France, Germany push for 'historic agreement' on global corporate tax rate

France and Germany pushed for a "historic" agreement among major economies on a minimum tax rate for multinational corporations Wednesday, hoping to shore up support after sceptical European countries expressed opposition to the plan.

Sri Lanka braces for beach pollution as ship burns

Three Indian vessels on Thursday joined the battle to contain a major fire on a container ship off the Sri Lanka coast amid fears that it could break up and spew out hundreds of tonnes of oil.

Spain races to vaccinate farm workers against virus 'time bomb'

Outside an old blue and white school in northeastern Spain dozens of farm workers wait their turn to be vaccinated against the coronavirus by a team of nurses.

Taiwan struggles with testing backlog amid largest outbreak

Facing Taiwan's largest outbreak of the pandemic and looking for rapid virus test kits, the mayor of the island's capital did what anyone might do: He Googled it.

Biden orders more intel investigation of COVID-19 origin

President Joe Biden ordered U.S. intelligence officials to "redouble" their efforts to investigate the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, including any possibility the trail might lead to a Chinese laboratory.

Study seeks origins of ghost nets that haunt Hawaii's shores

"Ghost nets" from unknown origins drift among the Pacific's currents, threatening sea creatures and littering shorelines with the entangled remains of what they kill.

Hawaii's Kilauea Volcano stops erupting after months of lava

Hawaii's Kilauea Volcano has stopped erupting.

Forecast: 40% chance Earth to be hotter than Paris goal soon

There's a 40% chance that the world will get so hot in the next five years that it will temporarily push past the temperature limit the Paris climate agreement is trying to prevent, meteorologists said.

For Native Americans, Harvard and other colleges fall short

When Samantha Maltais steps onto Harvard's campus this fall, she'll become the first member of the Aquinnah Wampanoag tribe to attend its prestigious law school. It's a "full-circle moment" for the university and the Martha's Vineyard tribe, she says.

Stephen Hawking's archive, office acquired for UK public

London's Science Museum and the Cambridge University library said Wednesday they have acquired a large collection of items belonging to late physicist Stephen Hawking, from his personalized wheelchairs to landmark papers on theoretical physics and his scripts from his appearance on "The Simpsons."

Opiate overdoses linked to poor mental health

The opioid epidemic is taking a deadly toll on people in disproportionate clusters from Cape Cod to San Diego, according to a new study by the University of Cincinnati.

Sales ban for "fossil cars" benefits the climate

If a ban were introduced on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars, and they were replaced by electric cars, the result would be a great reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. That is the finding of new research from Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, looking at emissions from the entire life cycle—from manufacture of electric cars and batteries, to electricity used for operation. However, the total effect of a phasing out of fossil-fuelled cars will not be felt until the middle of the century—and how the batteries are manufactured will affect the extent of the benefit.

Unveiling what governs crystal growth

With brilliant colors and picturesque shapes, many crystals are wonders of nature. Some crystals are also wonders of science, with transformative applications in electronics and optics. Understanding how best to grow such crystals is key to further advances.

Primates change their 'accent' to avoid conflict

New research has discovered that monkeys will use the "accent" of another species when they enter its territory to help them better understand one another and potentially avoid conflict.

Online survey successful in gathering COVID-19 data at scale

A pilot project using an online survey to gather data on COVID-19 symptoms received more than 87,000 responses from around the world, providing important insight into the spread of disease. Project leaders from Regenstrief Institute, Indiana University and Microsoft believe these questionnaires could be a valuable tool for population health.

Parents modify the home literacy environment according to their children's progress in learning to read

Research across a wide range of languages shows that children's home literacy environment can often predict their language and literacy skills. However few studies, especially for English speaking children, examine how children's development affects what parents do and not just how parents affect their children's development. A new longitudinal study examined such bidirectional relationships between home literacy environment and children's progress in learning to read between grades 1 and 3. Results show that parents adjust their reading activities with their children over time, taking into account the level of difficulty the children are having in learning to read. These findings raise the important possibility that teachers could give more specific guidance to parents to help shape the home literacy environment according to children's progress in learning to read.

Keeping more ammonium in soil could decrease pollution, boost crops

Modern-day agriculture faces two major dilemmas: how to produce enough food to feed the growing human population and how to minimize environmental damage associated with intensive agriculture. Keeping more nitrogen in soil as ammonium may be one key way to address both challenges, according to a new paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Scientists call for international investment to tackle major wheat losses

Urgent investment in new tools is needed to address major global losses of wheat crops which cost £22 billion per year.

Experiments validate the possibility of helium rain inside Jupiter and Saturn

Nearly 40 years ago, scientists first predicted the existence of helium rain inside planets composed primarily of hydrogen and helium, such as Jupiter and Saturn. However, achieving the experimental conditions necessary to validate this hypothesis hasn't been possible—until now.

Better peatland management could cut half a billion tons of carbon

Half a billion tonnes of carbon emissions could be cut from Earth's atmosphere by improved management of peatlands, according to research partly undertaken at the University of Leicester.

Poor sleep may impact academic achievement for children in disinvested neighborhoods

Research shows that poor sleep health may disproportionately affect children of color from families of low socioeconomic status and place them at risk for behavior problems and lower academic performance. However, few sleep studies utilize standard measures of both classroom behavior and academic achievement.