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NEW DELHI -- Environmental pollution -- from filthy air to contaminated water -- is killing more people every year than all war and violence in the world. More than smoking, hunger or natural disasters. More than AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined. Source

Your dog may be a master manipulator, deliberately making puppy eyes to pull at your heart strings, according to a study Thursday into a ploy many mutt owners have long suspected. The research suggests that dogs may be in control of their facial expressions, using them to communicate, researchers reported in the journal Scientific Reports. Source

In scenes reminiscent of films like "Transformers", a giant U.S. robot fighting machine swung a "chainsaw sword" to chop a Japanese opponent into submission in a battle watched by tens of thousands online. The two massive and heavily armed machines went claw-to-claw at an abandoned steel mill in Japan, firing cannons and smashing each other in a days-long duel. Source

Scientists at Japan's space agency have discovered a huge moon cave that could one day house a base that would shelter astronauts from dangerous radiation and wild temperature swings, officials said Thursday. Data taken from Japan's SELENE lunar orbiter has confirmed the existence of the 50 kilometre (31 miles) long and 100 metre wide cavern that is believed to be lava tube created by volcanic activity about 3.5 billion years ago. Source

PORTLAND, Maine -- Changes in the way some small fish are managed could have major implications for the ocean ecosystem and marine industries on the East Coast, according to conservationists, fishing groups and scientists. Interstate regulators are considering altering the way they manage menhaden to better account for its role as one of the most important fish in the sea. Source

The computer that stunned humanity by beating the best mortal players at a strategy board game requiring "intuition" has become even smarter, its makers said Wednesday. Even more startling, the updated version of AlphaGo is entirely self-taught -- a major step towards the rise of machines that achieve superhuman abilities "with no human input", they reported in the science journal Nature. Source

A defunct, yacht-sized Chinese space lab is expected to fall out of orbit and crash to Earth in the coming months. China launched the eight-tonne Tiangong-1 satellite in 2011. Tiangong means "Heavenly Palace" in Chinese. The satellite, which is 12 metres long and 3.3 metres in diameter, was designed to test technology for a future space station. Source

SHANGHAI -- Hundreds of workers streamed through dark streets, blocking an entrance to an Apple iPhone supplier's factory in eastern China to protest unpaid bonuses and factory reassignments, two witnesses and China Labor Watch, a New York based non-profit group, said Thursday. Source

An Edmonton paleontologist is relying on ancient folklore to retrace the stone footprints of giant dinosaurs. Scott Persons with the University of Alberta is helping Lida Xing of the China University of Geosciences explore old and contemporary folklore to uncover possible sites where dinosaur footprints might be found. Source

Amid concerns about online threats to the democratic process, Facebook Canada is launching an "election integrity initiative" in advance of the next Canadian federal election. The last American election was disrupted by the release of hacked emails from Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party. Source