The mysterious origins of Stonehenge’s giant sarsen stones have finally been uncovered. A sample of one of the megaliths taken by a maintenance worker in 1958 has revealed the 20-tonne stones come from West Woods – just 15 miles away from the site, near Marlborough. Robert Phillips worked for a Basingstoke-based diamond cutting business that
Technology
Britain has signed a deal for the supply of up to 60 million doses of a potential coronavirus vaccine developed by Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. No vaccine has yet been approved to treat or prevent COVID-19. The UK could begin vaccinating priority groups, such as frontline health
Twitter gave the president’s son a 12-hour time out from tweeting on Tuesday after he posted a link to a video containing what Twitter said was misleading information about COVID-19. Donald Trump Jr posted a video promoting the drug hydroxychloroquine, which his father has also promoted and claimed to be taking himself as a precaution
A 1,000-year-old treatment for eye infections can be used to tackle antibiotic-resistant infections, scientists say. Antibiotic resistance is an increasing challenge for modern medicine as more naturally occurring antimicrobials are needed to tackle infections capable of resisting treatments currently in use. New research from the University of Warwick has investigated natural remedies to fill the
Social media companies must “go much further and faster in removing hateful content” from their platforms, the prime minister’s spokesman has said. The comments from Downing Street came in the wake of Twitter’s perceived inaction to address antisemitic tweets posted by grime artist Wiley. A number of users, including celebrities and politicians, are staging a
Smartwatch maker Garmin has obtained the decryption key to recover its computer files from a ransomware attack last Thursday, Sky News has learnt. Last week, Garmin’s services were taken offline after hackers infected the company’s networks with a ransomware virus known as WastedLocker. A number of the company’s services were operational again on Monday as
Scientists around the world are racing to develop a vaccine against coronavirus. And today, the government has announced it wants to double the number of people who get the flu jab this winter, with experts concerned about the double whammy of COVID-19 cases and seasonal flu potentially overwhelming the NHS. But a YouGov poll earlier
Smartwatch maker Garmin has become the latest apparent victim of cyber criminals, with a suspected attack taking offline its website, mobile app and customer service call centres. On Twitter, the company confirmed it was “experiencing an outage that affects Garmin Connect, and as a result, the Garmin Connect website and mobile app are down at
Many workplaces require employees to possess special passes or know a code to enter the building, and the coronavirus has the same advantage when breaking into cells. Scientists have uncovered the structure of an enzyme called nsp16 which coronavirus uses to fool the immune system and gain access to host cells, which it hijacks to
The man in charge of Britain’s space programmes has publicly criticised Russia for a satellite test launch “with the characteristics of a weapon”. In an unusual intervention, Air Vice-Marshal Harvey Smyth said Russia’s actions could “threaten the peaceful use of space and risk causing debris that could pose a threat to satellites and the space
Researchers have developed an “uncuttable” material capable of deflecting grinders and cutting tools in what is thought to be a world first. The material, known as Proteus, is six times lighter than steel due to its porous make-up. One of the people behind the invention, Dr Stefan Szyniszewski from Durham University, told Sky News that
China has joined the search for signs of life on the red planet by launching its own Mars rover into space. Tianwen-1, which means “quest for heavenly truth”, took off successfully from Hainan Island off the south coast of China on Wednesday, according to state media, with hundreds of onlookers watching from a nearby beach.
NHS England’s coronavirus contact-tracing app could be revamped with new features designed to bring “personal benefits” to users, Sky News can reveal. The proposed features include “Fitbit-style” alerts letting people know whether they might have been at risk of catching coronavirus, and “check-ins” with QR codes at the entrances of businesses, according to a person
It has been described as a right-wing conspiracy theory, an emerging religious movement, and even as a domestic terrorism threat in one FBI bulletin – but what exactly is QAnon? Put simply, QAnon is a surprisingly popular hoax based on the cryptic posts of an individual or group purporting to possess inside knowledge of the
Scientists at the European Southern Observatory have taken the first ever direct photograph of a sun-like star accompanied by two giant exoplanets. The image was captured by the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile which has has one of the most sophisticated planet-hunting instruments in existence, known as SPHERE. Capturing a direct image of a
The US has charged two alleged Chinese spies with hacking defence contractors, coronavirus researchers and hundreds of other victims worldwide, according to a court filing. Li Xiaoyu and Dong Jiazhi were described as “one of the most prolific groups of hackers” the FBI has investigated. Authorities said the pair took part in a years-long cyber