Science

Google has unveiled its Pixel 5 smartphone – a 5G-compatible flagship device with a more affordable price tag – and an updated Nest smart speaker, alongside new services including Google TV. Although the Pixel 5 had been announced earlier this year when Google unveiled the low-cost Pixel 4a phone, consumers are now being given their

The International Space Station (ISS) might have to receive a delivery of extra air after it began to leak at above-normal volumes, according to the Russian space agency. The air leak has been localised to one section of a service module and presents no danger to the Russian and American crew on board, Roscosmos executive

New evidence has been revealed of an enormous salty lake of liquid water buried beneath the ice of the Martian south pole. New radar data from a European Space Agency spacecraft suggests a large body of liquid water, as well as three smaller lakes, are spread out over 75,000 square kilometres – an area roughly

An order which would have banned the popular video sharing app TikTok from smartphone app stores in the US has been temporarily blocked. The order, from the administration of Donald Trump, was due to take effect at 11.59pm on Sunday. A more comprehensive ban remains scheduled for November, about a week after the presidential election.

In the race for a COVID vaccine it pays to keep your options open. There is no way you can design a jab on paper and guarantee that it will work. In fact, 90% of experimental vaccines fail to make it to the clinic. Live updates on coronavirus from UK and around the world So

The world’s first hydrogen-powered commercial aircraft has taken to the skies above Bedfordshire. The only thing that the six-seater Piper M-class plane emits is water vapour – and ZeroAvia, the company behind the technology, says its aim is to make hydrogen planes available commercially in three years. “What we’re doing is replacing fossil fuel engines

Novavax is ready to start its Phase 3 trial of an experimental COVID-19 vaccine in the UK. The US biotechnology firm plans to enrol up to 10,000 volunteers aged between 18 and 84 over the next four to six weeks. The company joins AstraZeneca, Pfizer, and Moderna as its vaccine candidate enters the final step

Scientists have solved the mystery of Jupiter’s polygon storms, which were first spotted by NASA’s Juno space probe in 2019. At the gas giant’s south pole, hidden from view from Earth, is a herd of storms arranged in a perfect geometric pattern. This is unlike anything else humanity has observed in the universe. The most

The government will finally release a mobile phone app on Thursday that people in England and Wales can use to establish whether they may have been exposed to coronavirus. The launch follows the ignominious scrapping of the previous app despite months of development, although some features are being incorporated into the new design. It comes

Airbus has unveiled three concepts for a zero-emission commercial aircraft powered by hydrogen rather than jet fuel, which it says could be carrying passengers by 2035. The three concepts are each based on a different idea for how to achieve zero-emission flights and use different aerodynamic configurations for what the company said was its ambition

NASA have outlined plans for a space programme which will see the first woman sent to the Moon in 2024. The programme, called Artemis, will also send a man to the Moon – it will be the first lunar landing since NASA’s Apollo 17 mission in 1972. Astronauts will launch on a rocket called SLS

A British man who helped steal information from several companies as a key member of The Dark Overlord hacking group has been jailed for five years in the US. Nathan Francis Wyatt pleaded guilty in federal court in St Louis, Missouri, to conspiring to commit aggravated identity theft and computer fraud. The 39-year-old, of Wellingborough,

Sony has come out swinging ahead of the console wars looming this holiday season by confirming its two PS5 consoles will be available in November alongside a host of exciting games. The flagship PlayStation 5 will be available for £449 in the UK from 19 November, and a digital edition which doesn’t have a disc

Perfectly preserved sperm dating back 100 million years has been found trapped in amber. The sperm – roughly 50 million years older than the previous oldest fossil record – belonged to an ostracod, a class of small crustacean that has been in existence for 450 million years. It was found in modern-day Myanmar. Based on

The NHS is partnering with Facebook to enlist new blood donors in England, Wales and Northern Ireland ahead of a potential second wave of COVID-19. The feature on Facebook will allow users to sign up to receive notifications to donate at local centres, as well as encourage their friends to donate too. The NHS is

The Japanese military have been given instructions to record and report sightings of unidentified aerial objects which could pose a potential threat to the country’s security. Taro Kono, the country’s minister for defence, issues the instruction following the US department of defence founding its Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force. While the popular imagination has been