Tech and Science Daily | The Standard

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg says he wants to turn the social network into an all-enveloping virtual world so users spend even more time inside its walled garden. Boeing's Starliner space capsule to attempt second uncrewed test flight to space station. How satellites are monitoring Earth’s ‘breathing’ from hundreds of miles up. South Korea vows crackdown on crypto tax dodgers to help fund rising welfare bill. Author Jeanette Winterson says AI will soon be clever enough able to write fiction stories. Cholesterol in middle aged ‘linked to Alzheimer’s more than 10 years later’. Now Britain is blasted by lightning and flash floods to break heatwaveJoy as trapped seagull hunting easy food is freed from behind car’s engine grille. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We speak to the European Space Agency about the Eutelsat Quantum, with on-board software that can be reconfigured depending on data demand. Nasa scientists have calculated how thick the crust of Mars is - and the result might surprise you. Could daily Covid-19 testing of pupils be ‘just as effective' at controlling transmission as isolation? Ofcom says telecoms firms must do more to support people struggling to pay mobile and internet bills. Reddit, is that you? Twitter trials suspiciously familiar ‘upvote’ and ‘downvote’ buttons. Millions of English households are suffering from overheating as summers get hotter - what can be done? Newly-hatched pterosaurs may have been able to fly fresh out of the egg - with better flight acrobatics than adults. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Following an FBI and Secret Service probe, police in Spain say the suspect was arrested over the hacking of 130 celebrity Twitter accounts, including Kanye West, Barack Obama and Elon Musk. Bitcoin u-turn for Musk as tycoon says Tesla may take crypto-for-cars after all. Nasa’s Perseverance Mars rover is revving up its drills for first rock sample mission. Progress stalls on getting people moving as millions die from inactivity. Social media audio app Clubhouse is now open to all without an invite. Extreme weather: listen to hail stones ‘the size of golf balls’ smashing through a British family’s conservatory roof. Stinky Bay and Crazy Mary’s Hole among gloriously ribald names helping plot a new Ordnance Survey map of Britain. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Large parts of Henan province in China have been submerged, with at least a dozen people dead in Zhengzhou and thousands evacuated. EU chiefs want to make Bitcoin transfers easier to trace with new ID checks. Top lawyers want tough new rules making Airdrop ‘cyberflashing’ a sexual offence. China pushes back against Microsoft hacking claims over plundering of company email inboxes...but is coy with evidence. Eating red and processed meat ‘increases risk of heart disease’. Secret dig in English countryside finds rare Jurassic starfish 60 miles from seaside. Lockdown pet problems: RSCPA dealing with influx of guinea pigs. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The history-making aviator’s biographer on Funk’s boundless enthusiasm and why her rocket mission is many decades overdue. Jeff Bezos says he’s ‘ready not nervous’ for Blue Origin space trip. Hubble’s technical trouble is fixed to bring space mega-telescope back online. Please don’t delete vital NHS Covid app to dodge ‘pings’, urges pandemics expert. Long-distance drone deliveries to your home are being plotted. And, pay-by-fingerprint with this biometric credit card. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As Covid restrictions are lifted in England and revellers queue at midnight to get into nightclubs, Macmillan says one-in-five cancer patients fear being unable to return to normal life amid rising infection rates. NHS App that displays vaccine status hits milestone of 10 million users. Last-minute training for Blue Origin’s civilian crew ahead of suborbital blastoff. Israeli tech firm’s spyware ‘used to target journalists’ smartphones’. Crypto crackdown: Binance ditches ‘stock tokens’ amid global tightening of laws. Drone swarms operated by UK commandos go underwater and through the air in combat training. Vaccine drive: Cornish choristers raise cash for 10,000 jabs. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As the United Kingdom prepares to unlock on the 19th July and record numbers of Britons get their jabs, Professor Whitty is urging caution amid concerns about a “vaccine escape variant”. Half of first wave Covid-19 hospital patients developed a complication, study reveals. ‘I’d delete my harmful social media if I didn’t need it for work’, says Brit winner Celeste. Blue Origin blast-off: teen takes place of mystery $28 million passenger. Nasa warns ‘wobbly moon’ will spark increased floods in US coastal cities. Motion of the ocean...scientists are recording Earth’s ‘pulse’ on seabed. Battle of analogue vs digital as WWII Spitfire plane takes on F1 ace Max Verstappen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The super-spyglass, launched in 1990, is in trouble after a software crash - and it’s not like you can turn it off and on again. Alexa, take me to sub orbit...Bezos to make history with pilotless Blue Origin space flight. Fears that fewer people who’ve had Covid-19 are getting their vaccine. Well that was Fleeting...user apathy means Twitter’s disappearing posts feature is gone. Young web users being trained to spot online disinformation. Keeping your brain active may delay dementia by five years. Archaeologists identify 9th Century cave house as Anglo-Saxon saint’s des res. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Both the ransom website for victims to deposit bitcoin and the blog by the gang known as REvil are now offline...days after a phone call between Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin. Alcohol is being linked to more than 740,000 new cancer cases. High blood sugar levels raise heart attack risk by ‘reprogramming the body’s stem cells. Do not flush that fish...unwanted pets morph into giant problem for US lake. Fastly fiasco: now Bank of England wants a cloud computing crackdown. Branson’s launchpad bike ride was fake news, Virgin Galactic admits. Grunts of happiness as seal wounded by plastic disk around neck released back to wild. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

London’s Metropolitan Police say they’ve now made two record cryptocurrency seizures worth the equivalent of more than $400 million after receiving intelligence about the transfer of criminal assets.SolarWinds hack: now firm says unknown hackers exploited new security flaw. ID verification call on social media to stamp out online abuse. Welcome to Branson’s orbiting hotel...Virgin tycoon raises prospect of lunar inn. Aviation authorities approve Blue Origin's licence for human space travel ahead of Bezos flight. First baby beaver born on English moor in four centuries. ‘Like new’ Super Mario 64 game sells for record $1.5 million at auction. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.