Is London FinTech recession-proof? January 21, 2015 The global financial tech capital faces few challenges. London's financial technology (FinTech) sector is booming. In the last few weeks alone consulting services giant Accenture opened its third London FinTech accelerator programme – whose alumni includes one of the capital’s most promising FinTech startups Digital Shadows. And last week the Canary Wharf Group added [...]
More epidemics like Ebola will pose a threat to the Western world, scientist tells Davos January 21, 2015 The man who discovered the cause of Ebola in 1976 has warned there will be more major disease epidemics, and the Western world is not immune to them. Professor Peter Piot from Belgium issued his advice to global leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, urging them to “take a long term view” [...]
SpaceX lands $1bn investment from Google and Fidelity January 20, 2015 SpaceX, the California-based rocket company, said it received a $1bn investment from Google and Fidelity. Google and Fidelity will together own just under 10 per cent of the company, which gives SpaceX a total valuation of $10bn. SpaceX, which is based by Tesla founder Elon Musk, said it will use the funding for innovation in [...]
Global internet users mapped: Google mulls SpaceX investment to bring developing world online January 20, 2015 Google is considering an investment in Elon Musk’s company SpaceX, as part of a plan to deliver internet by satellite to the developing world and other areas that lack coverage. The deal has not been finalised, but would value SpaceX at around the $10bn (£6.6bn) mark, and would be a significant boost to the aim [...]
Elon Musk’s space internet: How we could soon have Facebook friends on Mars January 19, 2015 Ten years from now, we could be exchanging Facebook messages and tweets with people on Mars. Billionaire investor and inventor Elon Musk has come up with an idea to take the world wide web to a galactic level by setting up a vast network of satellites far out in space. Some 4,000 of [...]
Canary Wharf Group expands Level39 tech startup space for fintech, retail and smart city entrepreneurs January 19, 2015 Canary Wharf’s tech startup space, Level 39, is taking on additional space at One Canada Square to house entrepreneurs focused on developing technology in the fintech, retail and smart city sector. Accenture’s 2015 Fintech Innovation Lab is the first to be housed in the new space and will be joined by another 36 companies taking [...]
Ebola in the UK: Suspected case in Edinburgh while Australian woman airlifted to UK January 16, 2015 A woman in Edinburgh is being tested for Ebola, having recently returned from west Africa. After developing a fever on Thursday, she was admitted to the Western General Hospital in the Scottish capital and is now being kept there in an isolation unit. Melanie Johnson, Director of Unscheduled Care at NHS Lothian, said: [...]
Ebola in the UK: Woman tested for virus in Northampton January 15, 2015 A woman suspected of having Ebola is being tested for the virus at a hospital in Northampton. At present, no details have been revealed about the identity of the woman or how she might have contracted the disease. According to Public Health England, it is very unlikely she is suffering from Ebola, but [...]
Ebola outbreak: Two vaccines cleared for trials in west Africa January 11, 2015 Two potential Ebola vaccines have been approved for front-line trials in West Africa. The vaccines, developed by GlaxoSmithKline and Merck & Co, are expected to begin trails in Liberia at the end of January and Sierra Leone and Guinea in February. The Merck vaccine were temporarily halted in December due to joint pain, a side effect later termed tolerable [...]
SpaceX rocket landing: Why did Elon Musk’s mission go wrong? January 10, 2015 Today, the American firm SpaceX launched a rocket into space. After releasing its cargo up in the direction of the International Space Station (ISS), the rocket started to change direction and headed back down to Earth. The plan was to eventually land the Falcon 9 rocket on a launch pad just off the coast [...]