Science

OnlyFans has scrapped a new policy that would have banned users from posting “sexually explicit” material. The online subscription platform known for adult content announced on Wednesday that it would not be implementing the planned change for 1 October. “We have secured assurances necessary to support our diverse creator community and have suspended the planned

On 15 December 2015, Tim Peake blasted off in a Soyuz rocket to begin his journey to become the first official British astronaut to visit the International Space Station. The father-of-two, from Chichester, West Sussex, would take part in more than 250 scientific experiments during an eventful six-month mission on the ISS, which orbits the

Five members of Afghanistan’s all-girl robotics team have landed safely in Mexico after fleeing the country following the Taliban’s rapid takeover. Known as the “robot girls”, the 10 students from the city of Herat won international acclaim for their engineering work in a country which under Taliban rule had offered limited opportunities for girls to

Jörg Neumann, the head of the Microsoft Flight Simulator franchise, has told Sky News he hopes his game will attract more young people to the aviation industry. He also elaborated on how Microsoft’s longest running product line (some 38 years, three years longer than Windows) helped him stay connected to family during lockdown. As Microsoft

Hundreds of cubes of Nazi uranium produced as part of the German nuclear research programme went missing after the allied victory in Europe, but now scientists have developed a new way to identify them when they show up. The race to develop nuclear technology was a critical venture during the Second World War, though nuclear

Three glasses of red wine a week can help lower blood pressure, a study has found. A higher intake of foods rich in flavonoids – including berries, apples, tea and red wine – has been linked to lower blood pressure in analysis by Queen’s University in Belfast and Kiel University in Germany. Moderation is key,

Hackers are targeting Microsoft email servers after a series of vulnerabilities were detailed at a computer security conference earlier this month. Although software updates for these vulnerabilities have been available for months, more than 50% of Microsoft Exchange servers in the UK have not been updated, according to security researchers. Among the servers still vulnerable

Online payment company PayPal is to allow users in the UK to buy, hold and sell cryptocurrencies using its platform. Available on both its app and website, the service will initially be limited to four cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash. It comes after the launch of the same service in the US which

Elon Musk has claimed Tesla will likely launch a humanoid robot prototype as early as next year, designed to do “boring, repetitious and dangerous” work. The billionaire said the “Tesla Bot,” which stands around 5ft 8in tall and weighs 125lbs, would be able to handle a range of jobs – from attaching bolts to cars

Twitter is introducing a new feature on a trial basis to test the ability for users to report misleading posts. The move follows a wave of criticism of social media companies for facilitating the spread of misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic. Although Twitter currently allows users to report posts, the subsequent pop-up doesn’t contain a

For years, Sid Meier’s Civilization franchise has dominated the turn-based strategy game market, but could it finally have met its match in Sega’s new release Humankind? Humankind brings new aspects to an already tried and tested genre, and climate change is among challenges that players will have to face. You begin your journey to the

A laboratory in the US is on the cusp of a breakthrough in nuclear fusion research which would see the fuel it generates release more energy than is needed to ignite it. The US National Ignition Facility (NIF) confirmed that a successful experiment on 8 August “made a significant step” toward this goal, which is

Facebook has confirmed to Sky News that the Taliban will continue to be banned from operating Afghan government accounts on its platforms. The militant group, which is considered a Dangerous Organisation under Facebook’s policies, has in recent days swept to power in Afghanistan following the US withdrawal from the country. The Taliban is not sanctioned

Tinder has announced it will be making its ID Verification service available for users around the world.. The ID verification tool will be used to tackle so-called catfishing, or duping someone into a relationship by using false pictures and information. It will allow users to verify their identities by sending Tinder an official document, often

A lawsuit from Jeff Bezos may end up scuppering NASA’s mission to return to the moon by 2024, although it isn’t the only obstacle putting that date in peril. In filing a lawsuit against the US government for awarding the $2.9bn contract to Elon Musk’s company SpaceX rather than Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos could delay

Wikipedia users were confronted by a Nazi flag on Monday when a vandal managed to set the image as the template background for several pages on the online encyclopaedia. Around 3pm, an account modified a Wiki template for English-language Wikipedia, resulting in a “Nazi flag appearing for a few minutes on a number of articles