Fintech predictions 2016: Blockchain and bitcoin unicorns will give way to “thoroughbreds” December 13, 2015 More good news for bitcoin, and the blockchain technology that it builds upon: At least five startups with $1bn valuations are expected to emerge within the next year, according to M&A advisers Magister Advisors. The advisers have been gazing into their crystal ball for next year, and foresee good times ahead for bitcoin firms, predicting [...]
Geminid meteor shower UK 2015: How, where and when to watch tonight’s spectacle but will cloudy weather cover up the stunning views? December 13, 2015 Star gazers will be treated to a spectacular show tonight, when the spectacle of the Geminid meteor shower appears over the skies of Britain. The annual event is said to be the biggest meteor shower of the year, with as many as 120 meteors filling the sky every single hour at its peak, which just happens to be this evening. [...]
Cashless Britain: Mobile payments are transforming our society – cash could be obsolete in the UK by 2020 December 13, 2015 A woman waves her watch at the automated barrier to gain entry to the train. When she exits she will do the same and her fee will be automatically calculated. Apart from the one-time set-up of her account, she has nothing else to do. No ticket to order, no card to carry, no ticket to [...]
Countdown to Christmas 2015: Six of the most amazing and useful inventions of the year December 12, 2015 The stream of inventions flowing out of labs across the world never seems to stop, and 2015 has been no exception – over the last 12 months, a huge number of new inventions have been presented to us by scientists. Only today, we learned that American technicians managed to develop robots that can learn in [...]
EA’s new eSports division shows investors should stop ignoring and undervaluing competitive video gaming’s golden growth potential December 11, 2015 Last month, the best-performing media release of the year was revealed. It wasn’t Spectre, Adele’s new album or tickets for U2’s latest global tour. It was Fallout 4, a game from Bethesda Game Studios, which made $750m (£497.6m) in a single day of sales. One of the biggest industries you may not yet have heard [...]
Nasa shows us the surface of Pluto in unprecedented detail and in colour December 11, 2015 It may have been relegated to non-planet status, but Pluto is still an important body within our solar system. Now, for the first time, Nasa has shown us what this “plutoid” looks like close up and in colour, using high-resolution images taken earlier this year by its New Horizons spacecraft. The craft passed just 10,000 [...]
As Apple’s iPhone 6S lands will mobile payments change the way we live? December 11, 2015 Today’s smartphones can do incredible things. Need a ride around London? Just tap the Uber app. Fresh flowers or food from a local restaurant delivered straight to your door? Try Bloom & Wild or Deliveroo. These apps are fantastic, but there's a new smartphone feature set to fundamentally revolutionise the high street and how [...]
Obesity is a “national threat” like terrorism, says UK’s chief medical officer Dame Sally Davies December 11, 2015 Obesity has become such a serious health problem in the UK that it should be considered a “national threat” alongside terrorism and climate change, according to Britain's chief medical officer. In her annual report, Dame Sally Davies said obesity was a “growing health catastrophe” resulting in higher disease rates and greater burden on health resources, and that [...]
Death of cash: What does a cashless society mean for your children? December 11, 2015 Within a generation terms like cheque book and piggy bank may sound as archaic to young people as the threepenny bit and halfpenny are now. From mobile payments to bitcoin, money is constantly evolving. Last month the UK Payments Council revealed that for the first time ever, non-cash payments had overtaken cash payments in [...]
Scientists have taught robots to learn as quickly and easily as humans December 11, 2015 Until now, robots have taken a lot longer than humans to remember things. Typically, they have to be exposed to an object or event hundreds or even thousands of times before it sticks in their computerised minds, whereas in the case of humans just a couple of encounters tends to do the trick. So while [...]