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NASA Picture of the Day: The Helix Nebula from CFHT
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Will our Sun look like this one day? The Helix Nebula is one of brightest and closest examples of a planetary nebula, a gas cloud created at the end of the life of a Sun-like star. The outer gasses of the star expelled into space appear from our vantage point as if we are looking down a helix. The remnant central stellar core, destined to become a white dwarf star, glows in light so energetic it causes the previously expelled gas to fluoresce.
Five IT Things To Know Before Committing To A ‘New Normal’
A recent survey by YouGov found that ‘fewer than four in ten want to leave their house to go to work’. This was compounded by research from NetMotion, which uncovered statistics showing that 57.5% – of the 66% of staff that had encountered a technical issue during lockdown – didn't…
Asteroid Flybys Over the next 7 Days
NameDateMin Dia. (m)Max Dia. (m)Rel. Velocity (mph)Miss Distance (miles)
154302 (2002 UQ3)24th Nov802179435,54132,360,376
(2017 WV13)25th Nov16035871,67728,130,173
(2020 UR6)26th Nov18842127,73614,682,437
(2020 WP1)26th Nov25056053,1775,248,434
Ocean Mapping Satellite To Help UK Scientists Tackle Climate Change
Artist's impression of Sentinel-6 over the UK (ESA/ATG Medialab)
A government-backed satellite that will allow UK scientists to measure sea level rise is set to launch on a SpaceX rocket from Vandenberg, California. In the past two decades, space has played an increasingly crucial role in efforts to monitor and combat climate change. Satellites are indispensable for collecting data on…
11:07 AM 23rd November 2020
UK-led Space Telescope To Unravel Mysteries Of The Cosmos
Artist’s impression of Ariel (ESA/STFC RAL Space/UCL/UK Space Agency/ATG Medialab)
The European Space Agency has given the green light to the world’s first space telescope dedicated to studying how exoplanet atmospheres form and evolve. Its mission is to understand the links between a planet’s chemistry and its environment by charting approximately 1,000 known planets outside our own Solar System, arming scientists…
11:30 AM 13th November 2020
500,000 Daily Testing Capacity Reached In Ongoing Drive To Boost Test And Trace
The UK’s daily coronavirus testing capacity passed the 500,000 mark on Saturday 31 October. UK testing capacity increased to 519,770 to help meet demand over the winter period, in ongoing expansion of testing this follows announcements of new Lighthouse Labs and partnerships joining the…
10:50 AM 2nd November 2020
Sewage Signals Early Warning Of Coronavirus Outbreaks
A government-led project is successfully detecting traces of coronavirus in sewerage, providing an early warning for local outbreaks across the country and sharing data with NHS Test and Trace. The programme, which was first announced in June, has now proven that fragments of genetic material from the virus can be detected…
10:57 AM 24th October 2020
NHS Test And Trace Statistics For 8 October To 14 October
NHS Test and Trace continued to reach the majority of positive cases and their contacts, with a total of 1,133,094 people having been reached by the service since it was started. This week saw the service successfully reach 80.7% of people who tested positive and 75.1% of contacts where communication details…
2:55 PM 22nd October 2020
Staying Cyber Secure In Lockdown 2.0
Earlier this month, British universities and colleges faced grim warnings from the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) – part of GCHQ – around a steep increase in the number of ransomware attacks on the UK’s education sector. As organisations prepared for students to return to the classroom, cyber criminals used…
8:07 AM 5th October 2020
£500 Million Funding For Quick Result COVID-19 Test Trials
A new £500 million funding package will be invested in next generation testing technology and increased testing capacity. Government commits £500 million for COVID-19 test trials using latest technology New community-wide testing pilot launched in Salford and existing pilots expanded in Southampton and Hampshire …
3:50 AM 3rd September 2020
Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout - A Review
Sam Coltman
Games Reviewer
I really didn't expect Devolver Digital to drop arguably the best battle royale game in recent memory. Developer Mediatonic swooped into the already stale battle royale genre and immediately changed the game. A brief disclaimer, I got this game for free with PlayStation Plus at launch. So, my opinions might…
1:39 AM 19th August 2020
Track And Trace: Invasion Of Privacy Or Public Health Necessity?
Jamie Durham
IT Correspondent
Earlier this year, I wrote an article which looked at whether tech is the answer to preventing a pandemic, and explored how technology should have a leading role in social distancing. The piece outlined the notion that, although it would take an unprecedented amount of co-operation between companies…
5:07 AM 7th August 2020
Government Further Boosts UK Vaccine Manufacturing Capacity
Pharmaceutical and biotech organisation Wockhardt will carry out the crucial 'fill and finish' stage of the vaccine manufacturing process. Government partners with Wockhardt to provide ‘fill and finish’ services as part of the effort to accelerate vaccine manufacturing in the UK Wockhardt’s facility in…
10:38 AM 3rd August 2020
Coronavirus (COVID-19): Scientific Evidence Supporting The UK Government Response
This is the latest statement from the UK Government concerning the scientific evidence concerning the spread of Covid 19: The national and global response to the spread of COVID-19 continues to develop quickly and our collective knowledge of the virus is growing by the second. During a response to a virus…
3:10 AM 31st July 2020
UK At The Forefront Of Space Exploration With Biomining Experiment
UK scientists are experimenting in space to investigate the effects of microbes on asteroidal material in space under microgravity conditions. BioAsteroid, a biomining experiment, uses a collection of 12 automatic culturing devices fitted with a layer of material on which the bacteria will be grown in the KUBIK ISS incubator for…
10:26 AM 16th July 2020
How Secure Is Your Home Router?
