Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from December, 2020

TikTok facing legal challenge from 12-year-old girl over mishandling private data

Lawyers argue that TikTok processes children's data in order to garner advertising revenue from clients https://bit.ly/383Y0Bg

UK army buys 30 stealthy ‘Bug’ nano-drones to spy on targets 2km away

The drones can fly for 40 minutes on a single charge and beam back footage of what they find to waiting troops https://bit.ly/2LbIppX

Bill Gates predicts when things will get back to normal in 2021

The billionaire philanthropist has focused on scientific breakthroughs that will make 2021 a lot better than 2020 https://bit.ly/3o54PI3

Preserved carcass of Ice Age woolly rhino found in Siberian permafrost

The frozen carcass is 80 per cent intact and may be around 34,000 years old https://bit.ly/3o1VeBQ

Android phones following Apple’s lead and ditching in-the-box chargers

Samsung and Xiaomi are tipped to stop bundling chargers with their phones - just like the iPhone 12 https://bit.ly/3huYDGN

Five cups of tea a day help over-85s stay focused, study says

Tea drinkers showed better brain function as they got older, researchers found https://bit.ly/3n0H42K

British expats duped by T-rex fossil ‘discovery’ in Magaluf

Local development work had to be halted so a full investigation could take place https://bit.ly/38IY9Jl

Brexit roaming charges: What does it mean for UK phone contracts?

If you're planning to go to Europe, you'll need to check your mobile phone contract https://bit.ly/34Tbbmu

What is a blue tick on Twitter and how do you get one?

Can you turn your account blue? https://bit.ly/2WU384s

‘Space architects’ complete two-month stay in Arctic shelter to simulate moon mission

The two Danish architects designed their own collapsible moon shelter and tested it themselves https://bit.ly/3o6WALy

Korea’s ‘artificial sun’ ran at 100 million degrees for 20 seconds

The nuclear fusion device was maintaining plasma and could help solve the world's energy crisis https://bit.ly/3pqIsNC

WhatsApp will stop running on millions of phones from January 1, 2021

The world's most popular messaging app will no longer be available on older devices https://bit.ly/3priABi

Where is Santa right now? How to track Santa Claus this Christmas

Santa is on his way… (Credits: Getty Images/Tetra images RF) Santa Claus is on his way and bringing with him Christmas presents and gifts galore. Children and adults around the world will soon be setting out Christmas stockings and sacks in the hope that they will be filled with presents come tomorrow morning. While children wait excitedly at home for Santa to arrive, Father Christmas and his reindeer have an estimated 510,000,000 km to travel in order to visit every home on his list – a number which would mean he would have to drop in on 390,000 homes per minute. With a sleigh travelling at that speed, it would be impossible to spot it moving across the sky, but luckily there are other ways to keep an eye on Santa’s progress this Christmas. How to track Santa Claus this Christmas Every year, as Santa sets off on his sleigh from Lapland, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) track his journey across the world on December 24, Christmas Eve. NORAD usually moni...

OnePlus will release its first smartwatch in ‘early 2021’

CEO Pete Lau has confirmed the smartphone brand is set to launch its first wearable https://bit.ly/2Mbkh7L

British-built spacecraft set for festive flyby of Venus

The European Space Agency's Soar Orbiter will drop down to 4,700 miles above the cloud tops of Venus https://bit.ly/3rkBpI2

A flower from the time of the dinosaurs has survived frozen in amber

Resembling a cross between a Scottish thistle and an opium pod, this planet is 100 million years old https://bit.ly/3rpZMEm

Amazon is selling books written by Covid deniers and QAnon believers

More than 80 books promoting misinformation such as the pandemic being faked and the 'dangers' of vaccines were found to be for sale https://bit.ly/34J61cJ

Scientist who discovered Ebola in the 1970s warns of future pandemics

Professor Jean-Jacques Muyembe-Tamfum says disease passing from animals to humans could become more common and deadly https://bit.ly/3aCQbEj

Inhalers and nasal spray filled with llama antibodies could save Covid-19 patients

Llamas generate powerful antibodies that are far more effective than human equivalents at fighting coronavirus https://bit.ly/37J7zFl

Someone bought the Isle of Wight monolith for £810

The structure, taken from the Isle of Wight, was successfully sold on eBay https://bit.ly/2M41Vp1

Mount Etna erupts again as lava blasts from the Southeast Crater

The volcanic activity can be seen from nearby villages in Sicily https://bit.ly/2WAuaOb

Skin disease covering 70% of dolphin’s body in lesions linked to climate change

The disease has been known about since 2005 but this is the first time scientists have identified a cause https://bit.ly/2KKwpvy

Stunning pictures of the Great Conjunction as stargazers snap Jupiter and Saturn together

Stargazers captured amazing pictures as Jupiter and Saturn formed a 'Christmas Star' in the night sky https://bit.ly/38outRK

Men and women of the US Space Force will officially be called ‘guardians’

Vice president Mike Pence announced the US has created the guardians of the galaxy https://bit.ly/37D0SVx

Zoom lifting 40-minute call limit for Christmas

We won't be seeing relatives this Christmas but at least we can Zoom them for longer https://bit.ly/34wLRlT

Christmas Star: Jupiter and Saturn align tonight for the ‘Great Conjunction’

Tonight will play host to a planetary event not witnessed for 800 years https://bit.ly/37CL7Ob

Apple AirPods Max review: a luxury audio experience

Apple's wireless over-ear headphones are all about offering a premium experience https://bit.ly/3mueB4V

Ursids meteor shower UK 2020: When does it peak and how to see it?

