Science

“Gifted” dogs have been found to remember more than 100 names of toys, scientists have found. Scientists examined the ‎ability of six collies from across the world, identified through the Genius Dog Challenge, to learn the names of toys. Image: Rico, from Spain, was also adept at learning the names of toys They found that

Microsoft is launching Windows 11 on Tuesday as a free upgrade, introducing a new start screen and user interface designed to clean up users’ screen space. There are no major changes to the way the operating system works beneath the user interface, although there are some, but the design is meant to be much more

Facebook has apologised after global reports of people having problems accessing its platforms, including Instagram and WhatsApp. Those two services and Facebook itself have all reportedly crashed, with users saying they are unable to send or receive messages, and their feeds are not refreshing. Andy Stone, from Facebook’s communications department, tweeted: “We’re aware that some

Two US-based scientists have been awarded the Nobel Prize for discovering receptors for temperature and touch. David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian were awarded the prize in the field of physiology or medicine. Their discoveries “have allowed us to understand how heat, cold and mechanical force can initiate the nerve impulses that allow us to perceive

Barbie is partnering with the European Space Agency and it’s only European female astronaut in an effort to inspire young girls to pursue careers in space and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). As part of an initiative called This World Space Week, a special one-of-a-kind Barbie doll modelled on Samantha Cristoforetti will go on

A space mission jointly launched by the European and Japanese space agencies has captured its first views of the planet Mercury during a “flawless” flyby. The BepiColombo mission’s closest approach took place close to midnight on Friday when the spacecraft came within 200km (125 miles) of Mercury’s surface. The joint mission by the European Space

The prospect of a pill to prevent severe COVID-19 is a very exciting development. There are no cures for COVID-19 and for those unvaccinated or for whom the vaccine doesn’t work, there are few treatments available, and none of them are perfect. Taken at face value, trial results for molnupiravir make it one of the

The UK has shown interest in an antiviral pill for COVID-19 after “very encouraging” clinical trial results found it cut hospitalisations and deaths by half. The chair of Britain’s antivirals taskforce hinted the country could buy molnupiravir, when he attended an online briefing about Merck’s experimental drug. “We are involved in looking closely at all

YouTube has updated its policies around vaccine misinformation and provoked the ire of the Russian communications regulator after deleting the German-language channel for RT. A week-long suspension of RT followed warnings over videos which were considered to be in breach of the platform’s COVID-19 misinformation guidelines, but it was deleted after RT registered a second

A combination of design flaws in Apple Pay and Visa could allow hackers to perform contactless payments without the iPhone user needing to unlock their device, researchers have warned. The experts from the University of Birmingham and University of Surrey found that they were also able to bypass the limit on contactless payment, allowing transactions

A 12-week trial will look at whether nasal drops can help those who lost their sense of smell after having COVID-19. The “Apollo trial” will treat people who have experienced a loss of smell or altered sense of smell because of coronavirus using vitamin A nasal drops. The University of East Anglia (UEA) said research

An American cryptocurrency developer has pleaded guilty to assisting the North Korean regime evade US sanctions imposed over its nuclear weapons programme. Virgil Griffith, 38, travelled to North Korea – officially the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) – to attend a blockchain conference in the capital Pyongyang in April 2019, despite having been refused

New plans are being drawn up to make it easier for broadband customers to switch suppliers. Ofcom has said that households are being put off switching services, especially when changing from those operating on the Openreach network to other providers that use their own cables, including Virgin Media or CityFibre. Around four in 10 households

Facebook has announced that it is pausing its Instagram Kids project following criticism from child protection authorities and legislators. Instagram’s parent company said that building the new app, meant for children aged under 13, was “the right thing to do” but that it is now going to re-evaluate the project. It follows a series of

A new study has revealed how the rise of dinosaurs more than 230 million years ago coincided with environmental changes driven by enormous volcanic eruptions. Known as the Late Triassic Carnian Pluvial Episode (CPE), this interval of enormous climate change saw temperatures and humidity rise around the entirety of the Earth. Before the CPE, the

A “human logjam” has formed at Heathrow as crowds of people struggle to get through customs after e-gates failed, with some being left stuck on their planes due to the numbers of people inside. The unspecified technical problem was confirmed to have hit other airports, including Edinburgh and Manchester, leaving queues to grow as more