Amazon takes on Musk’s Starlink with launch of first internet satellites

First 27 satellites launched into space from Florida, part of $10bn effort to beam broadband internet globally

The first 27 satellites for Amazon’s Kuiper broadband internet constellation were launched into space from Florida on Monday, kicking off the long-delayed deployment of an internet from space network that will rival SpaceX’s Starlink.

The satellites are the first of 3,236 that Amazon plans to send into low-Earth orbit for Project Kuiper, a $10bn effort announced in 2019 to beam broadband internet globally for consumers, businesses and governments – customers that SpaceX has courted for years with its powerful Starlink business.

Published: April 29, 2025, 3:19 pm

Piers Morgan warns rise of YouTube is a ‘wake-up moment’ for traditional media

Presenter is expanding his own business on the platform and likens change to when vinyl music went digital

The media world is undergoing a “sea change” in which some traditional titles disappear, Piers Morgan has predicted, as he said some YouTube channels would soon have as much power as traditional network television.

The presenter and former newspaper editor, who is holding funding talks to expand his YouTube business, predicted more established media figures would soon follow him to the increasingly influential streaming service as audience habits continue to shift.

Published: April 30, 2025, 5:00 am

What to do if your wireless headphones are lost or stolen: some sound advice

From using the location tracker on your phone to retaining proof of purchase, steps you can take

• What to do if your phone is lost or stolen: practical steps to restore peace of mind

Headphones are a daily accessory for many, making them a tempting target for thieves. Whether they are stolen from your head or pinched from a bag, here’s what to do.

Check the headphones control app on your phone. Many of them have a function that shows where they were last connected to your phone, so you can try to track them down.

Check Find My on your phone, some Bluetooth models such as Apple’s AirPods, Samsung’s Galaxy Buds or Google’s Pixel Buds can be tracked. You may also be able to report them as lost in Find My in case anyone finds them.

Report the theft to the police on 101 with a description of the headphones, including make, model, colour and serial number, which should be found on the box.

Contact your insurance company to see whether the headphones are covered by any of your policies.

Set up any support or control apps for your headphones on your phone and turn on the location tracking feature.

Add the headphones to Find My on Apple or Google if they are compatible.

Consider adding a Bluetooth tracker such as an Apple AirTag, Tile or Samsung SmartTag to the headphones or case.

Write down the make, model and serial number of the headphones and safely store these details along with your proof of purchase.

Consider getting the headphones engraved with your name, which may be possible at the point of purchase.

Watch where you wear your headphones and use any awareness features on noise-cancelling versions that may help you hear something coming in the event a thief tries to take them while you are wearing them.

Published: April 30, 2025, 6:00 am

White House calls Amazon ‘hostile’ for reportedly planning to list tariff costs

US press secretary criticizes e-commerce giant after report says company will inform customers how much tariffs will cost them

The White House accused Amazon of committing a “hostile and political act” after a report said the e-commerce company was planning to inform customers how much Donald Trump’s tariffs would cost them as they shopped.

The press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, was responding to a report in Punchbowl News, which, citing a person familiar with the matter, reported that Amazon would begin displaying on its site how much the tariffs had increased the prices of individual products, breaking out the figure from the total listed price.

Published: April 29, 2025, 4:50 pm

Can US monopoly laws rein in Silicon Valley?

The EU has issued hundreds of millions in fines, but the US is hounding big tech much more harshly. Plus, Musk’s Doge time is up amid abysmal Tesla earnings

The European Union fined Apple and Meta hundreds of millions of dollars last week.

My colleague Jennifer Rankin reports:

Goodbye, Skype. I’ll never forget you

How space exploration can improve life on Earth

Ofcom announces new rules for tech firms to keep children safe online

What are the Ofcom measures to protect children online – and will they work?

