Science

A video game streamer has broken the record for the highest amount of paid subscribers on the platform Twitch, after broadcasting live for 31 days. Ludwig Ahgren, who goes by the name Ludwig, broke the previous record, set by Ninja (real name Tyler Blevins) in 2018, by passing 269,154 Twitch subscribers on Tuesday – a

A paid-for Instagram post by retailer Babyboo Fashion has been banned for being likely to cause serious offence by objectifying women. The ad, posted in October, depicted various shots of women wearing lingerie and angel wings or animal ears with a voiceover that said: “Halloween is the one night a year when a girl can

Military cyber security specialists are preparing for the largest cyber war game in the world, which kicks off tomorrow as the fictional NATO member state of Berylia comes under attack. The real-time NATO exercise will include defenders practising the protection of critical civilian and military infrastructure, including water treatment facilities and energy plants. Amid the

Facebook has been criticised after taking down the official page for the French town of Bitche. Local broadcaster Radio Melodie reported that the page was taken down, forcing the municipal communications officer to create a new one under another name. Ms Valerie Degouy said the new page was named after the town’s post code, Mairie

A biotech company comprised of scientists from the University of Bristol is launching a bid to start a clinical trial of a nasal spray treatment for the coronavirus. Halo Therapeutics wants to commercialise their discovery of a molecule which their research says changes the shape of the COVID-19 virus’s spike protein, preventing it from human

The first ever flight on another planet has been delayed until at least 14 April, NASA has said, following the discovery of a technical issue with the Ingenuity mini-helicopter stationed on Mars. The issue emerged while the device was testing its rotors ahead of what was to be the first ever powered, controlled flight on

A woman who was sexually abused and raped as a child has waived her right to anonymity to speak out against the harmful affects of easily-accessible pornography. Dandy Doherty says she was sexually abused at the age of 11 and raped at the age of 15 – and that her abusers were the same age

Apple said it will introduce over the coming a weeks a new privacy notification that will enable users to prevent companies such as Facebook from tracking their activity on other apps and websites. The update will be included in iOS 14.5 making it mandatory for iPhone apps to gain the device owner’s permission before collecting

NASA’s Perseverance rover has taken a selfie on the Martian surface capturing itself and the Ingenuity helicopter ahead of the first attempt at flight on an alien planet. The image released by NASA was stitched together from dozens of individual snaps from the rover’s WATSON camera (Wide Angle Topographic Sensor for Operations and eNgineering). It

Tests on a new COVID vaccine in the UK have so far shown it produces a “strong immune response”, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said. The Valneva COVID-19 vaccine is being developed in Livingston, Scotland, and data from an early-stage phase one/two study involving 153 people showed promising results for the jab, paving the way

It seems incongruous to talk about a third wave when the second is still so firmly on the way out. Cases, hospital admissions and deaths are a fraction of what they were at their peak in January. The long lockdown and the rapid rollout of the vaccine have been highly effective. But the daily stats

The mini-helicopter Ingenuity has survived its first night alone on the Martian surface detached from the Perseverance rover. NASA hailed the “major milestone” from Ingenuity ahead of what would be the first ever flight on an alien planet when the rotorcraft attempts to lift off in the coming days. Now that it is no longer

Scientists at NASA have reported an exciting detection by its Insight lander on Mars – mysterious rumblings coming from the interior of the planet. The researchers believe the seismic events may be caused by a sudden release of energy from the planet’s interior, but the nature of that release remains unknown and puzzling. Intriguingly, the

For the first time researchers have quantified the impact of man-made climate change on global agricultural productivity, finding it has plummeted by 21% since 1961. The world’s population has more than doubled in the past 50 years – from 3 billion to more than 7.6 billion today – demanding more efficient use of agricultural resources.

For the first time researchers have quantified the impact of man-made climate change on global agricultural productivity, finding that the sector is 21% down from where it would have been. The world’s population has more than doubled in the past 50 years – from three billion to more than 7.6 billion today – demanding more

Delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic have cost NASA almost $3bn since last March, a report says. COVID-caused facility closures, mandatory remote working and disruptions to the materials supply chain have caused an enormous headache for NASA, according to the space agency’s office of inspector general (OIG) audit report. It follows a previous report into