From Goldthorpe to the Great Wall of China – in seconds

Visiting the Queen, or standing on the Great Wall of China in an instant became a possibility for youngsters within a ‘virtual reality’ lesson that fully captured their attention. Google representatives thrilled children at Goldthorpe Primary School when they called by demonstrate what can be done using virtual reality.

First China-U.K. Freight Train Departs as Xi Seeks to Lift Trade

China initiated a rail-freight service to Britain as part of President Xi Jinping’s efforts to strengthen trade ties with Europe. The first train departed Yiwu in eastern Zhejiang province on Jan. 1 and will cover more than 12,000 kilometers in about 18 days before reaching London, China Railway Corp. said in a statement Monday.

Official: U.S. Customs and Bordera

ATLANTA An outage with the system of the agency meant to protect the nation’s borders is now over, officials said. According to a spokesman with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, officials in Atlanta responded to a computer system outage Monday night that lasted about an hour.

Huge rise in e-shopping signals Digital India takeoff

This is going to be music to ears for the Modi government, who, in the last 50 days, stressed that with demonetization going digital is the future for India. A study conducted by industry lobby group Assocham and business consulting firm RNCOS estimates that average wallet spends in retail transactions are likely to move from Rs 500-700 in 2016 prior to demonetization to Rs 2,000-10,000 in the near future.

NASA’s Favorite Photos of 2016

There are a group of unsung heroes at NASA, the people who travel the world to capture key events in our exploration of space. They share their images with all of us, but most of the time, it’s not just the pictures of launches, landings, and crucial mission events that they capture.

Fact Sheet: Actions in Response to Russian Malicious Cyber Activity and Harassment

Today, President Obama authorized a number of actions in response to the Russian government’s aggressive harassment of U.S. officials and cyber operations aimed at the U.S. election in 2016. Russia’s cyber activities were intended to influence the election, erode faith in U.S. democratic institutions, sow doubt about the integrity of our electoral process, and undermine confidence in the institutions of the U.S. government.

Bill fast-tracked to attract LakePharma

The bill , filed just earlier this month, emerged Tuesday morning from the House Ways and Means Committee and was whisked through the House by noon. Senate Majority Leader Harriette Chandler, D-Worcester, said she hoped to shepherd the bill through the Senate on Tuesday.

IPrice gains $4m in Series A funding

IPrice Group, a Kuala Lumpur-based price comparison website, has received US$4 million in a Series A round of funding from a group of venture capitalists. The group was led by Asia Venture Group and includes Gobi Partners, DMP, Econa, Starstrike and a few individual investors.

Snow in the Sahara Desert

Snow in a place where summertime temperatures are high – though wintertime temps can drop to freezing – and where precipitation from the skies is rare. The Landsat 7 satellite acquired this image of snow in North Africa on December 19, 2016.

New air safety threat?

A security systems firm says it has found serious vulnerabilities in a popular inflight entertainment system used by 13 major airlines which could allow hackers to potentially infiltrate carrier operations. On Tuesday, IOACtive, a research-driven security company, released a study alleging “several cybersecurity vulnerabilities found in Panasonic Avionics In-Flight Entertainment systems.”

‘Passengers’ and the real-life science of deep space travel

From “Aliens” to “Interstellar,” Hollywood has long used suspended animation to overcome the difficulties of deep space travel, but the once-fanciful sci-fi staple is becoming scientific fact. The theory is that a hibernating crew could stay alive over vast cosmic distances, requiring little food, hydration or living space, potentially slashing the costs of interstellar missions and eradicating the boredom of space travel.