Jamie Durham
IT Correspondent
While some businesses are slowly welcoming staff back to their respective HQs, many employees – and employers – are still electing to work from home as long as the threat lingers on. But, are those relying on home broadband at risk of a cyber attack instead? Although companies can spend…
2:33 AM 14th July 2020
Government Publishes Coronavirus (Covid-19) R Value And Growth Rates
The government has (Friday 19 June) published UK wide and regional growth rates for England for the first time, alongside R values. The current growth rate for the UK as a whole is -4% to -2% and the R estimate for the UK, as a whole, remains at 0.7-0.9. The growth rate…
10:22 AM 20th June 2020
World First Coronavirus Treatment Approved For NHS Use By Government
The government has immediately authorised the NHS to use the world’s first coronavirus treatment proven to reduce the risk of death. Ground-breaking coronavirus treatment approved for use across the NHS from today Government-funded UK trial showed drug saved lives by significantly reducing risk of death in hospitalised patients…
12:20 PM 17th June 2020
The Future Of The Workplace
Jamie Durham
IT Correspondent
A Skype video conference. Image by Jagrit Parajuli
Has the workplace changed forever? During the COVID-19 pandemic, enforced remote working has given the world time for thought and left us all wondering if there is a better way of going about our daily lives moving forward. In most countries, lockdown was introduced to protect health services from being overwhelmed,…
9:38 AM 9th June 2020
Opinion
Why The UK Needs To Take Far Greater Responsibility For Its Metal Waste
Today (Friday 5th June) is World Environment Day, which aims to raise awareness and action to protect our precious environment. While it’s true that global efforts of late to tackle some of the damage we have done to our planet over the last few centuries are starting to bear fruit,…
6:00 AM 5th June 2020
UK Reaches 200,000 Coronavirus Testing Capacity Target A Day Early
Following the rapid expansion of coronavirus testing, the UK reached the 200,000 capacity target on Saturday 30 May, including capacity for 40,000 antibody tests a day. The extensive capacity now available makes this one of the largest network of diagnostic testing facilities To achieve…
9:55 AM 1st June 2020
Opinion
How Green Was My Vehicle
Christopher Jackson
Features Writer
Those of us in retirement will recall well Richard Llewelyn’s nostalgic tale of mining village life in the Rhondda. It was grim and grimy, with the landscape pock-marked by hideous slag heaps. So what have vehicles to do with it? Well first I must confess - I’m a classic car…
8:48 AM 20th May 2020
COVID-19 Detection Dogs Trial Launches
Norman, Digby, Storm, Star, Jasper and Asher are ready to be trained to detect the coronavirus. Credit: MDD/BexArts/Nigel Harper
Trials for specially-trained ‘COVID dogs’ that may be able to detect coronavirus (COVID-19) in humans, even before symptoms appear, are set to begin as part of new research. ‘COVID dogs’ to be trialled as potential non-invasive detection approach for the virus in the future …
1:32 PM 16th May 2020
Salad Could One Day Be Grown On Mars
Schoolchildren taking part in Rocket Science experiment. Credit: RHS
Salad seeds sent to space on the International Space Station (ISS) grow only slightly slower when back on Earth, giving hope for the future of growing food on another planet. The findings come after 2kg of rocket seeds spent six months on board the ISS with British European Space Agency…
11:26 AM 15th May 2020
Time For A Change In Hospital Communications
Jamie Durham
IT Correspondent
Given the current climate, my feature this month takes a bit of a different approach – one of ponderings, rather than advice. In truth, the scale of the COVID-19 crisis has left me wondering whether it’s time for a change in hospital communications… In 2018 to 2019 there were 17.1 million…
8:31 AM 6th May 2020
Research Highlights Impact Of Plastic Pollution On Marine Life
New research from Queen’s University Belfast and Liverpool John Moores University reveals how the microplastic pollution crisis is threatening biodiversity. Currently up to 10 per cent of global plastic production ends up in the sea although the understanding of how this affects marine life is limited. The research, published today…
6:04 AM 29th April 2020
Remote Working - What To Expect And How To Prepare
Remote working will be a very new concept for many of us, but with the Coronavirus outbreak – and the many weeks set to be spent in lockdown – it will now become the only form of working for a lot of businesses. While it’s a positive tool that can…
3:14 AM 31st March 2020
Vaccine Trials Among Recipients Of £20 Million Coronavirus Research Investment
Trials of new coronavirus vaccine among 6 projects to receive share of £20 million. Trials of new coronavirus vaccine among 6 projects to receive share of £20 million other projects to combat coronavirus include immediately repurposing existing treatments to treat patients already diagnosed with…
9:00 PM 23rd March 2020
UK Launches Whole Genome Sequence Alliance To Map Spread Of Coronavirus
The £20 million investment could help public health agencies combat COVID-19 and future pandemics. Government and scientific community back new genome sequencing consortium to map spread of COVID-19 £20 million investment will allow scientists and clinicians to unlock secrets of the disease …
4:43 AM 23rd March 2020
Is Tech The Answer To Preventing A Pandemic And Economic Slow Down?
