Tech and Science Daily | The Standard

Elon Musk’s futuristic Starship soared more than six miles after lifting off from the southern tip of Texas. Then, after what seemed like a perfect landing, it exploded with such force it was tossed into the air surrounded by a ball of flames. Plus, scientists pinpoint the location of particles on the sun that are potentially hazardous to air passengers, bats equipped with minicomputers reveal ech...

Yusaku Maezawa, a billionaire online fashion tycoon, wants eight people to join him on an all-paid-for mission to the moon in 2023. He’s calling for artists to apply who are ready to “push the envelope” creatively and be willing to help other crew members do the same. Plus, we join the Black Mamba Anti-Poaching Unit in Africa as they launch the ‘virtual ranger’ to protect endangered animals, Daan...

Space hurricanes hundreds of kilometres above the North Pole could make things difficult for astronauts on the International Space Station. Space scientist Professor Mike Lockwood explains how the surprise discovery could also impact us here on Earth. Plus, a single shot of the Pfizer or Oxford vaccine is more than 80% effective at preventing hospital admission among the over-80s, Twitter expands...

Professor Tim Atkins says his blood ran cold as he learned the deadly nerve agent Novichok had been discovered in Salisbury three years ago. He went on to lead the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory’s investigation into the poisoning of a former Russian double agent, and says he came out of it ‘a slightly different person’. Plus, an expert on chemical and biological attacks warns Covid-19 c...

Bill Gates says he’d rather invest in vaccines than Bitcoin. During a live chat on social network Clubhouse, the Microsoft founder told host Andrew Sorkin he doesn’t choose his investments on the basis of whether they would be worth more to others. Plus, the FDA allows the Pfizer vaccine to be stored and transported at warmer temperatures, it wasn’t just Nasa’s Perseverance rover that landed on Ma...

America’s top infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci says we can vaccinate our way out of the coronavirus pandemic, but he’s concerned anti-vaxxers could prevent us from reaching that goal. Plus, the hidden message on the Nasa Perseverance rover’s parachute revealed, Facebook and Google must now pay for news in Australia and, how 30,000 elephant 'selfies' will help in conservation.   List...

Nasa’s Perseverance rover is about to start its long-awaited Mars mission and Dr Kelsey Moore from the agency’s Jet Propulsion Lab is one of the scientists involved in looking for evidence of past life on the red planet. She tells the Standard what exactly their looking for and how likely it is they’ll find it. Plus, Spotify says its open to alternative models for calculating how artists should be...

Nasa has released audio of the first sounds recorded from the surface of Mars. A microphone on the Perseverance rover captures a gust of wind on the red planet, and the audio has had a wider impact than the scientists anticipated. Plus, Facebook re-friends Australia, WhatsApp users will be cut off if they don’t accept the new terms and conditions, and Twisted Metal fans could soon be bingeing on a...

There’s more good news on the efficacy of the Pfizer and AstraZeneca jabs: researchers say both are having a “substantial effect” on hospital admissions and the risk of serious illness. It comes as a roadmap to ease England’s lockdown measures is to be detailed today, but the plan has already been met with mixed reviews. Plus, cyber fraudsters are switching from big money scams to ‘silent stealing...

Now Perseverance’s work begins, but how does it avoid punctures on the craggy Martian surface and send samples millions of miles back to Earth? Nasa explains. Forty dead, millions without power and water in Texas after extreme winter storm, as White House links to climate change. Britain’s first coal mine for 30 years is being planned, inflaming tensions over environmental impact versus local jobs...

Floating down to the Red Planet by parachute is the tensest part for Mission Control after 300 million-mile journey. Banned Down Under: Facebook blocks Australian news content in payment row with government. Million-year-old mammoth’s teeth that look like a shoe sole are the oldest specimens ever DNA tested by Natural History Museum. Nintendo announced new Mario title and refreshed Zelda game for...

Meet mobility systems engineer and rover planner on the mission Tyler Del Sesto, part of the team at Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. Scientists fear reopening all schools could push up the coronavirus infection rate. TikTok accused by a European consumer watchdog of breaching users’ rights on a ‘massive scale’ and failing to protect children from harmful content. North Korea in the...

The probe currently whizzing towards Red Planet has a ‘head’ equipped with laser eyes and a super-strength vaporiser to hunt for Martian chemicals and organic compounds. Fake five-star Amazon reviews offered on sale for the price of a pizza, investigation finds. Top WHO doctor says super-fast Covid tests ‘will pave return towards normality’ but those without a vaccine passport will be able to trav...

