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Al’s on the mic for a quick commute-friendly sprint: London’s hosting a 13-nation quantum pow-wow as the UK tries to help write the rules for the next big tech era. Then up to Sheffield, where researchers say the way we make chips could get a lot greener if supply chains shift closer to home. Also: telecoms firms re-promise to stop the sneaky bill stuff, with legacy inflation-linked rises heading for the exit after April 2026. After the break, Nature delivers a proper AI reality check — chatbots confidently chatting about a disease that doesn’t exist — before we finish with Xbox Game Pass loading April like it wants you to cancel plans. More on everything at standard.co.uk.

Alan Leer is in with a proper commute-friendly sprint through today’s tech and science. London researchers linked to UCL hit a bonkers fibre speed record — using existing installed cable — while the UK’s Online Safety regime gets sharper as a key reporting duty kicks in today. Then we go brainy with a study teasing out a “neural fingerprint” for psychedelics, before switching to gaming where Starfield finally opens up on PS5 with a big update and fresh story content. Plus, a quick reality check on why your next phone might cost more than your last — and what to do about it. More at standard.co.uk.

Al’s back in your ears with a proper mixed bag: TfL quietly tests smarter detection tech on Tube tracks (eyes peeled at Mile End) and roads with radar cameras, while the UK’s next-gen Skynet military satellite plan sparks a very serious “who controls what” debate. Then we go full cosmic — Artemis II swings behind the Moon and pushes past an Apollo-era distance record — before a clean-energy research result hints at squeezing more power out of sunlight and heat. After that, Xbox FanFest puts London on the global gaming tour… and Evercade’s new handheld waves the flag for physical retro in a world that’s trying to subscription-everything. More on all of it at standard.co.uk — and follow Tech and Science Daily from The Standard for your weekday briefing.

London Tech Week tees up a new Deep Tech Stage for June, the government names its preferred candidate to chair UKRI, and researchers report something that sounds made-up but isn’t: “trade winds” inside cells that help move proteins as cells migrate. Plus, April gaming season begins — and yes, Goat Simulator 3 is on Switch 2 today. More on all of it at standard.co.uk, and follow Tech and Science Daily from The Standard for your weekday briefing.

UCL teams up on a stem-cell therapy plan to help babies with Hirschsprung disease — the kind of story that actually changes lives. Then it’s the UK CMA poking around Microsoft’s business software ecosystem, because “it’s fine, everyone uses it” is not a competition policy. In the lab, a phonon “sound laser” shows off a wild new way to measure gravity with extreme precision. After the break: Arc Raiders drops Flashpoint and the playerbase immediately starts debating it like Parliament. Plus, CityFibre goes full show-off with an 8.5Gbps wholesale fibre product.More on all of it at standard.co.uk — and follow Tech and Science Daily from The Standard for your weekday briefing.Sound Laser. One more time for the people

Al’s running you through a very modern mix: London Games Festival turns the city into one big playable space, UK genomic science pulls a major epilepsy-linked diagnosis out of the “dark genome”. After the break, space science gets strange — microgravity may mess with sperm navigation — and Apple’s iOS 26.4 UK age checks arrive with equal parts safety intent and privacy drama. More at standard.co.uk — and follow Tech and Science Daily from The Standard for your weekday briefing.

Al’s back in your ears with a very London Monday mix: shiny new lab space opening up in West London for biotech teams who actually need benches, not buzzwords — while UK scientists kick off about deep cuts to theoretical physics funding. Then it’s a straight public health update as UKHSA publishes its technical briefing on the meningitis B outbreak response, plus what the NHS is doing on vaccines. After the break, a rare sperm whale birth gets properly documented (yes, it’s as incredible as it sounds), Microsoft drops an emergency Windows 11 fix for sign-in chaos, and Baldur’s Gate 3 hotfixes the hotfix… again.More on everything at standard.co.uk — and follow Tech and Science Daily from The Standard for your weekday briefing.

London does what London does best: quietly drops a UCL-led trial suggesting a simple skin patch could treat locally advanced prostate cancer as well as injections — with real potential to widen patient choice. Then it’s a very 2026 combo of deepfake detection work from DSIT, the UK’s age-assurance direction of travel, and MPs asking what we actually know about kids, phones, and brain development.After the break, Nature gets philosophical (and a bit nervous) about “AI scientists” automating parts of discovery — while labs are also getting squeezed by the unsexy reality of pricey computer memory. We finish with regulators turning up the heat on child safety online… and Minecraft launching Tiny Takeover, because of course the babies are running the place now.More on everything at standard.co.uk — and follow Tech and Science Daily from The Standard for your weekday briefing.

Al’s on in London after a proper space tease overnight: Isar Aerospace gets the go-ahead in Norway… then aborts in the final checks. Back on Earth, City Hall grills TfL with automated vehicles in the mix, and the UK pilots app limits, social media bans and digital curfews for teens at home. After the break: a God of War patch aimed at nasty save issues, and a BlackBerry-style keyboard phone makes a very 2026 comeback on Kickstarter. For more, head to standard.co.uk — and follow Tech and Science Daily from The Standard for your weekday briefing.