TopNews

Intense wildfires in British Columbia and smoky skies over the south coast are the result of climate change and other weather factors, said John Innes, the dean of UBC's faculty of forestry. The season for wildfires - nearly 200 burning across the B. C. - has come earlier than usual.

In the wake of relentless blazes and smoke, a province-wide ban has been imposed on campfires, evacuations, and air quality advisories.

According to Innes, a hotter, drier summer is expected this year as two weather trends, the Pacific Decadal Oscillation and El Niño, are likely to take place together this year. To make it worse, climate change then comes into action, making wildfire forest season in B. C. an extraordinary one.

Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, who is the current commander of the crew on board the International Space Station (ISS), has broken the record for staying in the space for the longest time with 804 days.

As per reports, the former Russian Air Force officer has beaten the old record of 803 days, nine hours and 41 minutes, which was set by fellow cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev, who has retired from work, across six missions from 1998 to 2005.

A spokesman for the Russian federal space agency Roscosmos said that this record is official and Gennady Padalka has spent the longest time in space.

According to reports, scientists have found direct evidence that indicates that life was earlier present on Mars. A gem stone called opal has been discovered by researchers and they think that the stone can help know the mystery of the planet, when it comes to presence of life.

Scientists said that the precious gem stone reached earth when a meteorite hit the Martian surface. According to reports, it was a strong collision, so much so that a part of Martian stone arrived on Earth in 1911. The opal has been discovered by researchers at the University of Glasgow. They obtained it from 1.7 gram stone named Nakhla.

The Future of Life Institute, Elon Musk-backed group, has awarded a grant of $7 million to 37 research teams that will be assigned tasks related to the oncoming advancements of artificial intelligence (AI).

Three projects are busy developing Artificial Intelligence systems that can learn about human's likes and dislikes. As per the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX founder, AI systems have never been more threatening or quicker in development either.

Elon Musk said in an explanation that now the science community need to be more careful about artificial intelligence. The man who builds future cars, boats and unmanned space rockets is freaked out that robot will kill humans.

Beach visitors have been warned to remain cautious of a deadly jellyfish-like sea creature known as the Portuguese Man-of-War. The strange creature has been sighted along the coast of New Jersey and could prove dangerous.

Researchers have affirmed that these creatures are found in the tropics. But things seem to be changing, as many of them have spotted along the shore and the number of them seems to be increasing.

Last week, researchers gathered the creatures to know the reason as to why their number is one along the Jersey shore. Sightings have already reached to 12. The researchers suspect that the northeasterly winds and the Gulf Stream are making the neon purple and bluish creature to come towards New Jersey from the Caribbean or to the seas of Florida.

During investigation for the presence of invasive species, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife boat inspectors have found Zebra mussels in Ashland on a boat. It is said to be the ninth boat carrying the invasive species detected this season.

Zebra mussels have been responsible for damage worth billions in ecosystem and economic damage throughout the nation. It can range from microscopic to two inches long in size and can live up to 21 days without water.

The inspections were carried out at stations around Oregon's borders. Leslie Bliss-Ketchum, assistant coordinator for the Oregon Invasive Species Council, said investigation is an important part of invasive species prevention program, as even releasing one boat having zebra mussels could prove disastrous.