Science

Google is being sued by the family of a man who drove off a collapsed bridge while following Google Maps. The family of Philip Paxson are accusing the tech giant of negligence, claiming they had been informed the bridge had been collapsed for five years but failed to update their navigation system. The medical device

Microsoft’s plans for the next Xbox games consoles have been revealed in leaked court documents – and a judge has blamed the company itself. Information about refreshed versions of its Series X and Series S machines, which released in November 2020, emerged from filings made to a recent trial against the US Federal Trade Commission

Parents whose kids bought virtual gear without their knowledge on the popular Fortnite video game could soon be able to get a refund. US regulators are beginning to notify more than 37 million people via email that they may be eligible for compensation as part of a legal settlement with game developer Epic Games Inc.

YouTube is big business – not just for Google, but the creators who produce videos for it as well. The online video platform has two billion users, boasts annual revenue of almost $30bn (£24.2bn), and its best paid stars make tens of millions of pounds each every year. It’s proved lucrative enough for celebrities like

A man believed to be a food delivery driver was left with life-changing injuries after he tried to put out an e-bike fire. It comes as the London Fire Brigade warned that there have been 137 fires involving an e-bike or e-scooter this year alone, in which three people died and 50 more were injured.

A Scottish amateur football club is urging Elon Musk to join the squad after jokingly accusing the billionaire of “stealing” the team’s logo. Haddington Town AFC has pointed the similarities between the football club’s crest and a logo for SpaceX, which is owned by the businessman. Both feature the white outline of a goat within

It’s not just genes, diet or exercise that determine children’s physical development – they also need love, hope and happiness to grow tall, new analysis by an expert suggests. A young person’s emotional wellbeing is critical for preventing stunted growth, said Professor Barry Bogin, a biological anthropologist at Loughborough University, who has been studying how

Beach cleans rapidly and dramatically reduce plastic fragments released into the environment, according to the first scientific evidence of its kind. Experts from Norce, one of Norway‘s largest research organisations, found that within a year of volunteers removing bottles, bags and other large pieces of plastic from the shore of an island near Bergen, the

Mobile phone retailers are preparing for a spike in organised robberies when Apple’s new iPhone 15 goes on sale next week. Thefts involving a group of people targeting a shop for goods are sometimes referred to as “steaming” and there were more than 300 incidents of this in telecoms stores last year. Half of these

A British judge has admitted using ChatGPT to write part of a case ruling. Lord Justice Birss said he called on the “jolly useful” AI chatbot to summarise an area of law he wasn’t familiar with, and then copy and pasted its response. The Court of Appeal judge, who specialises in intellectual property law, said

If you believe there are UFOs skimming over rooftops, or alien remains stored in secret storerooms in the New Mexico desert, today’s NASA briefing wasn’t for you. But in terms of how governments and scientists manage the public fascination with extraterrestrials, today’s report from NASA is a significant one. Scientists release findings on ‘UAPs’ –

Popular versions of cold and cough medications such as Sudafed are ineffective for congestion relief, according to a US drug advisory panel. An FDA advisory panel voted on Tuesday against the effectiveness of phenylephrine – the key drug found in many over-the-counter cough and cold medicines – when taken orally. The FDA assembled its outside

If you’re looking for a new phone wallpaper, NASA has got you covered for the foreseeable future. The US space agency has released a collection of five stunning new pictures taken by its various telescopes, including: • Its Chandra X-ray Observatory, which is specially designed to capture images of exploded stars, the matter surrounding black

If your group chats just aren’t cutting it any more, WhatsApp is now letting people sign up for direct updates from celebrities, sports teams and brands. The Twitter or Telegram-like ability to follow accounts on the private messaging platform was announced in June. Dubbed “channels”, the launch was initially limited to a few countries, but

France is threatening to ban the sale of iPhone 12s over fears about excessive radiation levels – but Apple is fighting back. A junior minister has said the handsets, released in 2020, must be pulled from shelves and will be recalled unless the tech giant addresses the issue. Jean-Noel Barrot told Le Parisien newspaper that

A lack of cyber security experts in Whitehall should “send a chill down the government’s spine”, according to a new report. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said there was a “digital skills shortage” across departments, with just 4.5% of the civil service made up of tech professionals – compared to between 8% and 12% in