On Wednesday, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) canceled the Electronic Entertainment Expo — better known as E3 — over concerns regarding the spread of COVID-19, the novel coronavirus. The World Health Organization officially declared COVID-19 a pandemic on Wednesday. The ESA said it’s “exploring options with our members to coordinate an online experience to showcase … Read more
An intercity passenger train will be converted to run on battery power for the first time in the UK, Hitachi Rail has announced, cutting diesel use on non-electrified lines by 20 per cent. Hitachi has signed an agreement with Eversholt Rail, owner of the 36 intercity express trains operated by Great Western Railway on the … Read more
Researchers at the University of Delaware have built a complex model to simulate the molecular dynamics within the Ebola virus. Their findings could assist the development of new treatments for Ebola and other viral diseases such as Covid-19. Ebola outbreaks have continued to flare up in West Africa, even after the development of a vaccine … Read more
China announced new measures designed to fight climate change over the weekend, during a virtual UN summit in which all countries were asked to declare a “climate emergency” by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. China, which is currently the highest carbon emitting country, now plans to cut its emissions per unit of GDP by over 65 … Read more
We look forward to interesting times, led by successes in aerospace and transport. Electric mobility will gain momentum and passenger vehicles will be more sought after than before. As Asia’s third-largest economy, India is preparing for a new growth story. Global think-tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) noted this year that India is now … Read more
Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden have demonstrated that small quantum computers can be used to solve problems with real applications. Quantum computers hold the potential to exponentially expand computing power, transforming certain sectors such as cyber security and research. In 2019, Google researchers announced that they had reached “quantum supremacy”: a quantum computer … Read more
3D printers could present a risk to human health due to tiny particles that are released during the printing process, a study has found. With 3D printers gaining in popularity due to rapidly falling prices, a group of risk researchers have found that particles released during the printing process are small enough to infiltrate deep … Read more
Researchers from Duke University have trained a deep neural network to share its understanding of concepts, shedding light on how it processes visual information. Deep neural networks are loosely modelled on real brains, with layers of interconnected “neurons” which respond to features in the input data. For image recognition, input data is processed by the … Read more
A smart fibre, funded by the US Army, is being tested on the International Space Station (ISS). The material could be used to develop space dust telescopes and allow astronauts to ‘feel’ through their pressurised suits. Researchers at the Army’s Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies at MIT have developed an acoustic fabric so sensitive to vibrations that it can … Read more
Ahead of the publication of its full response to the Online Harms White Paper, the government has laid out some details of its plans to mitigate a range of online harms: from child exploitation to terrorist propaganda. According to the government, online platforms which fail their duty of care to users, such as by not … Read more