Beyond Infinity

With a view to driving down domestic power bills, thousands of homes will become part of a new virtual power plant.

The Bulletin of the Atomic scientists, including 15 Nobel laureates, has moved the minute hand 30 seconds closer to Armageddon. There are grave concerns over North Korea, NATO Vs Russia, tensions in the South China Sea, war in the Middle East, global failure to act effectively on climate change and the use of technologies as weapons to weaken democracies.

Our weekly news round-up: Meteorites found on Earth hint at complex organic precursors in the asteroid belt; All systems go for historic Falcon Heavy; Transparent, stetchable nanostructures used to make a smart contact lens; Aussie Jackson Palmer, creator of Dogecoin, reveals his crypto currency was supposed to be a joke; Automated cashiers disrupt bricks and mortar retailers; Facebook loses a million users in North America; New Australian data breach notification laws take effect on February 22.

Social media has driven high demand for cute squash-faced dogs. But they often suffer from serious health issues, including breathing and dental problems, skin and eye conditions and birth complications.

The tech giant cops flack over auto-throttling some iPhones as part of so-called better power management capabilities. Is this merely a cynical move to encourage upgrading your device?

Our weekly news round-up: NASA legend John Young - Gemini, Apollo and Space Shuttle astronaut - has died aged 87; After delays, Space X's giant Falcon Heavy rocket is set for launch in early February; US Army develops school shooting simulator to aid survival for teachers and students; Italian clothing designers defeat Apple lawsuit, gain right to use brand name Steve Jobs for clothing and electronics products; Nigerian prince con artist arrested in New Orleans; Bitcoin has a volatile month as interest grows in alternative digital currencies like Ethereum and Ripple.

Simon Mulvaney of Save The Bees Australia details his costly legal battle with Capilano Honey. He explains how he crowd-funded his legal advice to counter a cashed-up corporate legal team. Simon has a petition on change.org to have imported honey labelled with country of origin and wants a ban on imported honey due to the dangers of disease entering Australia.

In the first of a 2 part, wide-ranging interview, Simon Mulvaney of Save The Bees Australia gives us the low down on his legal stoush with Capilano Honey, challenges facing the honey industry, the techniques of bee keeping and the dangers of neonicotinoid insecticides.

The Federal Communications Commission plans to roll back regulations intended to treat all internet traffic equally. There are censorship, surveillance and bias issues at stake, with the fall-out to be felt around the world.

Our weekly news round-up: Robots replace security guards in San Francisco; Juno peers deep inside Jupiter's Great Red Spot; Pentagon admits to running UFO program; Dwarf planet Ceres found to be an active and still evolving world; G20 will discuss bitcoin bubble at next meeting; Uber seen as faster and more reliable than ambulances; Publicly released anonymous Medicare shown to be not so anonymous.

The US Administration's budget request for NASA includes politically-motivated cuts to earth sciences, but continued support for robotic exploration of the solar system.

Five flagrant reasons why science trumps superstition and misconception every time.

These ubiquitous creatures are more interesting than you think. They mimic sounds, remember human faces, have a broad vocal range, are superbly adapted to our urban environments and can hear earth worms underground.

From January 9-12, the annual Las Vegas show will serve up a veritable feast of consumer electronics. Keep an eye on Alexa and Google Home and Assistant integrations, AI tech, new VR headsets, QLED TVs, foldable smart phones, 4K HDR projectors and robots of all persuasions.

Our weekly news round-up: Latest Nissan Leaf EV impresses; Google Maps helps public transport users; Latest Bose Quiet Comfort bluetooth headphones work with Google Assistant; Some reservations about Amazon's Aussie service; Optus compensates NBN customers for poor network performance; Nvidia's new crazy fast GPU; Boeing says it'll be the first to land people on Mars; Extremophile Antarctic bacteria survive off air alone.

In a clear sign bitcoin mania has taken hold, many investors are looking forward to a strong correction in the unit price so they can afford to buy more of the crypto currency. There's also a growing rivalry between supporters of bitcoin cash and conventional bitcoin.

The first known asteroid from beyond our solar system was detected by NASA's Near Earth Object Observation Program as it rounded the Sun. This exotic object is like nothing seen before, being about 400m long by only 10m wide and composed of rock and metal.

Elon Musk keeps his bold promise to install and commission the battery in 100 days. While a step in the right direction, it doesn't guarantee the state against power blackouts.

Our weekly news round-up: Study confirms flies are an oft overlooked vector for disease transmission; Uber admits in 2016 it covered up a big hack of 57m users' data and paid off hackers to delete it; Calls for glitter and other sources of microplastics to be banned; Reading out loud to yourself shown to boost memory; Humpback dolphins indulge in gift giving; Aussie judge presses VW on why emissions cheating software was installed on its cars; Perth set for test of Uber-style driverless cars; Magnesium battery technology offers safety advantages over conventional lithium ion; Amazon officially launches in Australia - challenges local retailers.

A new theory suggests a correlation between Earth's slowing rotation and the incidence of major quakes.