'As soon as we got Pong to work, people said: 'When are you going to do Doom?' a biological computer playing the 90s video game. 'As soon as we got Pong to work, people said: 'When are you going to do Doom?' a biological computer playing the 90s video game. A petri dish of human brain cells is currently playing Doom. Scientists in the US have uploaded a fruit fly to a computer simulation, while an Australian lab has taught neurons on a glass chip to play a 90s video game. How long before we are all living in a sci-fi movie? I t sounds like the opening of a sci-fi film, but US scientists recently uploaded a copy of the brain of a living fly into a simulation.

Hundreds of passengers flying to Dubai spent 11 hours on a flight to nowhere after their plane was turned back over Egypt. The Emirates flight EK24 set off from Edinburgh at 21:26 on Sunday and was due to land in Dubai at 06:49 on Monday. However, as the plane flew over Egypt, flights at Dubai International Airport were suspended following a fire caused by an Iranian drone hitting a fuel tank. The plane was forced to return to Edinburgh. Travel journalist Simon Calder told the BBC's Radio Scotland Breakfast programme that although Dubai was on the UK Foreign Office's No go list, many people were still taking the risk of flying there. No injuries were reported following the drone strike but officials said they had taken all necessary measures to ensure public safety.

What are the symptoms of meningitis and is there a vaccine? Two people have died following an outbreak of meningitis in Kent. The death of a year 13 pupil at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School in Faversham was confirmed by the local MP on Monday. The second person who died was a student at the University of Kent. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said it was notified of 13 cases with signs and symptoms of meningitis and septicaemia from Friday to Sunday in the Canterbury area.

Poodle crossbreeds have grown overwhelmingly popular, sparking controversy in dog parks and kennel clubs alike. The features of doodles such as Peaches (above), a goldendoodle, have become the canine equivalent of Instagram face. Meet the Breeds, the American Kennel Club's annual showcase of purebred dogs, took place over two eye-wateringly cold days in early February at the Javits Center, in Manhattan. About a hundred and fifty of the two hundred and five varieties recognized as official breeds by the A.K.C., the long-standing authority in the U.S. dog world, were in attendance for the public to ogle, fondle, and coo "So cute!" to, including the basset fauve de Bretagne, a hunting hound from France that's one of three newly recognized breeds recently allowed into the purebred pantheon. Some of the dogs had competed in the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show earlier in the week, and past champions had their ribbons on display. In spite of the frigid weather, pavilions hosting the more popular breeds--the pug, the Doberman pinscher, the Great Dane, the St. Bernard--were packed. Lesser-known varieties, such as the saluki, the Löwchen, and the Lapponian herder, drew sparser crowds. There were exhibition spaces for each breed, and on the back walls were three adjectives supposedly describing that particular type of dog's temperament. There is, in fact, no evidence that temperament is consistent within a breed, but the idea is deeply rooted in dogdom. I stopped to caress the velvety ear leather of a pharaoh hound ("Friendly, Smart, Noble"), a sprinting breed once used to hunt rabbits in Malta; accept kisses from a Portuguese water dog, bred to assist with retrieving tackle ("Affectionate, Adventurous, Athletic"); and have my photograph taken with a Leonberger, a German breed from the town of Leonberg, in southwest Germany ("Friendly, Gentle, Playful"). No one was supposed to be openly selling dogs, but, if you asked, the breeders would share their information. Excluding what are known as companion dogs, like the Leonberger, most of the animals at the show were designed for a purpose that is no longer required of them. In Great Britain, foxhounds are legally barred from chasing foxes. Consider the fate of the otterhound, an ancient variety with a noble heritage which was once used in the U.K. to hunt river otters, which were prized for their thick fur and disliked by wealthy landowners because they ate fish in their stocked ponds.

Google had said'What People Suggest' feature aimed to provide users with information from people with similar lived experiences. Google had said'What People Suggest' feature aimed to provide users with information from people with similar lived experiences. Google has dropped a new artificial intelligence search feature that gave users crowdsourced health advice from amateurs around the world. The company had said its launch of "What People Suggest", which provided tips from strangers, showed "the potential of AI to transform health outcomes across the globe". But Google has since quietly removed the feature, according to three people familiar with the decision.

I t was March 2016, and at the Four Seasons Hotel in Seoul, the world was gathered to watch the culmination of a battle 2,500 years in the making. On one side was the South Korean Lee Se-dol, the second-highest ranking Go player in the world. On the other was AlphaGo - a computer program developed by London-based artificial intelligence research company DeepMind. "Chess is the greatest game mankind has invented," game designer Alex Randolph once said. "Go is the greatest game mankind has discovered."

Subhalata Pradhan, a Gram Vikas fieldworker, talks to Raja Pradhan about the chatbot and addresses concerns over sharing his details. Subhalata Pradhan, a Gram Vikas fieldworker, talks to Raja Pradhan about the chatbot and addresses concerns over sharing his details. India's scattered workforce: the chatbot keeping families in touch during emergencies Covid exposed the lack of data on the country's 140 million mobile migrant workers, but a new project in Odisha is helping to fill in the gaps Mon 16 Mar 2026 02.00 EDTLast modified on Mon 16 Mar 2026 02.03 EDT Raja Pradhan is sitting cross-legged, scrolling on his phone in his village in eastern India when a green WhatsApp chat bubble pops up on the screen. Are you going outside for work? He reads the message twice, unsure whether to respond.

'A new norm': BBC visits Doha market starting to fill up again two weeks into Iran war At the beginning of the conflict between Israel and the US, and Iran on 28 February, Doha's Souq Waqif market was almost empty, with those in the usually safe and stable capital shocked by the attacks in the region. Qatar's neighbouring countries have felt the impact of Tehran's retaliatory strikes, with at least 18 people killed across the Gulf states so far . Meanwhile, most of the strikes aimed at Qatar - some targeting US military bases - have been intercepted by air defences, with little damage done on the ground and no deaths reported in the country. As the conflict in the Middle East enters its third week, Doha's best-known market is starting to look busy again - and the BBC's Barbara Plett Usher has visited to ask people there how they are feeling. Voiced by Domhnall Gleeson and directed by John Kelly, Retirement Plan is nominated for Best Animated Short Film at the 98th Academy Awards.

Oscars 2026: Here are all the moments you didn't see on TV The 98th Academy Awards featured emotional speeches, comical relief and a bevy of backstage fun. While movie magic plays a role in the show itself (the ceremony, after all, is actually hosted at the Dolby Theatre in a shopping centre), there is a lot you don't see on TV. Frankenstein production designer addressed the media with his Oscar statuette in one hand and what appeared to be a beer in the other and Mr Nobody Against Putin filmmaker Pasha Talankin re-lived his Oscars win by re-reading the envelope that announced that his movie won the award for documentary feature film. We saw some of the tightest security in recent years and witnessed the frenzied panic after one Oscar award became two when those vying for best short action film was announced as a historic tie. Here's what it's like on the scene during Hollywood's biggest night and everything you did not see on TV.

Race on to establish globally recognised'AI-free' logo Organisations worldwide are racing to develop a universally recognised label for human-made products and services as part of the growing backlash against AI use. Declarations like Proudly Human, Human-made, 'No A.I and AI-free are appearing across films, marketing, books and websites. It is in response to fears that jobs or entire professions are being swept away in a wave of AI-powered automation. BBC News has counted at least eight different initiatives trying to come up with a label that could get the kind of global recognition that the Fair Trade logo has for ethically made products. But with so many competing labels - as well as confusion over the definition of AI-free - experts say consumers are in danger of being left confused unless a single standard can be agreed on.