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World's first hydrogen-powered commercial aircraft takes to the skies above Bedfordshire
The world’s first hydrogen-powered commercial aircraft has taken to the skies above Bedfordshire.
The only thing that the six-seater Piper M-class plane emits is water vapour – and ZeroAvia, the company behind the technology, says its aim is to make hydrogen planes available commercially in three years.
“What we’re doing is replacing fossil fuel engines with what’s called hydrogen electric engines,” ZeroAvia founder and chief executive Val Miftakhov told Sky News.
Image: The only thing that the six-seater Piper M-class plane emits is water vapour
“We also have a fuelling infrastructure set up that ensures zero emission production of hydrogen itself.”
A prototype plane with this type of engine has flown before, but the company says this is the first time that a commercially available aircraft has taken to the skies using hydrogen power.
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ZeroAvia says the science is already there for a long, zero-emissions flight by the end of this decade.
But existing airport infrastructure is designed to accommodate gas-guzzling jets, and introducing hydrogen aircraft more widely would mean ground operations would have to be overhauled too.
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“It’s not just a question of putting hydrogen-based aeroplanes and getting them to work, we need the infrastructure on the ground to support everything,” said David Gleave, aviation safety investigator and researcher at Loughborough University.
“We have to work out how to refuel these aeroplanes because existing infrastructure won’t work and we have to work out other things such as the fire and rescue requirements for the aeroplane, so there’s quite a lot of work to do but certainly it’s very exciting going forward.”
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The UK government is supporting the project as part of its Jet Zero Council initiative, which is aimed at making net-zero emissions flights possible in the future.
Ministers hope it will bring economic benefit to Britain, even as the world faces a pandemic which has crushed the airline industry.
“There’s also an opportunity, as we build back, to make sure that we’ve got environmental credentials at the heart of this. This is world-beating technology which has an economic opportunity for Britain as well as answering the global climate change challenge,” aviation minister Robert Courts told Sky News.
After Thursday’s 20-minute flight, ZeroAvia is working towards a 250-mile flight out of an airfield in Orkney.
Mr Miftakhov says the technology is safe, and people will be able to fly without feeling guilty about damaging the environment.
He hopes it won’t be too long until there are paying passengers on board.
New contact-tracing app launches – your questions answered
An NHS coronavirus contact-tracing app has launched across England and Wales.
As of Thursday evening, it had been downloaded more than one million times by Android users, according to the Google Play Store.
The total figure is likely to be higher when iPhone downloads are included, but Apple does not provide similar figures for app downloads.
Image: The NHS coronavirus contact-tracing app has been downloaded more than a million times
Health Secretary Matt Hancock has called the new mobile phone app an “important step forward” in the UK’s fight against COVID-19.
It asks users to self-isolate for 14 days if it detects they were in close proximity to someone with coronavirus.
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Is it private?
Yes. All the contacts stay on your phone, so they’re not sent to anyone. Even if someone did get into your phone the data is all anonymous, so all they’d see would be strings of random numbers. As apps go, this is about as private as it gets.
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How can I be sure?
The code is open source, so if you’re a developer you can take a look at it. If you’re not you’ll have to take it on trust – but rest assured that the best privacy researchers in the world have pored over it, so this has had some high quality scrutiny.
That’s why countries from Switzerland to Scotland have validated it for use.
Does it work?
It depends what you mean by work. The technology comes from Google and Apple so it’s unlikely that it’s going to break (although even Twitter and Instagram go down from time to time). The developers assured us it won’t drain your battery either.
That’s good. But is it actually going to stop the virus?
Wouldn’t it be great if it did! Sadly we don’t have the technology for that – but in the meantime the app could definitely help.
Think of it this way: if you got a notification telling you the friend you met for coffee has tested positive and then you don’t visit your grandfather as a result, that could literally save his life.
Lots of moments like that could make a very real difference to the spread of the virus.
How you download the new contact-tracing app
If I do get a notification, do I have to self-isolate?
You don’t have to in the sense that you won’t be punished if you don’t, but you should all the same.
What if it’s not accurate? At work I put my phone in a locker – I don’t want to be told to isolate just because the guy with the locker next door has a positive test
If you’re in this situation, there’s a switch on the app to turn it off. Of course there are always times where it won’t work perfectly.
If you leave your phone in your jacket and someone else sits next to it, that might trigger the app. This is technology, not magic – but as most of us are pretty attached to our phones it should be okay.
I don’t know. I read somewhere there are lots of false positives
I read that too and I think it’s confusing a few different things.
