Beyond Infinity

A Tough IPO For Uber?

30 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The ride-sharing juggernaut has revised down the value it proposes for its initial public offering by about 30%, to between US$80.5 to US$91.5 billion...

3D Printed Human Heart

29 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Israeli scientists have succeeded in printing a mini heart the size of a cherry tomato, complete with cells, blood vessels, ventricles and chambers. E...

Very Unintended Effects Of Botox

28 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison suggests that botox and cosmetic surgery can prevent facial expression mimicry between people and even...

Porn Age Restrictions

27 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Age-verification for online pornography will come into force on 15 July 2019 in the UK. It's an effort to protect minors from stumbling across explici...

Unfolding Saga Of Samsung Fold

25 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In a PR disaster reminiscent of the Galaxy Note 7 snafu, the South Korean tech behemoth has indefinitely postponed the public release of its latest be...

Space Billboard

25 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

A Russian start up has grand plans to place artificial constellations of cubesats in orbit to promote Pepsi's Adrenaline Rush energy drink. The coordi...

Alexa's Been Listening

24 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Despite assurances it's secure and your privacy is protected, sources claim that in addition to software and AI responding to your Alexa voice command...

First Ever Image Of A Black Hole

24 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The Event Horizon Telescope, a huge effort of more than 200 scientists who synchronised 8 different telescopes around the world, has directly imaged a...

The Future Of Blockchain After Bitcoin

24 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Is blockchain, the technology that underpins Bitcoin and other crypto currrencies, just a passing fad or can it have long-term benefits for Australian...

NASA's Twins Study - Understanding The Effects Of Long-Duration Spaceflight

21 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The Human Research Program is NASA's comprehensive effort to enable safe and productive travel for people in space. Now retired identical twin astrona...

AZURE - Adding Artificial Colour To The Northern Lights

14 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Launched from Norway, NASA's Auroral Zone Upwelling Rocket Experiment dropped gases through aurora borealis to better understand the interaction of Ea...

Google To Launch Stadia Game Streaming Service

13 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The new video game streaming service will start in late 2019. It'll run on the Chrome browser, will "state share" via YouTube and, depending on availa...

Deadly Fungus Candida Auris Spreading Around The World

11 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Antibiotics were introduced in the 1940s and have saved countless lives from deadly infections. Now drug-resistant super bugs are becoming more preval...

Your Essential Tech Under $200

09 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

From solid state data storage and back-up through to dash cams and smart plugs, we rack our brains for the most indispensable and affordable consumer ...

Incredible New Robots From Boston Dynamics

05 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

A slew of new, highly capable robots can now do amazing things. The latest factory robot, the Handle, can handle heavy boxes with ease and neatly stac...

Tipsiness Without Alcohol's Adverse Effects

05 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

UK scientists at Imperial College London are working on a synthetic alcohol substitute which promises many of the joys of grog, minus the hang-over or...

A Helicopter For Mars

04 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In addition to hunting for microbes, testing oxygen production and caching rock cores, NASA's next big rover will carry a small solar-powered helicopt...

Facebook Calls For Global, Unified Regulation Of Social Media

03 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The lawless wild west internet has failed. Now is the time to introduce tough, binding global regulations of social platforms. And with the prospect o...

Can Viral Extremism Be Stopped?

02 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In the wake of the Christchurch massacre, law makers around the world are focused on how to control the spread of extremism and objectionable material...

The Next Generation Is 5G

28 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Rolling out in 2020, 5G mobile technology promises to be super fast, with minimum speeds of 100mbs. But you'll need a new 5G compatible device and a p...

Spotify Takes On Apple As Music Streaming War Heats Up

27 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Spotify has complained to the European Commission that Apple's AppStore rules "purposely limit choice and stifle innovation" and asked the regulator t...

UK Parliament Demands Tough Regulation Of Social Media

26 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The Disinformation and 'Fake News' Final Report has been published on parliament.uk. It is scathing of social media platforms, especially Facebook's r...

Book Review - Chasing New Horizons

22 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

A ripping yarn about the hugely successful New Horizons mission to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt, by Alan Stern, principal investigator and astrobiologist...

AI's Double-Edged Sword

22 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

To highlight potential advantages and disadvantages of artificial intelligence, a website called thispersondoesnotexist.com displays believable images...

Active Volcanism On Mars

21 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

A study by the Lunar and Planetary Lab at the University of Arizona suggests that Mars could still be geologically alive. Researchers think a suspecte...

State Sponsored Cyber Warfare

21 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Russia wants a 'kill switch' on its internet connection to the outside world to protect it from cyber attack, while Australian political parties have ...

Do Video Games Make Kids Violent?

