Saudi, UAE investors plan to invest in SpaceX.

A unit of Saudi Arabia's investment fund and an Abu Dhabi-based company are planning to invest in a multi-billion dollar funding round for Elon Musk-led SpaceX, The Information reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the discussions. The funding round is expec…

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American tourist disappears while visiting ancient Mayan City.

An American tourist visiting the ancient Mayan city of Tikal has disappeared.  Raymond Vincent Ashcroft was visiting the temple ruins on Feb. 3 when he suddenly vanished, Guatemalan authorities said. The park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is located in a remote jungle in No…

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Big asteroids hit Earth more frequently than thought.

A fresh asteroid-strike study is generating controversy among scientists, a report suggests. A NASA-funded study presented at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference last week suggests that big asteroids hit Earth more often than previously thought, based on satellite dat…

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Antarctica's fastest-changing region has lost 3,000 billion tonnes of ice.

More than 3,000 billion tonnes of ice has been lost in the Antarctic's fastest-changing region - the Amundsen Sea Embayment - in just 25 years. If this quantity of ice was piled on London, it would be stacked 2km high - over seven times the height of the Shard, research …

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Shiba Inu: New listing of SHIB by Japanese crypto exchange.

The world’s second-largest memecoin Shiba Inu (SHIB) continues to expand its footprint marketwide. In the latest development, the Shiba Inu community has pushed the listing of SHIB tokens to major Japanese crypto exchanges. BitFlyer, one of the largest exchanges operating in…

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UN warns against 'vampiric' global water use.

A United Nations report has warned of a looming global water crisis and an "imminent risk" of shortages due to overconsumption and climate change. The world is "blindly travelling a dangerous path" of "vampiric overconsumption and overdevelopment&quo…

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Tanzania detects its first-ever cases of the highly fatal Marburg viral disease.

Tanzania has confirmed its first-ever cases of Marburg, a high-fatality viral hemorrhagic fever with symptoms broadly similar to those of Ebola, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said. The WHO said in a late Tuesday statement that the confirmation of the disease by Tanzani…

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Travel expenses in Colombo 75% higher than 2022.

A recent research conducted by ECA International has revealed that Sri Lanka , amongst a few other countries, saw the largest increase in expense for travellers. The research conducted by ECA International ranked countries based on costs for short trip expenses: four-star ho…

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Opal Gemstone found on Mars: Another sign of Martian Water.

For more than a decade, NASA’s Curiosity rover has been exploring Mars, analyzing the surface of Gale Crater, where a lake once existed in the early days of Mars. Recent study of both new and old Curiosity images has revealed signs that, long after the lake itself dried up,…

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Scientists discover intense heatwaves lurking at the bottom of the ocean.

In 2013, a monstrous marine heatwave known as 'The Blob' developed off the coast of Alaska and soon stretched as far south as Mexico along the Pacific coast of North America. It lingered far longer than anyone expected, decimating fisheries, triggering toxic algal bl…

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Study finds ocean currents may affect rotation of Europa’s Icy Crust.

NASA scientists have strong evidence that Jupiter’s moon Europa has an internal ocean under its icy outer shell – an enormous body of salty water swirling around the moon’s rocky interior. New computer modeling suggests the water may actually be pushing the ice shell along,…

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Hurun Global Rich List 2023.

The Hurun Global Rich List for 2023 ranked a total of 3,112 billionaires from 69 countries and 2,356 companies, which is a decrease from last year’s 3,384 billionaires. The number of billionaires dropped by 8 percent, and their total wealth dropped by 10 percent compared to…

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James Webb telescope detects dust storm on distant world.

A raging dust storm has been observed on a planet outside our Solar System for the first time. It was detected on the exoplanet known as VHS 1256b, which is about 40 light-years from Earth. It took the remarkable capabilities of the new James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to ma…

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The world’s largest rooftop solar array will be on a tire factory.

Sumitomo Rubber Industries’ Falken Tires plant in Thailand will become host to the world’s largest rooftop solar array on a single facility. Sumitomo Rubber Industries, which was founded in 1909 by UK tire maker Dunlop, was Japan’s first tire manufacturer. It’s the fifth-lar…

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Newly discovered 'mini-Neptune' may have an ocean or an atmosphere.

A newly discovered distant mini-Neptune planet may possess its own atmosphere, ocean, or a combination of the two, even if they don't last for long. The extrasolar planet, or exoplanet, designated HD-2047496 b located around 77 light-years from Earth revealed its charac…

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A private Japanese lander has made it to the moon.

