Britain is falling behind rivals such as the US and Germany with poor investment in research and development November 9, 2015 The UK is falling behind its competitors in research and development investment, is the message from the cross-party Science & Technology committee. In a report out today, the group warns that the government will put competitiveness, productivity and jobs at risk if it does not set out a clear plan to increase science funding in [...]
Fintech start-up acquirer Silver Falcon to float on London Stock Market November 9, 2015 Silver Falcon, a shell investment company that is aiming to acquire fintech start-ups is today floating on the London Stock Market. The newly formed company is aiming to take advantage of London’s booming fintech startup scene, that in September City AM reported had seen record investment so far in 2015 of £357m. The directors of Silver [...]
Children from religious homes are the least generous, a new study shows November 6, 2015 Children brought up in non-religious surroundings are more likely to be generous than those from religious surroundings, a new study has shown. By comparing the tendency of non-religious and religious children to share with other children, scientists from the University of Chicago found that the former were much more likely to give to others. The [...]
Meet Tim Peake, the British astronaut who’ll spend Christmas day in space November 6, 2015 Tim Peake, the UK's only current official astronaut, is heading up to the International Space Station (ISS) for Christmas. Due to launch on 15 December, major Peake will spend six months in space conducting various experiments, such as growing proteins for drug research and using an electomagnetic levitating device to study new metals. But he [...]
Alibaba agrees $4.3bn merger with Youku Tudou November 6, 2015 Alibaba has bought Chinese online entertainment company Youku Tudou for $4.3bn (£2.8bn) in a bid to increase its presence in China's booming online video sector. The price represents a premium of 35.1 per cent over the closing price of Youku Tudou shares the day before Alibaba signalled its takeover intentions. Alibaba upped its original offer [...]
Nasa knocks Boeing out of race for $3.5bn International Space Station contract, leaving SpaceX, Orbital and Sierra Nevada to fight it out November 6, 2015 Boeing has fallen out of the race to win Nasa's $3.5bn (£2.3bn) contract to deliver cargo to the International Space Station (ISS). The Chicago-based company confirmed yesterday that its participation in the contest had come to an end. "We received some information as part of the letter we received from NASA this morning but until [...]
When people are happy, they’re more likely to have baby boys November 6, 2015 When people are in a state of euphoria and having sex more frequently, the number of baby boys conceived compared to baby girls goes up. This is the conclusion a pair of researchers came to after analysing the sex ratio of live births in South Africa nine months after the country held the Fifa World [...]
Major European investors, including Aberdeen Asset Management and BlackRock Investment Managers, call for ‘on the road’ carbon dioxide emissions testing November 6, 2015 European institutional investors will call on policy makers across the EU today, to include ‘real-drive’ data on CO2 emissions in European tests. This comes days after it emerged Volkswagen has discovered ‘irregularities’ in the carbon dioxide levels of some 800,000 cars. The Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC) has 118 members, including BlackRock Investment [...]
The atmosphere on Mars is being blown away by solar wind, reveals NASA in the latest update of its MAVEN project November 5, 2015 If you’ve ever been annoyed by a gust of wind blowing away your copy of City A.M., be thankful you’re not Mars. The red planet is having its atmosphere blown away by solar wind. In an update today of its Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution – also known as MAVEN – mission, the National Aeronautics [...]
River Cycleway Consortium has launched a crowdfunding campaign for its Thames floating cycle path plan November 5, 2015 River Cycleway Consortium, the company behind the proposed Thames Deckway, a floating cycle and pedestrian pathway along the capital's main river, has launched a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo. The group, which is made up of Arup engineers and Hugh Broughton Architects and advised by Kemp Little, is aiming to raise £175,000 to carry out a [...]