20 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

A study of 14 and 15 year old teenagers by the UK's venerable Royal Society finds no link between violent video games and acts of violence in the real...

Political Ambitions Of A Bee Activist

19 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

After a good showing as an independent candidate in the 2018 Victorian state election for the seat of Nepean, Simon now intends to run for the seat of...

An Update From Bee Activist Simon Mulvany

19 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Simon gives the low down on his recent activism, including the removal of Capilano's Allowrie branded honey from supermarket shelves. He goes through ...

Eyes Are The Window To the Soul - And Your Future Health

16 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Verily, part of Alphabet, is creating algorithms which use machine learning to create completely new medical insight, without human direction. One use...

LSD Back In Fashion For Medical Use?

15 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Recent studies using advanced brain scanning techniques are revealing new details of how LSD effects different parts of the brain. These insights coul...

Some Good News About Plastic

14 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Big companies like Samsung and KFC are curtailing their use of single use plastic and moving towards recyclable and biodegradable packaging materials....

Safer Internet Day 2019

13 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Coinciding with Safer Internet Day which aims to create a better internet for young people, Google releases a new Chrome feature that warns about comp...

Bezos Shafts D Pecker

12 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The Amazon CEO and world's richest man faces personal embarrassment over leaked sexting with girlfriend Lauren Sanchez. But the matter has widened int...

AI For Mass Surveillance

07 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Cyber security experts say the world's democracies should fear the development of artificial intelligence as a means to automate control in authoritar...

Stanford Study Shows Enduring Benefits Of Quitting Facebook

06 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

2844 people were surveyed after giving up Facebook for a month. Many reported increased personal happiness, less extreme political views and more time...

Reverse Engineering A Brain

05 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The Swiss Blue Brain Project aims to create biologically detailed digital reconstructions and simulations of rat, and ultimately human brains. Aided b...

Deep Space Update - Oppy, InSight And New Horizons

29 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Efforts intensify to revive the Opportunity rover, silent on Mars since June 2018; the InSight lander deploys instruments to study the Martian interio...

Instagram Memes Threaten Australian Democracy

25 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Are elections downunder vulnerable to manipulation like the 2016 US election? Are the 9 million Instagram users sitting ducks for an all-out meme assa...

Global Internet Infrastructure At Risk

23 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Malicious software can cause enormous physical damage to older, insecure infrastructure. It can even black out the internet for entire countries.

Increased Bombardment From Outer Space

22 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

A new study using data from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter suggests the rate of cratering on the moon has almost tripled in the last 300 million yea...

World's Biggest Air Purifier

18 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

China is building enormous towers in an effort to scrub dangerous pollution from its air. But critics point out that the benefits only seem to be noti...

The Quantum Arms Race

18 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

China is fast catching up to the US in developing military applications for quantum technology and is now ahead in registering patents in quantum comm...

Bill Gates' Warning On Gene Editing

17 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Gates has joined the voices of concerned scientists around the world in issuing his deep reservations, pointing to the potential problem of class disp...

Bandersnatch - Breaking The 4th Wall

16 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

An interactive dark fantasy show on Netflix allows viewers to make their own decisions about how the narrative will unfold. The concept has huge poten...

East Coast Hyperloop Pitched To Australian Government

15 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Among the options for high speed mass transport under consideration is Hyperloop, a brainchild of Elon Musk. Capsules contained within large tubes cou...

Government Encryption Bill Threatens The Future Of Tech In Australia

20 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

How the rushed Assistance and Access Bill 2018 risks job losses and could see local investment in technology head offshore. It's a prime example of a ...

US Senate Report Details Russian Pro-Trump Disinformation Campaign

19 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

How Russia's extended assault on US democracy used computational propaganda to mislead and divide Americans. Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube ...

Tis The Season To Be Scamming

17 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Whether it's fake texts from Australia Post, threatening robo calls from the Australian Tax Office or bogus calls from an Indian call centre seeking a...

China Launches Chang'e 4 To Far Side Of The Moon

13 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

An ambitious world-first mission is set to land in Von Karman crater and release a rover to investigate the little known far side of our nearest celes...

The Internet Of Smells

12 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Is it possible to simulate a smell through the nasal cavity by an electric signal?

ACCC Denies Results Of German Honey Tests

10 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission reckons that the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) testing of Australian supermarket honey brands by...

Bee Expert Mulvany Weighs Tilt At Federal Politics

09 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

After getting more than 4% of the primary vote in the Victorian state election for the seat of Nepean, anti food fraud campaigner Simon Mulvany outlin...

Details Emerge Of Capilano's Law Suit

07 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Simon Mulvany of Save The Bees Australia takes us through some of what he can and can't say in his legal dispute with Capilano. He is also critical of...

