Tuesday, October 22

Technology

Smartphone ban for under-16s needs to be thought-about, group of MPs suggests
Technology

Smartphone ban for under-16s needs to be thought-about, group of MPs suggests

A complete ban on under-16s proudly owning smartphones needs to be thought-about by the subsequent authorities, in keeping with a report from MPs.The House of Commons Education Committee additionally known as for a statutory ban on cell phones in colleges. It argued that display time was dangerous to kids's psychological and bodily well being, and each colleges and fogeys wanted clear steering from the federal government on the difficulty.Earlier this 12 months, the Department for Education issued steering, which is non-statutory, instructing headteachers on how one can ban the usage of telephones throughout classes and break and lunch durations.However, the committee has stated this doesn't go far sufficient. Its report stated there had been a 52% enhance in kids's display t...
New planet that would assist human life found ‘shut’ to Earth by UK scientists
Technology

New planet that would assist human life found ‘shut’ to Earth by UK scientists

UK scientists have found a brand new planet that would probably assist human life and it is not that far-off… comparatively talking.The temperature on Gliese 12b is round 42C which implies it may very well be habitable. In truth, it is without doubt one of the few recognized planets the place people might theoretically survive. "It'd be uncomfortable for a human but the way we define 'habitability' is that liquid water could exist on the surface of the planet, which in this case it could," says Larissa Palethorpe from University of Edinburgh.Ms Palethorpe and a staff of scientists from all over the world used NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, often called TESS, to identify the planet orbiting round its star. It took them lower than a yr to then calculate its measu...
BT fined £2.8m over failures affecting 1.1 million EE and PlusNet prospects
Technology

BT fined £2.8m over failures affecting 1.1 million EE and PlusNet prospects

BT has been fined £2.8m after EE and Plusnet failed to offer clear and easy contract data to greater than 1,000,000 prospects.Since June 2022, BT's EE and Plusnet companies made greater than 1.3 million gross sales with out offering prospects with a contract abstract and knowledge paperwork, which affected at the least 1.1 million prospects, in line with trade watchdog, Ofcom. This meant that BT broke shopper safety guidelines which got here into impact in 2022. They are designed to make sure prospects get clear, comparable details about the providers they're contemplating shopping for."It's unacceptable that BT couldn't get its act together in time, and the company must now pay a penalty for its failings," mentioned Ian Strawhorne, Ofcom enforcement director.When Ofcom intro...
Skinny fats cells could result in weight acquire in future
Technology

Skinny fats cells could result in weight acquire in future

People with small fats cells usually tend to acquire weight after they're older, in accordance with scientists in Stockholm.Although you won't be capable of inform from them, some individuals have smaller fats cells than others, which shrink and develop as their weight fluctuates. To check how these different-sized cells affect weight over time, medical doctors on the Karolinska University Hospital Huddinge in Sweden measured the scale of individuals's fats cells and weighed them.Fifteen years later, they weighed the identical individuals once more.They have now found that individuals with smaller fats cells usually tend to acquire weight sooner or later in comparison with individuals with larger ones, who usually tend to drop some pounds. "It is a bit like having a room fil...
Scarlett Johansson ‘shocked and angered’ after OpenAI allegedly recreated her voice with out consent
Technology

Scarlett Johansson ‘shocked and angered’ after OpenAI allegedly recreated her voice with out consent

Scarlett Johansson has stated she was "shocked" and "angered" after OpenAI allegedly recreated her voice with out her consent for a brand new ChatGPT system.The actress launched an announcement the place she personally criticised the corporate's CEO Sam Altman for insinuating she was the voice named 'Sky' by posting the phrase 'her' on X, a reference to a movie the place she voiced an AI which a human fell in love with. "Last September, I received an offer from Sam Altman, who wanted to hire me to voice the current ChatGPT 4.0 system," the 39-year-old Oscar nominee stated."He told me that he felt that by my voicing the system, I could bridge the gap between tech companies and creatives and help consumers to feel comfortable with the seismic shift concerning humans and AI. He ...
Blue fireball flashes in evening sky as comet fragment soars over Spain and Portugal
Technology

