Digital firms in Tech City UK’s Future Fifty raise £470m as international expansion increases October 21, 2015 Companies in the Future Fifty programme have raised £470m in funding during the first nine months of 2015, up 63 per cent on the total raised throughout the whole of 2014. Tech City UK, which runs the programme, said the “exceptional fundraising activity” was linked to “unprecented rates of international expansion”. Publicly funded Tech City [...]
2015 Orionid Meteor Shower: When is it, what is it and where can I see it? October 20, 2015 The Orionid meteor shower happens every year and is connected with Halley’s Comet; it's the debris from its most recent passage, back in 1986, hitting the Earth’s atmosphere. The meteors are the debris left behind by Halley's Comet, which last whizzed past the Earth in 1986, and are the particles from that last passage that slammed against the [...]
This new website from Nasa allows you to see how the Earth changes each day from a million miles away in space October 20, 2015 You can now see what the Earth looks like from space every day, thanks to a new website launched by Nasa. The US space agency is putting images taken by a camera on its Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) up for public viewing, so that it is possible to see how the Earth rotates over [...]
Google splashes $60m on Chinese AI startup Mobvoi signalling return to China after five years October 20, 2015 Google has splashed a reported $60m on a Chinese startup specialising in Artificial Intelligence, taking a minority stake in the company. Mobvoi, founded in 2012 by former Google employees, makes Chinese language voice recognition software which is available on Android, Android Wear, and Google Glass devices as well as iOS and Wechat. While the exact amount has not [...]
When did life begin on earth? New evidence shows it started 4.1bn years ago – much earlier than previously thought October 20, 2015 No one has been able to pinpoint the exact moment life sprung into existence on Earth, but scientists now estimate it happened much earlier than they previously thought. By analysing ancient minerals in western Australia, a team from the University of California identified signs of life inhabiting Earth around 4.1bn years ago – over 300m years [...]
US agent Carl Force caught stealing bitcoin on the Silk Road case sentenced to seven years in prison October 20, 2015 A US federal agent has been sentenced to more than six years in prison for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of bitcoin, while he was supposed to be investigating the Silk Road case. Former Drug Enforcement Authority agent Carl Force was working to take down the infamous dark web drug trafficking site. But [...]
London’s digital economy could be worth £48.5bn – Oxford Economics and Virgin Media Business October 20, 2015 London’s businesses could be set to gain £48.5bn over the next two years if they fully harness the digital technologies available. Research from Oxford Economics and Virgin Media Business, seen exclusively by City A.M., shows that by going digital, London’s companies could increase their collective revenue by 3.6 per cent, and create around 171,000 jobs over [...]
Software giant IBM posts steep drop in revenue in third quarter but its cloud sales are growing October 19, 2015 IBM's revenue slumped 14 per cent to $19.3bn (£12.4) in the three months to September compared with the same period last year. It marks the 14th consecutive quarter of falling sales for the tech giant. Earnings per share was down nine per cent to $3.34. "In the third quarter we again made progress in the transformation of [...]
Now Virgin Money is getting into the money transfer business October 19, 2015 Challenger bank Virgin Money is expanding its services and getting into the money transfer business for the first time, underpinned by technology from fintech startup World First. The new service will let customers make international transfers with no transfer fees and Virgin promising to offer better rates than quotes offered by high street banks. Virgin Money [...]
Australian banks investigated by competition watchdog for closing bitcoin company accounts October 19, 2015 Australian banks have been closing bitcoin bank accounts – now they’re getting probed by the country’s competition watchdog who is getting on the case. Some 17 bitcoin companies received letters in September saying that their accounts were getting shut down, in what the companies themselves called a “crackdown” from the country’s banks. The Australian Competition [...]