Russian billionaire Yuri Milner promises $100m to search for alien life July 20, 2015 Venture capitalist investor slash Russian billionaire Yuri Milner has got into the race to find alien life, pledging $100m (£64.3) of his own money to help answer the question of whether we are alone in the cosmos. In a philanthropic(ish) effort, the internet entrepreneur announced through a live webcast at The Royal Society in London that [...]
Scientists have identified a sixth taste, and it could be the reason we become fat July 20, 2015 Carrying a few extra pounds? Blame oleogustus – which scientists reckon is the "taste of fat", according to a new study in the journal Chemical Senses. In fact, along with sweet, salty, bitter, sour and savoury, the study suggests oleogustus should be factored in as a key part of the human taste palate. Read more: Fat [...]
Your smartphone knows when you’re depressed – tracking GPS and usage data can predict depression with 87 per cent accuracy July 19, 2015 You may be able to fake a smile, but you can’t hide your true feelings from your mobile phone. It may feel as though our phones know everything about us. Now it seems they can even tell when we’re feeling blue, according to a new study from Northwestern University. Researchers exploring whether a person’s mobile [...]
These are the most collaborative companies working on research with universities in the UK July 19, 2015 Pharmaceutical and manufacturing companies are leading the way when it comes to collaborating on research projects with UK universities, leaving technology businesses lagging. GSK is the most collaborative business in the UK, working on more than 150 projects, followed by Rolls-Royce on just over 110 and Pfizer on more than 100, based on analysis of [...]
Driverless car technology to get £20m UK government funding and testing guidelines introduced July 19, 2015 The fledgling technology of driverless cars will benefit from a £20m windfall designed to help the UK speed ahead in the race to create autonomous vehicles. The government has earmarked new funding for the research and development of technology for driverless cars – an industry which could be worth up to £900bn within the next decade. "To [...]
Google self-driving cars have had their first accident which caused an injury July 18, 2015 Google's self-driving cars have had their first accident which resulted in three passengers sustaining minor injuries according to the company. The tech giant said that the accident happened on 1 July when its driverless Lexus sports utility vehicle was rear-ended while stationary in a queue of traffic on a road in California. "Thankfully, everyone in both [...]
Spam email levels at 12-year low as real emails outnumber them for first time since 2003 July 17, 2015 Good news on the email front: For the first time in twelve years, less than half of emails are spam. Real emails are outnumbering junk for the first time since 2003, writes security company Symantec in its monthly intelligence report. It remains a pretty close call, though, as spam still makes up 49.7 per cent [...]
IBM’s supercomputer Watson can check and correct the tone of your writing July 17, 2015 Worried about how you’re coming across in emails? There’s an app for that (sort of). IBM’s Watson now has a feature that can critique the tone of your messages. Think of it as a tone check rather than a spell check, if you will. IBM engineer Rama Akkiraju writes: To read a message and to [...]
Government spending on science rises for first time since 2009 July 17, 2015 The UK’s spending on science is up for the first time in four years, as new figures showed government expenditure on science, engineering and technology landing on £10.9bn. Spending in these areas went up by nine per cent in 2013, new figures released by the Office for National Statistics today showed. Allowing for inflation, this [...]
MacRobert Award 2015: British company Artemis Intelligent Power wins prestigious engineering award for digital hydraulics system July 17, 2015 A British company that has developed a way of cutting fuel consumption and transforming offshore wind has won the MacRobert Award, the UK’s most prestigious engineering award. Scottish firm Artemis Intelligent Power was presented with The Royal Academy of Engineering’s award late last night, for its novel digital hydraulic power system Three British companies were [...]