Ofcom accused of prioritising interests of tech firms over child safety online

Elon Musk to pull back in Doge role starting May amid 71% dip in Tesla profits

Elon Musk’s xAI accused of pollution over Memphis supercomputer

AI images of child sexual abuse getting ‘significantly more realistic’, says watchdog

Meta faces Ghana lawsuits over impact of extreme content on moderators

Trump’s meme coin soars after he asks top 220 holders to dinner

Apple ‘aims to source all US iPhones from India’, reducing reliance on China

US food delivery app DoorDash offers to buy UK rival Deliveroo for $3.6bn

What to do if your phone is lost or stolen: practical steps to restore peace of mind

Published: April 29, 2025, 12:52 pm

Microsoft to report earnings as AI financial boom shows no sign of slowing

Company has beaten Wall Street expectations on each of its previous three quarterly earnings reports

Microsoft will report its earnings for the third quarter of the fiscal year after the stock market closes on Wednesday. Analysts have predicted that revenue would grow by 10.6% year-over-year to $68.4bn, even as the company plows tens of billions into artificial intelligence as well as earnings-per-share of $3.22. The company has beaten Wall Street’s expectations on each of its previous three quarterly earnings reports.

Analysts said they view the earnings report as a temperature check on Microsoft’s artificial intelligence business, which has announced it will invest around $80bn in this fiscal year alone, though it has also terminated some data center leases in recent months. The company has invested billions in OpenAI in recent years, giving it a large stake in the ChatGPT developer.

Published: April 30, 2025, 7:40 pm

Meta to report quarterly earnings amid tariff uncertainty and AI investment

Wall Street is projecting the company will post $41.36bn in revenue on $5.21 in earnings per share

Meta is set to report its first quarter earnings on Wednesday after the bell, and investors will be looking for news on whether the company met its quarterly revenue goals of somewhere between $39.5bn and $41.8bn.

Wall Street is projecting the company will post $41.36bn in revenue on $5.21 in earnings per share.

Published: April 30, 2025, 6:00 pm

‘No one knew what to do’: power cuts bring chaos, connection and revaluation of digital dependency

People share their experiences of Monday’s massive power outage across Spain, Portugal and parts of France that upended modern life

“It felt like chaos,” said Iñigo, a doctor at a hospital in northern Spain.

With no electricity from noon on Monday, the building’s emergency generators were kept for the critical areas, leaving staff without access to patient data, broken communications due to no telephone signal or email, and colleagues unable to carry out some of their duties, he said.

Published: April 30, 2025, 3:15 pm

Sage Bambino Plus coffee machine review: the perfect espresso machine for beginners

Delivering barista-quality results in a stylishly compact machine, this manual espresso maker is a brilliant buy for those just starting out

• The best coffee machines for your home: your morning brew made easy

The Sage Bambino Plus is a £350 espresso machine that leaves the espresso brewing to you but automatically steams the milk at the press of a button. I don’t want to spoil the surprise, but this is probably the best beginner’s espresso machine on the market. Whether you’re starting out or just want to upgrade from a more basic machine, such as the excellent De’Longhi Stilosa (£89), it’s a great choice.

The simple design and ease of use are all part of the appeal and are among the reasons why I still enjoy using it as much as I do, despite far pricier machines dotting my household. To be clear, this isn’t a fully assisted machine that holds your hand throughout the process. You still need to learn the manual espresso ropes by dialling in the correct grind size and dosage for the perfect shot. But the combination of the useful tools in the box and an informative, helpful manual means that even beginners will soon find their feet.

Published: April 29, 2025, 2:00 pm

Skin Deep review – kitty rescue immersive-sim is slapstick fun in a cartoony playground

Blendo Games/Annapurna Interactive, PC
This attempt to cosy-fi an immersive sim game is full of ‘zany’ gags as you rescue cats from a spaceship, but it gets a bit too saccharine

When it comes to gamer-gatekeeping, there are few genres as snootily guarded as the immersive sim. From PC classic System Shock to the Dickensian Dishonored 2, these system-heavy sandboxes are video gaming’s equivalent to avant garde electronica or the films of Darren Aronofsky, adored by critics and genreheads but largely baffling to everyone else. Much like those elitist fandoms, the im-sim’s loudest cheerleaders often look down on linear blockbusters with similar sneer. No, Assassin’s Creed player, you cannot sit with us.

