Krishna Google has announced that it aims to power all its data centres and offices with carbon-free energy by 2030, matching pledges by rival Apple earlier in the year. In a blog post, CEO Sundar Pichai wrote that the firm has always valued sustainability and said the world “must act now” to avoid the worst consequences of … Read more
Clever use of data to enhance the customer experience or invasion of privacy? It’s a fine line at the Magic Kingdom, but smiles usually win the day. Imagine living in a place where your every move is surveilled. A place created in the image of one almost mythological figure, where every step you take is … Read more
The reserves of some rare earth minerals used in electronics, medical equipment and renewable energy could run out in less than 100 years. Rare earth minerals are naturally occurring resources, which cannot be recreated or replaced. Some are present in only very small quantities in the Earth’s crust. They were created when the extreme heat … Read more
Scientists have developed an antibody test for the virus that causes Covid-19 that they say is more accurate and can handle a larger number of donor samples at lower overall cost than standard antibody tests currently in use. In the short term, the test, developed by researchers at the University of Texas at Austin in collaboration … Read more
This is a thoughtfully designed, informative, and inspiring tarot deck celebrating the history of science and its forgotten women. What is your reaction when you hear the phrase “women of science tarot”? If you’re rolling your eyes already, you’re probably not going to be won over. This is just one of those things where your … Read more
The level of toxic fine particles in Scotland’s air failed to go down during the Covid-19 lockdown, despite a significant drop in the number of vehicles on the roads, according to researchers at the University of Stirling. Analysis of fine particulate air pollution (PM2.5) in the first month of restrictions found little change, despite a … Read more
The two South Korean electronics companies have been forced to halt their sale of semiconductors to Shenzhen-based Huawei as the latest US restrictions come into force. Amid the US-China trade war, US President Donald Trump has focused much of his energy on attacking Chinese technology companies such as Huawei, Tencent and ByteDance, primarily through the signing of … Read more
As Huawei’s relationship with the US government has deteriorated, the White House has taken action to cut the company off from American partners like Google, forcing it to launch its Mate 30 range using the open-source version of Android and without Google apps like Gmail, Google Maps and YouTube. This year, the White House restricted Huawei’s access to … Read more
The research, conducted by a team at the University of Exeter, found that people are more concerned about who runs the process than the risks of others having unauthorised access to their private information, or their data being stolen. Most people who took part in the research were in favour of the NHS processing personal data rather than … Read more
Facial recognition technology is turning up in ever more applications – from the useful, like unlocking smartphones, and the fun, like Facebook tagging, to the essential, like crime detection, or the life-saving, like prevention of terrorism. Our faces too are photographed, filmed and sometimes clocked almost everywhere we go. We post them ourselves, on social … Read more