This month in technology: Virtual House of Commons to launch as 5G phone masts are attacked across UK

UK parliament set to go virtual

The UK’s politicians are set to vote through a motion which will see MPs attend virtual parliament in light of the coronavirus outbreak.

Under lockdown and social distancing measures, only 50 MPs will be allowed in the House of Commons to vote on the motion which will then see ‘hybrid proceedings’ implemented.

Up to 120 MPs will be allowed to participate online and a further 50 MPs will still be allowed to physically enter the House of Commons.

The first ever virtual prime minister’s questions is also set to take place, with new Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer set to face off against Dominic Raab, who is deputising for Prime Minister Boris Johnson as he continues to recover from coronavirus.

In preparation for social distancing measures in the House of Commons, several televisions and marked-out distances have been added while a ban on note passing has been implemented.

Source: Pixabay

Adidas taps into 3D printing technology

German sportswear giant Adidas has partnered with American digital manufacturing company Carbon to produce 3D printed face shields in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

The London Evening Standard reported that Adidas is supplementing Carbon’s production efforts, with the firm now creating more than 18,000 units per week.

Carbon has also shared its print files across its global network which means that any individual with access to a Carbon printer will be able to create face shields with the correct materials.

The pair have previously worked together in less extreme circumstances having produced 3D printed footwear together since 2017.

Elsewhere, Adidas has made a donation to the World Health Organization and Chinese Youth Development Foundation, as well as hospitals in South Korea and the Red Cross.

Source: Pixabay

Facebook launches experimental Apple Watch messaging app

Facebook has launched Kit – a new Apple Watch app that allows users to contact each other without picking up their phone, reports TechCrunch.

By utilising the Facebook Messenger app, users can send a variety of messages including voice recordings, emojis, location sharing and dictation input. The app will also read received messages to users.

The USP behind Kit, or Keep in Touch, is that it is focused on communication with close contacts only such as a significant other or family member.

By firstly scanning a QR code, users can then select the Messenger contact that they would like to stay in touch with using the Kit platform.

Kit is the first product from Facebook’s R&D team that links to an existing Facebook product in the form of Messenger. It is also the first app from Facebook to launch on the Apple Watch.

Source: iStock

UK 5G phone masts targeted in arson attacks

Phone masts throughout the UK are being vandalised in suspected arson attacks, with 20 reported alone over the Easter weekend.

Masts are being targeted after conspiracy theories falsely claiming that the new 5G network has caused and is accelerating the spread of Covid-19 were shared across social media.

One of the masts that was attacked serves Birmingham’s Nightingale hospital which has been set up in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Vodafone UK CEO Nick Jeffery said: “It’s heart-rending enough that families cannot be there at the bedside of loved ones who are critically ill. It’s even more upsetting that even the small solace of a phone or video call may now be denied them because of the selfish actions of a few deluded conspiracy theorists.”

A spokesperson for trade group Mobile UK noted: “Continuing attacks on mobile infrastructure risk lives and, at this challenging time, the UK’s critical sectors must be able to focus all their efforts on fighting this pandemic.”

A false conspiracy theory linking 5G masts to the pandemic has been blamed for a recent surge in attacks on mobile masts https://t.co/qoVYp0WGi9

— Sky News (@SkyNews) April 16, 2020

Vodafone’s DreamLab app to create coronavirus virtual supercomputer

DreamLab, an application that creates a network of idle smartphones to power a virtual supercomputer, has launch a Covid-19 project to support scientists at Imperial College London.

Originally used to support cancer research, the free DreamLab app will access the idle power of thousands of smartphones to run billions of calculations overnight.

No personal data is downloaded or processed from the user’s device with the cloud-based processing approach able to analyse existing anti-viral drugs and food molecules to find potential coronavirus vaccines.

Users can download the app for free and choose how much of their monthly data allowance they wish to donate to the cloud. Alternatively, users can connect via WiFi.

Imperial College London’s Dr. Kirll Veselkov said: “We urgently need new treatments to tackle Covid-19. There are existing drugs out there that might work to treat it, but we need to do complex analyses using artificial intelligence.

“All of this takes a huge amount of computing power and DreamLab enables us to do this important work in a much shorter timeframe.”

Vodafone’s Joakim Reiter added: “[The] DreamLab app has already supported discoveries through cancer research thanks to our customers’ participation, and we want to do our part now as society battles against Covid-19.”

Source: iStock