Science

Cosmetics retailer Lush has removed itself from several social media sites, saying “now is the right time” to leave. Lush will no longer use Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat “until they take action to provide a safer environment for users”. The boycott comes in the wake of allegations made by whistleblower Frances Haugen about Meta,

A fast-track visa scheme launched by the home secretary Priti Patel in May to entice Nobel laureates and similarly prestigious prize-winners to the UK has resulted in no applications in six months, it has been revealed. There are more than 70 prizes that could make an applicant eligible for this immigration route, including the Nobel

El Salvador’s president said he aims to build a “Bitcoin City” at the base of a volcano in the country, where geothermal energy could be used to power the computers. The city would be built around the Conchagua stratovolcano according to President Nayib Bukele, who recently made the country the first in the world to

The US has charged two Iranians for their involvement in a campaign to “intimidate and influence American voters” in the 2020 presidential election. According to court documents, the men and their associates “waged a targeted, coordinated campaign to erode confidence in the integrity of the US electoral system and sow discord”. This included hacking state

Thousands of Brits with HIV will be able to get the first “long-acting injectable”. The NHS has been given the green light to offer the treatment to 13,000 people living with the virus to help keep it at bay. Charities have hailed the “incredible news” which offers an alternative to adults living with HIV who

The Staples Center, one of America’s most famous sport and music venues, is to be rebranded the Crypto.com Arena in a deal thought to be worth $700m. The 20,000-seat arena is home to basketball teams the Los Angeles Lakers and LA Clippers, ice hockey’s LA Kings, as well as regular host to the Grammy Awards.

Britain’s cyber security agency had to tackle a record 777 cyber incidents over the past year, with coronavirus vaccine research a prime target for attack. The National Cyber Security Centre, part of GCHQ, said a number of the incidents were linked to hostile states, including Russia and China. This included a global hacking campaign, blamed

Several social media apps and internet services including Snapchat, Spotify, Amazon and Google Cloud were reported to be down on Tuesday. Spotify said it was aware of “some issues” and was “checking them” after more than 50,000 users reported issues with the music streaming service. The Snapchat support account tweeted: “Many Snapchatters are having trouble

A study by researchers suggests that air filters can remove almost all airborne traces of COVID-19. The findings by the University of Cambridge and Addenbrooke’s Hospital could not only improve the safety of “surge wards” but also opens up the possibility of setting standards for cleaner air to reduce the risk of indoor transmission. With

A T cell discovery could lead a development of a vaccine which targets all coronaviruses and COVID variants, a study has suggested. In a paper published in the Nature journal on Wednesday, researchers said the next generation of COVID vaccines should aim for the body to respond to specific proteins that are essential for the

Elon Musk has sold shares on his company’s stock worth $5 billion (£3.73 billion) after promising to abide by a Twitter poll. The Tesla chief executive had asked his followers whether he should sell 10% of his holdings and 57.9% of the voters supported the sale. Musk said: “I was prepared to accept either outcome.”

People are being urged to be wary of WhatsApp messages and texts from friends they know claiming to be in need. A new awareness campaign launched by WhatsApp and National Trading Standards says that 59% of people have either received a scam text in the last year or know someone who has. The Stop. Think.

North Korean hackers have been detected attempting to steal information from a multinational life sciences company involved in manufacturing coronavirus vaccines. It comes despite the regime claiming there are no COVID-19 cases in North Korea, crediting its own strict travel restrictions, and even declining three million vaccine doses offered by UNICEF. Incident responders uncovered the

The Supreme Court has blocked a mass legal action against Google over claims that it secretly tracked millions of iPhone users’ web browsing activity while telling them that it did not. The court has unanimously allowed Google‘s appeal against the Court of Appeal’s 2019 judgement. The representative action on behalf of over four million people

Facebook’s parent company will no longer allow advertisers to target people based on sensitive topics, including politics, race and sexual orientation. The tech giant – which recently changed its name to Meta – said it made the “difficult decision” to prevent advertisers from “abusing the targeting options we make available”. Meta VP Graham Mudd said

Scientists have discovered the first species of dinosaur that lived on Greenland 214 million years ago, and named it “Cold Bone”. The animal, known as Issi Saaneq in the native Inuit language, is a medium-sized herbivore with a long neck and was a predecessor to the sauropods such as Brachiosaurus, the largest land animals ever.