Tech Digest daily roundup: Hydrogen powered lorry to be mass-produced in UK

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Image: Tevva has added a hydrogen fuel cell to battery HGV. Image: Tevva

Hydrogen and electric-powered lorries will be mass produced in the UK by an Essex-based firm. Tevva, based in Thurrock, has added a hydrogen fuel cell system to its battery-electric HGV design and according to the start-up the 7.5-tonne truck can be driven for up to 310 miles (500km). Founder and chief executive Asher Bennett said: “When a zero-emission truck is doing more miles per day, that is very good for the air we breathe, for the planet and for the economics of running electric trucks. “Every mile you drive on an electric truck, it’s so much cheaper than driving on a diesel truck. If you’re concerned about range, and you’re not driving a lot of miles, you’re just not saving enough money as you could.” Sky News 
The UK government has announced that artificial intelligence algorithms that come up with new technologies will not be able to patent their inventions. The Intellectual Property Office said on Tuesday that it also plans to tweak existing laws to make it easier for people and institutions to use AI, machine learning and data mining software in order to rapidly advance research and innovation without requiring extensive permissions from copyright owners. It forms part of the UK’s 10-year plan to transform the country into a “global AI superpower” through its National AI Strategy announced last year. Independent

Online retail giant Amazon has restricted search results related to LGBT people and issues on its website in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The firm took the step after reportedly coming under pressure from authorities in the Gulf state. Same-sex sexual relations are illegal in the UAE. Expressing support for LGBT rights could also be deemed an offence. The news comes as Pride month, which is dedicated to celebrating LGBT people around the world, comes to a close. BBC 

Students wearing mixed reality headsets treat holographic patients. Image: GigXR

Holographic patients are being used to train medical students in Cambridge in a world first. The students at Addenbrooke’s Hospital are using a new mixed-reality training system called “HoloScenarios”, which enables teaching and learning with life-like holograms and are accessible from anywhere in the world. The technology is being developed by Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUH), the University of Cambridge and GigXR, a Los Angeles-based tech company. The developers said that it could provide more flexible, cost-effective training than traditional simulation, which requires more resources and expense for maintaining labs and hiring patient actors. Telegraph 

Nothing’s debut smartphone, the Phone 1, is powered by Qualcomm’s midrange Snapdragon 778G Plus processor, the company has confirmed to Input Mag. That means the phone is unlikely to have the raw performance of a device equipped with a flagship Qualcomm processor like the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1. Nothing founder Carl Pei tells Input Mag that the company went with the lower-specced chip because it believes it offers a better mix of price, performance, heat output, and power consumption. Nothing also says the Plus variant of the 778G supports wireless and reverse wireless charging, features normally reserved for Qualcomm’s flagship chipsets. The Snapdragon 778G Plus also features a marginally faster CPU clock speed than the 778G before it. The Verge 

Chris Price
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