Just two weeks since raising $125mn in funding, British scaleup Tokamak Energy has secured backing from the US and UK to upgrade its ST40 fusion energy plant. The US Department of Energy (DOE), the UK’s Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), and Tokamak Energy will jointly sponsor a $52mn upgrade to the fusion facility in Oxfordshire.  “Fusion has the potential to be a clean and sustainable energy source, transforming how we power our country, and countries around the world,” said Kerry McCarthy, Minister for Climate at DESNZ.  “This strategic partnership is therefore c ..read more

Scientists in the UK have successfully created the world’s first carbon-14 diamond battery, which could power low-energy devices like satellite communication equipment for over 5,000 years. The battery is made of the radioactive isotope carbon-14, encased in a thin layer of synthetic diamond. As the carbon-14 decays it emits electrons. The diamond acts like a semiconductor, converting these electrons into electricity. Since carbon-14 has a half-life of 5,700 years, scientists expect the battery to last for millennia.  The UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and the University of Bristol l ..read more

German startup FibreCoat has bagged €20mn in Series B funding as it looks to bring its super-resistant materials to the burgeoning space industry.  FibreCoat spunout from RWTH Aachen University in 2020. The startup has developed a patented process for coating fibres with metals and plastics during the spinning stage. This creates fibres that are lightweight and conductive, yet strong and durable — at a fraction of conventional costs. These can then be spun together to form reinforced composites.  So far, FibreCoat has focused on securing clients in the automotive, construction, and ..read more

Google Deepmind researchers have built an AI weather forecasting tool that makes faster and more accurate predictions than the best system available today. Dubbed GenCast, the new model outperformed the ENS forecast, widely regarded as the world leader, 97% of the time for predictions up to 15 days in advance. It was tested on over 1,320 weather scenarios, including tropical cyclones and heatwaves. “Outperforming ENS marks something of an inflection point in the advance of AI for weather prediction,” Ilan Price, a research scientist at Google DeepMind, told the Guardian. “At least in the shor ..read more

UK startup PhysicsX, founded by former Formula 1 engineering whizz Robin “Dr. Rob” Tuluie, has unveiled an AI tool that could fast-track the time it takes to design a new aircraft from months to just a few days.  Dubbed LGM-Aero, the software creates new designs for aeroplanes. Using advanced algorithms trained on more than 25 million geometries, the model predicts lift, drag, stability, structural stress and other attributes for each shape. It then tailors the design according to what you want your plane to do. PhysicsX said the AI is the first-ever Large Geometry Model (LGM) for aerosp ..read more

Microsoft’s cloud ambitions just hit a major snag in the UK. The tech giant is facing a £1bn ($1.27 billion) lawsuit over how it licenses software to customers using rival cloud platforms. Filed in the UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal by Scott+Scott, the lawsuit accuses Microsoft of punishing businesses for choosing competitors like Google Cloud, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Alibaba over its Azure platform. Here’s the gist: if you’re using Microsoft’s Windows Server but prefer another cloud provider, you’re allegedly stuck with higher costs. Maria Luisa Stasi, the lead claimant, argues this ..read more

A Spanish government-appointed committee of experts has recommended that smartphones sold in the country carry health warning labels. The advice comes amid mounting concern about the effects of smartphone use, particularly among young people.   The experts published their findings in a 250-page report, seen by newspaper El País. The document details ways the government could crack down on what the panel calls a “public health epidemic”.   Proposals include banning digital devices for kids under three and restricting their use for those between three and six, except in rare ..read more

PLD Space has secured an €11mn loan to help fund the development of a liftoff site for its partially reusable Miura 5 rocket, which is set to become Europe’s first privately developed satellite launcher — unless one of its competitors gets there first.  The loan will help the Spanish startup construct the launch facility, located at Europe’s primary spaceport in French Guiana and estimated to cost around €16mn overall. PLD Space launched its first, smaller rocket, Miura 1, from Spain last year. However, for a bigger orbital launcher like Miura 5, the company needs a facility with specifi ..read more

Amsterdam-headquartered Nebius, which builds full-stack AI infrastructure for tech firms, has secured $700mn in a private equity deal led by Nvidia, Accel, and asset manager Orbis.  The funding comes in the form of a private placement — when a company sells stocks directly to a private investor instead of on the public market. The deal will see Nebius issue 33.3 million Class A shares at $21 apiece.   Nebius, which is the rebranded European arm of “Russia’s Google,” Yandex, is investing more than $1bn across Europe by mid-2025 as it seeks to cash in on booming demand for AI com ..read more

British startup SatVu has secured £20mn (€24mn) to fuel the development of its hyper-accurate thermal imaging satellites that act like a thermometer for the whole planet.  The cash injection includes £10mn (€12mn) in equity from Spanish VC Adara Ventures and British tech-focused fund Molten Ventures. The remainder comes from an insurance payout, the startup said.  The funding will propel the launch of two new satellites in its HotSat constellation, which are scheduled to liftoff next year. The probes — HotSat-2 and HotSat-3 — will replace HotSat-1, SatVu’s first satellite, launched ..read more