Microsoft’s cloud service has been hit by another outage, weeks after an IT failure in the company’s services ground the world to a halt. In a post on X, Cambridge Water said some of its services were down this afternoon. “Due to worldwide issues with Microsoft Azure, a problem with our website is affecting several services including MyAccount and PayNow,” ...

The weight-loss jab Wegovy may help people quit smoking, researchers suggest. Smokers with type 2 diabetes who took semaglutide were less likely to need medical care linked to their smoking, a study found. Researchers said the findings indicate the drug, sold under the brand name Wegovy, should be investigated for its use in helping people stop smoking. Compared to seven ...

A vegan diet may reduce your biological age, according to a new study in the medical journal BMC.  Scientists studied 21 sets of adult identical twins, with one of each pair eating a vegan diet for eight weeks. The vegan twin was found to have reduced methylation in their DNA, which is a marker of biological ageing. So what is ...

Complex life on Earth began around 1.5 billion years earlier than thought, according to a new study.  Scientists were broadly of the view that animals first emerged on Earth 635 million years ago, but the latest study, led by a research team at Cardiff University, has found signs of a much earlier ecosystem. The ecosystem was found in the Franceville ...

The Delta Aquariids meteor shower will burst over our heads on Monday night, with clear skies making the show visible for much of the UK.  A meteor shower occurs when the Earth passes through a stream of debris left behind by a comet. As that debris hits the atmosphere, it burns up, leaving bright trails behind it in the sky. ...

A common type of bacteria has been found to make some cancers “melt”, according to researchers. People who had fusobacterium in their head and neck cancers had “much better outcomes” – with scientists saying they were “brutally surprised” at the findings. The bacteria is commonly found in the mouth, and in lab studies led to a 70-99% reduction in viable ...

The UK, US and South Korea have accused a North Korea-backed cyber group of carrying out an online espionage campaign to steal military and nuclear secrets. The “Andariel” group has been compromising organisations around the globe as it attempts to get hold of sensitive and classified technical information and intellectual property data, according to the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre ...

3D-printed blood vessels which closely mimic the properties of human veins could transform the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, scientists have said. In a two-stage process, a team of researchers led by the University of Edinburgh’s School of Engineering used a rotating spindle integrated into a 3D printer to create tubular grafts made from a water-based gel. Next, they reinforced the ...

A vaccine being used by the NHS to prevent shingles could also significantly delay the onset of dementia, according to new research that has left scientists baffled. The study on more than 200,000 older people shows those who were given the ‘recombinant’ vaccine Shingrix were diagnosed with dementia an average of 164 days later than those given an older-style jab. ...

A man who revealed how he has only eaten toast for the past five years as he can no longer taste things has helped inspire a high-tech spoon which enhances flavours for dementia sufferers. The device, known as Tasty Spoon, looks like a normal one but it uses electrostimulation to enhance the flavour of foods for patients experiencing a loss ...