A record number of people travelled through Heathrow last year – a trend the airport is celebrating but which others say is a cause for alarm.
A record 83.9 million flyers made their way through the west London airport last year, its management said.
The figure is 4.7 million higher than 2023, and 3 million more than the previous record from 2019.
The airport expects the figure to reach a new record in 2025, with further growth forecasted.
It comes after new research warned passenger numbers in Europe are soaring in the wrong direction.
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UN chief’s climate warning in new year speech
By 2050, passenger air traffic from EU airports will more than double compared with 2019, undermining the industry’s own green initiatives, Transport and Environment (T&E) said.
The campaign group warns the “exponential growth” will offset any gains made by increased energy efficiency and sustainable fuels, with the industry on course to burn through 59% more fuel in 2050 than in 2019.
The airline industry, responsible for about 2.5% of global carbon emissions, has vowed to use more sustainable fuels. But scaling these has so far proved difficult and expensive.
The sector has rejected calls to curb growth, saying it is essential to economic development and connecting people around the world.
Heathrow chief executive Thomas Woldbye said: “2024 was an exciting and a record-breaking year at Heathrow.
He pledged investment in “the kind of facilities our passengers and airlines are looking for” and innovative projects to ensure the airport “delivers for the whole of the UK”.
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T&E said the EU’s target to slash emissions is “meaningless” without sufficient policies to tackle emissions from aviation.
It is calling for an end to airport infrastructure growth, cuts to business travel, disincentives to deter frequent flying and to a reversal of “under-taxation of the sector”.
Jo Dardenne, aviation director at T&E, said: “The numbers leave you speechless. The aviation industry’s plans for growth are completely irreconcilable with Europe’s climate goals and the scale of the climate crisis.”
She added: “A paradigm shift and real climate leadership are needed now to address the problem, or Europe’s planes will be eating up everyone else’s resources. The credibility of the sector is on the line.”
It might be tempting, given how much coverage has focused on it recently, to assume the forthcoming changes to inheritance tax regime are the single biggest issue facing farmers these days.
But the reality is these tax changes come at a moment of extraordinary pressure, with farmers having to contend with a swathe of unsettling issues, many of which could prove existential for their livelihoods.
Put them all together and you realise that for many of those marching in the streets in London, inheritance tax isn’t the only problem – it’s more like the last straw.
Why does this matter for the rest of us? In part because there’s a deeper story here.
For decades, this country’s level of food security has been more or less constant. This country has produced roughly 60 per cent of our own food for two decades (the figure was even higher in the 1980s). But farmers warn that given all the pressures they’re facing, that critical buffer could be about to be removed, with domestic production falling and dependence on imported food rising.
Whether that eventuates remains to be seen. As of 2023 the amount of food supplied domestically was still 62 per cent of everything we consumed. But now let’s consider the challenges facing farmers (even before we get to inheritance tax).
The first of them comes back to Brexit.
Following Britain’s departure from the EU, the government is making dramatic and far reaching changes to the way it supports farmers. For years, those payments, part of the EU-wide Common Agricultural Policy, were based on the amount of land farmed by each recipient.
Alongside these main farm payments there were other bolt-on schemes – Environmental Land Management schemes, to give them their category name – designed to encourage farmers to do more to look after local wildlife. But these schemes were always small in comparison to the main land-based farm payments.
There were problems aplenty with this old scheme. For one thing, all told, it amounted to a subsidy for land ownership rather than food production. Nonetheless, for many farmers it was an essential support, without which they would have had to sell up and stop producing food.
Under Michael Gove, Defra committed to far-reaching changes to these subsidies. Farms across the UK would get the same total amounts, he said, but instead of the majority being based on how much land they were farming, a growing portion would be environmental subsidies.
When Labour came into government it committed to accelerating this process, with the result that by 2027, fully 100 per cent of farm payments will be for environmental schemes.
Whether this is the right or wrong move is a matter of keen debate within the farming community. Many farmers argue that the net impact of environmental schemes is to reduce the amount of land being farmed for food, and that the schemes serve to reduce their crop yields rather than increasing them. Defra, and environmental advocates, argue that unless the soil and local habitats are preserved and improved, Britain faces ever diminishing harvests in future.
Speaking of harvests, that brings us to another issue farmers are having to contend with at the moment – poor crop yields. The past winter was exceptionally wet, with the upshot that the latest figures just released by Defra show 2024 was the second lowest wheat harvest since comparable records began in the early 1980s.
