List of All Articles with Tag 'tech'

Apple is about to launch four new iPhones, two new Watches and maybe more besides. The launch of the iPhone 15 is the biggest event in Apple’s year, and could bring extra controversy this year, given a widely rumoured higher price and new charging port at the bottom of the phone. Alongside those updates, Apple is rumoured to be planning new charging technology, faster chips, better battery life and design tweaks for the higher-end, Pro versions of the phone. In all, there is expected to be four versions of the iPhone 15: the base model, the iPhone 15 Plus, the Pro and Pro Max. In addition to those new products, Apple is widely expected to update both the normal and Ultra version of the Apple Watch. They are expected to receive small updates, with the possible introduction of new chip technology. The AirPods may also feature in the event. They are also expected to receive an update to swap the Lightning charging port in the bottom for USB-C – beginning the process of getting rid of a charging technology that has been used for more than a decade in Apple’s most popular products. The event will be live streamed from Apple’s California headquarters, beginning at 10am local pacific time, 1pm eastern, or 6pm in the UK. You can follow all the latest news here.

An exoplanet more than eight times the size of Earth and potentially habitable has been discovered by scientists. Exoplanet K2-18 b was detected by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and piqued scientists’ interest after data suggested it may be covered in an ocean and have a hydrogen-rich atmosphere that could support life. Scientists are also encouraged by a hint of the detection of the molecule dimethyl sulphide (DMS). On Earth, DMS is only produced by microbial life, but the team has yet to confirm the detection and search for evidence of biological activity. The groundbreaking discovery of K2-18 b may see the exoplanet come under the unique classification of a “Hycean” planet – ones which are candidates for life thanks to their hydrogen-rich atmospheres and water cover. The amount of methane and carbon dioxide combined with the shortage of ammonia suggests there may be a water ocean underneath a hydrogen-rich atmosphere in K2-18 b. K2-18 b lies within the constellation of Leo and orbits a dwarf star called K2-18. It lies around 120 light years away from Earth and is within the habitable zone. However, scientists added that this does not necessarily mean it can support life. Nikku Madhusudhan, an astronomer at the University of Cambridge and lead author of the paper, explained: “Our findings underscore the importance of considering diverse habitable environments in the search for life elsewhere. “Traditionally, the search for life on exoplanets has focused primarily on smaller rocky planets, but the larger Hycean worlds are significantly more conducive to atmospheric observations.” Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Apple’s latest iPhone is coming. The company announced a new event, titled “Wonderlust”, this week. While it did not explicitly say that it will see the launch of the iPhone 15, it almost certainly will. At the event, on 12 September, it will show off four new variants of the iPhone 15: the base model as well as the iPhone 15 Plus, Pro and Pro Max. It is also expected to launch a new Apple Watch and Watch Ultra, and some new AirPods. The new iPhone is expected to have a relatively modest set of new features, including USB-C ports on the bottom. The iPhone 15 will borrow features from the 14 Pro, including its faster chip and “Dynamic Island”, while the Pro phones will get an improved processor, an action button on the side, and better cameras. Apple will show off all of those new features during the event, which begins at 10am local time, or 6pm in the UK, on 12 September. It will be live-streamed on the company’s website. Apple will not release those products at that event, however. While it will show them off during the event, the company has settled on a fairly regular delay for the actual release date. The company usually waits a week-and-a-half to release the new phones, on the following Friday. That means the launch date will probably fall on 22 September. However, not all phones might arrive on that day. At least some models could be delayed. That has happened in the past. Last year, for instance, the iPhone 14 Plus arrived in October, later than the others, and that has become a common occurrence of recent years. This time around, it may be the iPhone 15 Pro Max that is delayed. That will include new camera “periscope lens” camera technology to allow for a long zoom – but those components are proving difficult to manufacture in enough numbers, 9to5mac reported, which could lead to a wait before the phone is released. Read More Apple is about to reveal the new iPhone – and a lot more Here’s when you will actually be able to get the new iPhone Apple announces major event to reveal new phone

By Noel Randewich and Hannah Lang (Reuters) -Retail traders getting their first bite at Arm Holdings' highly anticipated public offering

The Canadian government on Monday announced new licence conditions requiring mobile carriers to provide all of Toronto's subway

MGM Resorts has shut down some of its systems as a result of a "cybersecurity issue," according to a company social media post on Monday.

