EasyJet is testing hybrid planes using hydrogen fuel cell technology to save fuel costs while cutting emissions and airport noise February 2, 2016 Budget airline EasyJet is testing out a new way to cut costs, using new technology to reduce the amount of fuel it uses and also helping the orange branded carrier become greener. Work will begin on creating hybrid planes with hydrogen fuel cells which can be used when taxiing along airport runways instead of engines. This activity takes up around 20 [...]
Nature Vs machine: Eagles trained to take down rogue drones by Netherlands police February 2, 2016 How do you take down a rogue drone? In the Netherlands, they're turning to the natural world to solve the man-made problem. Dutch police will use specially trained eagles to take down drones which threaten security. "The bird sees the drone as prey and takes it to a safe area," said Mark Wiebe, innovation manager of the national [...]
WhatsApp user numbers 2016: Messaging app passes one billion user milestone February 2, 2016 WhatsApp now boasts more than one billion users and is used by one in every seven people it has been revealed, more than doubling that figure since being acquired by Facebook in 2014. The numbers were shared in a blog post by WhatsApp, which also said it was aiming to add another six billion people to [...]
Hackers earn a fraction of what cybersecurity professionals make, so it’s little wonder they adopt an opportunistic approach and pick easy targets February 1, 2016 Even in this day and age, some adages still hold true – crime really doesn't pay, even for incredibly modern cybercriminals. Research out today from US-based security company Palo Alto Networks has discovered that the average cybercriminal earns less than $30,000 (£21,007) a year from their misdeeds, which is a quarter of the average salary of a cybersecurity [...]
Draft Investigatory Powers Bill: “Snooper’s Charter” puts UK tech sector in jeopardy, MPs warn February 1, 2016 A group of MPs has warned that the cost of implementing new legislation designed to give the government greater surveillance powers could put the UK's thriving technology sector in jeopardy. The cross-party group of MPs has warned that a lack of clarity in the so-called Snooper's Charter risks undermining UK tech by adding burdensome costs to businesses and potentially [...]
Big banks pay big bucks for tech and IT workers February 1, 2016 Big banks are paying big bucks for tech workers, offering more than technology, telecoms or media firms for the in-demand expertise. IT workers are earning over half as much more at banking and financial services firms and more than twice as much as a contractor. The daily rate for developers working full time is £300 in banking, compared [...]
These are Bill Gates’ favourite tunes: Desert Island Discs reveals Bowie, Queen, Jimi Hendrix and Ed Sheeran on playlist January 31, 2016 Bill Gates, the world's richest man and founder of Microsoft, has found some time to talk about his favourite tunes and his extraordinary life. Appearing on the BBC's Desert Island Discs, he said David Bowie and Queen's Under Pressure reminded him of his disco days, while Jimi Hendrix's Are you Experienced was played by Microsoft co-founder Paul [...]
UK weather: Storm Henry on the way, following on from Storm Gertrude, with Scotland facing the brunt of the bad weather with Met Office warnings in place for wind and rain January 31, 2016 If there's one thing you can bank on in the UK in January and February, it's bleak and dismal weather. However, with Storm Henry now hot on the heels of Gertrude, this year the country may have got more than it bargained for. According to an announcement made by the Met Office today, Storm Henry is [...]
Is Twitter dead? Why I was right about it failing January 31, 2016 Almost exactly a year ago, I declared that Twitter would be dead in three years. As the head of a digital agency, I could see both how Twitter was trying to monetise itself, and how people were trying to monetise Twitter as a service for their clients. I didn’t see lasting value in either. In the last year, [...]
Hyperloop just came another step closer: MIT students win design competition for Elon Musk’s transport pods January 31, 2016 The designers of a new transport system that could carry people hundreds of miles within minutes have been revealed. The competition to build pods for Elon Musk's Hyperloop was won by a team of students from top US technology university MIT. Teams from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Virginia Tech and University of [...]