Ageing equipment puts Army at risk, MPs warn
PA Media The Army is likely to find itself “outgunned” in any conflict with Russian forces, MPs have warned. In a damning report, the Commons Defence Committee described efforts to modernise the Army’s fleet of Armoured Fighting Vehicles (AFV) as “woeful”. The ageing and depleted fleet puts the Army at “serious risk” of being outmatched […]
The tiny parasitic wasp that saved an industry
Getty Images Before chemical pesticides were invented, farmers relied upon local predators to control crop-devastating pests for millennia, but now the practice is getting a modern revival. Scattered among the highly biodiverse forests of South East Asia, millions of farmers eke out their livelihoods by growing cassava. This cash crop – grown by both small-scale […]
Stephen Ingledew to head up FinTech Scotland
Getty Images The chief executive of a new body set up to boost growth in the financial technology sector has been named. Stephen Ingledew will head FinTech Scotland, an organisation established by the Scottish government, Scottish Financial Enterprise and the University of Edinburgh. It aims to promote sustainable growth in the financial services sector. Mr […]
The Covid-19 changes that could last long-term
Getty Images From the extinction of the daily commute to transforming our relationship with food, Covid-19 is changing our world already – and in some ways, it looks set to get better. Like the Black Death spreading along the trade-routes strung along the spine of 14th-Century Eurasia, Covid-19 emerged in China and spread extremely quickly […]
Young V&A to open in summer after £13m development
Picture Plane Ltd The museum will have three permanent galleries – Imagine, Play and Design A museum dedicated to children and young people will reopen this summer after a £13m redevelopment. Formerly the V&A Museum of Childhood, the Young V&A will relaunch on 1 July after being closed for three years. The site in Bethnal […]
The food that could last 2,000 years
Getty Images (Credit: Getty Images) Should the human population disappear tomorrow, what might future archaeologists find of the food we eat? And, most importantly, would any of it still be edible? On 8 September 1941, Nazi forces surrounded Leningrad from the west and south, and through Finland to the north. A thin strip of land […]
Hellblade Psychosis Story Mirrored Mine
This is a full transcript of Hellblade Psychosis Story Mirrored Mine presented by Beth Rose with Kathleen Hawkins and Niamh Hughes first broadcast on 20 April 2018. BETH – Hi, it’s Beth here from the BBC Ouch team. We’ve got a great podcast coming up for you today. It’s about psychosis and the game Hellblade: […]
The remarkable power of the prickly pear
Getty Images The benefit of using nopal plant matter for creating biofuel is that it is grown for other uses, helping to make efficient use of land and resources (Credit: Getty Images) A stalwart of the Mexican landscape is finding a second life powering up buildings in the desert, and it is proving to be […]
Amazon gets closer to getting Alexa everywhere
Web Summit Rohit Prasad is responsible for the machine learning capabilities that power Alexa Rohit Prasad has 17 smart speakers in his home powered by Amazon’s smart assistant. “I test my own technology – with all of them being called Alexa, I see which one is waking up and whether it is the right device,” […]
Has coronavirus helped the environment?
Could Covid-19 be a game changer for the environment? We know that carbon emissions have sharply fallen during lockdown. But will all these changes actually be good for the environment in the long run? There’s clear water in the Venice canals, blue skies over Delhi and wild animals are roaming boldly in locked-down cities. The […]