Countries such as India should back research on artificial intelligence in ways that can improve government services like

LONDON & KRAKOW, Poland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 15, 2023--

By Brendan O'Brien and Rich McKay A Vermont reservoir threatened to overwhelm a dam protecting the state's capital

Bluesky has hit a new milestone as it has passed over one million registered users. The social media platform, created by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, has surged in popularity as an alternative to X after users sought to leave the Elon Musk-owned app. Under Mr Musk, Twitter has been rebranded as X. Bluesky hit the milestone on Tuesday, with Rose Wang, who works on strategy and operations at the platform, sharing a screenshot of the moment it gained over a million users. Bluesky still seems to be in its early stages, taking a careful approach and growing slowly as it caters to its cohort of initial adopters. Choosing this cautious approach, access to the app is extended via a waitlist and through invitations from existing users. The app was first announced by Mr Dorsey when he was still in charge of Twitter, tasking developers to build a “decentralised standard” for social media. “The biggest and long-term goal is to build a durable and open protocol for public conversation. That it not be owned by any one organisation but contributed by as many as possible. And that it is born and evolved on the internet with the same principles,” Mr Dorsey wrote on the app in 2020. Bluesky has seen upticks in requests for signups following Mr Musk’s takeover of X, as the Tesla titan brought about sweeping changes to his platform, including initiating mass layoffs, the removal of blue checkmarks for non-paying users and modifications to content rules. At one point in July, Bluesky had to halt sign-ups due to a huge surge in demand, following Mr Musk imposing limits on the number of tweets people could read on X – a move that was later reversed. Bluesky’s approach to carefully onboard users is also in contrast to Meta’s Threads platform, which has emerged as another one of Twitter’s competitors in recent times. Meta’s decision to cross-promote Threads to existing Instagram users led to the app racking up close to 30 million signups in less than 24 hours, and over 100 million users within the first five days. But even with the recent roll-out of a web app – a much-anticipated feature – Threads’ traffic appears to be on a worrying dip, with its number of daily active users much lower than during its heyday just after it launched. Read More Elon Musk’s Twitter slows down access to rival websites $44 billion and eight months later. It’s finally all over for Elon Musk Musk, Zuckerberg and the bitter battle for the future of social media Volcano discovery could power electric cars for decades, scientists say New invention will lead to ‘battery revolution’, scientists say Putin praises Musk days after report Tesla boss stopped Ukrainian attack

While Apple unveiled the iPhone 15, France halted production of the iPhone 12. On Tuesday,

IShowSpeed recently made a comeback to streaming after being hospitalized

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 5, 2023--

The coming week’s earnings will shed light on whether the artificial intelligence-fueled rebound in the technology sector is

MrBeast asserts that his version of the Olympics will have sets two times bigger than the ones used for his 'Squid Game' video

Scientists have achieved a new world record for a next-generation solar cell, which holds the promise for novel applications like building-integrated and window solar panels. The breakthrough follows two years of research from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University into organic solar cells (OSCs), which until now have been too inefficient and costly to be used widely in practical applications. The research team invented a new technique to boost the stability of OSCs, achieving a power-conversion efficiency of 19.3 per cent. “The new finding will make OSC research an exciting field, and this will likely create tremendous opportunities in applications like portable electronics and building-integrated photovoltaics,” said Li Gang, a professor of energy conversion technology at Hong Kong Polytechnic University. “This is a very encouraging result for the long-standing research on OSCs that I have conducted over the past two decades. We have already achieved better OSC efficiency and this will subsequently help accelerate the applications of solar energy.” Professor Li and his team believe an efficiency rate above 20 per cent is now achievable using their new technique. The research is detailed in a study, titled ‘19.3% Binary Organic Solar Cell and Low Non-Radiative Recombination Enabled by Non-Monotonic Intermediate State Transition’, published in the scientific journal Nature Communications. The 19.3 per cent efficiency record is still a long way off other solar cell technologies, with researchers passing the 30 per cent barrier last year with a tandem design that used the so-called “miracle material” perovskite. OSCs are more lightweight and flexible than traditional silicon-based solar panels, as they consist of thin layers of organic semiconducting materials. The materials used are more environmentally friendly and 1,000-times thinner than silicon solar cells, meaning they have the potential to be vastly cheaper. They are also semi-transparent, allowing them to be used not just within building materials, but also on windows. Dozens of startups are already working on novel applications for harvesting solar energy, such as London-based Filia, which integrates solar technology into blackout blinds. California-based Ubiquitous Energy raised more than $30 million last year to push forward its vision of turning skyscrapers into “vertical solar farms” through the development of windows capable of converting sunlight into electricity. The firm aims to begin production at some point next year following further research and development. Read More Electric car range set to double with first production of breakthrough battery Solar panel efficiency to increase 50% with first production of ‘miracle’ tandem cells Solar panel efficiency to increase 50% with first ‘miracle’ tandem cells Elon Musk’s private jet lands in China for billionaire’s first visit in three years WhatsApp set to add major features including a new username system

To be sure, at Computex 2023 in Taipei, Taiwan, the AI wave was inescapable, with

Nikon is adding a pair of lenses to its growing Z mirrorless library. The Nikkor