Now, the whole point of farming is that it’s weather dependent – no two years are alike. It’s quite conceivable that 2025’s harvest bounces back from this year’s. But one projection made by climate scientists is that the coming decades could be wetter and more volatile, spelling more trouble for farmers.
On top of this is another challenge: trade competition. Following Brexit, the UK has signed two trade deals with Australia and New Zealand, which raise the quotas of how much food each country can export to the UK. Look at trade data and you see a sharp increase in beef and dairy imports from Australia and New Zealand.
In other words, UK farmers are having to contend with more competition even as they contend with worse weather and drastic changes to their funding model.
Nor is this where the challenges end. Because we might also be in the midst of something else: a secular slowdown in farming productivity.
Look at a very, very long-range historic chart of crop yields in the UK. You see a few interesting features. For most of our history, from the Middle Ages through to today, the amount of wheat we could grow in a given hectare of land was pretty low and pretty constant.
Now look at what happened in the second half of the 20th century. Thanks to a combination of artificial fertilisers, combine harvesters and other technological leaps, yields leapt by 200 per cent.
This extraordinary leap is the story of British farming for the parents and grandparents of those family farms tending the land today: ever increasing yields even as the government provided large subsidies for farmers. It was, in terms of pure yields, the golden age for farms – fuelled in part by chemicals.
But now look at the far right hand side of the chart – the past 20 years or so. The line is no longer rising so fast. Farm productivity – at least based on this measure – has slowed quite markedly. Yields are no longer leaping in the way they once were.
Or, to put it another way, it’s getting tougher to generate a return for each hour of work and each pound of investment.
Image: Farmers have staged protests at government plans
This might all seem miles away from the day-to-day debates on farming today. But each of these factors matters. Together, they help explain why things are getting tougher for farmers.
But there’s a broader issue at hand here. Despite having left the EU and implemented far reaching policies such as these, this country hasn’t really had a proper debate about food.
Do we prefer to subsidise farmers in an effort to maintain our domestic food supplies at 60 per cent of our consumption? Would we rather ditch those subsidies and rely on imports instead? Should we favour the long-term health of the environment over short term food production?
These are chewy questions – and ones we really ought to be debating a little more. This isn’t just about inheritance tax…
Google has revealed the UK’s most searched topics in 2024.
After Oasis announced they were reuniting for a UK tour back in August, they instantly became the most searched musicians of the year, with ‘how to get Oasis tickets’ the second top trending ‘how to’ question of the year.
Loads of us also asked when the US presidential election would be and searched for teenage darts sensation Luke Littler as he made history as the youngest player to reach the PDC World Championship final in January.
Here are a few more of the top searches that defined 2024 in the UK.
News
Hope, determination, and in the end, disappointment, fuelled the month of July when England’s men’s football team made the final of Euro 2024 in Germany, making it the most searched term of the year.
The tournament gripped the nation as the Three Lions were on the cusp of winning a major final on foreign soil for the first time, before being beaten 2-1 by Spain.
The tragic death of One Direction star Liam Payne was the second most searched-for news topic of the year, according to Google.
Jay Slater, the British teenager who went missing on the Spanish island of Tenerife, was also widely searched for after his disappearance sparked an extensive rescue mission and online fundraiser before his body was recovered 29 days later.
The hunt for TV doctor Michael Mosley, who was found dead after going missing on the Greek island of Symi, was also of huge interest.
1. Euros 2. Liam Payne 3. Jay Slater 4. Michael Mosley 5. US Election 6. Kate Middleton 7. Baby Reindeer 8. Olympics 9. Oasis tickets 10. Fool Me Once
Image: Pic: Reuters
Image: Jay Slater. Pic: LBT Global/Slater family
People
The prolonged absence of the Princess of Wales from royal duties sparked online speculation and conspiracy theories earlier this year. The subsequent announcement that she had been diagnosed with cancer and was undergoing preventative chemotherapy also had the UK searching for Kate more than any other person this year.
President-elect Donald Trump closely followed on the list, beating the likes of Sir Keir Starmer, who led the Labour Party into Downing Street, putting an end to 14 years of Conservative rule, and the King, who was also diagnosed with cancer this year.
