Tech and Science Daily | The Standard

Online retailers look set for a happy Cyber Monday, after data suggested Black Friday sales are currently on track to beat the last two years. A vaccine chief says that all adults in Britain are to be offered booster jabs to step up the battle against the Omicron Covid-19 variant. We hear from astronomer, presenter and author VirtualAstro about how anyone can get into stargazing and you don’t even need a telescope to do it. Plus experts are warning how online marketplaces can be a ‘hotbed’ for dangerous products, how more work needs to be done to create green jobs, Australia’s plans to unmask trolls and a Banksy-inspired NFT which is driving ‘seismic’ change in the art world. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s the day we’ve been waiting for - Black Friday - but across the UK, Extinction Rebellion’s been blockading 13 Amazon warehouses. An XR spokesperson claims the action is to draw attention to the e-retail giant’s “exploitative” practices, as well as the “wastefulness” the cyber sales extravaganza. But if you want to find a good deal, we’ve spoken to Katie Watts from Money Saving Expert. Covid: a mutant variant in South Africa that has doctors in the UK very worried. PinkPantheress tells us about her rise to music stardom on TikTok like Lil Nas X and Doja Cat. Twitter says it’s solved the ‘disappearing tweet problem’. A study’s claiming women struggle more with daily tasks like ‘using the phone’ than men as they age. If you are in Belgium this weekend, you won’t find an Uber. And, why musicians may want to slow down the tempo of their tracks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Following NASA’s successful mission to deflect an asteroid, an astronomer working on the mission has told us how likely a collision is, and why we need to be prepared. Professor Alan Fitzsimmons also discusses the second phase of investigations, which comes after the rocket collides with the asteroid Dimorphos. India is expected to ban almost all private cryptocurrencies. It’s as leaders in the country are planning to create an official digital currency. A man is to be given the world's first 3D printed prosthetic eye at London hospital. A cannabis drug trial for brain tumours gets green light. Ban to be introduced on default passwords for smart devices. And, a mosaic found on farmland “Most exciting roman discovery in a decade”. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

NASA has officially launched its first ever asteroid deflection mission. The space agency’s ‘DART’ rocket launched from California, and is due to reach its target in September next year. The mission is a trial in case of space rock heads towards Earth in future. We speak to the team behind Robot 'teleport' tech that lets you hug loved ones anywhere in the world. New guidance has been issued for drug which can cut the chances of pregnant women having a miscarriage. Samsung to build £12billion computer chip plant. Warning of computer games and console shortage this Christmas. Study finds tropical trees grow less in warmer climates, and therefore taking less CO2. And, Albert Einstein's notes on theory of relativity sell for over £10m. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We speak to the Executive Vice President of AstraZeneca who says they're working on new antibodies to help better protect vulnerable people from covid-19 for around 12 months. It’s as the pharmaceutical giant opens a brand new £1billion Research and Development centre in Cambridge. It’s designed for a range of projects involving AI technology and advanced robotics. Good news for IBS patients: study finds bacteria can be used to identify effective diet changes. Do your chores: do household jobs hold the key to better brain function? Clean up your act - Lush deactivates social media accounts over online safety. How sugar-loving microbes could be the future of powering our cars. Dodge to start production of first 'e-muscle cars' in 2024 as it phases out petrol sports cars. And, the Octopus-inspired fabric that can change colour to match its surroundings. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Spotify has stopped shuffling albums automatically after a request from Adele. She’s called on the streaming service to make the change, so music fans can listen to the tracklisting as it was intended. Some Tesla drivers were literally locked out of the cars over the weekend. It’s after an outage struck the app - which was promptly fixed. President of El Salvador outlines plans for volcano-powered 'bitcoin city'. All new UK homes to be built with electric car chargers under new law. DuckDuckGo to bring in new tool to stop app tracking. Instagram and Facebook messenger facing a longer wait for end-to-end encryption. Scientists discover new 'weird, hot, black ice' phase of water. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Swedish musician is building copyright software with fellow producers, using £1 million funding from Spotify and YouTube. New star wars: US Space Force satellite jammers to knock out Chinese and Russian comms. Climate change conspiracies appeared on Facebook during Cop26 eco summit. We’ll hunt criminals down with your Fitbit data, Scotland Yard warns...but could it frame the innocent? Dyson launches VR store to test out virtual vacuum cleaners and hairdryers. Crypto consortium bid to buy constitution fails as price of rare 1787 document rockets. Nightmare before Christmas as Crazy Frog makes comeback.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Thousands of people living with HIV will be eligible for the six times-a-year shots, so they’ll no longer need daily pills to keep viral load low. Apple right-to-repair bombshell: what does it mean for your iPhone, and why is this happening now after so much pushback? Biggest space ship in history set for orbital launch in New Year, teases Elon Musk. A deceased rhino is helping scientists to save her species after dying at 40 years old. Prince William: British overseas territories “on front line” of climate crisis. Los Angeles gets arena name-change after $700 million crypto investment...as Ethereum crowdfunding bid to buy US constitution raises $13 million. Sustainable chocks away as RAF sets world record for first successful flight using synthetic fuel, but how eco-friendly is it? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The e-retailer says UK-based Visa credit customers cannot buy goods after 19 January in a Brexit-based commissions row - we speak to the Evening Standard’s City Editor Oscar Williams-Grut on what this means for customers. Resident Evil Village and Call of Duty: Warzone in running for Game Awards 2021 amid pandemic surge in console purchases. Dog and bone for 21st century...meet Dr Ilyenag Hirskyj-Douglas, the canine computing expert who built a videophone for her faithful labrador. TikTok updates software in bid to curb dangerous viral dares. Vaccine research sparks record number of cyberattacks. And make it snappy...how your fingers are the fastest part of your body. Blur star Damon Albarn: I’ve seen climate change in action as Iceland glacier melted. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Panic as Moscow defence chiefs bomb old space hardware 280 miles above Earth into 1,500-chunk shrapnel cloud, sending seven on ISS scrambling for ‘lifeboat’ escape pods. Xbox at 20: What are the 70-plus classic titles Microsoft has repurposed for newer consoles? Netflix hit Tiger King to be turned into five-act mini-opera. Are you ready to clock-on for work in the metaverse? Bitcoin has major upgrade...as crypto’s value slumps again. Activision deploys anti-cheating tech to ban crooked CoD gamers, but is it spyware? Spectacular Leonid meteor shower expected to light up skies with visibility from Earth...with a clear sky.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.