SpaceX is nine days away from its first manned launch

Elon Musk‘s private company SpaceX has confirmed that its first manned space shuttle will launch next week.   NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley will take off in the company’s Crew Dragon spacecraft from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida on May 27 at 4:32 pm EDT (9:32pm BST).  As part of the ‘Demo-2’ … Read more

Google may kill off hand-gestured controls in the Pixel 5 by removing a motion-sensing radar chip

Google may kill off hand-gestured controls in its upcoming Pixel phone by removing the device’s motion-sensing radar chip Google may remove one of its biggest features in the Pixel 4 Sources tell 9to5Google that the company may do away with hand gestures The move would nix Google’s motion-sensing radar chip It could reduce cost and … Read more

Amazon rainforest could spark the next pandemic including a new coronavirus outbreak, expert warns

The world’s largest rainforest is disappearing at an alarming rate and could contribute to the next pandemic, a scientist warns. Ecologists David Lapola warns the Amazon rainforest could be a hot zone of infection, as human encroachment on animals’ habitats is on the rise. The urbanization of once-wild areas contributes to the emergence of zoonotic … Read more

Study shows that having new and diverse experiences is the ‘key to happiness’

Variety IS the spice of life: Study shows the ‘key to happiness’ is visiting more places and having new and diverse experiences GPS signal from phones of 132 participants was tracked by researchers in the US They found those visiting more places reported higher levels of happiness More experiences were associated with activity in brain … Read more

Floods will get so bad in areas of England that emergency services will struggle to respond quickly

Flooding will become so bad in parts of England over the next 30 years that ambulances and fire brigades will struggle to reach locals within the seven-minute window for life-threatening incidents, study shows When flooding occurs, roads can become impassable or congested with traffic At the same time, demand for the emergency services often significantly rises  Experts … Read more

Pair of antibodies that BLOCK coronavirus from infecting human cells are discovered

Chinese scientists have discovered two antibodies which prevent the coronavirus from invading human cells.  The distinct antibodies are called H4 and B38 and prevent SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19, from latching on to uninfected cells. In preliminary trials on mice, the amount of virus inside infected lungs was reduced by up to a third … Read more

Two-in-three people have been misdiagnosed after seeking help from online symptom checkers

Two-in-three people are misdiagnosed after turning to ‘Dr Google‘ with their symptoms, new research shows. Online symptom checkers got the right illness just 36 per cent of the time, and placed it in the top three in only 52 per cent of cases. Warnings to visit health services were also inappropriate in more than half … Read more