Tag: SpaceX
Tech Digest daily roundup: Apple to crack down on AirTag misuse
Apple plans to introduce a number of changes to make it harder to misuse AirTags to track someone. The button-sized devices are designed to work with Apple's 'Find My' network to locate lost items. The company said its changes to the device will make suspicious tags easier to find, and alert users earlier that an…
Tech Digest daily roundup: Rolls-Royce electric plane takes maiden flight
Rolls-Royce’s first all-electric plane has completed its maiden flight ahead of a world record attempt later this year. The Spirit of Innovation’s 15-minute flight took place at the Boscombe Down military testing site on Wednesday, powered by the most “power-dense” battery pack assembled for an aircraft, the company said. Rolls said the 400kW electric powertrain was…
Tech Digest daily round up: Apple launches ‘no longer a spectacle’
A smaller notch. A faster processor. A new camera with cinematic mode. In the pantheon of Apple keynote events, Tuesday’s iPhone 13 launch was towards the modest end. “We still see room for innovation,” was one analyst’s rather dry take. Perhaps Tim Cook didn’t want to make any risky moves on an unlucky number. The unveiling…
Tech Digest daily roundup: SpaceX’s Inspiration 4 ready for take off
Inspiration4, the pioneering trip to space, is about to launch into orbit. Elon Musk’s SpaceX will send four private citizens up above the Earth, where they will float for three days before falling back down and splashing into the ocean. They will make the journey in the company’s Crew Dragon capsule, mounted on top of a…
Tech Digest daily round up: Driverless shuttles hit Cambridge roads
The UK’s first driverless shuttles have taken to the road in Cambridge, carrying their first passengers in a trial alongside normal traffic. The autonomous vehicle took a 20-minute journey around the University of Cambridge’s West Cambridge campus in a test project which aims to assess whether the technology could one day join the UK’s public…
Tech Digest daily round up: YouTube pays for Covid-19 vaccination ad campaign
YouTube has launched a multi-million-pound advertising campaign to encourage young people in the UK to get vaccinated against Covid-19. It said the partnership with the NHS would involve ads on buses, billboards, bus stops and YouTube, with the video-sharing site paying for them. YouTube has been criticised for being slow to stop the spread of…
Tech Digest daily round up: Scientists invent flat pasta that morphs into 3D shapes
An interdisciplinary team of scientists specialising in material science, mechanical engineering, and computer-aided fabrication are making a new type of pasta dough that remains flat during storage, but can morph into tubes, spirals, twists, and waves when cooked. The scientists, including those from the Morphing Matter Lab at the Carnegie Mellon University in the US, believe…
Tech Digest daily round up: Google earnings profits soar in lockdown
Google owner Alphabet saw its earnings soar in the first quarter as people stuck at home in the pandemic used more of its services. Net profit jumped by 162% to a record $17.9bn in the three months to March as advertising revenue swelled by a third. It comes as the tech giant faces increased scrutiny…
Tech Digest daily round up: Four astronauts blast off on SpaceX Crew Dragon Capsule
French astronaut Thomas Pesquet and three crewmates are set to blast off Friday morning aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule for a six-month stay at the International Space Station. The European Space Agency veteran joins two Nasa astronauts – mission commander Shane Kimbrough and pilot Megan McArthur – along with Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide for…
Tech Digest daily round up: Google Earth introduces time-lapse feature
Google Earth has launched a time-lapse feature that lets users wind back the clock and see how the world has changed over several decades. The feature uses millions of satellite images from the past 37 years to let people scroll through time. It allows people to see, for example, the retreat of glaciers alongside global…