This blog and portfolio has been retired
My recent work, from 2016 onwards, can be found at http://www.clippings.me/smorlinyron. Hope to see you there!
NEWS: Future of encryption on the spot as US security forces argue for back-door master key to decrypt the communications of people ‘going dark’
Online anonymity came under the spotlight again last week as a US Senate hearing discussed whether a ‘master key’ to all encrypted communications should be made available to the US security forces. FBI Director James Comey and US Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates appeared before a committee on Wednesday called “Going Dark: Encryption, Technology, and…
10 scientific steps forward due in 2015
1. Philae wakes up As comet 67P gets closer to the sun from February onwards, the slumbering lander Philae should get the five watts of power it needs to get back on its feet. “Within the team there is no doubt that we will wake up,” said lead scientist Jean-Pierre Bibring. 2. UN Climate Change…
NEWS: Lab notes – dispatches from the world of science
I had these 3 news-in-brief pieces published in the Discover section in The New Review, The Observer, in September 2014. Sounds like good news Separating different types of cells using sound waves has been made much more efficient by a team of scientists. The technique could allow researchers to separate harmful, rare cancer cells from…
NEWS: NSA spied on UN climate summit negotiations
Documents leaked by Edward Snowden show NSA informed US negotiators of rival countries’ strategies and positions before 2009 climate summit. The US National Security Agency (NSA) gathered intelligence from key countries concerning the UN Climate Summit in Copenhagen in 2009, new documents leaked by whistleblower Edward Snowden reveal. The NSA documents show that the US…
INTERVIEW: Award-winning Greenwich eco-store to be flattened to leave room for new IKEA (with podcast)
The planned demolition of the famous eco-friendly Sainsbury’s in Greenwich has sparked outrage. I met with the store’s architect, Paul Hinkin who says the plans must be stopped. Listen to the interview with him below. Campaigners have condemned the planned closure and demolition of one of the first eco-stores in London. The £13 million Sainsbury’s…
NEWS: Nebraska court decision halts Keystone XL pipeline
The Keystone XL pipeline was dealt a blow in a Nebraska court this week when a key enabling law was ruled ‘unconstitutional’ – bringing the controversial project to a standstill in the state. A court has struck down the Nebraska law that allowed the Keystone XL pipeline to proceed through the state. Lancaster County Judge…
NEWS: Lethal levels of polluted air ‘kill 4,000 Londoners’ every year
Air pollution is the second highest killer of Londoners, new figures show, and it’s the children who are at greatest risk Air pollution kills more Londoners than obesity and alcoholism and is one of the main environmental causes of death, new figures show. More than 4,000 people in the capital die from exposure to lethal…
NEWS: South African rhino slaughter hits all-time high
2013’s illegal rhino slaughter in South Africa was the biggest ever. The population of the critically endangered black rhinos is now near the tipping point with only just over 4,000 animals left in the wild. A record 1,004 rhinos were killed in 2013, an average of three animals every day, according to figures released…
NEWS: Paterson slashes UK climate change budget
Reports of severe flooding around the UK, widely believed to be linked to climate change, pour in. But Environment Secretary Owen Paterson, reports Sophie Morlin-Yron, has sharply cut the budget for coping with the effects of climate change. A freedom of information request has revealed that the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra)…
