A £5 million UK project is turning to artificial intelligence to help passenger jets dodge the climate-warming condensation trails left in their wake. Known as Operation Blue Skies, the 30-month initiative involves Google, the UK government, NATS, and the Met Office. It targets Shanwick airspace in the eastern North Atlantic, an area responsible for roughly 5% of global contrail warming.
Contrails form when jet exhaust meets freezing, humid air, trapping heat that would otherwise escape the atmosphere. Experts estimate these clouds account for up to a third of aviation’s total climate impact.
By pairing satellite imagery, flight data, and weather models, AI will predict where persistent contrails will form. Controllers can then prompt pilots to adjust their altitude by roughly 2,000 feet to avoid these atmospheric zones. Over two trial winters, 10,000 flights will test the system to prove its impact.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c62em5lpvnjo
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Scientists have taken a major leap in synthetic biology by using generative AI to design functional viruses from scratch. Researchers from the Arc Institute and Stanford University utilized a biological genome language model (Evo 2)—trained on millions of natural DNA sequences—to author complete biological genomes.
The team synthesized these AI-generated blueprints in the lab, successfully creating 16 novel, viable bacteriophages (viruses that target and destroy bacteria). In lab tests, a cocktail of these AI-designed phages effectively wiped out E. coli strains, including those resistant to natural viruses.
This breakthrough proves whole-genome AI design is possible, offering a promising new weapon against drug-resistant "superbugs" through custom phage therapies. However, experts urge caution: the dual-use technology that enables life-saving medicine could potentially be exploited to engineer dangerous new pathogens, underscoring the urgent need for robust global biosecurity regulations.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5y3j3ngevmo
img: AI generated (Midjourney)
A brief power failure at Network Rail's Manchester operating centre caused widespread train disruption across the North West of England, raising serious questions about system resilience. Network Rail, the publicly owned body managing Britain's rail infrastructure, relies on regional centres to safely control tracks and signalling. Although the local power cut lasted just 90 seconds, backup systems failed to perform as expected.
Chris Wright, Network Rail's North-West route director, stated systems came back online rapidly, but key communication systems malfunctioned and required reconfiguration and replacement. The resulting signalling failure - acting as the railway's traffic light network - forced trains to stop. Rebooting the network and replacing damaged components took hours, stranding trains and crews out of position across the region. Network Rail has formally apologised to affected passengers, launched an official investigation into the failure, and committed to engineering upgrades to improve system resilience and prevent future occurrences.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3ekd5784k5o
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Emergency services have been attending to a passenger train derailment near Lewes on 13th August 2026 after rear carriages of a Southern rail service slipped off the tracks during record-breaking summer temperatures.
The incident occurred at approximately 3:30 p.m. involving the London Victoria to Eastbourne service. Several rear carriages partially derailed and turned onto their sides shortly before reaching Lewes station.
Two passengers suffered serious injuries and 18 others were less seriously injured in the derailment, which happened with 150 people on board.
The derailment coincided with intense climate conditions across Southern England, where local temperatures reached a peak of 38.1°C, marking one of the hottest days on record. Rail safety experts and industry investigators are currently evaluating whether heat-induced track buckling - a phenomenon where steel rails warp under extreme thermal stress - contributed to the incident.
The Rail Accidents Investigation Branch (RAIB) has launched a formal investigation to determine the exact cause of the derailment and assess existing thermal speed restrictions on the network.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cly5252xqdvt
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A US judge in New Mexico has ordered Meta to pay another $567m (£421m) for its failure to warn the public about the dangers its platforms posed to children, marking the largest fine against the company over child safety. Judge Bryan Biedscheid said the social media giant is a "public nuisance" akin to air pollution and that it must put the money in a fund aimed at reducing future harms. The ruling is in addition to $375m in fines Meta was already ordered to pay in the case, for a total of $942m.
Judge Biedscheid compared Meta to a factory, with advertising and content as its product and "the psychological harm and sexual exploitation of children to be the pollution that must be abated".
A spokesman for Meta, which owns and operates Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp and Threads, said Thursday: "We disagree with the ruling and will appeal. We work hard to keep people safe on our platforms and have been transparent about the challenges of identifying and removing bad actors and harmful content," they added.
"We remain confident in our record of protecting teens online and will continue to defend ourselves against claims that misrepresent the facts."
Regarding the earlier $375m verdict in the case, Meta had said it intended to appeal the ruling and gave a similar explanation. It was the first time that a state had successfully sued Meta over child safety issues.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd7lz3wr2rlo
img: Meta and the Meta logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Meta Platforms, Inc.