Sharing ‘deepfake porn’ could soon be illegal in the UK
A government-backed review has warned that current laws do not go far enough to cover ‘disturbing and abusive new behaviours born in the smartphone era.’ During the past decade, numerous steps have been taken to confront the threat of sexual harassment online posed by evolving digital trends. In 2015,
Current in Tech
Interactive global map shows the damage of climate change in real time
Prior to 2022, attaining digital renderings of our planet’s geology has been a lengthy and arduous task. Mapping company Esri has recently changed that, creating an interactive timespan of the globe between 2017 to 2021. As huge parts of the world endure record heatwaves courtesy of climate change, we're left...
Resale bots are still fuelling next gen console shortages
It’s been more than a year since next gen consoles first launched, and yet their supply still appears extremely limited. This is because aspiring resellers are using purchase bots to instantly gobble up units whenever and wherever they’re restocked. Gone are the days when you could frivolously splash your paycheque...
Stray publisher raises money for actual cat charities
The publisher of new hit video game Stray has partnered with several charities to raise money for real life homeless cats. I’m not crying, you are. If you’ve somehow avoided the constant promos and viral videos of pets acting up at television screens, Stray is finally out on PlayStation and...
New TikTok feature allows users to set screen time reminders
Self-regulating our social media consumption has proved to be difficult. Now, app designers are incorporating time-sensitive features to prevent us from getting lost in endless scrolling loops. Tapping into social media has become as ingrained into our daily habits as checking text messages, e-mails, and news notifications. But unlike apps used...
NASA’s JWST telescope delivers deep infrared images of Universe
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has delivered the most detailed and vivid images of the early Universe to date. Within these snapshots, thousands of distant galaxies are visible. Feast your eyes on the deepest infrared images of the universe to date. I’ve got a headache. These mind-blowing snaps arrive courtesy of...
How smartphone dependence is harming our memories
‘Digital amnesia’ is on the rise, a concerning phenomenon that’s seeing our ingrained reliance on tech take a toll on our ability to remember important information. For those of us fortunate enough to own a smartphone, they play an integral role in our day-to-day lives. We use them to communicate, for entertainment, and to capture the moments we deem worthy of sharing on social media. Though it would certainly come as...
TikTok launches slew of safety features including For You filtering
TikTok is rolling out a slew of new safety features, including ‘maturity’ ratings on videos for young users, an algorithm that prevents bulk viewing of problematic content, and the ability to filter in the For You page using words or hashtags. Tuning your algorithm on TikTok can require a ton of sifting through some pretty sketchy content. Certainly if you were late to the game, like I was. Despite its impressive...
Are space-built supermaterials a secret weapon against climate change?
‘Earth is a terrible place to make things,’ according to aerospace engineer Andrew Bacon. Here’s how low gravity provides the unique conditions to build high-performance materials which may arm us against climate change. Finding ways of building sustainable technologies in a sustainable way is a requirement which perpetually limits our fight against climate change. Here’s one ingenious (albeit strange) solution to this problem. In our endeavours to replace fossil fuels with...
AI is being taught to monitor coral reef health through its ‘songs’
Who’s making the hardest beats under the sea these days? We’ll soon find out, because British scientists have trained AI to track the sounds of coral reefs to monitor their health. It’s not all Little Mermaid and Finding Nemo narratives down there, but regardless, the ocean is a noisy place - especially in areas where sea life is abundant. In particular, the complex soundscapes discovered amongst coral reefs can offer up...
