Syria chemical weapons: Last of sarin gas destroyed August 14, 2014 All of Syria's precursor materials for the production of sarin gas have been destroyed, according to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). The international watchdog announced yesterday that 580 tonnes of chemicals had been removed from Syria and destroyed aboard an American ship called the MV Cape Ray. The vessel, [...]
UKIP receives more donations than Lib Dems for first time August 13, 2014 For the first time, UKIP has received more than the Lib Dems in party donations. According to the Electoral Commission, UKIP reported being given £1.4m during the second quarter of the year, exceeding the amount that the Lib Dems received by £170,000. A spokesperson for UKIP commented that it was "a sign that [...]
Male mutant flies could save the world’s crops through mating August 13, 2014 It might sound like science-fiction, but it's a real technique undergoing development. Male flies are being genetically modified by biotechnology company Oxitec to kill off their own population through mating. The Mediterranean fruit fly is currently an agricultural pest worldwide, infesting over 200 different types of crop. But by inserting a gene into [...]
France to arm Iraq’s Kurds against Islamic State militant group August 13, 2014 France has announced that it is delivering weapons to the Kurds in Iraq, in order to help them fend off the Islamic State (IS) militant group that has taken control of much of the north of the country. A statement issued earlier today by the office of French President Francois Hollande said that the [...]
Eurozone recovery clouded by poor industrial output August 13, 2014 The Eurozone's industrial output for June fell behind economists' expectations, placing a cloud over hopes of an economic recovery for the single currency. Eurostat's industrial production data, released earlier today, shows how the volume of production from industries such as factories and manufacturing has been changing month-on-month and year-on-year. In the single currency [...]
France is new “sick man” of Europe as growth falls behind European average August 13, 2014 France is struggling to keep up with the rest of Europe when it comes to economic growth, prompting the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) to dub it "the sick man" of Europe. According to a CEBR report, France is yet to see the benefit of measures put in by the European Central [...]
What is Ebola? And how does it spread? Here’s what you need to know August 12, 2014 The deadly Ebola virus has been spreading across west Africa at an unprecedented rate this year, leading to what medical experts have described as the worst epidemic of the disease yet. Yesterday, the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced that 1,013 people have died since this latest outbreak began in February, while the UN reported [...]
UK leads western Europe for self-employment August 12, 2014 When it comes an increase in the number of people who are self-employed, the UK is now ahead of its western European neighbours, according to think tank IPPR. Britain has experienced a rapid growth in its workforce over the past year, with net job creation exceeding 900,000 in the 12 months to April 2014, [...]
Battle of the sexes: Who fares worse in a competitive work environment? August 12, 2014 When it comes to creativity and collaboration at work, pitting staff against each other has a strikingly different effect on the performance of men and women, according to researchers at the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis. Their study, which is published in the journal Organization Science, suggests that as competition [...]
As fast as a supercomputer and as small as a postage stamp: the new computer chip that mimics the brain August 9, 2014 “TrueNorth” is a new computer chip that has been developed by scientists to mimic the organisation of the brain. Just three millimetres in width, it consists of a grid of one million “neurons”, each connecting to 256 other neurons. The result is over 256 million connections, or “synapses”, between them. By working together, the [...]
