Technology

Bitcoin mining consumes more electricity than most countries, according to a new report on its damaging environmental impact. Mining is the process by which transactions are added to and validated on the blockchain, the public ledger for cryptocurrencies. Competing miners race to use computers to solve complex mathematical puzzles using extremely powerful hardware – receiving

Astronomers have performed the biggest-ever computer simulations to investigate how the universe evolved from the Big Bang. Project Flamingo calculated how ordinary matter, dark matter and dark energy evolved according to the laws of physics. Virtual galaxies and clusters of galaxies emerge in detail as the simulations progress. Researchers hope they can compare the virtual

Scientists say already-available drugs could lead to a 35% reduction in deaths caused by cervical cancer, labelling their findings as the biggest breakthrough in treating the disease for over 20 years. Researchers from UCL Cancer Institute and UCLH say a short course of induction chemotherapy (IC) before standard treatment for cervical cancer, chemoradiation (CRT), could

Owning a classic car is a sensory experience. Purists say it’s the feel of the leather, the smell of the fuel, the growl of the engine that brings a classic car to life. But on an industrial estate in Newtown, mid-Wales, that growl is silenced. Three Ferrari Testa Rossas, a Maserati Ghibli and a Land

Meta has apologised after Instagram inserted the word “terrorist” into some Palestinian users’ profile bios. Some bios containing the word “Palestinian” followed by the Palestinian flag emoji and the Arabic phrase “Alhamdulillah,” which means “Praise be to God”, were being auto-translated to: “Praise be to God, Palestinian terrorists are fighting for their freedom.” The issue

Astronomers have spotted the most distant fast radio burst (FRB) to date in a galaxy so far away that its light took eight billion years to reach Earth. The remote blast of cosmic radio waves, whose source was detected by the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO) Very Large Telescope (VLT), lasted less than a millisecond. It

Just two servings of red meat per week could increase the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, new research suggests. The American study analysed several Type 2 diabetes cases that developed over decades and asked the participants about their diets. Researchers looked at health data from 216,695 people from the Nurses’ Health Study, NHS II,

Amazon will relaunch its delivery drones in the UK next year, the shopping giant has confirmed. The company said it will begin using the unmanned, airborne vehicles for distributing goods from some of its same-day delivery sites – one of which will be in the UK. No location has yet been revealed. It’s part of

The UK government will host the first major global summit on AI safety at the start of next month as the world attempts to deal with the challenges being created by artificial intelligence. The AI Safety Summit will take place on 1 and 2 November at Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire – the site where mathematician

New York’s mayor has admitted using audio deepfakes to call residents in languages he doesn’t speak. Eric Adams has been heard speaking Spanish and Mandarin thanks to the technology, which he said was a way to reach more people. Speaking at a news briefing (in English), the Democrat said the “robocalls” were used to promote

The UK has more than its fair share of looming infrastructure priorities. There’s a neglected water network that leaks sewage into rivers and clean water into the ground. A rail system in disarray after the last-minute scrapping of HS2. Not to mention roads filled with enough potholes to swallow fleets of electric cars there aren’t

The likely cause of the biggest ever seismic event recorded on Mars has been revealed following a UK-led study. The 4.7-magnitude quake was recorded by NASA‘s InSight lander on 4 May last year, causing vibrations that reverberated through the planet for six hours. It was initially thought to have been caused by a meteorite impact,

The AI chatbot ChatGPT could be better at following treatment standards for depression than human doctors, a study suggests. The technology could improve decision making in primary care, researchers said, as it is capable of following recognised treatment standards without any gender or social class biases that are sometimes a factor between humans. But more

NASA has launched a mission to a rare asteroid covered in metal that is two billion miles (3.6bn km) and six years’ travel time away from Earth. Scientists hope exploring the Psyche asteroid will help them understand more about how Earth formed and what makes it habitable. Lead scientist Lindy Elkins-Tanton, of Arizona State University,

Microsoft’s bid for Call of Duty maker Activision Blizzard has been given UK approval, removing a last hurdle to the biggest-ever gaming deal. The UK’s regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), said it gave the go-ahead to after the restructured deal substantially addressed its earlier concerns. Microsoft, who make the Xbox, announced the biggest

False videos, pictures and information have sprung up on social media since Hamas’s deadly attack on Israel last weekend which sparked retaliation strikes on the Gaza Strip. Firework displays, excerpts from video games and clips posted months ago are among the false material seen and shared by millions of people on sites like X, formerly