Science and Tech

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 …

Julie Bolthouse Julie Bolthouse is opposing new data centre planning applications in Northern Virginia Environmental campaigner Julie Bolthouse points out that Northern Virginia has the world’s largest concentration of data centres. This is not something she is thrilled about. “We’re the Wall Street of the data centre industry,” says Ms Bolthouse, who is a director of local Virginian charity and …

Getty Images Three years ago, the DNA-testing firm 23andMe was a massive success, with a share price higher than Apple’s. But, from those heady days of millions of people rushing to send it saliva samples in return for detailed reports about their ancestry, family connections and genetic make-up, it now finds itself fighting for its survival. Its share price has …

BBC Stephen Mollah is latest person to claim to be the mysterious inventor of Bitcoin Bitcoin underpins a two trillion-dollar cryptocurrency industry, is now traded by the world’s biggest investment houses and is even an official currency in one country. But despite its meteoric rise, a deep mystery remains at its heart: what is the true identity of its founder, …

Lawyers hired by MrBeast to investigate claims that his former co-host groomed a teenager have concluded that the allegations were “without basis”, the star YouTuber has said. Ava Kris Tyson stopped working with MrBeast in July after other YouTubers accused her of sending inappropriate messages to a minor, reportedly then 13, when she was 20. At the time, Tyson apologised …

Getty Images The messaging app Snapchat is the most widely-used platform for online grooming, according to police figures supplied to the children’s charity the NSPCC. More than 7,000 Sexual Communication with a Child offences were recorded across the UK in the year to March 2024 – the highest number since the offence was created. Snapchat made up nearly half of …