Offenders are using virtual reality (VR) to groom and sexually abuse children, as well as share illegal images of abuse, according to new research from the NSPCC. A report commissioned by the children’s charity on VR and immersive technologies said the online spaces at the heart of the technology are being used by offenders to not only interact with children, but also to simulate acts of abuse. It warned that offenders are being desensitised to their own behaviour because of the anonymity such spaces provide through their use of customisable, digital avatars to represent each person present, which the report said offenders are using to hide behind. Virtual reality platforms are based around a person wearing a headset, which immerses them in a virtual world where they can see and interact with other users as well as consume content, and is seen by some as the next iteration of the internet. However, the study warned that these VR worlds invite the creation of tighter-knit offender communities, which could be used to share child sexual abuse material and lead to an escalation in harmful behaviours. These shocking findings should be a wake-up call to us all about the harm young people are facing when engaging with immersive technology Richard Collard, NSPCC In response, the NSPCC has called on tech firms to do more to ensure virtual reality platforms are safe by design by introducing better child safety features and reporting systems. It has also called on the Government to provide more guidance, funding and learning opportunities to law enforcement on how to deal with virtual reality platforms. And with the Online Safety Bill due to continue its passage through Parliament this week, the charity said the Government should review the Bill’s safety regime on a regular basis to ensure that it keeps up with emerging technologies and harms to make sure they are adequately covered under the law. Richard Collard, head of child safety policy at the NSPCC, said: “These shocking findings should be a wake-up call to us all about the harm young people are facing when engaging with immersive technology. “Technology will continue to progress, and so must we to ensure that we can understand the existing and emerging risks that young people face in these virtual spaces. “As the Online Safety Bill completes its passage through Parliament, it is vital that new and emerging technology forms a crucial part of the online safety regime. “This will only be made possible through clear collaboration between educators, parents, policymakers, and the technology industry.” Earlier this year, crime statistics data obtained from police forces in England and Wales by the NSPCC showed that virtual reality was recorded eight times in crime reports, the first time the technology has been specifically mentioned, the charity said. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Russian cyber-attacks ‘relentless’ as threat of WW3 grows, expert warns Warner Music sign first digital character Noonoouri and release debut single Met should thoroughly investigate cyber security practices, say experts

After nearly a week of mass protests on Reddit directed at its management, the company's strategy appears to be simple: power through.

BHP Group Ltd. is warning its carbon emissions will rise in the short-term, with rapid technological advances and

Arsenal and Liverpool have both signed new deals which will offer new ways for fans to follow their progress this season. Both football clubs have named Google Pixel as their mobile phone partner with the brand set to provide new content for the men’s and women’s teams of both clubs. As part of the new deals, Pixel will collaborate with Liverpool to launch the club’s first dedicated women’s soccer show on YouTube. Arsenal will also work with the brand to provide exclusive pitchside footage of every home Premier League and Women’s Super League (WSL) game. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter It comes after Google Pixel was announced as the mobile phone partner of the England national teams in a partnership with the Football Association, focusing on bridging the gap between the men’s and women’s games. “This latest partnership is one of the many ways we are enhancing the club’s presence and transforming the game for football supporters everywhere,” said Juliet Slot, Arsenal’s chief commercial officer. “I’m particularly proud that it will help to make the game more accessible and boost the visibility of women’s football on the global stage.” Ben Latty, Liverpool’s commercial director, said: “At LFC, it is important to us that we are not only partnering with the biggest and most exciting brands, but that the brands we are partnering with allow us to offer something of real value to our supporters. “We are looking forward to seeing how over the course of the partnership we will work together to give fans of our men’s, and women’s first teams exclusive content and experiences that will bring them closer to the game they love.” Eileen Mannion, Vice President Marketing at Google UK, said: "We are thrilled to partner with Arsenal and Liverpool football clubs. As their Official Mobile Phone partner, Google Pixel will use its legendary AI-powered camera to enhance the matchday experience, bringing fans closer to the game they love, by helping them capture all the emotions of football. We will also work with both clubs to help close the visibility gap for the women's game, delivering on our commitment of making football more accessible and equitable for all fans.” 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.

TL;DR: As of Aug. 28, get this refurbished 2017 Apple MacBook Air for only $399.99

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 9, 2023--

Experts may have found a way to resurrect frozen humans in 50 to 70 years. It comes after a cryonics company was able to revive an extinct worm from 46,000 years ago, leading them to believe the method could be applied to humans. "Cryonics is a scientifically based, legal technology for preserving humans and animals in a state of deep cooling in the hope that in the future they will be resuscitated and, if necessary, cured and rejuvenated," Russian cryogenics company KrioRus explained. "For legal reasons, human cryopreservation can be carried out only after legal death." KrioRus shared how the dead patient is "immersed into a low-temperature medium where almost all chemical reactions are stopped." The first ever cryopatient, American professor James Bedford, has been preserved for almost 50 years "with no sign of change or deterioration." "In the prognosis of modern science, a cryopatient can indeed be someday revived and return to life," they said. Many more people have opted to freeze their deceased pets, with costs dependent on pet size, species and distance to the facility among other factors. A dog is said to cost around $25,000. The company claims to have cryopreserved 92 people but disclaimed that for humans to be resurrected, there must be significant progress in the medical field. "Cryobiological laboratories are few, there are no large ones at all," CEO Valeriya Udalova told MailOnline. "Even the famous laboratory 'XXI Century Medicine' is a small organization." She continued: "But even in such a deplorable situation, remarkable experiments have already been made, for example, on reversible cryopreservation of a rat kidney using gas persufflation with nanoparticles and induction heating." Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter 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.

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 5, 2023--

A new planet has been discovered and apparently it is pretty fluffy - like candy floss. The exoplanet, WASP-193b, was discovered 1,232 light-years away and while it's nearly 50 percent bigger than Jupiter, it's light and fluffy making it as dense as the sweet treat. According to a team led by astronomer Khalid Barkaoui of the University of Liège in Belgium, the planet orbits a Sun-like star named WASP-193. This star is around 1.1 times the mass and 1.2 times the radius of the Sun and is very close to the Sun in temperature and age. The planet orbits the star around once every 6.25 days. Barkaoui and his colleagues also found its radius is around 1.46 times the radius of Jupiter. But its mass is incredibly small by comparison: just 0.139 times Jupiter's. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter From these properties, the researchers derived the exoplanet's density: 0.059 grams per cubic centimeter. This is a lot less dense than other planets like Jupiter and Earth. And as a point of comparison, cotton candy has a density of 0.05 grams per cubic centimeter which is why they made the link. There are few other examples of a planet like this existing but its close proximity to a star may give an indication as to how it came to exist as its heat is likely to have warmed up the planet's puffy atmosphere, which is mostly made up of hydrogen and helium. This state of the planet is only set to last for around a few ten million years as the temperatures and winds emitted from the star are only likely to strip back the atmosphere further. Due to this scientists cannot fully recreate or determine what is causing WASP-193b's unique atmosphere but is it likely to be a continued source of study to try and determine the cause of this phenomenon. You probably won't find this planet sold at fairgrounds any time soon though. 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.

An electric truck which was previously damaged reignited at Nikola's Phoenix, Arizona headquarters on Sunday afternoon but there

(Reuters) -Activision Blizzard said on Wednesday it has extended the deadline for the close of its $69 billion takeover by

The Canadian government has reportedly demanded Meta remove its ban on domestic news in the