 6.8M+ ACCOUNTS LINKED TO FRAUDULENT ACTIVITIES

Sun 10 August 2025: WhatsApp banned more than 6.8 million accounts linked to scam operations in the first half of this year, its parent company Meta said in a statement Tuesday. “As part of our ongoing proactive work to protect people from scams, WhatsApp detected and banned over 6.8 million accounts linked to scam centers,” the company said. […]

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NEW RESEARCH FUELS DEBATE OVER BRITISH ROYAL FAMILY’S PAST TIES TO SLAVE TRADE

Sun 10 August 2025: New research showed that Britain’s King George IV, who ruled for a decade until 1830, personally profited from enslaved labour on Grenadian plantations, a finding that experts say heightens pressure on the monarchy to confront its historical links to slavery. Independent scholar Desirée Baptiste uncovered a 1823-24 document at the National […]

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WHAT WAS THE FIRST COMPUTER?

 Clifford Berry stands by the Atanasoff-Berry Computer. Courtesy of Iowa State University Library Special Collections and University Archives, CC BY-ND Sat 09 August 2025: The first modern electronic digital computer was called the Atanasoff–Berry computer, or ABC. It was built by physics Professor John Vincent Atanasoff and his graduate student, Clifford Berry, in 1942 at Iowa State College, […]

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DON’T CLICK WITHOUT THINKING – AND 4 OTHER WAYS TO KEEP YOURSELF SAFE FROM SCAMS

Fri 08 August 2025: Think about how many things you have done online today. Paid a bill? Logged into your bank account? Used social media or spent time answering emails? Maybe you have used your phone to pay at a supermarket or train station. We are all plugged in, and that’s not necessarily a bad […]

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YOUR PHONE IS COVERED IN GERMS: A TECH EXPERT EXPLAINS HOW TO CLEAN IT WITHOUT DOING DAMAGE

Thu 07 August 2025: We wash our hands, sanitise shopping trolleys and wipe down cafe tables. But what about our phones? We touch these devices dozens of times a day, and take them everywhere from the kitchen to the dining table, and even the bathroom. Phones can be contaminated with many kinds of potential germs. When was […]

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