Google is investigating a member of its ethical AI team after they were found to have taken thousands of sensitive files from its servers and shared the information with external accounts. The investigation follows the forced exit of Timnit Gebru, a Black woman and prominent researcher on the team whose departure provoked controversy over Google‘s
Technology
Scientists believe they have finally cracked the mystery of how butterflies fly despite their “unusually short, broad and large wings” compared to their body size. A new study published in the Journal of the Royal Society finds that the key is not in the downstroke, when the butterflies’ wings push them forward, but in the
Gary Numan has told Sky News he received just £37 for a hit that had been streamed more than a million times, as an inquiry into the economics of digital music services continues. The British singer-songwriter, best known for hits including Are ‘Friends’ Electric?, Cars and We Are Glass in the 1970s and 80s, has
People who’ve had COVID are likely to be protected from reinfection for at least five months and have a similar defence to someone who’s been vaccinated, according to a UK study. But does it mean those who have recovered are no longer a risk to others? And could the protection last any longer? Here’s what
AstraZeneca says it expects to release two million doses of the Oxford vaccine every week by mid-February – and has asked for its workers to get priority access to avoid COVID outbreaks hindering production. “We’ve released just over 1.1 million doses, to date, and we are scaling up as we’ve said very rapidly. And this
TikTok accounts of users aged under 16 will now be changed to private, in a bid to improve child safety on the app. This means videos posted to these accounts will not be available to download and all followers will need to be approved first. It comes a month after federal regulators ordered the social media
Donald Trump has been banned from uploading videos on YouTube “in light of concerns about the ongoing potential for violence”, the platform said. YouTube, which is owned by Google’s parent company Alphabet, said it had removed new content from the president’s channel late on Tuesday for violating its policies. Mr Trump will be unable to
How often have you stood in a queue and caught the whiff of someone smoking several metres away? Now imagine that’s a cloud of the COVID virus that you’re inhaling. That’s the concern of Dr Julian Tang, a virologist at the University of Leicester. Image: Virologist Dr Julian Tang says people need to rethink their
Compliance with coronavirus rules has risen sharply since December and is now at its highest point since the first lockdown, according to a major new survey seen by Sky News. The results cast doubt on the government’s claims that rule-breaking is contributing to a rise in COVID-19 deaths, after ministers and senior police officers warned
The attack on the US Capitol prompted unprecedented action from Twitter and Facebook, amid criticism that the president was using their platforms to foment an insurrection. Tens of thousands of accounts, pages and groups tied to the more extreme parts of the pro-Trump movement have been suspended and banned following the attack – as have
As a pop-up alert on WhatsApp is informing users, the app is updating its privacy rules and requires new users to accept an updated terms and conditions – but what does this actually mean? The move means that users will need to agree to sharing more of their data with Facebook if they want to
On 4 January, Boris Johnson told England to stay at home. Again. Last time this happened the response was almost universal. Movement plummeted, falling by every available measure. Transport app Citymapper tracks how many people plan journeys in London, Manchester, and Birmingham. Not car trips but everything else. According to data from the app, during
Elon Musk has overtaken Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos to become the world’s richest man, according to reports. Mr Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur who founded Tesla, has a net worth of more than $188.5bn (£139bn) following shares in his company gaining more than 5% on Thursday. Bloomberg reported that this put him $1.5bn (£1.1bn) ahead
Four people were killed as police clashed with Donald Trump supporters at the US Capitol on Wednesday, where Congress was confirming the results of the 2020 election – but how were these rioters organised? The mob who ravaged the Capitol had travelled from across the country to gather for a rally held by the president
Donald Trump has deleted three tweets accused of inciting violence that caused his account to be suspended on Wednesday night. His account was locked for twelve hours and threatened with permanent suspension after both Twitter and Facebook said his messages increased the likelihood of violence as his supporters rioted in Washington. They had gathered in
Scientists are baffled by a missing supermassive black hole which should by normal expectations sit in the centre of a distant galaxy. Instead, according to researchers at a handful of North American universities, there appears to be something highly unusual about the bright cluster galaxy A2261-BCG. They believe it is the first ever example of