While massive games such as Tears of the Kingdom have recently flirted with elements of the genre, there’s still a surprising lack of breezier, beginner-friendly immersive sims. Enter Blendo Games’ Skin Deep – an attempt to cosy-fi the genre. Doing away with the sour-faced sci-fi of Deus Ex, Skin Deep sends you hurtling into space with a premise ripped straight out of a noughties web comic. You play Nina Pasadena, an insurance commando sworn to rescue feline fleets from raiding pirates. As you answer each well-insured tabby’s urgent distress call, Nina quietly sneaks across the raided ship, using whatever tools she can cobble together to rescue her kitty clientele.

Published: April 30, 2025, 12:00 pm

Playing with words: why novelists are becoming video game writers – and vice-versa

While the novel remains a high-status cultural form, video game writing is still seen as a throwaway art – despite some of the biggest names in fiction being involved

I’ve been working in games for a little more than 15 years, and the main thing I’d say about it at this point is that it’s a pretty annoying job to explain at parties. People often say something like, “Oh, I don’t really play games,” which is surely an odd thing to tell a game designer moments after you’ve been introduced; I don’t really eat croissants, but that’s not the first thing I bring up if I meet a patissier.

So one of the joys of publishing my first novel last year was the option to sidestep all of that, and say: “Oh, I’m a writer.” I wrote a novel; I’m working on another one; job done, the conversation can move on. Nobody says, “Oh, I don’t really read books,” even though that’s at least as likely to be true.

Published: April 30, 2025, 8:00 am

I like real maps, but mobile phones can be vital in an emergency | Brief letters

Using GPS in the wild | A toast to healthy hearts | Staffing self-checkouts | Digital assistance | Happy birthday, dear readers

Having rambled for 65 years with Ordnance Survey maps and a compass, I agree with John Harris about using GPS in the wild (We now leave navigation to our phones. The result: more of us are getting hopelessly lost, 27 April). A phone screen is too small to see the wider terrain. But having carried an emergency whistle and pocket heliograph, I have to admit that phones can be a lifesaver in a real emergency.
Joe Oldaker
Nuneaton, Warwickshire

• I can’t be the only one to think that if you can afford to quaff champagne on a regular basis, that would tend to lead to a more positive outlook and greater life chances generally (Drinking champagne could reduce risk of sudden cardiac arrest, study suggests, 29 April).
Deirdre Burrell
Mortimer, Berkshire

Published: April 29, 2025, 4:01 pm

Scientists use live human brain tissue to speed up hunt for dementia cure

Exclusive: British team exposed live cells to toxic proteins to gather rare insight into how dementia develops

Scientists have used living human brain tissue to mimic the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia, in a breakthrough that will accelerate the hunt for a cure.

In a world first, a British team successfully exposed healthy brain tissue from living NHS patients to a toxic form of a protein linked to Alzheimer’s – taken from patients who died from the disease – to show how it damages connections between brain cells in real time.

Published: April 30, 2025, 9:00 am

UK among lowest-ranked countries for ‘human flourishing’ in wellbeing study

Findings of survey on happiness, health, finances, meaning in life and relationships raise concerns for young people

Britain ranks among the poorest countries for “human flourishing”, according to a major study that raises questions about the nation’s wellbeing and younger people in particular.

The survey, which spanned 22 countries on six continents, rated the UK 20th based on a combined score that considered a range of factors from happiness, health and financial security to relationships and meaning in life.

