Is the future of French cheese at stake?
Alamy Earlier this year, cheese fans panicked following the publication of new research on essential cheesemaking moulds, certain the end was nigh for beloved Brie and Camembert. It was an outsized reaction, according to Jeanne Ropars, the co-author of the very study that made such noise in the first place. “I must emphasise that there […]
Speed up plans to criminalise deepfake abuse, ministers told
UK Parliament Baroness Owen was the youngest member of the House of Lords when she became a peer last year Ministers have been urged to speed up plans to criminalise the creation of sexually explicit deepfake images. Conservative peer Baroness Owen has proposed a law to make it an offence to create or solicit intimate […]
How Peebles is becoming a hotbed of pizza making
SOSE The Food Punks project is aimed at helping young people learn cooking skills and build confidence It is a long way from the bustling backstreets of Naples to the more sedate main thoroughfare through Peebles. However, a food which is synonymous with the Italian city is now helping to offer an opportunity to young […]
Wearable tech can monitor our health but why are doctors so sceptical?
Oura Smart rings have built-in sensors that monitor the wearer’s heart rate and other health issues Wearable tech – currently dominated by smart watches – is a multi-billion dollar industry with a sharp focus on health tracking. Many premium products claim to accurately track exercise routines, body temperature, heart rate, menstrual cycle and sleep patterns, […]
The environmental campaigners fighting against data centres
Julie Bolthouse Julie Bolthouse is opposing new data centre planning applications in Northern Virginia Environmental campaigner Julie Bolthouse points out that Northern Virginia has the world’s largest concentration of data centres. This is not something she is thrilled about. “We’re the Wall Street of the data centre industry,” says Ms Bolthouse, who is a director […]
An AI started ‘tasting’ colours and shapes. That is more human than you might think
Estudio Santa Rita The brain often blurs the senses – a fact that marketers often use in the design of food packaging. And AIs appear to do the same. What is the flavour of a pink sphere? And what is the sound of a Sauvignon Blanc? Such questions may sound ridiculous, but a huge body […]
Largest solar farm in UK could be built in South Norfolk
Jessica Myhill/BBC Energy firms, RPC and Elmya, have not yet revealed where the solar panels will be A solar farm believed to be the largest in the United Kingdom could be built in South Norfolk. The new scheme, which is proposed to be built between Long Stratton and Diss in Norfolk, could produce about 900 […]
Dumfries and Galloway Council’s vehicle speed data ‘corrupt’
Getty Images The council said it was looking at ways to be able to produce a “robust speeding report” Speed data gathered by Dumfries and Galloway Council’s vehicle-tracking system has been corrupted. A freedom of information (FOI) request by the BBC asked the local authority for details of how many times its fleet management system […]
Protesters call on government to tackle water pollution
EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock The march in central London started on Sunday morning at the Albert Embankment and was followed by a rally in Parliament Square Thousands of people gathered in central London on Sunday to call for tougher action on keeping the UK’s rivers and seas clean. The March for Clean Water was advertised as a “one-off” […]
Autistic boy’s own pies replace stolen York Christmas batch
Dan Harris Joshie Harris and his father travelled more than 120 miles to deliver replacement homemade pies to Tommy Banks An 11-year-old autistic boy has travelled more than 120 miles to deliver a batch of pies he made himself to Michelin-starred chef Tommy Banks, who lost 2,500 of them to thieves. A refrigerated van containing […]