1. Kate Middleton 2. Donald Trump 3. Luke Littler 4. Keir Starmer 5. Imane Khelif 6. Alan Hansen 7. King Charles 8. Richard Gadd 9. Michelle Keegan 10. Yung Filly
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From September: Kate ‘focused on staying cancer free’
Deaths
The unexpected death of One Direction star Liam Payne back in October sparked huge interest. The 31-year-old died after he fell from a third-floor balcony at the Casa Sur Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
1. Liam Payne 2. Jay Slater 3. Michael Mosley 4. Steve Wright 5. Maggie Smith 6. Robin Windsor 7. Donald Sutherland 8. Shannen Doherty 9. Kevin Campbell 10. James Earl Jones
Image: Liam Payne in 2023. Pic: AP
Film
In a year full of cinematic sequels, it was Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the gothic comedy follow-up to the 1988 hit of a similar name, that people searched the most this year. Other notable sequels to make the list included Dune: Part Two and the long-awaited Gladiator II, directed by Ridley Scott.
1. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice 2. It Ends With Us 3. Inside Out 2 4. Dune: Part Two 5. Deadpool & Wolverine 6. Alien: Romulus 7. Gladiator II 8. Poor Things 9. Madame Web 10. Joker: Folie A Deux
TV shows
It was Emmy-award-winning series Baby Reindeer that led searches in the world of television, with the show sparking an online frenzy over the real-life identities of some of the characters.
The Netflix series, that follows the life of Donny Dunn, a barman and struggling comedian who is stalked by a woman called Martha Scott, maintained interest off-screen as Scottish lawyer Fiona Harvey was named as the “real Martha”.
Ms Harvey later said she had been “forced” to come forward after receiving online death threats from “internet sleuths” – and filed a $170m (£127m) lawsuit claiming the story was inaccurate and had falsely accused her of being a convicted stalker.
1. Baby Reindeer 2. Fool Me Once 3. The Gentlemen 4. One Day 5. Fallout 6. Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story 7. Rivals 8. The Perfect Couple 9. Mr Bates Vs The Post Office 10. Until I Kill You
Image: Baby Reindeer stars Jessica Gunning and Richard Gadd with their awards at the Emmys. Pic: AP/Jae C Hong
Musicians
The reunion which some thought would never happen was finally confirmed this summer, with Noel and Liam Gallagher confirming rumours that the band were getting back on the road next year. The duo initially announced a 14-date UK and Ireland tour, which has since grown to dates around the world, kicking off in Cardiff next July.
Other notable searches included Raye, who picked up a history-making six Brit Awards, including ones for best artist, best song and best album.
1. Oasis 2. Sabrina Carpenter 3. One Direction 4. Dave Grohl 5. Raye 6. Coldplay 7. Chappell Roan 8. Linkin Park 9. Justin Timberlake 10. Cyndi Lauper
Image: Pic: Oasis X account
Athletes
It comes as no surprise that the likes of Jude Bellingham and Simone Biles were among the most searched athletes of the year, but topping the list was darts player Luke Littler.
Despite the 17-year-old losing out to Luke Humphries at the PDC World Championships, he has gone on to claim the Premier League title and win the Grand Slam of Darts – achievements he claims have been fuelled by his love for kebabs and ham and cheese omelettes.
1. Luke Littler 2. Lamine Yamal 3. Simone Biles 4. Jude Bellingham 5. Adam Peaty 6. Anthony Joshua 7. Ollie Watkins 8. Chris Hoy 9. Cole Palmer 10. Nico Williams
Image: Luke Littler. Pic: BIC via PA
‘When is…’
The race for the White House got people in the UK talking this year, with many asking when the US presidential election would be. But perhaps even more surprising was the nation’s interest in when they could watch ITV soap Coronation Street, which was searched for far more than the date of the UK’s general election.
1. The US election 2. The budget 3. The Euros final 4. Coronation Street on this week 5. Mike Tyson v Jake Paul 6. England playing next 7. Traitors on 8. The solar eclipse 9. The general election 10. The World Cup
Image: Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. Pics: Reuters/AP
‘How to…’
Despite little concern for when the general election was, many people were interested in how they could participate in it, with the question ‘how to vote in the UK’ topping searches.
Other popular “how to” questions asked by Britons included how to watch Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk’s bout in the ring, as well as ‘how to see the Northern Lights‘ which were visible far more often in the UK than in previous years – and led to some spectacular snaps.
