Tech and Science Daily | The Standard

Alan Leer is on mic in London, and today’s briefing is basically: cleaner transport, messier politics, and the internet doing internet things. West Ealing to Greenford becomes the unlikely star of the show as a battery-only train starts carrying passengers. Then it’s a UK science funding wobble, before we head online: Google says it’s smashed a massive proxy network, and an antivirus update story proves reality still writes the worst plot twists. In gaming, Apex Legends gives the original Switch an expiry date, and Apple quietly keeps older iPhones on life support — because not everyone’s upgrading every year, are they? More at standard.co.uk.

TfL’s flirting with the idea of dragging the Overground out to Stevenage — because apparently we’re collecting Hertfordshire now. The Online Safety Act hits a new phase as Pornhub says it’ll block new UK users unless they verify their age, and we look at the bigger question everyone’s dodging: what happens when “free” telly (Freeview) starts to look like an expensive legacy network with a 2034 off-switch looming? After the break, there’s slick global science with a quantum “refrigerator” that turns noise into something useful, a supply-chain cyber story that proves your vendor’s problems become your problems, plus a quick hit of gaming fixes and phone-world chaos — including Nothing taking a rare year off the flagship treadmill. More over at standard.co.uk.

Guy’s and St Thomas’ starts trialling AI plus robot-guided tools to speed up lung cancer diagnosis — less waiting, more answers. Up the country, the MoD pushes forward “wingman drones” designed to fly alongside Apache helicopters, because 2026 is really leaning into the sci-fi timeline. Then we swerve hard into gaming: Terraria drops its massive Bigger and Boulder update, Steam owner Valve gets pulled into a huge UK lawsuit over pricing and commissions, and Sony adds PS5 read receipts — so now your mates can see you’re ignoring them. More at standard.co.uk — and don’t forget to follow for your next weekday hit!

Today, the NHS is eyeing drones to move urgent pathology samples across south-west London — because the South Circular simply cannot be trusted. We’ve also got a new Oxford estimate putting a chunky price tag on how cold snaps and heat spikes quietly strain the NHS, plus a battery-recycling method that tries to do three jobs at once. Then it’s a quick hop into gaming with Arc Raiders’ latest roadmap, before Apple drops a new AirTag that’s trying to be better at finding your stuff — and worse at finding other people. More on all of it at standard.co.uk

We’ve got a brand-new hub landing in the capital, while the UK government tries to make public-sector data actually useful, and throws serious horsepower at Cambridge to power it all. Plus: NASA’s Artemis II crew goes into quarantine, because the Moon doesn’t wait for your sniffles. After the break, it’s a reminder to respect your password manager (Under Armour breach), a big AI law move out of South Korea, a chunky Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero patch… and a WhatsApp feature that might finally stop you joining group chats looking lost. More at standard.co.uk, and hit follow for your next weekday briefing

London’s picked up another “start-up friendly” badge, and we're quietly asking whether that translates into anything real for founders beyond bragging rights. We also head to CERN, where an €860 million pledge is sharpening the focus on what comes next for big, headline-grabbing particle physics, and the very practical tech that tends to spill out of it. After the break, it’s a proper cybersecurity reality check as vulnerability tracking systems strain under the sheer volume of bugs, before we lighten the mood with Xbox’s latest reveals, including big release news, and a Garmin watch so rugged it looks like it might survive the Victoria line at rush hour. For more head to standard.co.uk and hit follow for your next weekday briefing.

For episode five of Brave New World, Evgeny is joined by Ben Lamm, CEO and co-founder of Colossal Biosciences - the company working on de-extinction and species preservation, including its flagship woolly mammoth project. Together, they explore what “bringing back” an extinct species actually means in practice: rebuilding fragmented ancient DNA, comparing it to a close living relative (the Asian elephant), and using gene editing to reintroduce key traits like cold tolerance - before creating embryos that could one day be carried by a surrogate or, eventually, an artificial womb.Ben also explains why the mammoth has become Colossal’s defining project - from public fascination and unusually strong samples preserved in permafrost, to the potential conservation upside. The conversation dives into how the same tools can support living species too: developing new reproductive technologies, using AI and drones to understand elephant behaviour, and tackling threats like EEHV, a disease that kills young elephants. Along the way, they discuss Colossal’s viral moments - including the woolly mouse and the dire wolf - as well as the ethical lines the company says it won’t cross.This episode was produced by Message Heard and The Standard.

Alan Leer is in the host seat in London, watching the Sun kick off like it pays rent here — a severe space-weather event has operators on satellite-watch and grid-watch. Back on the ground, Brick Lane’s Truman Brewery row turns into the most modern London argument imaginable: do we prioritise homes, or the server farms that keep the city’s digital heartbeat going? Meanwhile, the EU moves toward forcing “high-risk” suppliers out of critical infrastructure and Microsoft does yet another emergency Windows fix. More news over at standard.co.uk — and follow for your weekday hit of tech and science, made for the commute.

Alan Leer on the mic from London with a security-flavoured tech-and-science roundup: the government green-lights China’s mega-embassy by the Tower with data-cable nerves in the background, OpenAI makes ChatGPT guess who’s under 18, and researchers remind us quantum computers aren’t magically “unhackable” — they’re just expensive and complicated. Plus, Riot’s 2XKO finally lands on console, and there’s a quick iPhone update PSA for anyone still sulking about the new look. More news over at Standard.co.uk