Covid-19 news: Northern Ireland lifts remaining legal restrictions

By Michael Le Page, Clare Wilson, Jessica Hamzelou, Sam Wong, Graham Lawton, Adam Vaughan, Conrad Quilty-Harper, Jason Arunn Murugesu, Layal Liverpool, Carissa Wong and Alex Wilkins Northern Ireland health minister Robin Swann speaks at a press conference, 7 February, 2022 PA Images / Alamy Latest coronavirus news as of 11am on 15 February Remaining measures … Read more

Mysteries of Stephen Hawking’s doodle-filled blackboard may finally be solved

Hawking’s blackboard is filled with doodles, in-jokes and half-finished equations scrawled by friends and fellow physicists in 1980. (Image credit: Isidora Bojovic/Science Museum Group) A new museum exhibit hopes to uncover the secrets behind the doodles, in-jokes and coded messages on a blackboard that legendary physicist Stephen Hawking kept untouched for more than 35 years. … Read more

Drone weapons: Microwave device can be used to shoot down other drones

A compact weapon that generates a beam of microwaves can knock out electronic devices without causing harm to people Technology 14 February 2022 By David Hambling Artist’s impression of drones carrying the Leonidas Pod Epirus A microwave weapon that can be carried by a drone is powerful enough to shoot down other drones and can … Read more

Flower growth in Antarctica is accelerating due to warming climate

There are only two flowering plants native to Antarctica and both have seen an explosion in their numbers in the decade from 2009 to 2019 Environment 14 February 2022 By Alex Wilkins Deschampsia antarctica is one of two flowering plants native to Antarctica Nature/Getty Images Plants in Antarctica are growing more quickly due to climate … Read more

Exclusive: The Sturm strike back in John Birmingham’s brash sci-fi sequel, ‘The Shattered Skies’

Feeling lonely after devouring “Leviathan Falls,” the final book in “The Expanse” series of space opera novels by Ty Franck and Daniel Abraham (writing as James S.A. Corey) that dropped this past November? Help is on the way! Acolytes of riveting military sci-fi combat should flock to “The Shattered Skies” (Del Rey, 2022), Australian author … Read more

SpaceX is planning its highest Dragon flight yet with a private crew

By Leah Crane Anna Menon, Scott Poteet, Jared Isaacman and Sarah Gillis Polaris Program SpaceX has announced a new project aiming to take its Dragon spacecraft higher than ever before. The first flight of this programme, called Polaris Dawn, is scheduled for the end of 2022. Jared Isaacman, the billionaire businessman who sponsored and flew … Read more

DSLR Vs Mirrorless cameras for Astrophotography

The DSLR – digital single reflex camera – was king until mirrorless digital cameras first began to appear in the late 2000s. Mirrorless models immediately shook up the scene, and while professional photographers continued to lean towards the familiarity of the DSLR, many casual and hobbyist users began to opt for the smaller, lightweight mirrorless … Read more

Fake faces created by AI look more trustworthy than real people

Synthetic human faces are so convincing they can fool even trained observers, and they may be highly effective for use in scams Technology 14 February 2022 By Christa Lesté-Lasserre A collage of fake faces generated by an AI Anatolii Babii / Alamy Artificial intelligence can create such realistic human faces that people can’t distinguish them … Read more