Published: April 30, 2025, 9:00 am

Scientists hope sequencing genome of tiny ‘functionally extinct’ frog could help save it

Corroboree frog belongs to 100m-year-old family of amphibians but is now found only in the puddles and peat bogs of Kosciuszko national park

Scientists have sequenced the genome of the critically endangered southern corroboree frog – one of Australia’s most threatened amphibians – in hope that the information could be used to aid its recovery.

The striking alpine frog, which has distinctive yellow and black markings, is so threatened by disease and the drying of its habitat due to climate change, that it is considered “functionally extinct”. The species survives in the temporary pools and peat bogs of Kosciuszko national park in New South Wales, with the help of zoo breeding and re-introduction programs.

Published: April 30, 2025, 9:05 am

Physicists find key to perfect pasta – but it’s not how Mamma used to make it

Scientific recipe for cacio e pepe avoids a lumpy sauce but uses powdered starch instead of reserved pasta water

It may be only pasta, pecorino and black pepper, but cacio e pepe is not nearly as easy to make as some would imagine.

Now, researchers have come up with a scientific recipe that avoids a lumpy sauce every single time – but it all gets a lot more complicated.

Published: April 29, 2025, 3:58 pm

Weight loss pills could help tackle obesity in poorer countries, experts say

Oral medications are in development to provide alternative to injectables such as Wegovy that must be kept in fridge

Newly developed weight loss pills could have a big impact on tackling obesity and diabetes in low- and middle-income countries, experts have said.

Weight loss jabs such as Wegovy and Mounjaro, that contain the drugs semaglutide and tirzepatide respectively, have become popular in countries including the UK after trials showed they can help people lose more than 10% of their body weight. Medications containing semaglutide and tirzepatide can also be used to help control diabetes.

Published: April 29, 2025, 9:20 am

Three ways to help the developing world survive the end of aid | Winnie Byanyima

Wealthy nations are slashing funding for essential services such as the HIV/Aids response, but poorer countries cannot absorb the impact overnight

Countries across the world are cutting aid budgets, abandoning the decades-old consensus that supporting health and development is both a moral duty and a strategic interest. But the end of aid cannot mean the end of global solidarity – because our global economy is stacked against low- and middle-income countries to such an extent that they simply cannot afford to respond to global crises alone.

Developing countries are drowning in debt, facing interest rates up to 12 times higher than wealthy countries. When interest rates shot up after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the global south was worst hit. Low- and middle-income countries now pay $4 (£3) to the richest in the global north for every $1 they receive in aid. Thirty-four of Africa’s 54 countries spend more on debt than on healthcare.

Published: April 30, 2025, 9:00 am

Why did Just Stop Oil just stop? – podcast

Just Stop Oil, the climate activism group behind motorway blockades, petrol station disruption and tomato soup attacks on major artworks, has disbanded after staging a final action in London this weekend. To find out why the group has decided to hang up the famous orange high-vis, Madeleine Finlay hears from our environment correspondent Damien Gayle who has been covering Just Stop Oil since its inception. He explains how policy wins and policing crackdowns combined to bring the movement to a close, and what the future of climate activism could look like in its wake

What next for climate activism now Just Stop Oil is ‘hanging up the hi-vis’?

Support the Guardian: theguardian.com/sciencepod

Published: April 29, 2025, 4:00 am

Amazon takes on Musk’s Starlink with launch of first internet satellites

First 27 satellites launched into space from Florida, part of $10bn effort to beam broadband internet globally

The first 27 satellites for Amazon’s Kuiper broadband internet constellation were launched into space from Florida on Monday, kicking off the long-delayed deployment of an internet from space network that will rival SpaceX’s Starlink.

The satellites are the first of 3,236 that Amazon plans to send into low-Earth orbit for Project Kuiper, a $10bn effort announced in 2019 to beam broadband internet globally for consumers, businesses and governments – customers that SpaceX has courted for years with its powerful Starlink business.

Published: April 29, 2025, 3:19 pm