ShinyShiny snippits: Scientists develop microscopic camera
Scientists have developed a working microscopic camera that they say is the size of a grain of salt. Developed by a team of researchers from Princeton University and the University of Washington in America, the camera can create full-colour images as good as ones produced by camera lenses 500,000 times their size. The design overcomes issues linked with previous micro-sized cameras, which have often produced low-quality images with limited fields of view. While a traditional camera uses curved glass or plastic lenses to bend light rays into focus, the new optical system relies on a technology called a ‘metasurface’, which can be produced like a computer chip. ITV.com
US online dating giant Match Group has agreed to pay the founders of Tinder $441m (£331.4m) to settle a legal battle over the dating app’s worth. Tinder’s founders first sued Match and its former owner IAC in August 2018, claiming they had undervalued the app to avoid paying billions of dollars. When Match and media giant IAC bought the founders out in 2017, the firm was valued at $3bn. But Tinder’s founders claim it was really worth $13bn at the time. The case has been on trial since mid-November at the New York Supreme Court. Match Group’s shares dropped 2% on the news to $127.93. BBC
A Norwegian technology company has invented a way to stop slurry (the fertilising mixture of manure, hay and water) emitting so much methane – by zapping it with artificial lightning. Oslo-based N2 Applies is testing its plasma technology across Europe, including at three farms in Britain, for the safety both of farm workers and the planet. “In essence, we’re harnessing lightning to zap livestock slurry and lock in harmful emissions,” N2’s Chris Puttick told Reuters at a test farm in Buckinghamshire. According to NASA, cow burps emit far more methane than the slurry created from their manure in specialised – and potentially deadly – slurry pits and lagoons. Sky News
We’ve reported quite a lot on Apple’s struggles with the current global chip shortage. We wrote about how the company couldn’t make enough iPhone 13 models, that it was having to halve iPad production to bolster iPhone production, and the like. If Bloomberg is to be believed, Apple needn’t have worried so much about the supply side of the equation. It’s the demand part that should be of concern. Apparently, Apple was facing a shortfall of 10 million units from its initial 90 million unit goal due to lack of parts, but was hoping to make those numbers up next year. As it turns out, though, the company doesn’t believe those extra orders will be needed, and has told vendors as much. Trusted Reviews
Meta Platforms Inc. said it removed a China-based network of more than 500 Facebook accounts that sought to push a false narrative about the U.S. government’s attempts to blame the Covid-19 pandemic on China. The campaign involved the fake persona of a Swiss biologist named Wilson Edwards, who in July posted on Facebook and Twitter Inc. that the U.S. was pressuring World Health Organization scientists to blame the virus on China…But the following month the Swiss Embassy in Beijing said there was no Swiss citizen by the name of Wilson Edwards, the company said. Facebook investigated and removed the account the same day. Time