Blue fireball flashes in evening sky as comet fragment soars over Spain and Portugal

A comet fragment lit up the skies over components of Spain and Portugal in a single day - as one particular person stated witnessing the blue fireball "felt like a movie".The European Space Agency (ESA) shared a video on the X social media platform on Sunday which it says was captured by its "fireball camera". The company stated the blue gentle streaking throughout the sky over the western Spanish metropolis of Caceres was a "stunning meteor" travelling at roughly 28 miles per second.However, it later stated the sunshine was from a "small piece of a comet" and never a meteor.The comet fragment ultimately burned up over the Atlantic Ocean. "The likelihood of any meteorites being found is very low," the ESA stated.Videos filmed from a number of cities in Spain and Portugal have...
Northern Lights might be seen within the UK once more in a matter of weeks
Technology

Northern Lights might be seen within the UK once more in a matter of weeks

The Northern Lights might mild up our skies once more as early as subsequent month.Skies over the UK turned pink and inexperienced final weekend because the Northern Lights produced unimaginable shows for skygazers. The spectacle got here after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) within the US issued its first extreme photo voltaic storm warning since 2005 as a collection of photo voltaic flares mixed to kind an enormous burst of photo voltaic plasma."We had a quite enormous sunspot, about 15 times the size of the Earth, on the Earth-facing side of the sun," mentioned Krista Hammond, an area climate skilled on the Met Office."It was releasing a lot of solar flares and coronal mass ejections which are enormous eruptions of charged particles." Numerous th...
Bumble apologises for adverts showing to mock celibacy
Technology

Bumble apologises for adverts showing to mock celibacy

Bumble has apologised after it appeared to make enjoyable of celibate girls in a brand new promoting marketing campaign.The relationship app ran a billboard marketing campaign with slogans together with "you know full well a vow of celibacy is not the answer", and "thou shall not give up dating and become a nun". Social media customers referred to as the marketing campaign "unbelievably insulting", "patronising" and "tone-deaf".The firm has now apologised and admitted: "We made a mistake."It added: "Our ads referencing celibacy were an attempt to lean into a community frustrated by modern dating and instead of bringing joy and humour, we unintentionally did the opposite." X This content material is supplied by X, which ...
WASP-193b: ‘Tremendous fluffy’ sweet floss planet larger than Jupiter found by astronomers
Technology

WASP-193b: ‘Tremendous fluffy’ sweet floss planet larger than Jupiter found by astronomers

Astronomers have recognized a planet as gentle and fluffy as sweet floss - regardless of being far larger than our photo voltaic system's fuel big Jupiter.Scientists stated WASP-193b is "basically super fluffy" as a result of it has remarkably low density for its measurement. It's thought to consist principally of hydrogen and helium, in keeping with a research printed in Nature Astronomy.WASP-193b is the second least dense planet found by astronomers - however is proving a thriller to specialists as a result of its measurement, which is round 50 per cent larger than Jupiter."The planet is basically super fluffy" as a result of it is made principally of sunshine gases slightly than solids, in keeping with lead writer Khalid Barkaoui of the Massachusetts Institute Of Technolog...
Temu faces authorized problem over ‘manipulative practices’
Technology

Temu faces authorized problem over ‘manipulative practices’

Temu is going through a contemporary authorized grievance filed by 17 firms within the European Union.The Chinese on-line retailer is accused of "failing to protect consumers" and "utilizing manipulative practices that are unlawful below current EU laws", in response to shopper group BEUC. Temu was solely launched in September 2022, however has rapidly change into probably the most standard on-line marketplaces worldwide.In the UK, it was probably the most downloaded app in 2023 however it's now going through difficulties within the EU.The authorized grievance alleges the corporate is breaking new guidelines that imply regardless of the place the corporate is predicated, merchandise should adjust to European legislation in the event that they promote to European customers. Co...