Tech Digest daily roundup: Cost of charging EV now nearly as much as petrol
The cost of charging an electric car has surged due to the rise in energy prices, prompting fears it will put off drivers from buying them, the RAC said. It said electric car (EV) owners who use “rapid” public charging points were paying almost the same for electricity as they would for petrol per mile. Charging the cars at home is cheaper, but domestic bills are also rising….The RAC said its research showed the cost to charge an electric car on a pay-as-you-go basis at a publicly accessible rapid charger had increased by 42% since May to an average of 63.29p per kWh. The hike in price means drivers who only use the public network to charge vehicles pay around 18p per mile for electricity. That is just one pence less per mile for a petrol car, based on someone driving at an average of 40 miles to the gallon. BBC
In the first test of its kind, NASA is set to smash a small satellite into an asteroid millions of miles away from Earth. In scenes that wouldn’t be out of place in a sci-fi movie plot, the Dart spacecraft will crash into the asteroid on Monday by hitting it head-on at around 14,000 miles per hour. The impact is hoped to be enough to nudge the asteroid into a slightly different orbit. The test is being used to demonstrate that if a dangerous asteroid ever threatens Earth, humanity would stand a chance of preventing its impact. NASA will be able to monitor the impact with various cameras and telescopes. But it is expected to be several weeks before scientists can tell if the asteroid’s orbit has been changed. ITV.com
Better known for its smartwatches and GPS navigators, Garmin is entering a new frontier of health monitoring with its first smart blood pressure monitor: the Index BPM. The first thing you’ll notice is that the Index BPM is a lot bulkier than, say a smartwatch. A likely reason for its size is so the device can fit around your bicep and deliver accurate readings. While there are smartwatches that can measure blood pressure, the ones that do it with a cuff are not widely available and those that use pulse transit time “need regular calibration with a conventional home blood pressure monitor,” according to Garmin. Plus, Garmin notes, those devices typically can’t “track systolic and diastolic blood pressure” whereas the Index BPM can. Tech Radar
In recent days, Google Photos users scrolling back several years through their library have found pictures that can be best described as “corrupted.” Over the weekend, people began noticing that their years-old photos (over five years, approximately) have lines and deep cracks running through them, as well as other blurry or distorted areas. White dots are also a common occurrence. Some images are more damaged than others with seemingly no pattern to what’s impacted or the severity. It’s weirdly somewhat analogous to physical water damage, with reports across Google Photos for Android, iOS, and the web. 9to5Google
M&S banking customers without mobile phones are amongst the latest group to be blocked from spending because they cannot complete new fraud checks. Vulnerable credit card holders are among those hit by new rules that mean purchases have to be approved via mobile phones. City regulator the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has warned that banks need to offer customers without mobile phones another way of verifying payments. But The Telegraph has spoken to customers who have been left unable to use their cards due to the changes. Telegraph