Sometimes the app will make mistakes about distance: it might think someone was two metres away when actually they were 2.5 metres away.
But you’ll never get a notification if you haven’t been close to someone who’s had a positive test for at least 15 minutes. That’s a good reason to take the alerts seriously.
:: Okay. But what if no-one else downloads it?
As a journalist I can confidently predict the media will obsess over total download figures, but on an individual level we shouldn’t worry about it. If everyone you know has the app, that’s all that matters.
Maybe the best way to think of the app is as the digital version of a mask. If everyone wore one, they’d really work, but just because they don’t in one city doesn’t mean you should stop wearing yours on the bus.
Great! I’ll get my dad to get it. But he’s got an older phone
Oh sorry, he doesn’t get to access it. Yeah. Bit of a downer I know.
Oh. But for me – is it an issue if I work in Scotland?
You’ve hit on another snag. The apps for Scotland and Northern Ireland don’t talk to the app that launched on Thursday in England and Wales. That might change, but until then your best bet is download all the apps separately.
Image: The new app is available in England and Wales
What about the QR code check-ins? Are they private too?
Yes. In fact, this is a good example of just how private the whole system is: it’s so private that if there’s an outbreak then test and trace won’t know who you are.
They can send you a warning – which won’t have the venue’s name in it – but they literally don’t have a clue who you are.
That doesn’t sound great for contact tracing
What can I say? You wanted privacy, you got privacy.
One last question: why didn’t I know all this? It would have been really helpful
To me, this is the biggest worry about the app. On Thursday I went to a mosque in Newham, east London, one of areas of the country that has been worst hit by COVID-19. It has had the app for several weeks as part of the trial.
But the president of the mosque said that at best one in 10 people were using it and he didn’t believe the local community had been properly involved. I’ve heard similar reports from other people in the area. It’s not a great sign.
But then again it’s important to keep these things in perspective.
After the pandemic hit, the mosque set up a food bank. Today it’s still feeding 300 people a week.
When it comes to getting the virus under control, the stakes could hardly be higher. Even if the communication hasn’t been that effective, it makes sense to download the app if you can.
Potential coronavirus vaccine passes another hurdle as Phase 3 trial set to begin in the UK
Novavax is ready to start its Phase 3 trial of an experimental COVID-19 vaccine in the UK.
The US biotechnology firm plans to enrol up to 10,000 volunteers aged between 18 and 84 over the next four to six weeks.
The company joins AstraZeneca, Pfizer, and Moderna as its vaccine candidate enters the final step of the regulatory approvals process.
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There are almost 40 potential vaccines being tested globally and more than 140 others in the early stages of testing, according to the World Health Organisation.
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Half of the volunteers in the Novavax trial will have two shots of NVX-CoV2373 with Matrix-M, the company’s adjuvant which is intended to strengthen the vaccine. Half will be given a placebo.
Up to 400 volunteers will get a seasonal flu vaccine and the COVID-19 vaccine to see the effectiveness of combining the two.
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At least 25% of participants will be aged over 65 and the trial will prioritise groups most affected by COVID-19, including those from ethnic minorities, the company said.
In August, the UK government announced that support and infrastructure would be given to Novavax during its Phase 3 clinical trial in the UK.
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This includes plans to manufacture the vaccine in the UK and the promise of 60 million doses for the UK if the vaccine turns out to be safe and effective.
The Novavax candidate is the second vaccine to enter Phase 3 clinical trials in the UK – the first was the potential vaccine being developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca.
Gregory M Glenn, president of research and development at Novavax, said the team was “optimistic” that the trial would “provide a near-term view” of the vaccine’s efficacy.
He added: “The data from this trial is expected to support regulatory submissions for licensure in the UK, EU and other countries.
“We are grateful for the support of the UK government, including from its Department of Health and Social Care and National Institute for Health Research, to advance this important research.”
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Novavax said that pre-clinical trials showed the potential vaccine was “generally well-tolerated” and produced “robust antibody responses” greater than those seen in recovering patients.
Thomas Moore, Sky’s science correspondent, said the Novavax trial could start as soon as Friday and that the vaccine candidate shows “huge promise”.
Novavax shares were up more than 6% in after-hours trading in the US.