Gene Editing Chinese Twins

05 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

He Jiankui, an associate professor at Shenzhen's Southern University of Science and Technology, has shocked the world with claims he's succeeded in ed...

Assistance And Access Bill Threatens Encryption Security For All

04 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

With Opposition support, the Australian Government has rushed through new laws to force device makers and software companies to enable law enforcement...

VR Helping Older Drivers Stay On The Road

03 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

A virtual reality driving simulator for the aged is being trialed in Invernell in NSW. It aims to assess and enhance driving skills to improve road sa...

Electriq's Water-based Fuel

01 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

An Australian/Israeli start up has developed a clean, efficient and cost effective new fuel comprising a stable mix of hydrogen and water. We talk to ...

InSight Mission Begins On Mars

28 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Finally, after technical issues delayed the mission by 2 years, NASA's latest outpost on the red planet is safely established at Elysium Planitia. InS...

Update On Australian Battery Storage Tech

27 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Victoria is following in the footsteps of the world's biggest battery at the Hornsdale Power Reserve in South Australia, building new battery sites in...

Latest CSIRO Funding For AI And Space

23 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Australia's national science agency is spending up on space technology and AI. Objectives include improved food security and quality, health and well ...

Out Of Fuel, The Dawn Mission To Vesta And Ceres Concludes

20 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

After 11 years in space and historic orbits of 2 separate objects in the main asteroid belt, the Dawn mission is over. Part of NASA's Discovery Progra...

Winners And Finalists Of Little Big Idea Competition

20 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Kids are amazing: energised and enthusiastic about science, tech and how to take best advantage of the internet of things. Three young winners of Aust...

Capilano Honey Law Suit Grinds On

08 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Simon Mulvany of Save The Bees Australia has been embroiled in a legal dispute with Capilano Honey for years. Here he provides startling revelations a...

The Resurgence Of Internet Piracy

01 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Fragmentation of quality programming among different streaming services is causing more people to turn to bit torrent and the like to get hold of the ...

China's Ambitious Plans For Mars

01 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

The China Academy of Space Technology is aiming high, with an orbiter, lander and rover mission to Mars scheduled for 2020. Thirteen payloads will be ...

The Dangers To Humans And Bees Of The Herbicide Round Up

29 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Monsanto has been ordered to pay $290m to Dewayne Johnson, a Californian groundskeeper riddled with cancer after working with the herbicide Round Up. ...

The Defunct Google Plus Service Was Hacked In March 2018

24 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Google Plus, Google's failed social networking platform, suffered a significant security breach of users' private profile data but failed to disclose ...

Anachronistic Arachnophobia

23 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Peptides extracted from Australia's deadly funnel web spider appear to be very effective in selectively killing melanoma skin cancer cells and Tasmani...

Project Dragonfly - Is Google Helping Chinese Censorship?

17 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In an effort to tap China's 750 million internet users, Google has secretly developed a search engine for the Chinese government that incorporates tig...

How To Effectively Vaccinate Against Influenza

16 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

There were only 40,000 cases of influenza in the 2018 Australian flu season, compared with 230,000 the year before - thanks mainly to an effective (an...

Wannacry Malware Traced Back To North Korean Hacker

13 Sep 2018

Contributed by Lukas

One of the biggest and most damaging malware attacks of the past 10 years, Wannacry infected millions of computers running Windows XP, 7 and 10 around...

Tough Times For Elon Musk And Tesla Investors

13 Sep 2018

Contributed by Lukas

A flawed genius or just chronically over-worked? Elon Musk's behaviour over the past few months has raised eyebrows among investors and regulators. Te...

Killer Drones To Hunt Down Crown Of Thorns

12 Sep 2018

Contributed by Lukas

RangerBot, developed at the Queensland University of Technology, is a compact autonomous submarine that can identify and kill crown of thorns starfish...

Changing Usage Of Facebook

12 Sep 2018

Contributed by Lukas

A survey of British school kids showed that 63% would be happy if social media had never been invented. Other studies suggest that younger crew are be...

2018 Australian Museum Eureka Prizes

11 Sep 2018

Contributed by Lukas

A run through of some of the Australian Museum's Eureka Prizes, including a glue to close wounds in place of stitches, a super-sensitive test for dete...

Predicting Your Choices Before You've Made Up Your Mind

10 Sep 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Researchers at Auckland University of Technology's Knowledge Engineering and Discovery Research Institute have come up with an AI model which predicts...

Food Fraud - Honey Industry Whistleblower Vindicated

05 Sep 2018

Contributed by Lukas

After recent ABC News revelations about adulterated imported honey from China, activist Simon Mulvany reflects on his protracted legal battle with Aus...

