Tech and Science Daily | The Standard

SpaceX has broken its own record for the number of rockets sent to space in a single year. The latest Starlink launch from Florida marks the 27th for Elon Musk’s private space firm in 2021 - beating the 26 it achieved last year. Experts say booster jabs can offer a good level of protection against the new Omicron variant of coronavirus - a new study suggests it may provide protection from hospital admission and death.Meanwhile Germany introduces new restrictions for unvaccinated people - they’ll be barred from non-essential shops and public events. Scientists have found cooling after volcanic activity more than 400 million years ago ‘may have triggered a mass extinction event’. The battery design breakthrough that could make electric cars safer, cheaper and more sustainable, and Reddit reveals new ‘live features’ like voting and comment counts. Also, researchers use gene editing to create single-sex mice litters and how plastic pollution is creating new communities of life in our oceans. And - Microsoft Windows tells off users if they try to download Chrome. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Meta has reversed its ban on cryptocurrency ads across its platforms - creating a huge boost for the crypto economy. Jack Dorsey’s Square is changing its name to ‘Block’ and major cryptocurrency firms will be questioned by the US Congress for the first time. Scientists believe they’ve found ‘the trigger’ which causes extremely rare blood clots with the AstraZeneca vaccine and Pfizer boss says annual covid vaccinations will be a thing for years to come. Spotify Wrapped is here - and don’t we all know it - plus Christmas shoppers are warned about fake online reviews. Match settles a legal fight with the founders of Tinder for $441million, thousands of e-scooters are seized by the Met and an injured sea turtle has become the first of its kind in the UK. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The scientist behind the Pfizer jab has told the public not to ‘freak out’ over Omicron. Dr Ugur Sahin, the co-founder of BioNTech, stressed that it is likely vaccines will still provide protection against the variant. Women’s safety campaigners have launched a petition to bolster the UK Online Safety Bill. Seyi Akiwowo, CEO of Glitch - a UK charity that aims to end online abuse particularly for women and girls - tells us why more needs to be done. It comes as twitter announces it will remove images tweeted without consent. Elon Musk has made a controversial joke about whistleblowers whilst promoting Tesla’s new ‘Cyberwhistle’. The worst street in the UK for broadband is revealed and Twitch gets a new tool to detect people evading bans. Plus why the builders of Stonehenge had a bit of a sweet tooth and good news for iRobot Roomba owners… it now knows how to avoid your Christmas tree. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Markets have fallen after the Moderna chief executive said that existing covid vaccines will struggle with Omicron. WHO Covid-19 special envoy for vaccine research, Dr Samba Sow, tells us what we know so far about the variant. We find out about the new Twitter boss - Parag Agrawal - after the departure of the tech giant’s co-founder Jack Dorsey. The mystery of ‘where the Earth’s water comes from’ might’ve been solved by a team of researchers at the University of Glasgow. MI6 say that more help is needed from the tech world to combat potential threats and how you get your hands on a 170ft yacht - for the right amount of crypto. Plus, why algorithms used in UK government decision-making are about to be revealed, Meta is ordered to sell Giphy and a new human support robot by Toyota gets its first trial in a UK home. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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.