Duplantis named World Athletics’ male athlete of year Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone wins top female award Armand Duplantis has capped a remarkable 2025, in which he broke four world records and won another world title, by being named World Athletics’ male athlete of the year. Immediately after picking up the award, the...
Does ‘laziness’ start in the brain?
Understanding the surprising mechanism behind apathy can help unlock scientific ways to boost your motivation We all know people with very different levels of motivation. Some will go the extra mile in any endeavour. Others just can’t be bothered to put the effort in. We might think of them as...
Norris and Piastri voice frustration at McLaren’s strategy as title race goes to finale
Team failed to pit drivers behind safety car in Qatar Max Verstappen won race to stay in title contention Lando Norris, the championship leader, has decried the McLaren team strategy error at the Qatar Grand Prix that allowed Max Verstappen right back into the fight and forced a three-way battle...
‘Nature’s original engineers’: scientists explore the amazing potential of fungi
Unique properties of fungi have led to groundbreaking innovations in recent years, from nappies to electronics From the outside, it looks like any ordinary nappy – one of the tens of billions that end up in landfill each year. But the Hiro diaper comes with an unusual companion: a sachet...
Starwatch: Mercury offers rare viewing chance for early risers
Elusive planet will make a pre-dawn appearance as it seems to stray from the sun We start December with one of the best chances to see Mercury this year, at least for the northern hemisphere. The elusive inner planet never strays far from the sun but this week it reaches...
Testing at A&Es part of plan to end new HIV cases in England by 2030
Labour announces prevention programme as well as efforts to re-engage people who have fallen out of medical care Ending new HIV transmissions in England by 2030 is within reach thanks to an action plan that will include routine testing at A&Es, the government has said. The HIV action plan, to...
New nanotech generator could replace batteries in tiny devices
The researchers set out to explore whether simple ingredients – silicon and water – could be arranged so that mechanical pressure and fluid motion could serve as a reliable electrical source rather than wasted energy. Their answer is a triboelectric generator built around nanostructured silicon that uses water flow through......
Alibaba and ByteDance are moving AI training offshore to bypass China chip bans
Alibaba and ByteDance are among the companies routing training jobs for their latest large language models to data centers in countries such as Singapore and Malaysia, according to The Financial Times, citing people with direct knowledge of the deployments. These sources say there has been a steady shift toward offshore......
Google’s CEO says “vibe coding” is reshaping who gets to write code
Pichai made the comments on a Google for Developers podcast with Logan Kilpatrick, who runs Google's AI Studio. The CEO said tools built on large language models are making coding "more enjoyable" and "approachable" because people can test ideas for apps and websites without wrestling with syntax or frameworks first.......
This Black Friday belonged to the internet (and your phone)
By 6:30 pm Eastern on Black Friday, online spending was running 9.4% ahead of the same point a year earlier, already surpassing Adobe's earlier forecast of 8.3% growth for the whole day. Its updated estimate of $11.7 billion to $11.9 billion in total Black Friday e-commerce would set a new......