Science and Tech

Getty Images Social media moderators check for distressing or illegal photos and videos which they then remove Over the past few months the BBC has been exploring a dark, hidden world – a world where the very worst, most horrifying, distressing, and in many cases, illegal online content ends up. Beheadings, mass killings, child abuse, hate speech – all of …

A portrait of mathematician Alan Turing is thought to be the first artwork by a humanoid robot to be sold at auction – fetching $1,084,800 (£836,667). One of the most advanced robots in the world, Ai-Da, a pioneering humanoid artist, also set a new record in the art world with the sale of “A.I. God”, at Sotheby’s Digital Art Sale. …

Kate Lake Kate Lake wants answers about what happened to her money and data A DNA-testing firm appears to have ceased trading – without telling its customers what has happened to the highly sensitive data they shared with it. Atlas Biomed, which has offices in London, offered to provide insights into people’s genetic make up as well as their predisposition …

Zoe Corbyn Fifty of these giant driverless trucks work in the Greater Nammuldi iron ore mine It doesn’t get much more remote than this. I’m in inland Western Australia, at Rio Tinto’s Greater Nammuldi iron ore mine. It’s about a two-hour flight north from Perth in a region called the Pilbara. No-one lives permanently here. Around 400 workers are on …

Roblox is introducing new safety features for children under the age of 13, following criticism of how it protects younger users. The free online gaming platform, which has around 70 million daily users worldwide, allows players to create their own games and play those made by others. It is particularly popular with children – but some have complained they have …

Australia’s government says it will introduce “world-leading” legislation to ban children under 16 from social media. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the proposed laws, to be tabled in parliament next week, were aimed at mitigating the “harm” social media was inflicting on Australian children. “This one is for the mums and dads… They, like me, are worried sick about the …

Donald Trump’s return to the White House might also prove to be a win for one of his most visible supporters: Elon Musk. The world’s richest man spent election night in Florida with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort as returns came in. “The people of America gave @realDonaldTrump a crystal clear mandate for change tonight,” Mr Musk wrote on the …

Tech Life creates a fake podcast using an AI tool from Google. Plus, political deepfakes.

The regulator says a merger between Vodafone and Three could go ahead – if both companies make price promises for consumers and commit to boosting the UK’s 5G rollout. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) had previously said that creating what would be the country’s biggest mobile network could drive up prices and harm competition. But it has now provisionally …

Getty Images Some textile dyeing is still done by hand In a small corner of rural Taiwan, set amongst other dye houses and small factories, the start-up Alchemie Technology is in the final phase of rolling out a project it claims will upend the global apparel industry and slash its carbon footprint. The UK-based start-up has targeted one of the …