Novartis accused of losing money for the NHS by blocking competitor drug trial April 2, 2015 Novartis has come under fire for trying to derail trials of an eye treatment drug that would save money for the NHS – an allegation the pharmaceutical company denies. Avastin, officially a cancer drug, is highly effective at treating wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a disease that affects around 26,00 people in the UK each [...]
HP’s claims against Autonomy management and Mike Lynch just made us even more confused: Here’s who’s suing who April 1, 2015 After years of HP and the former management of Autonomy merrily hurling various threats at one another, yesterday HP finally made the first move, filing a lawsuit in the High Court alleging "fraudulent activity" by former Autonomy executives Mike Lynch and Sushovan Hussain. The move came after nearly three years of to-ing and fro-ing between [...]
Iran nuclear talks: What’s Iran doing to make everyone think it’s trying to build a weapon? April 1, 2015 Today, world leaders are hoping to finally come to an agreement over Iran's nuclear programme. Representatives for the UK, US, China, Russia and Germany have met with Iran in Lausanne, Switzerland, to try and persuade it to curb its nuclear enrichment programme in return for an easing of economic sanctions. Iran has been accused [...]
When it’s April Fools’ Day, science has no limit: Here are the most ridiculous discoveries ever made up April 1, 2015 Who said scientists don't have a sense of humour? Here are some of the most ridiculous April Fools' Day discoveries ever made up in the field of science. The Loch Ness monster really does exist – but it's now dead In 1972, a team of eight scientists from Yorkshire's Flamingo Park Zoo made a finding [...]
April Fools’ Day 2015: Google Maps lets you play Pacman on London streets April 1, 2015 Google has brought some classic '80s arcade fun to the streets of London for April Fools' Day. Anyone using Google Maps to navigate their way to a meeting might want to add some extra time to the journey – there are some ghosts to avoid on London’s most famous streets with this new maps option. [...]
RBS sees better-than-expected price for its Aldgate office block March 31, 2015 Bids for one of the Royal Bank of Scotland’s office buildings in Aldgate have entered a second round, with the taxpayer-owned lender set to gain a better-than-expected payout. The bank appointed advisory firm DTZ at the end of last year to sell Aldgate Union on Whitechapel High Street, with a guide price of around £85m. [...]
IBM announces plans to invest $3bn in Internet of Things unit March 31, 2015 Computing giant IBM yesterday announced it would invest $3bn (£2.02bn) over the next four years in a new Internet of Things unit. It is aiming to sell its expertise in gathering and making sense of the surge in real-time data. The New York-based technology company said its services will be based remotely in the cloud, [...]
HP files lawsuit against Autonomy execs claiming billions in damages March 31, 2015 HP has filed a lawsuit in the British High Court alleging fraudulent activity by the founder and finance chief of the British company Autonomy which it bought in 2011 for $11bn. The US tech firm which later took an $8.8bn writedown on the acquisition is claiming damages from Autonomy founder Mike Lynch and former CFO [...]
It’s proven: People with rich parents have bigger brains March 31, 2015 Rich and well-educated families are more likely to have children with big brains, according to a new study looking at socioeconomic status and brain structure among young people in the US. Led by The Saban Research Institute of Children's Hospital Los Angeles and Columbia University Medical Centre, nine universities across the country collaborated to analyse [...]
Facebook makes new friends as it doubles its London HQ March 31, 2015 Silicon Roundabout? What Silicon Roundabout? Far from fleeing to the east, Facebook has just doubled its capacity at its Euston Road headquarters, signing a lease for the top seven floors of Regent's Place. The Evening Standard reported the social media company has taken 65,000 sq ft – which is also the London base of Manchester City [...]