Science

Alibaba has become the latest Chinese technology giant to unveil its own ChatGPT-like AI model. Tongyi Qianwen, which translates to “truth from a thousand questions”, will be added to the firm’s existing apps, including workplace messaging and a voice assistant. Like OpenAI’s GPT tech, which has been added to websites from Microsoft’s Bing to travel

Venus has long been known as a home to plenty of volcanoes – but not quite this many. A new map of the red-hot planet, which has a surface temperature of about 450C (842F), reveals there are around 85,000 scattered over its landscape. That’s almost 50 times more than past surveys had counted. Image: The

A runaway black hole is tearing through the universe, leaving a trail of stars in its wake that’s never been seen before, NASA says. The supermassive black hole weighs as much as 20 million suns – and it’s travelling so fast that if it were in our solar system, it could travel from Earth to

Adding a third scan at the end of pregnancy could be a “game changer”, a study suggests. Women have scans at 12 and 20 weeks but only get referred for another if a potential risk is identified. Researchers believe having one in the third trimester could cut unexpected breech births by 70%, as well as

A “force of nature” tech entrepreneur who founded a multibillion-dollar payments service has been stabbed to death. Bob Lee, 43, was attacked in San Francisco on Tuesday morning local time and later died in hospital. His father, Richard, said he had “just lost my best friend” in a tribute on Facebook confirming the news. “Bobby

Those who have sleep issues – such as snoring – may be at greater risk of having a stroke, a study has found. The research looked at 4,496 people – 2,238 of which previously had a stroke and 2,258 of which previously did not. Participants were asked about their sleeping patterns and habits, including the

A nationwide test of the UK’s emergency alert service will take place at 3pm on Sunday 23 April. It will see messages pop up on mobile phones across the country, along with a sound and vibration that will stop automatically after 10 seconds. People will just need to tap “OK” or swipe away the notification

YouTube is investigating a new email scam which has seen users receive messages from a seemingly authentic account. The Google-owned company has warned people to be cautious after reports of a phishing campaign claiming to be sharing details of a “new monetisation policy” and “new rules”. Monetisation is what allows creators to make money from

“Did any child in the ’80s not play Super Mario Brothers?” It’s a question that’s helped pile on the pressure when it comes to the latest iteration of the classic video game – which is one of the best-selling of all time. The franchise has already seen numerous games, an animated TV series and animated

Astronomers searching for Earth-like planets have discovered one in another solar system that seems to have one of the unique criteria for sustaining life – a magnetic field.  You may not often pause to thank Earth’s magnetic field for you being here today, but it’s vital to protecting our planet’s life-sustaining atmosphere. It does that

Many Twitter users are angry and confused as it is now impossible to tell who has paid for their blue checkmark on the social media platform. Last month, Twitter announced it would remove legacy verified checkmarks and end its legacy verified programme – in favour of charging people for a coveted blue tick. For users

Sewage spills in England fell by almost a fifth last year, figures show – but the Environment Agency (EA) says this was not because of actions taken by water companies. A total of 301,091 spills were recorded last year – 824 a day on average – according to EA data covering all 10 water and

Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit has said it is laying off 85% of its staff and will cease operations for the foreseeable future. The satellite launch company, which is 75%-owned by the British billionaire’s Virgin Group, was unable to secure new funding from investors. Back in January, the company failed to complete the first-ever satellite

E3, gaming’s biggest trade event, has been cancelled. Once the obvious home for the industry’s biggest players to make major annual announcements, the show has been heavily disrupted since the COVID pandemic and usurped by other initiatives. The likes of Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft have become used to hosting their own livestreams instead, showing off

Parts of Scotland will be treated to a display of the Northern Lights tonight. The spectacular sight comes during a period of heightened activity on the sun, whereby a coronal hole has emerged this week and hurtled superfast solar winds towards Earth. When these winds collide with our planet’s charged atmosphere during what are known

A Tokyo-based space company, ALE, has announced it will create the world’s first artificial meteor shower in 2025 – producing man-made shooting stars that could be seen from the UK. Named project Sky Canvas, the celestial light show will involve launching satellites up into space and deploying “space fireworks”. The objective is entertainment on an