OPINION - Tech & Science Daily podcast: Blast-off for first British orbital space rocket

A 747 will take off from Cornwall Airport Newquay on Wednesday and release its satellite-packed rocket in the Virgin Orbit mission, with launch planned a little after 10pm GMT.

The rocket will climb 745 miles high up to 8,000 miles per hour before unfurling its payload.

Spaceport Cornwall received its Civil Aviation Authority licence last month, while Virgin Orbit is awaiting the final mission sign-off.

Scientists discover ursodeoxycholic acid, an off-patent liver drug, actually has the side benefit of shutting down Covid cells.

Dr Fotios Sampaziotis, from Cambridge University’s Wellcome-MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, on the lucky breakthrough.

As China lifts its Zero Covid lockdowns following landmark protests, has the regime’s strategy done anything to actually stop disease spread to protect the population’s immune systems?

Professor Lawrence Young, a virologist at the University of Warwick, explains the challenges ahead after public unrest and vaccine hesitancy.

Better Call Seal…because research has found that cape fur seals display the fastest mother-to-young vocal recognition of any mammal, even knowing their pup’s squeaky cry just two hours after birth.

Tech & Science Daily spoke to paper co-author Dr Isabelle Charrier, senior researcher at the Institute of Neuroscience at Paris-Saclay University, who explains the findings, which suggest early vocal identification by imprinting sound inside the womb.

Plus, Strep A - signs parents should look out for, the Huawai smartwatch ‘with hidden earbuds inside’ and why a digital upgrade means New York’s Met Opera is saying ‘nay’ to IRL horses.

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