Jamie Durham
IT Correspondent
Using mobile devices to track the trajectory of an outbreak
It's not just the Coronavirus…  The World Health Organization revealed in February 2018 that it was preparing for an unknown international epidemic called "Disease X". In its list of research and development priorities, the agency said it represented "the knowledge that a serious worldwide outbreak could be caused by a pathogen currently unknown…
5:39 AM 5th March 2020
Hermes Makes 'Parcels Personal' With New Technology
Hermes Play is a new app that allows senders to record and attach personal videos to their parcels. Using augmented reality technology the app aims to bring people together and has been launched in the run-up to Valentine’s Day so that customers could send personalised videos to loved ones. Over 100…
7:00 AM 14th February 2020
A Top-secret Electric Vehicle Has Completed The UK's Longest And Most Complex Autonomous Car Journey
A modified 2017 electric Nissan LEAF travelled from Nissan Technical Centre Europe (NTCE) in Cranfield, Beds., to the brand’s manufacturing plant in Sunderland. Over the course of the 230 mile journey, the autonomous car tackled country lanes with no or minimal road markings, junctions, roundabouts and motorways. The autonomous technology activated along…
9:43 AM 5th February 2020
Why Is Moving Away From Windows 7 Important?
On January the 14th 2020, Microsoft ended its support for Windows 7 and while most people and businesses have upgraded to Windows 10, those who haven’t yet got round to it are potentially taking a huge risk. And here’s why… What is all the fuss about? New security flaws are being…
5:01 AM 31st January 2020
Carol Vorderman: Older Generations Paving The Way With Tech And The Environment
Remember the sound of a dial up modem? Remember not being able to use the landline phone when you went online? Remember thinking the internet might be a fad when it first launched? Despite this, do you now use a smart phone, find your way around with a sat nav and…
11:55 AM 27th November 2019
Fake-Face Tech
Jamie Durham
IT Correspondent
None of these is the face of a real person...
Hopefully you have been watching the brilliant series on BBC, The Capture. For those who haven’t, it is a fictional thriller where the CIA and MI5 use a new technology to change the faces of people on CCTV footage – a technique known as ‘correction’ and they then use it…
7:27 AM 27th October 2019
Why Is Backing Up Important?
Jamie Durham
IT Correspondent
In a world where ransomware has become big business for rogue countries and states, it is more important than ever to be backing up your data on a regular basis. In a nutshell, ransomware is a virus or script that encrypts your information, meaning it becomes unusable. The cyber-criminal will…
12:02 PM 28th September 2019
Bitcoin - Transformative Technology Or Complete Waste Of Energy?
Jamie Durham
IT Correspondent
For over 3000 years, physical money has formed the basis of transactions, but this is changing and like most things, we’re moving to digital – in this case, Bitcoin. So, what is this infamous online currency – that at times dominates the news – and what does it mean for…
4:59 AM 28th August 2019
Putting The Squeeze On CO2 Emissions
The U.S. Vice President Al Gore told us in 2006 about “An Inconvenient Truth”, and helped raise international public awareness of global warming. Today, according to a recent Berkeley Lab Report, it takes 70 billion kilowatt hours a year to run the internet across America, requiring about 8 big nuclear…
7:55 AM 31st July 2019
Partial Lunar Eclipse Falls On Apollo 11 Anniversary
A Partial Lunar Eclipse is in progress coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 launching its mission to the Moon. What a surprise as the full Buck Moon is now progressing into a Partial Lunar Eclipse. This happens when the Earth moves between the Sun and the…
11:00 AM 16th July 2019
What Is 5G And How Will We Benefit From It?
Jamie Durham
IT Correspondent
Image by Mohamed Hassan
4G – or the fourth generation of mobile communication network – is the current standard of mobile data and is now 10 years old. Believe it or not – and as with anything in the technology world – this is considered ancient. So, the fifth generation is now set for…
4:21 AM 12th June 2019
Android Vs IPhone - Which Is More Secure?
Jamie Durham
IT Correspondent
In this next instalment with the Yorkshire Times, Jamie Durham takes a look at Androids and iPhones – the differences between the two and which is most secure – to keep you protected against potential cyberattacks. Smartphones make our lives easier, and many of us can’t go a day without them.…
9:28 AM 15th May 2019
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