The Ursids meteor shower is active in December and displays up to 10 meteors per hour https://bit.ly/3mwPSgv

Christmas on the Red Planet as festive silhouettes appear on Mars

The shapes appeared on the south polar region of Mars https://bit.ly/37szidp

Festive Zoom backgrounds to use this Christmas

Get festive. https://bit.ly/2LOn5aD

The ‘ugliest orchid’, the future of food and a pineapple relative: the hundreds of new species discovered this year

Researchers at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and their collaborators identified 156 new species altogether https://bit.ly/3alPLSk

Apple and Facebook are arguing about your digital privacy

The two tech titans are going toe-to-toe over tracking your data https://bit.ly/34o1V9L

New Covid strain spreads faster than other mutations and scientists don’t know why

Experts are at a loss to explain the origin of the new strain of Covid-19 https://bit.ly/3p1HSpc

Battered and broken Isle of Wight monolith appears on eBay

It's going for over £50,000 https://bit.ly/2KbvnbV

Virgin Media reveals how much extra data people used during 2020

As the nation was staying home due to the pandemic, data use was sent soaring https://bit.ly/37pKGH4

Demand for doomsday bunkers surges due to Trump loss and Covid pandemic

Prices start at £42,000 https://bit.ly/3qYmp2u

Shooting stars dazzle in the night sky as Geminids meteor shower reaches its peak

One of the most spectacular meteor showers of the year didn't disappoint https://bit.ly/3nmkjqW

This image of the sun was taken through the Earth

The image was captured using neutrinos which can pass through Earth without interacting with any other particle https://bit.ly/3oMqe8W

Mount Etna erupts spewing plumes of ash and lava into the sky

Mount Etna's latest eruption started at 9.20pm last night and was preceded by an earthquake in Sicily https://bit.ly/34cBljM

Geminids meteor shower lights up night sky over the Isle of Wight

Ephemeral pictures show the Geminids meteor shower peaking over the Isle of Wight https://bit.ly/2Lz93cO

Monolith in Australia covered in cryptic co-ordinates for locations across the globe

What does it all mean? https://bit.ly/3a9UEy4

Why is my Alexa flashing yellow? The different colours, explained

'Alexa, why are you flashing yellow?' https://bit.ly/344Y8xF

Geminids meteor shower 2020 set to peak above the UK: when and where can you see it?

The Geminids meteor shower is one of the best of the year (Credits: Shutterstock / Brian Spencer) Cold winter nights aren’t great for much – but they can be wonderful for astronomy and stargazing. Especially because it’s during the winter months that we get to experience the Geminids meteor shower. Alongside the Perseids and the Orionids meteor shower, the Geminids are one of the strongest showers of the year. On a good night, skywachers may see as many as 150 shooting stars per hour. The Geminids meteor shower is underway right now, but is set to peak on the nights of December 13 and December 14. This is when you’ll have the best chance (weather permitting) of seeing meteors blaze across the dark sky. One of the best parts of watching the Geminids is that you don’t have to get up ridiculously early or stay up ridiculously late to get the best view. According to the American Meteor Society, the Geminids will give you ‘good activity prior to midnight as the constellation of ...

Northern Lights visible in the UK 2020 and where you can see them now

The Northern Lights are expected to be visible in the UK for the next few nights, particularly in Scotland https://bit.ly/3a3wMMd

The Lust List: new tech we want this week

We're lighting up this week's Lust List with some bright gadgets for these dark winter days https://bit.ly/2LtlFCf

The best Windows 10 laptops you can buy right now

When it comes to power, portability and price, these are the best laptops out there https://bit.ly/3nbwTZR

There is now more human-made stuff than all living material on Earth

This is equivalent to the creation of human-made matter equal to more than your bodyweight each week. https://bit.ly/3a0WwJp

Alexa is now a ‘Voice Assistant Referee’ for Prime Video Premier League games

Offside? Handball? Alexa now has access to the International Football Association Board 'Laws of the Game' https://bit.ly/3gz6YsT

‘It sends chills up and down my spine’: Scientists may have discovered new species of whale

'This is like searching for the last mastodon [...] and then finding a unicorn instead,' https://bit.ly/3m2El8w

How to do Top 9 on Instagram to reveal your most liked posts of 2020

Want to know which of your posts got the most likes? https://bit.ly/3lXF1fi