Scotland
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Scotland’s renewable energy matched 97 percent of demand in 2020
97.4 percent of Scotland's gross electric consumption came from clean energy sources in 2020.
Scotland generated enough wind energy to power its homes twice
It's no secret Scotland has a lot of wind farms, but it's now clear just how much electricity those turbines can produce. Data from WeatherEnergy shows that Scottish wind turbines generated just over 9.8 million megawatt-hours of electricity between January and June, or enough to power roughly 4.47 million homes -- nearly twice as many homes as there are in Scotland. The operators theoretically have enough excess wind energy to power a large chunk of northern England.
Take a look at the world's largest 3D-printed rocket engine
It's a long way from taking on Blue Origin or SpaceX, but UK startup Orbex is confident enough to show off its Prime Rocket's second stage. Inside the engineering prototype's shell is what it claims is the "world's largest" 3D printed rocket engine, which is also designed to run on bio-propane, a renewable fuel source. The rocket itself is made of a carbon fiber and aluminum composite that's supposed to be 30 percent lighter than any other vehicle in its category.
UK to get self-driving buses and taxis by 2021
The UK won't sit idly by while the US, Japan and China put self-driving vehicles on their roads. The country's government has announced an ambitious driverless public transport plan for 2021, including autonomous buses in Scotland and self-driving taxis in several of London's boroughs, with state funding to the tune of £25 million ($33 million).
UK's first spaceport will be located in Scotland
The UK government has announced that it plans to build Europe's first spaceport on the A'Mhoine Peninsula in Sutherland, Scotland. The boggy stretch is relatively uninhabited, remote and close to the North Sea. It's also the best place in the UK to reach satellite orbits with vertically launched rockets. The UK Space Agency will give Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) £2.5 million to develop a vertical launch pad "which will use a combination of proven and innovative rocket technologies," the UK government stated in a press release.
Microsoft’s deep sea data center is now operational
Data centers are hot, noisy and usually inefficiently located. Microsoft's solution? Put them at the bottom of the sea. Following initial prototype testing, the company's years-long Project Natick is finally delivering Microsoft's vision of sustainable, prepackaged and rapidly deployed data centers that operate from the seafloor. Yep. Underwater.
DNA sampling may help scientists find the Loch Ness monster
Does the Loch Ness monster exist? Many say no, but the fabled creature has captured imaginations for decades. Now, a group of scientists wants to figure it out once and for all. According to Reuters, a team led by Neil Gemmell of the University of Otago in New Zealand will use a technique called eDNA sampling to try and capture DNA to determine if the monster exists (or if it ever existed).
Glasgow subway trains will be the UK’s first with no staff
Glasgow's subway system will be the first in the UK to operate trains with zero staff on board. As The Scotsman notes, Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) had already announced that a new batch of Swiss-built trains will be driverless. Now, however, the subway operator has confirmed that they won't have any guards or conductors either. "We will always have staff in the system, but it is not our plan to have a member of staff on every train," Charles Hoskins, a senior director at SPT told the newspaper.
World’s first floating wind farm powers up in Scotland
The blades of five huge turbines have begun spinning on the world's first floating offshore wind farm, located over 15 miles off the coast of Peterhead, Aberdeenshire in Scotland. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is cutting the ribbon on the renewable energy site today -- presumably in an on-land ceremony -- which is capable of pumping 30 megawatts of clean electricity into the grid. In more human terms, that's enough to power approximately 20,000 homes. The turbines of Hywind Scotland stand 253 meters tall in total (around 830 feet), with 78 meters (256 feet) of that bobbing beneath the surface, tethered to the seabed by chains weighing 1,200 tonnes.
Scotland plans to make petrol and diesel cars obsolete by 2032
It's become pretty clear that the petrol and diesel cars are enjoying their final days in the sun, what with both the English and French governments vowing to phase them out by 2040. Their future goal gives them more than two decades to support the major carmakers as they transition to greener fuel sources, while implementing the necessary infrastructure to support them. Not to be outdone, the Scottish government today announced that it plans to implement its own green project a lot, vowing to phase out all petrol and diesel car sales eight years before their neighbours.
UberEats food deliveries come to Edinburgh
After launching in London last summer, Uber's food delivery service UberEats has expanded to Manchester, Birmingham, and recently, it added the useful option of scheduling post-pub burger drop-offs ahead of time. Tomorrow, UberEats is heading further north to its first Scottish city of Edinburgh, where deliveries from over 70 partner restaurants will be available from 11AM (no breakfast option yet, we're afraid). Deliveroo has been operating in Edinburgh for the best part of two years now, so expensive on-demand grub isn't entirely new to its residents, but more choice is never a bad thing.
