List of All Articles with Tag 'h'

For roughly a quarter century, US climate envoy John Kerry and his Chinese counterpart, Xie Zhenhua, have sought

By Christopher Bing and Raphael Satter WASHINGTON A North Korean government-backed hacking group penetrated an American IT management

Alef Education, an Abu Dhabi-based edtech firm, is considering an initial public offering in the United Arab Emirates

Elon Musk's elusive goal of creating self-driving software is driving the Tesla CEO to prioritize sales over profits,

Extreme heat across the Mediterranean is expected to ease slightly on Thursday, before building across fire-ravaged Greece as

The Northern Lights will be visible from the UK thanks to a large “cannibal” solar storm that is hitting the Earth. The aurora borealis (aka Northern Lights) are produced by when radiation from the Sun is deflected by the magnetic field of the Earth. Typically, the Northern Lights can be seen further north of the UK in the Nordic countries such as Iceland and Norway, as well as in northern parts of Canada. This is because when solar radiation hits the Earth, it is drawn to the Earth’s magnetic field, which runs north to south, and is directed towards to north and south poles. But, every now and then when there is a strong enough solar storm, they can also be seen further south in the UK because of the increased levels of solar radiation. From today (20 July), Brits stand a chance of catching a glimpse of the famous Nothern Lights once it turns dark. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Those in Scotland have the greatest chance of spotting the spectacle, however, they could also be viewed further south, but cloud cover and fewer hours of darkness mean it’s difficult to pinpoint cities with any great accuracy, says the Met Office. For the best chance to see the Northern Lights, experts recommend getting out of major cities. This is because, for the aurora borealis to be most visible, there must be minimal levels of light pollution which is not the case in built-up areas. The severity of the “cannibal” solar storm may be so strong that it disrupts radio signals and creates different weather patterns. Sean Elvidge, associate professor of space environment at the University of Birmingham, explained: “These storms manifest as major disturbances in Earth's magnetic field, potentially causing various space weather effects. “On one hand, they can result in radio blackouts, disrupting communication systems on our planet. On the other hand, these storms can produce awe-inspiring displays of natural beauty known as auroras.” Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

A Republican Congresswoman has shared an image of what appears to be a Batman balloon, claiming that it is an unidentified flying object, ahead of a debate on UFOs in Washington next week. Anna Paulina Luna tweeted about the material she has gathered for the House Oversight UFO hearing, consisting of pictures of several alleged sightings. But a number of Twitter users questioned the credibility of one of the images that shows an object in the air shaped like Batman’s face, leading to speculation that officials have confused a party balloon for a UFO. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter “The military ‘leaked’ a photo of a Batman party balloon and claimed it was a UFO. That seriously made me doubt their ability to analyze anything,” said one person. Another said: “My father was a pilot for 20 years, they make mistakes all the time. I just showed you a picture of when a fighter pilot confused a Batman party balloon for a UFO that had no signs of propulsion.” But, one user who believes it is a UFO, said: “I think there is a massive difference between a hot air balloon and a Batman balloon you buy at Dollar Tree for $4.99 and I am pretty sure you know that! Pilots are not mistaking a Batman balloon as a UFO & the balloon ain’t making it to 25-30 thousand feet” “The pic with a blue background near the center is definitely a UFO and not just a party balloon,” argued another. The debate around UFOs is gaining pace in the US. The House Oversight Committee will hold a hearing on the issue next week after Republican congressmen and women promised to look deeper into the issue. It comes after unconfirmed claims from a former intelligence official that the US military had found crashed alien spacecraft. The Pentagon has said it hasn't discovered any information to substantiate this claim. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was asked on Monday if he believes in aliens, in light of the hearing. "I will continue to see," McCarthy said. "But I think if we had found a UFO, I think the Department of Defense would tell us because they would probably want to request more money." "I'd love to see whatever facts and information we have," McCarthy added. "I'm very supportive of letting the American people see what we have, where we go." Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

The Florida Board of Education approved a new set of standards for how Black history should be taught in the state's public schools, sparking criticism from education and civil rights advocates who said students should be allowed to learn the "full truth" of American history.

By Raphael Satter WASHINGTON Microsoft Corp is expanding its suite of free security tools for customers, the software

Researchers have invented a double-sided solar panel capable of generating electricity from the Sun’s energy on both sides. The bifacial solar cell, developed at the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), harvests reflected sunlight hitting the back of the device, offering an unconventional route to producing higher energy yields for less space and cost. Typical advances to solar cell efficiency rates centre on iterative improvements to the side facing the Sun. This new approach could boost the energy harvesting capabilities of solar panels beyond their theoretical limit. “This perovskite cell can operate very effectively from either side,” said Kai Zhu, a scientist at the Chemistry and Nanoscience Center at NREL who led the research. Current solar cell technologies, which use silicon as the semiconductor material, have an efficiency rate of around 26 per cent – higher than the 23 per cent achieved in lab tests by the front side of the new panel. The back side of the panel, however, achieves an efficiency of about 91-93 per cent of the front, which offers up to 20 per cent more power overall when harvesting reflected sunlight. Perovskite has become a key driver of solar cell advancements in recent years, breaking new efficiency records and providing new pathways to creating next-generation technologies. Earlier this week, researchers unveiled perovskite-based solar cells capable of healing themselves when damaged by radiation in low-Earth orbit. Tandem silicon-perovskite solar cells have achieved lab-measured efficiency of more than 30 per cent, and have a theoretical limit far higher than purely silicon cells. Rapid progress with their development has seen two separate startups announce commercial production of the next-generation panels. Producing the bifacial solar panels would cost more than monofacial modules, however their capacity to produce more power could make them more economically viable over time. The latest research was detailed in a study, titled ‘Highly efficient bifacial single-junction perovskite solar cells’, published in the journal Joule. Read More Scientists invent self-healing solar panels with ‘miracle material’ How tech could turn our homes into renewable energy power stations

After complaining last year about surging prices for lithium, a metal used in electric vehicle batteries, Elon Musk

Only users from a single household will be able to use an account, the streaming giant has said.