Month: November 2018
InSight Mars probe sends selfie back to Earth
NASA has released the first image of the spacecraft InSight from the surface of Mars, after it successfully reached the planet after almost seven months travelling through space. The Mars Odyssey orbiter relayed images of the spacecraft from its landing site, known as Elysium Planitia, at 1.30am GMT. The US space agency tweeted one photograph, showing part…
Amazon parcels ‘could be delivered to HS2 passengers at their seat’
HS2 passengers could get Amazon packages delivered to their seat, a train manufacturer has claimed. Bombardier Transportation, which is bidding to win a £2.75 billion contract to build the high-speed trains in a joint venture with Hitachi Rail, is developing technology which would enable onboard click-and-collect services. Martin Rennoldson, sales director at Bombardier, said the…
New BT Plus with Complete Wi-Fi ‘guarantees signal in every room of the home’
BT has revealed a new home broadband system it claims “guarantees” a strong, reliable connection in every room of the home. Called BT Plus with Complete Wi-Fi, it combines the new BT Smart Hub 2 router with up to three Wi-Fi 'discs'. These pair with the router to extend network coverage throughout the home. The…
Black Friday sales up £1.5 billion, but down on IMRG’s forecast
Nearly £1.5 billion (£1.49bn) was spent with UK online retailers on Black Friday 2018, up 7.3% on the same day last year. However, substantially down on IMRG's original forecast of 13.2%. According to Andy Mulcahy, Strategy and Insight Director, IMRG, this was down to three main reasons. Firstly many retailers began their campaigns earlier than expected.…
Optoma launches high-brightness £1600 4K UHD projector with Alexa voice control
Film buffs, TV and sports fans can now get brighter imagery, coupled with the same high-end specifications as the popular UHD51A, with the launch of Optoma’s UHD51ALVe 4K Ultra HD smart home projector. Featuring Alexa voice control, 4K crystal clear detail and 3200 lumens, this projector is billed as the ideal solution for big screen viewing any time of day. In…
Eight-year-old’s Fortnite chicken skin idea becomes reality with Tender Defender
An eight-year-old who designed a chicken skin for Fortnite has seen his work become a reality in the popular game. The Chicken Trooper skin was devised by Connor in September and gained a lot of attention from Fortnite fans when his Dad posted the idea on Reddit. @EpicGames My son loves your game and he…
Tesla’s Elon Musk says there’s a ‘70% chance’ he will go to Mars
Tesla and SpaceX boss Elon Musk has reiterated his hopes of personally travelling to Mars, claiming there is a “70% chance” he will go to the red planet. In a new interview for the Axios on HBO documentary series, he said a “recent number of breakthroughs” had been made that excited him, and which he…
Has Chinese scientist He Jiankui created world’s first genetically edited babies?
A Chinese researcher claims he has helped make the world’s first genetically edited babies — twin girls whose DNA he said he altered with a powerful new tool capable of rewriting the very blueprint of life. If true, it would be a profound leap of science and ethics. A US scientist said he took part…
Parliament seizes cache of Facebook documents in ‘unprecedented move’
A cache of internal Facebook documents has been dramatically seized using Parliament’s legal powers as MPs probe the Cambridge Analytica data scandal. The documents are said to shed light on the social media giant’s data and privacy controls before the massive breach was made public. The documents were intercepted when the boss of a US…
Russia space agency chief aims to verify US moon landings
The head of Russia’s Roscosmos space agency has said that a proposed mission to the moon will be tasked with verifying that the American moon landings were real. “We have set this objective to fly and verify whether they’ve been there or not,” said Dmitry Rogozin in a video posted on Twitter. Mr Rogozin was…