Whether we get cancer is mostly down to lifestyle factors, not bad luck December 17, 2015 It's an ongoing question – how much is cancer caused by genetic factors outside our control, and how much is it the result of the environment we put ourselves in? Now, researchers at the Stony Brook Cancer Centre in New York think they've worked out how much of a role each influencer plays, and their [...]
Feeling forgettable? MIT researchers have created a tool to tell you how memorable your face is December 17, 2015 We've all had that moment: you're at a party, you go to greet someone you've met before – and they introduce themselves. Awkward… It could just be your face, though. Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have created a tool which can tell you how memorable your face is – or whether you're just another forgettable part [...]
Hitting the brakes? Driverless cars must have a driver, says California DMV, putting bump in road for Google, Apple, Ford December 17, 2015 The development of self-driving cars has hit a bump in the road, after US authorities said they won't be allowed to hit the roads without a driver present. Regulators in California, where the majority of research and testing of autonomous vehicles is centred, said there needs to be a driver present in case the technology fails. Google is the best known [...]
It’s official: English people do not have worse teeth than Americans December 17, 2015 The popular belief that English people have terrible teeth compared to other nationalities is wrong, it turns out. In a study comparing the oral health of English and American people, researchers found real no difference between the two. In fact, in some ways English people have better teeth – Americans are more likely to have [...]
You can now hail an Uber from Facebook Messenger December 16, 2015 Uber has teamed up with Facebook Messenger, meaning you can now hail a cab directly from the chat app. The question is what you can’t do through the chat app at this point, as Facebook has already added features allowing you to shop and send money to your friends from within the app. In a [...]
Beware fake hoverboards: Counterfeit goods are no longer cheap imitations confined to the black market December 16, 2015 Only a few months ago, hoverboard hysteria swept the nation. Endorsements by celebrities from Lily Allen to Usain Bolt led to a massive rush of pre-orders and John Lewis swiftly ran out of stock. However, there is also a dark side to all of this excitement: the seizure of more than 15,000 hoverboards imported into [...]
Fintech challengers like Square, ApplePay and Funding Circle could undermine banks’ credit ratings in 2016 according to Standard & Poor’s December 16, 2015 The rise of fintech is challenging traditional banks, and could even undermine their credit rating, according to Standard & Poor's. The ratings agency expects global investment in 'non bank' financial service to be worth $24bn (£16bn) this year, double the figure in 2014. Traditional banks are still trying to adapt to the low interest rate, and [...]
Behind the scenes: Better infrastructure is required to keep London’s tech sector on track December 16, 2015 The Lord Mayor of London Alan Yarrow has identified infrastructure as one of the keys to unlocking the capital’s future growth. Given that the tech sector is at the very heart of London’s economic success – with a further £1.6bn being pumped into tech investment this year alone – the Lord Mayor’s statement has never [...]
Astronaut Tim Peake sends us a message from the International Space Station December 16, 2015 Major Tim Peake has sent a message down to Earth during his first full day at the International Space Station. The astronaut – the only one ever chosen by the European Space Agency (ESA) to go to space, took off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at just after 11am yesterday. He then spent six [...]
Roche breast cancer drug Kadclya ruled “too expensive” for NHS by Nice December 16, 2015 A life-extending drug for breast cancer sufferers has been described as “too expensive” for the NHS by Nice, the government's regulatory body for medicines. Kadcyla, which is owned by Roche, increases life expectancy of those with a progressed form of the disease by an average of six months. It is used in patients where the [...]