Xbox launches Family Settings app to keep children safe ahead of release of Series X and S
Xbox has launched a new “Family Settings” app ahead of the release of its next-generation consoles.The new tool – which works on the current Xbox One as well as the upcoming Series X and S – allows parents and carers to change a variety of settings in order to keep their children safe.They include setting screen time limits and deciding content filters to ensure that young people are not exposed to inappropriate content.It is available for both iOS and Android and can be used to control Xbox settings remotely.Microsoft noted that the release of the app comes both at the start of the school year as well as a time that young people were turning to gaming during social distancing, which poses extra challenges for ensuring it is “part of a balanced life”.The app has been in a preview version for the past few months, and has changed over that period. The company has added new features and tweaked old ones.Read moreThe main functions of the app are: setting screen time limits, choosing content filters, deciding who and how children and play or communicate with, approving or denying friend requests and looking activity reports that detail how much time each child is spending on their Xbox.Additional features will be added over time, Xbox said.It requires that young people are set up with a child or teen account, which Microsoft says on average takes just minutes. Once that is set up, the accounts can be linked, and the mobile app will receive notifications when the Xbox account does things such as receive friends requests.It should work just the same on the new Xbox Series X and Series S when they arrive on 10 November, Microsoft said.
Spotify and Fortnite developers join coalition against Apple to fight ‘unfair’ prices for in-app purchases
Over a dozen companies, including Epic Games, Spotify, Tile, Deezer, Protonmail, and Match Group, have formed the ‘Coalition for App Fairness’ in order to fight what they see as Apple’s unfair advantage in its App Store.The coalition criticises Apple’s 30 per cent tax on companies offering in-app purchases on its iPhones and iPads, as well as claimed anti-competitive policies and a lack of consumer freedom.This is because Apple owns both the hardware and the software and therefore, the companies argue, implement policies for music streaming services, for example, that benefit Apple Music over other services.Read more“One company has near total control over the mobile ecosystem and what apps consumers get to use. After nearly a decade with no oversight, regulation, or fair competition, it’s time for Apple to be held accountable”, a statement on the website reads. “Every app developer [should] have an equal opportunity to innovate and engage in commerce, free from draconian policies, unfair taxes, or monopolistic”.The coalitions suggestions are numerous, but include:No developer should be required to use an app store exclusively, or to use ancillary services of the app store owner.No developer should be blocked from the platform or discriminated against based on a developer’s business model.A developer’s data should not be used to compete with the developer.No app store owner or its platform should engage in self-preferencing its own apps or services, or interfere with users’ choice of preferences or defaults.Apple declined to comment.“As enforcers, regulators, and legislators around the world investigate Apple for its anti-competitive behavior, The Coalition for App Fairness will be the voice of app and game developers in the effort to protect consumer choice and create a level playing field for all,” said Horacio Gutierrez, Head of Global Affairs and Chief Legal Officer at Spotify.“Even worse, it has created a precedent that encourages other tech monopolies to engage in the same abuses. With the Coalition for App Fairness (CAF), we hope to shed light on these issues and encourage regulatory change for the benefit of consumers worldwide.”Although these companies have come together to fight what they perceive as unfair business practises, they have also been exhibiting unfair practises themselves.
Blue Origin: Jeff Bezos's rocket firm to test lander that will carry astronauts back to the Moon
Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’s space company, is launching a mission to test a moon landing system.The New Shepard rocket will fly 12 payloads to the edge of space and back as a part of the mission, which includes the deorbit, descent, and landing sensor demonstration that will be used as a part of Nasa’s Artemis missions.The experiment will give scientists more information to determine how technologies including sensors, computers, and algorithms, can be used to affect a craft’s location and speed as it approaches the Moon.It could enable vehicles to land on the Moon’s surface within 100 meters of their target, meaning that sites that were not possible during the Apollo missions could be used by both manned and unmanned crews.“Achieving high accuracy landing will enable long-term lunar exploration and future Mars missions”, Blue Origin says. Watch moreThe mission will be the thirteenth mission to space undertaken by the company using a New Shepard rocket, which will be entering space for the seventh time.This is also the first time a rocket has made so many repeated trips to space, Blue Origin claims, as a testament to its operational reusability.Blue Origin also says that this is the first payload to be mounted to the exterior of a booster, rather than inside the capsule.New Shepard has flown more than 100 payloads to space across 10 sequential flights, including numerous experiments from universities and Nasa.Payloads attached to the upcoming mission include a system for autonomous plant growth, which could be sued to supplement the astronauts’ diet, and also the potential to grow plants without soil.There is also a payload that demonstrates a cooling technology for electronics on the craft which could operate in low-gravity environments, as well as another for sampling the rock deposits on asteroids.It also tested an innovative method of retrieving the rocket: a capsule that will allow astronauts to escape at any point during the flight, allow for quick escape in case of emergencies.
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