The Hakuto-R spacecraft entered lunar orbit late Monday night (March 20), notching a huge milestone for the Japanese company ispace, which has big plans in Earth-moon space. Hakuto-R launched atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Dec. 11, 2022, kicking off a test flight that ispa…

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A quarter of world population lacks safe drinking water: UN.

A report launched on the eve of the first major U.N. conference on water in over 45 years says 26% of the world’s population doesn’t have access to safe drinking water and 46% lacks access to basic sanitation. The U.N. World Water Development Report 2023, issued Tuesday, pai…

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World Happiness Report 2023.

Sri Lanka has moved up 15 places on the World Happiness Report, having ranked 112th in the annual survey of how satisfied citizens are worldwide. Sri Lanka is ranked 112th amongst the 137 countries surveyed in this year’s edition of the report, with a score of 4.4 out of 10. …

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World Water Day - 22 March.

World Water Day is observed on March 22 each year to emphasize the significance of water and to create awareness about the global water crisis. The primary purpose of celebrating this day is to promote the achievement of SDG 6, which aims to provide access to clean water an…

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Betting and Gaming Levy (Amendment) Bill approved.

The Cabinet of Ministers has approved the Betting and Gaming Levy (Amendment) Bill which was proposed by President Ranil Wickremesinghe in his capacity as the Minister of Finance, Economic Stabilization and National Policy. Accordingly, the Cabinet had approved the relevant …

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The Weeknd is the world’s most popular artist, Guinness World Records says.

The Weeknd, who recently became the first artist to reach 100 million monthly listeners on Spotify, is statistically the world’s most popular musician, Guinness World Records said Monday. No one else even comes close to the singer’s streaming success, according to Guinness W…

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Rafael Nadal out of top 10 for first time since 2005.

Rafael Nadal’s absence from Indian Wells saw the 22-times Grand Slam champion slip out of the top 10 for the first time since 2005 on Monday but the Spaniard will still be the “man to beat” at the French Open if he can get back to full fitness. Nadal was forced to skip the M…

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Kylian Mbappe named as the French New Captain.

Didier Deschamps informed the France squad on Monday evening that Kylian Mbappe will be the new captain, sources told ESPN. The Paris Saint-Germain forward, who has 66 caps and 36 goals for France, is taking over the captaincy from Hugo Lloris who retired from international …

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Sri Lanka’s NCPI-based inflation for February 2023 recorded at 53.6%

The National Consumer Price Index (NCPI) for the month of February 2023  was recorded at 53.6%, as measured by the Year-on-Year change, the Department of Census and Statistics (DCS) revealed in its latest report. This is a slight increase in comparison to the headline inflat…

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Sri Lanka hosts 3rd meeting of IORA Working Group on Maritime Safety and Security.

The Third Meeting of the Indian Ocean Rim Association’s (IORA) Working Group on Maritime Safety and Security (WGMSS) chaired by Sri Lanka was held in Colombo on Monday (March 20) with the participation of the 23 IORA member states. The Secretary General of IORA Secretariat S…

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Powerful earthquake felt in Afghanistan, Pakistan, India.

A powerful earthquake has been felt in parts of Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, sending panicked residents into the streets, according to witnesses. Pakistan’s Meteorological Department said Tuesday’s earthquake measured at magnitude 6.8, with the epicentre being in the Hin…

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Huge solar tornado as tall as 14 Earths hurls plasma cloud into space.

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured what might be 'the tallest tornado' in the solar system swirling across the north pole of the sun. The twisting filament of boiling plasma kept growing in the sun's atmosphere for three days last week, reaching the h…

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Scientists discover RNA component buried in the dust of an asteroid.

A sample extracted from an asteroid far from Earth has confirmed that RNA nucleobases can be found in space rocks. Analysis of dust ferried home from asteroid Ryugu has been found to contain uracil – one of the four nucleobases that make up RNA – in addition to niacin, a for…

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There's a 'Subterranean Galapagos' Deep Inside the Earth.

There is a vast biosphere deep underground that is nearly twice as big as Earth’s oceans and contains some 23 billion tons of organisms. This “subterranean Galapagos” was described on Monday by the Deep Carbon Observatory (DCO), a collaboration between 1,000 scientists study…

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New York Knicks legend Willis Reed dies.

Willis Reed, the legendary captain and star center for the New York Knicks who led the franchise to its only two championships and was the author of one of the signature moments in NBA history, has died. He was 80. Reed, a burly, physical presence in the post across his 10 y…

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