Scientists in Japan are assessing the damage of a magnitude 7.3 earthquake that struck near Fukushima on Saturday night, we ask Dr Stephen Hicks, an earth sciences expert at Imperial College London, about the risk of aftershocks. Curing Covid is simple compared to beating climate crisis, warns Bill Gates. UAE Mars satellite: Probe’s first pictures of Red Planet are emailed back to Earth. Routine C...

Experts believe they may have recovered the true origins of Stonehenge. The ancient monument’s smaller bluestones originally formed an even older, long-lost monument in the Preseli Hills in Pembrokeshire, Wales, 175 miles away. Plus, a mission to head to an icy moon of Jupiter thought to potentially home extraterrestrial life gets a launch date, find out how good you are at mindreading, and lovers...

The maker of Cyberpunk 2077, CD Projekt Red, has capped off a difficult few months by confirming it's the victim of a cyberattack. The hackers are reportedly auctioning off stolen source code from the firm for potentially millions of dollars. Plus, how the Himalayas disaster showcases climate change in action, all the Covid virus in the world would fit in a coke can, and while pigs might not fly,...

China’s Tianwen-1 spacecraft is set to become the second probe to enter Mars’ orbit in 24 hours. It's so far travelled 288 million miles to reach the planet, with the mission’s aim to explore for underground water and evidence of possible ancient life. Plus, astronauts of the future may be tucking into food from 3D printers, the WHO says the virus that causes Covid-19 isn’t from a lab and why scie...

The woman leading the United Arab Emirate’s first Mars mission tells us how their mission is attempting something never done before at the red planet. Sarah Al Amiri (UAE Minister of State for Advanced Sciences and Emirates Mars Mission Science Lead), spoke to us as their Hope probe finally reaches its destination this afternoon. Plus, a hacker has tried to poison the water supply of a Florid...

The UK’s selected what would be the country’s first space rocket since the Black Arrow in the 1970s. Aerospace giant Lockheed Martin’ picked out the RS1 for the attempt, which could launch from the Isle of Unst later this year. South Africa has stopped distribution of the AstraZeneca vaccine due to a new strain of Covid-19. Scientists say the strain accounts for 90% of new cases there, with a...

The UAE’s first Mars satellite is zooming towards Red Planet to hunt for signs of life - we speak to their Emirates Mission director for the latest. Climate change link to helping Covid-carrying bats flourish in China forests, say scientists from the University of Cambridge. Facebook shutdown in Myanmar after military coup to stop opposition organising resistance. Revealed: How far Nasa astronaut...

Scientists say breast cancer is now the world’s most prevalent form of the disease, and urge people to get a check-up if they’re worried after staying away from the doctor’s surgery during the pandemic. Mysterious streaks on the surface of Mars could be caused by Martian landslides, say Nasa scientists. New anti-cheat software rolled out by Call of Duty’s publisher Activision amid gamer anger over...

Another SpaceX Starship super-rocket ends up in a fireball after a spectacular landing fail. Jeff Bezos steps aside from leading Amazon hands reins to cloud computing boss amid record sales. GameStop party’s over: Shares nosedive as regulators called in to investigate Reddit’s amateur investor army. Childhood exposure to pollution linked to decline in thinking skills in older age, according to Uni...

Call of Duty hit by allegations of cheating in online tournaments, including the use of unfair ‘aimbots’, now a top player has very publicly quit its Warzone contest. WHO experts visit Wuhan animal disease centre in probe examining Covid-19 origins. Pandemic mental health alert: children as young as eight being treated by accident and emergency for self-harm. For wellbeing tips: childrensmentalhea...

Wall Street silver rush as Reddit’s amateur investor army moves on precious metal to dent Wall Street after GameStop victory. Voice-changing headset aims to beat internet child predators as mother warns how abuser befriended and murdered her 14-year-old son. Megarocket has a new date for Nasa’s ‘hot fire’ test to check Moon-worthiness after launchpad fail. With just a word and a hashtag, Elon Musk...

TikTok’s Dr_Will6, better known to Imperial College London colleagues as Dr Will Budd, has been educating the world about Covid vaccines on the social network – and he says ‘very happy” about the Novax injection shown to be 83.9 percent effective in trials, including against the ‘Kent’ and ‘South African’ variants. Plus, Apple boss Tim Cook hits out at those seeking to make a profit from pers...