Researchers have invented a new battery that they claim could have profound implications for the future of energy storage and renewable technologies. The lithium-based redox-flow battery, developed by a team at the University of Cincinnati, could prove crucial for wind and solar operations, where large-scale batteries are needed to store energy during times of overproduction and release it when production drops off. “Energy generation and energy consumption is always mismatched,” said Jimmy Jiang, who led the research at the University of Cincinnati. “That’s why it’s important to have a device that can store that energy temporarily and release it when it’s needed.” The novel design removes the membrane that separates the positive and negative sides of the battery, which is one of the most expensive parts of this type of battery and has previously hindered development. The membrane-free battery exhibited high voltage and energy density that could potentially meet the demands of large-scale green energy operations at an economically viable cost for the first time. “This design significantly decreases material costs,” said Soumalya Sinha, a visiting professor at the University of Cincinnati who was involved in the research. “We’re trying to achieve the same performance at a cheaper cost.” The team has submitted patent applications for the design, which Dr Jiang said will herald a “battery revolution” within the next 20 years. “I am confident about that,” he said. “There is a lot of intense research going into pushing the boundaries of battery performance.” The research was detailed in a paper, titled ‘Development of high-voltage and high-energy membrane-free nonaqueous lithium-based organic redox flow batteries’, published in the journal Nature Communications. Read More Volcano discovery could power electric cars for decades, scientists say

Researchers have reconstructed how the Scottish city would have looked shortly before it was largely destroyed by the English army in 1544.

Artificial intelligence is using gallons upon gallons of water. Microsoft alone used more than 2,500 Olympic-sized swimming pools of water in its data centres last year. The latest numbers are leading to yet more questions about the sustainability and environmental dangers of the growth of artificial intelligence and related technology. Artificial intelligence requires vast computing resources, undertaking deeply complex calculations on behalf of people around the world. AI systems tend to be run in the cloud rather than on individual people’s computers, meaning that companies running them must operate vast server farms to deal with the queries of their users. Those server farms in turn need to pump in water to cool themselves down, because of the heat generated by those computers. That has long been a concern for environmentalists, but the sharp growth in artificial intelligence has led to even more use. Microsoft’s water consumption rose 34 per cent between 2021 and 2022, according to its latest environmental report, highlighted by the Associated Press. It was up to almost 1.7 billion gallons. Not all of that is from artificial intelligence. But Shaolei Ren, a researcher at the University of California, Riverside working to better understand the environmental impact of AI told the AP that the “majority of the growth” is because of the technology. Google also said that its water use had increased by 20 per cent over the same period. That varied across its different data centres, which are based in different parts of the US. For each 5 to 50 prompts, or questions, put to ChatGPT, it uses 500 millilitres of water, according to a paper that will be published by Professor Ren and his team later this year. Many technology companies have expressed concerns about their own water use, and how to minimise any negative effects of their data centres. The environmental concerns can be especially pressing because the use of water can be focused in particular areas around a data centre, meaning that the damage may not be spread. Google said last year for instance that “Wherever we use water, we are committed to doing so responsibly”. That includes analysing where water is being used and how much stress it might put on the surrounding area, for instance. Read More AI can help generate synthetic viruses and spark pandemics, warns ex-Google executive China’s ‘government-approved’ AI chatbot says Taiwan invasion likely Google launches AI to go to meetings for you

It's 500 feet tall and is being built inside of a mountain.

BRUSSELS EU antitrust regulators have delayed their investigation into Amazon's $1.7 billion acquisition of robot vacuum cleaner maker

Tesla's Dojo supercomputer could fuel a $500 billion jump in the electric vehicle maker's market value, analysts at Morgan Stanley said in a note Monday.