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From cool species named after David Attenborough to an interview with Ellen Pao, here is all your essential sci-tech reading for the weekend.
1. 11 cool species named after the great David Attenborough
To celebrate the 91st birthday of David Attenborough, we took a look at some of the varied species that bear his name.
2. The Pao effect: How Ellen Pao made Silicon Valley face up to gender discrimination
Ellen Pao talks about her journey from reluctant poster child for one of Silicon Valley’s most insidious issues to a powerful advocate for change.
3. Irish IoT player to power the eyes of the smart home
Antennas from Irish IoT powerhouse Taoglas are keeping the innovative Lighthouse smart security camera connected at all times.
4. Return of the sixth: Uprise start-up festival coming to Dublin in October
Paul O’Connell’s Uprise 6 Festival is putting out a call for 2,500 people from the European tech talent pool to travel to Dublin on 26 October 2017.
5. Funding pours into cancer treatment, crop stress and credit companies
In a busy few days of investing, Guardant Health’s massive push to sequence the cancer DNA of 1m patients saw a surge in funding.
6. World’s forest cover shoots up 9pc after major Google Earth discovery
A substantial amount of forest land has just been ‘found’, meaning both good and bad news for our planet.
7. Meet the three Irish winners at this year’s NASA global hackathon
Two Irish teams have made it to the global final of the NASA Space Apps Challenge, while a third team also received recognition.
8. Astronomers identify possible renegade supermassive black hole
Astronomers have spotted something rather unusual: a supermassive black hole that appears to have gone rogue, drifting through space.
9. So long IOUs, P2P payments are mainstream now
Instead of leaving someone short of cash, people are instead utilising the plethora of person-to-person (P2P) payments services on the market.
10. An Improbable investment: Why did SoftBank just invest $502m in a breakthrough UK start-up?
London software start-up Improbable, which has created a platform for building virtual and simulated worlds, has raised $502m in a Series B round led by Japan’s SoftBank.