Former 'Grand Theft Auto' lead starts his own VR studio
Until 2014, Leslie Benzies was head of Rockstar North, responsible for hits like the Grand Theft Auto series and Red Dead Redemption. After an acrimonious split with his former employer and some time away, Benzies looks to be coming back to the game world. An investigation by The Scotsman reveals that the executive has registered a company -- VR-Chitect Limited -- with the aim of building VR headsets and equipment.
Half of UK electricity now comes from nuclear and renewables
A record 50 percent of the UK's electricity was generated from renewables and other low carbon energy sources in the third quarter of 2016. That's up from 45.3 percent the year prior, a milestone fuelled by a sizeable increase in wind, solar and nuclear energy. A neat quarter came from renewables, including hydroelectric, while the other 25 percent was sourced from nuclear reactors. According to the UK government, the growth in green energy can be attributed, at least in part, to "improved weather conditions" across the UK, including higher wind speeds, increased rainfall and longer stretches of sunlight (though I don't remember that last one happening).
Researchers digitally reconstruct the face of a legendary Scottish king
Robert the Bruce, a medieval warrior and hero-king of the Scottish people, is something of an enigma. While his exploits in battle against both domestic rivals and British occupiers have been well-documented, descriptions of his physical appearance have long been lost to history. But thanks to a collaborative effort between researchers at the University of Glasgow and Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), we may finally know what he looked like.
Part of Scotland will soon be powered by kites
Name a method of generating power that's cheap, efficient, sustainable and sounds like something Mary Poppins dreamed up after downing 20 teaspoons of sugar. That's right -- kite power. One of the world's first non-experimental, kite-driven power stations will be established offshore in Southern Scotland, at the Ministry of Defence's West Freugh Range near Stranraer. UK company Kite Power Solutions plans to install a 500 kilowatt system that it expects will generate 'several hundred megawatts' of energy by 2025, Independent reports.
Amazon launches one-hour Prime Now deliveries in Scotland
After spending the past year expanding its super-fast delivery service across England, Amazon's finally taking Prime Now north of the border. The online retail giant announced today that it has begun offering one-hour deliveries on over 15,000 products to Prime subscribers in Glasgow, as well as free two-hour deliveries in Motherwell, Kilmarnock and Cumbernauld. Although Glasgow is Scotland's first Prime Now city, Glaswegians, along with customers in Edinburgh have enjoyed Amazon's Prime Same Day service since November 2015. To mark the occasion, Amazon is offering £5 off everyone's first Prime Now order with the code PRIMENOW5 and it'll also throw in a 2-litre bottle of Irn-Bru Sugar Free. We've checked with Amazon UK's Stereotype Dept. and there's currently no word on whether battered Mars bars and haggis will also be included.
Cops nab teen hacker in Scotland over US government breach
Scottish police and the FBI arrested a 15-year-old boy from Glasgow they believe to be a member of hacking group "Crackas With Attitude" (CWA). According to Motherboard's sources, the teenager, who goes by "Cubed" was nabbed on Tuesday. The Daily Record reported that the FBI sat in when police questioned him, but that he was released from custody later. He's now "the subject of a report to the procurator fiscal."
BBC will make its first broadcast into space tomorrow
British astronaut Tim Peake has already achieved a number of "firsts" while aboard the International Space Station, but his next milestone will possibly be the most entertaining. Tomorrow (February 6th), Peake and his two astronaut colleagues will view the BBC's first ever space broadcast, when it live-streams the Scotland vs England Six Nations rugby match live from Murrayfield. The BBC says it's working with the European Space Agency (ESA) to feed the game to the space station, which kicks off at 4:50pm UK time. It's obviously no surprise to Peake: he knew of the BBC's plans well before blast off -- he even had time to pack an England rugby shirt and Gilbert rugby ball in his suitcase before making the trip.
Uber launches in Edinburgh, its second Scottish city
Scotland, get ready for your second dose of Uber love. The company is launching UberX, its cheapest service, in Edinburgh this afternoon following a successful roll-out in Glasgow last month. Once you've downloaded the app and set up an account, you should be able to request a car starting from 4pm. It's promising rates that'll make it cheaper than alternative modes of transport -- a journey from Edinburgh Airport to the Balmoral Hotel, for instance, should cost £16, while Edinburgh Castle to Royal Yacht Britannia should set you back £8.25. While the demand for such a service is never guaranteed, Uber does have some data to go on; in the last six months, more than 65,000 people have opened the app inside the city. Given the service was never live, that's a pretty good indicator for pent-up demand.
ICYMI: Floating wind farm, autonomous robot delivery & more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-570480{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-570480, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-570480{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-570480").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: Delivery company Starship Technologies will begin testing sidewalk-scooting autonomous delivery robots next year in London and the U.S. They can go up to 4 miles-per-hour and carry about 20 pounds worth of whatever it is you've ordered. Scotland's coast will be home to Europe's largest offshore wind farm. And Georgia Tech researchers are studying fire ants to try to engineer self-healing materials.
