List of All Articles with Tag 'tec'

By Hannah Lang and Matt Tracy U.S. financial technology companies are tightening their lending standards, a move that

Researchers have revealed where in the UK has the most crop circles, in a significant victory for fans of chasing potential alien hotspots. The mysterious crop circle phenomenon is often attributed to unidentified flying object landings or other paranormal forces, with wannabe alien hunters travelling from far and wide to study the markings when they appear. According to Bonusfinder and ukcropcircles.co.uk, the southwestern county of Wiltshire has seen by far the most crop circles since 2005, with a whopping 380 instances of the strange event. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Hampshire was a distant second, with just 51 crop circles in the same period, followed by Oxfordshire with 35 crop circles. Monique Klinkenbergh, researcher and founder of the Crop Circle Visitor Centre and Exhibition, said the county’s sprawling landscape and relatively undisturbed countryside could be part of the reason for the flurry of potential extraterrestrial activity. “Crop circles seem to be attracted by ancient sites such as stone circles, long barrows, hill forts and other archaeological sites, for which Wiltshire is famous,” she said. “We have had so many different designs appearing, from small simple circles and ‘pictograms’ to extremely intricate and large patterns, sometimes with a very detailed and complex lay [the way the plants are flattened] on the ground. “Some crop circle patterns are familiar in design, suggesting they belong to a certain ‘school’ or ‘family-type’, such as Mathematical, Forms of Life, Religious, Astronomical, Codes and Mythology.” Klinkenbergh said invisible “Earth energies” are believed by some to run through ancient landmarks. That could be why the home of Stonehenge has so many crop circles, she said. However, she admitted that another far more mundane explanation could be at the heart of it: that they are manmade. Who would’ve thought it, eh? 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.

Beats has launched a new version of its Studio Pro over-ear headphones, with a host of updates. The Studio headphones were Beats’ first product, launched 15 years ago. Since then, the company has been acquired by Apple and undergone a host of changes – and now released a new version of the Studio Pro. They include a new look as well as changes on the inside. The new headphones include better sound, adaptive noise cancellation and transparency modes, personalised spatial audio, better battery life, lossless audio and better performance on calls, Apple said. “When Beats approached me to bring a new design language to the Studio Pro, my goal was to retain the integrity of the design while creating a more sophisticated look and feel that compliments all of the technological advancements,” said Samuel Ross, Beats Principal Design Consultant. “The result is the perfect blend of design culture, creative culture, and engineering coming together.” Beats has also added new leather cushions to the ears, which it calls “UltraPlush”. Those should make the headphones more comfortable through the day, it said. The sound has also ben improved, with new components that reduce distortion at high volumes by up to 80 per cent. As with many Beats products, the headphones bring a range of features best known from Apple. They include spatial audio, for instance, which can be boosted by using an iPhone to examine your ears to customise the sound. But it also offers extra Android compatibility, too. They include fast pairing on Android and Chrome devices and the ability to switch between them, as well as compatibility with Google’s Find My Device app. Beats Studio Pro will go on sale from 10 August, for £349.99 – £200 cheaper than the now almost three year old AirPods Max made by Apple. The new Beats are available in four colours and available from Apple. Read More Rare ‘Holy Grail’ iPhone sells for almost $200,000 Apple’s next iPhone may include new battery technology, report suggests Apple launches huge new payment upgrade for iPhone

By Foo Yun Chee BRUSSELS A French-led backlash led to a U.S. economist withdrawing from a top European

By Victoria Waldersee BERLIN (Reuters) -Tesla is planning sweeping changes to its factory near Berlin, including extensions to its battery

Activision Blizzard Inc. agreed to give Microsoft Corp. three more months to close their $69 billion merger so

TikTok has "more work" to do to meet tough new European standards that are coming for social media and content moderation, according to a top EU official who performed a "stress test" of the company this week.

Microsoft and Activision have mutually agreed to extend their merger deadline by three months in the face of ongoing negotiations with the UK government that could allow the $69 billion acquisition to close, the two companies announced on Wednesday.

Octavia Carbon and Cella Mineral Storage have agreed to build the first direct air capture plant in the

Nasdaq Inc. said it’s halting the launch of its digital-asset custodian business in the US due to a

Chipotle’s ‘Autocado’ takes the drudgery out of making guacamole.

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