Science

Dozens of people have died and many are still missing after a devastating flood in the Himalayan area of Chamoli in Uttarakhand, northern India. The deluge left the Rishiganga hydroelectric power project almost entirely buried under mud and ice. Another dam project on the Dhauliganga River was also severely damaged. Disasters of this kind are

A single coke can would be big enough to contain all of the COVID-19-causing virus currently circulating in the world, according to a British mathematician. Bath University maths expert Kit Yates worked out there are around two quintillion – or two billion billion – SARS-CoV-2 virus particles in the world at any one time. His

Twitter is locked in a battle with the Indian government after it was ordered to take down accounts supporting the ongoing farmers’ protests. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government demanded the social media site take down more than 1,100 accounts and posts it said accused the administration of trying to wipe out farmers. Ministers also claimed

More than half of the UK’s children (51%) say they have been exposed to more misleading online content in the last year than before 2020, a survey has found. The poll, conducted to coincide with Safer Internet Day, said misleading information such as fake news and altered images – often left youngsters feeling annoyed, upset,

The government has denied setting up a “Clearing House” unit to profile journalists and undermine Freedom of Information requests, following a letter from newspaper editors demanding action. The rare joint letter was signed by editors of newspapers across the political spectrum, including The Times, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, The Daily Mirror, and The Financial

Another half a million or so people will today bare their shoulder and have a vaccine against COVID-19. It’s a triumph of science and logistics. But will it end the pandemic? Just a few weeks ago the answer would have been an unqualified “yes”. But the evolving virus has knocked the confidence of many scientists.

A shortage of the new PS5 and Xbox consoles is driving calls to criminalise scalping – the practice of using bots to buy multiple units and then sell them on for a marked-up price. A month after the typical Christmas peak in demand, units of the new Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 consoles are

Google is adding heart and respiratory rate monitors to its new Pixel phones, using only the rear camera to contribute to measurements of users’ health. There are plans for the feature to become available across all Android devices in the future using the Fit app to monitor the rise and fall of people’s chests when

The Belgian military and the European Space Agency (ESA) are among organisations that have sought assurances from Serco, the company behind NHS Test and Trace, following a cyber attack. The outsourcing firm told them their information has not been compromised. Images of stolen files circulating on social media only indicate the criminals accessed a non-disclosure

A German veterinary clinic has trained sniffer dogs to detect coronavirus in human saliva samples – with 94% accuracy. The dogs are conditioned to pick up the “corona odour” that comes from cells in infected people, said Esther Schalke, a vet at Germany’s armed forces school for service dogs. Filou, a three-year-old Belgian Shepherd, and

Drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline and German biotech firm CureVac have struck a €150m (£130m) deal to develop next-generation COVID-19 vaccines that target several variants of the virus in one product. The companies said in a joint statement that they were targeting a launch of the vaccine in 2022. It comes as public health experts around the

Amazon has unveiled a 350-foot, 22-story Helix building for its new campus to a mixed reception, with some cheekily comparing it to the poop emoji. According to NBBJ, the architectural firm behind the building’s design, its helix shape is meant to echo the occurrence of helixes in nature – from the double-helix of DNA through

Tesla customers are today receiving an email alerting them to a voluntary recall of Model S and Model X vehicles due to a malfunctioning touchscreen. The recall follows pressure from US regulators, and was posted to a US government website on Tuesday, stating that 2012-2018 Model S and 2016-2018 Model X vehicles pose a safety

The newest update to Apple’s iOS includes a feature allowing mask wearers to unlock their phones, despite the barrier the masks pose to Face ID. Face ID allows iPhone users to unlock their device simply by holding it up to their faces – but the COVID-19 pandemic has meant people’s faces are obscured most of

Elon Musk, the billionaire chief executive of Tesla and SpaceX, claims another of his companies has wired up a monkey’s brain to ” play video games with his mind”. Neuralink Corporation, which Mr Musk owns, previously claimed to have implanted coin-sized wireless sensors inside the brains of two pigs, describing the sensors as “a Fitbit

A single-shot vaccine developed by the healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson is up to 85% effective in preventing the most serious coronavirus symptoms, according to data from mass trials. The company said its latest tests – carried out in several countries – also showed it was 66% effective at preventing moderate to severe illness. There