Tim Peake spacewalk: Watch live as the International Space Station resident becomes the first British astronaut to walk in space January 15, 2016 Astronaut Major Tim Peake will become the first British astronaut (rather than British person working as a US astronaut) to go on a spacewalk later this afternoon, as he ventures out to make vital repairs to the International Space Station (ISS) The first Briton to go on a spacewalk was Michael Foale in 1995 – but he was representing the [...]
Tech City UK: What London needs from the next mayor January 15, 2016 The race to become London’s next mayor has begun, and now more than ever we need a tech champion at the controls in City Hall. London is unquestionably the digital capital of Europe. Our fintech pioneers, app developers and software innovators are re-defining city life. Digital businesses employ over 250,000 people in the capital alone. [...]
Green energy investment hit a record-high in 2015 powered by offshore wind in the UK January 14, 2016 The UK’s clean energy sector broke new ground last year, hitting a record-high investment of £16.25bn, powered by a booming offshore wind market. Wind investment more than doubled between 2014 and 2015 to hit £10.6bn, new figures from Bloomberg New Energy Finance show. Oil prices have plunged to multi-year lows, with international benchmark Brent crude [...]
That Dragon, Cancer review: a beautiful and tragic memorial to a terminally ill son January 14, 2016 The phrase “a game about cancer” doesn’t slip out of the mouth with much grace. Like “a bouncy castle about depression” or “an ice cream about poverty”, the conflict between a traditionally playful medium and a grimly serious subject matter is jarring. But it was through a videogame that the parents of Joel Green chose [...]
UK digital healthcare firm Babylon raises $25m in series A round from investors including Innocent Drinks and DeepMind January 14, 2016 Babylon, the UK digital health firm founded by ex-Goldman Sachs banker Ali Parsa, has raised around $25m (£17.3m) in a series A funding round. The financing was led by Swedish investment group AB Kinnevik with other participants including the founders of BXR Group, a multi-billion dollar global investment group; DeepMind, the British artificial intelligence company [...]
Cybersecurity is a growing risk for businesses, as firms fret about the damage an incident could cause to their reputation January 13, 2016 Companies are becoming increasingly concerned about the impact cyber attacks could have on their business, particularly the effect they could have on their reputation. According to a survey of more than 800 risk managers and insurance experts from around the world released today by Allianz, cyber incidents ranked as the top risk to businesses in the [...]
Someone should tell Bruce Willis: Nasa has a new Planetary Defence Coordination Office in case of Armageddon January 13, 2016 You can cross Armageddon-style asteroids off your list of things to worry about in 2016: Nasa has launched a new Planetary Defence Coordination Office to oversee all of the space agency's efforts to protect the Earth. The office will track and classify all comets and asteroids that pass near the Earth, warn of potential impact, and plan and co-ordinate an [...]
Soon there will be Oyster-style contactless payment technology on all public transport across the UK January 12, 2016 Contactless payments on buses and trains will no longer confined to London, with new plans to install the technology across the country, the UK Cards Association said today. Rail operators have provided funding for joint project between the card and rail industry to see how contacless cards and devices could be associated with long distance train tickets or [...]
Internet goes crazy after Arizona University scientist Lawerence Krauss tweets his team may have discovered gravitational waves January 12, 2016 The scientific community is brimming with excitement after it emerged gravitational waves may have finally been discovered. Lawrence Krauss, a prominent cosmologist from Arizona University, tweeted yesterday saying rumours had been confirmed by independent sources. My earlier rumor about LIGO has been confirmed by independent sources. Stay tuned! Gravitational waves may have been discovered!! Exciting. — [...]
Skyscanner is the UK’s first unicorn of 2016 after raising $192m new investment January 12, 2016 The UK's first unicorn of 2016 has been conjured as flight search app Skyscanner landed new funding which reportedly values the Edinburgh-based startup at $1.6bn (£1.1bn). The gallop into unicorn territory (a valuation of more than $1bn) is the result of $192m new investment by five investors, the FT first reported, UK fund manager Artemis, Ballie Gifford, the [...]