Science

Imagine packing for a journey into the unknown, unsure of how long you’ll be gone, or if you’ll ever return home. Do you fill your case with shorts and sandals or a warm jacket? How much room do you leave for family photos or an old favourite soft toy? How about snacks that remind you

A Belgian TikToker faked his own death to find out who cared and then turned up to his own funeral. David Baerten, 45, and his wife and children decided to prank friends and family members to find out what they really thought him. To spread the news of Mr Baerten’s death, one of his children

The world’s most famous early human ancestor could walk upright like a modern-day human thanks to fully bendable knee joints, research suggests. ‘Lucy’ was from an extinct ape-like species that lived in Africa more than three million years ago. She was dug up in Ethiopia in 1974, and at the time was the most complete

More young people are accessing news on TikTok, with users of some social media increasingly paying more attention to influencers than journalists, a report has found. The social media app is becoming one of the fastest-growing social networks and is used by 44% of 18-24-year-olds for any purpose and by 20% for news. The annual

A US regulator has succeeded in a bid to temporarily block Microsoft’s £55bn takeover of video game maker Activision Blizzard, preventing the deal being completed this week. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which opposes the tie up on competition grounds, went to court last night for a preliminary injunction. A two-day hearing, in which all

British tech companies and universities are to receive millions of pounds of investment to develop new technology that generates solar power from space. The rapidly emerging technology collects energy from the sun using solar panels attached to satellites, which then beam it back to Earth using wireless technology. Generating power from space has huge potential

It seems a day doesn’t go by without another thought leader warning of the clear danger artificial intelligence poses to civilisation as we know it. While they’re not necessarily wrong, I’d argue the risk of AI is something humanity can manage. But handwringing over digital dystopia is distracting us from a very real existential threat

Artificial intelligence (AI) could be used to provide “personalised learning” to children at school, the prime minister has said. Rishi Sunak said education was one of the public services he was most excited about AI‘s potential to transform, adding it could “reduce teachers’ workloads” by assisting with lesson planning and marking. He said the potential

Some of Reddit’s most popular communities are going dark today in protest against “ludicrous” pricing changes. The platform’s main subreddits for gaming, which has more than 37 million members; music, which has 32.3 million; and r/todayilearned, a page dedicated to sharing facts with 31.8 million users are among those shutting down. Pages dedicated to specific

When John Barber developed the first gas turbine in 1791 he could have had no conception of the transformation his invention would trigger. By 1886, after almost a century of innovations, Karl Benz began the first commercial production of a car powered by an internal combustion engine. Ten years later one of his products ran

Tens of thousands of skin cancer patients could be diagnosed faster thanks to a new smartphone camera lens. The lens – which is the size of a 50p – can attach to a smartphone and take detailed images of moles or skin legions. Dubbed “teledermatology” by NHS officials, the service is to be rolled out

The gang thought to have carried out a cyber attack on companies including BA and Boots has given victims a deadline to negotiate or have the hacked information published online. The suspected Russian group Clop, which claimed responsibility for the attack, issued the notice on the dark web to victims of the MOVEit software hack.

Masturbation could increase a male primate’s chances of having offspring, according to new research. The act of self-pleasuring may help with successful fertilisation by increasing arousal before sex, the study by University College London (UCL) said. The scientists also said ejaculating after masturbation helps shed low-quality semen, leaving fresh sperm available for mating. The researchers

The number of gonorrhoea and syphilis diagnoses was the highest on record last year, new figures show. Annual figures from the UK’s Health Security Agency (UKHSA) show gonorrhoea diagnoses increased to 82,592 in 2022, an increase of 50.3% compared to 2021 (54,961). This is the highest number of diagnoses in any one year since records

A blood test that can detect more than 50 types of cancer could speed up diagnosis and “help save thousands of lives” if it is developed successfully, scientists have said. The Galleri test has shown promise in a trial involving thousands of NHS patients, a study led by the University of Oxford has found. Of

Micro-needling and cupping therapy may aid skin rejuvenation, according to a new study. “Cupping therapy can be added to microneedling therapy and used to increase certain desired effects on skin,” lead author Burak Pasinlioglu of Kecioren Research and Training Hospital in Turkey has said. “This combination might provide an easy and effective method to improve