UK biotech start-ups to spark innovations to improve our lives – UKRI

The DeepTech Catalyst Biotech Incubator (DTC Bio) is a collaboration between the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). Shaping a better tomorrow Addressing a range of real-world challenges, the latest businesses to join the DTC Bio are: Oshun Labs: developing functional products derived from seaweed to […]

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Pink noise: what is it and can listening to it make your sleep worse?

Sorapop Udomsri/Shutterstock Are you one of those people who can’t drop off to sleep if it’s “too quiet”? If so, you’re not alone. According to a 2023 survey of UK participants, 50% of people listen to some kind of noise to help fall asleep. Many people have turned to pink, white or brown noise to […]

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Open Letter to Tech Companies: Protect Your Users From Lawless DHS Subpoenas

We are calling on technology companies like Meta and Google to stand up for their users by resisting the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) lawless administrative subpoenas for user data.  In the past year, DHS has consistently targeted people engaged in First Amendment activity. Among other things, the agency has issued subpoenas to technology companies to […]

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Which countries are best-placed to resist state-supported cyber-attacks? A government advisor explains

In April 2007, the Baltic nation of Estonia woke up to one of the world’s first major cyber-attacks on civil society carried out by a state. A series of massive “distributed denial of service” assaults – floods of fake traffic from networked computers – targeted government websites, banks, media outlets and online services for weeks, […]

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EFFecting Change: Get the Flock Out of Our City

Flock contracts have quietly spread to cities across the country. But Flock ALPR (Automated License Plate Readers) erode civil liberties from the moment they’re installed. While officials claim these cameras keep neighborhoods safe, the evidence tells a different story. The data reveals how Flock has enabled surveillance of people seeking abortions, protesters exercising First Amendment […]

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Why walking in a national park in the dark prompts people to turn off lights at home

Andy Burns As soon as you drive over the top of the Peak District and down into Sheffield you can see the light pollution – and it’s horrible, said a participant in a research project into darkness and light pollution. In the last 100 years, the places where people can experience darkness have reduced dramatically. […]

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A giant star is changing before our eyes and astronomers are watching in real time

For decades, astronomers have been watching WOH G64, an enormous heavyweight star in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a galaxy visible with the naked eye from the Southern Hemisphere. This star is more than 1,500 times larger than the Sun and emitting over 100,000 times more energy. For a long time, red supergiant WOH G64 looked […]

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Yes to the “ICE Out of Our Faces Act”

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have descended into utter lawlessness, most recently in Minnesota. The violence is shocking. So are the intrusions on digital rights and civil liberties. For example, immigration agents are routinely scanning faces of people they suspect of unlawful presence in the country – 100,000 times, […]

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How giant ‘Blobs’ of rock have influenced Earth’s magnetic field for millions of years – new research

Kyrylo Glivin/Shutterstock While we have sent probes billions of kilometres into interstellar space, humans have barely scratched the surface of our own planet, not even making it through the thin crust. Information about Earth’s deep interior comes mainly from geophysics and is at a premium. We know it consists of a solid crust, a rocky […]

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What’s the point of a space station around the Moon?

The Lunar Gateway is planned space station that will orbit the Moon. It is part of the Nasa‑led Artemis programme. Artemis aims to return humans to the Moon, establishing a sustainable presence there for scientific and commercial purposes, and eventually reach Mars. However, the modular space station now faces delays, cost concerns and potential US […]

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