Food Fraud - German Testing Exposes Fake Honey On Sale In Australia

04 Sep 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Independent analysis using nuclear magnetic resonance at the Quality Services International lab shows that about half of honey on sale at big supermar...

Unlock Your Phone Or Face 10 Years Jail

30 Aug 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Tougher screening laws at airports in Australia mean you can be required to unlock electronic devices for inspection or face heavy fines and up to 10 ...

Audit Finds WA Government Agencies Vulnerable To Cyber Crime

29 Aug 2018

Contributed by Lukas

The widespread use of weak or common passwords among the general public is well known, but a recent check by the auditor general on agencies of the st...

Star Explorer - Parker Solar Probe On Course For The Sun

29 Aug 2018

Contributed by Lukas

After a perfect course-refining engine burn on August 20, NASA's first dedicated mission to the Sun is on course for a gravity assist from Venus on Oc...

The White Cliffs Project: Conserving Australia's Engineering Heritage

27 Aug 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Graeme Hanigan, Secretary of White Cliffs Solar Thermal Power Station Friends Inc, explains how he became involved in efforts to preserve the disused ...

CSIRO Hydrogen Membrane "A Watershed Moment For Energy"

15 Aug 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Hydrogen derived from ammonia could soon be powering cars in Japan, Korea and Singapore. This follows ten years of research at Australia's CSIRO into ...

Getting The Most Out Of Spotify, Netflix Or Google

14 Aug 2018

Contributed by Lukas

John takes us through some smart moves with home sharing that can save you big time on popular internet services.

Assange Looking For New Digs

08 Aug 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Donald Trump arguably benefited from WikiLeaks during the 2016 US presidential campaign and said he "loved" the publisher of damaging information to t...

The Problem (And Opportunity) Of E-Waste

07 Aug 2018

Contributed by Lukas

What to do with old phones, laptops, TVs, printers, monitors, cables and chords? Well, it could prove cheaper to 'mine' this rubbish for the valuable ...

Rising Hopes Of Finding Microbes On Mars

02 Aug 2018

Contributed by Lukas

A large watery lake is believed to be hidden beneath the Martian South pole, while studies of the driest places on Earth, like Atacama in Chile, sugge...

Weekly News From Beyond Infinity 31/7/18

31 Jul 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Our weekly news round-up: The world's first trillion dollar companies; Facebook and Twitter's share prices crash on revenue results; Blood moon - the ...

Careful What You Type - Questions About Security Of 3rd Party Keyboard Apps

27 Jul 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Despite clear benefits to typing speed, there are privacy considerations when using popular apps like SwiftKey, Gboard and Swype. Your private informa...

Still No Word From The Opportunity Rover

26 Jul 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Oppy remains silent at Meridiani Planum as a global dust storm envelops Mars, drastically reducing energy to the rover's solar panels. While ground co...

Smart Phone Buyers' Guide Q3&4/2018

25 Jul 2018

Contributed by Lukas

What to keep an eye out for in the next few months if you're considering a smart phone upgrade. We look at what's brewing from Apple, Samsung, Google ...

Weekly News From Beyond Infinity 24/7/18

24 Jul 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Our weekly news round-up: Another data scandal hits Facebook; Big update for Apple HomePod; San Fransisco plans to issue electric scooter permits in A...

Australia Launches Myhealthrecord Online Database Amid Privacy Concerns

18 Jul 2018

Contributed by Lukas

With almost 6 million Australians already signed on, 13,000 health professionals connected and 6.5 million clinical documents uploaded so far, the Fed...

App Developers Are Reading Your Gmail

18 Jul 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Google engineers and third-party app developers are given permission to read the emails of the 1.2 billion Gmail users around the world. In some cases...

An Awful Week For Elon Musk

17 Jul 2018

Contributed by Lukas

After a lead diver in the Thai cave rescue Vern Unsworth told Elon to "stick his submarine where it hurts" and described it as a PR stunt, Musk brande...

Issues Facing The World's Bees (Part 3)

04 Jul 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In the final part of our interview with professional apiarists Simon Mulvany and Ben Moore, we discuss what's so important about bees and how attitude...

The Militarisation Of Gene Editing Technologies

04 Jul 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Though incredibly promising for eradicating nasty disease, there remain troubling questions about unintended consequences. Now the US military is gett...

Continuing Fall Out From The PageUp Data Breach

04 Jul 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Many major Australian companies have had job applicants' data compromised by the hacking of Melbourne-based online recruitment services company PageUp...

The Fine Art Of Decrypting Your Energy Bills

03 Jul 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Unnecessary bill complexity is a real (and quite deliberate) issue for Australian retail energy consumers. We offer suggestions on how to read your bi...