1. Vote in the UK 2. Get Oasis tickets 3. Watch Fury vs Usyk 4. Watch Tyson vs Paul 5. Make a pornstar martini 6. Watch the Olympics 7. See the Northern Lights 8. Block someone on TikTok 9. How to make life in infinite craft 10. Vote for the UK in Eurovision
Storm Darragh is the first storm since last January’s Isha to earn a red “threat to life” warning from the Met Office.
And it has lived up to that dubious honour.
The highest recorded windspeed was 93mph (150kph) in Capel Curig in Wales and at least one person is thought to have died as a result of the storm.
Get the five-day forecast where you are
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Pier in Welsh town battered by storm
While Darragh wasn’t the most intense storm in recent years, it was a monster. The extra-tropical cyclone (to give it it’s proper title) measured 1,000km (621 miles) across as it passed right over the UK.
Revolving anti-clockwise, as such storms do, it encircled our coasts with winds from the north and east with the most powerful barrelling in from the southwest.
It’s just over two weeks since Storm Bert brought widespread flooding and high winds to Wales and southern England with four named storms now in the last three months.
So, it’s not unreasonable to ask: Is the UK getting stormier?
Image: UK named storms. Pic: Met Office
The 2023/24 storm season was certainly a bad one with 12 named storms. The Met Office got so far down the alphabet the season ended with Lilian’s yellow warnings for rain and wind in August.
But the season before saw just two named storms. You have to go back to 2015/16, when there were 11 named storms.
The picture is messier before that date as the naming convention began in 2015, making comparisons before then impossible.
Image: A person takes shelter under an umbrella on the Sean O’Casey Bridge in Dublin. Pic: PA
However, meteorologists believe the 2013/14 storm season was the most severe in at least two decades.
At least 12 named storms brought major coastal flooding and the inundation of the Somerset levels with water for weeks on end.
No clear trends
In fact, a recent review of storm records, going back over four decades, has revealed there’s no clear trend between our rapidly warming planet and the frequency of North Atlantic storms.
The jet stream – the high-altitude atmospheric current that tends to steer weather systems towards us over the North Atlantic – has a complicated and so far indecipherable relationship with climate change.
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‘It’s not Wizard Of Oz stuff’
The current best guess is that storms may get more frequent and more windy when, on current trends, the world is around two degrees warmer a few decades from now. But as things currently stand that’s an uncertain prediction.
What is clearer, is the relationship between warming and how much rain storms bring.
Average winter rainfall has been increasing across Northern Europe and simple physics help explain that.
Image: A tree which hit a car in Liverpool. Pic: PA
More rainfall likely as the climate warms
With every degree increase in temperature, the atmosphere can hold 7% more water vapour – water that eventually falls as rain.
And the warmer the oceans are, the more readily they give up their moisture and the more energy – in the form of heat – they can transfer to storms.
The trend in ocean temperatures – particularly in the North Atlantic over which most of our storms develop – has been stark in recent years.
Image: North Atlantic Daily Sea Surface Temperatures 1985-2024. Pic: Climatereanalyzer.org/NOAA
Surface temperatures there in 2023/24 have tracked up to a degree or more above average in records going back to the 1980s.
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As Storm Darragh moves on, we’ll get a flavour of what our wetter future feels like.
The system is dumping rain across most of the UK, even areas that were thankfully spared the worst of its lethal winds.
Hundreds of people in England with a rare form of eye cancer are set to have access to a “pioneering” drug, the NHS has announced.
Following approval by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), patients diagnosed with uveal melanoma can now be offered a drug called tebentafusp.
The cancer is thought to affect between 500 and 600 people in the UK each year, and develops from cells in the middle layer of the eye.
Once it has spread to major organs, the disease is almost always fatal, according to the NHS.
NICE announced on Tuesday that it has recommended tebentafusp – sold under the brand name Kimmtrak – for patients whose uveal melanoma cannot be removed with surgery, or has spread to other parts of the body.
They will need a blood test to determine if they have the genetic markers that make them suitable for the treatment. More than 100 people each year are expected to be eligible.
Joanne Foster, who was diagnosed with uveal melanoma in 2013, said she was offered tebentafusp last year through a compassionate access scheme after the cancer spread to her lungs and kidneys.
The 57-year-old from Newcastle said her disease is “both physically and mentally draining,” and added: “I’ve had my eye removed and ongoing treatment for over a decade, with the uncertainty of not knowing what is round the corner being incredibly difficult, particularly with no treatments available until now.
“The news that tebentafusp is now available for hundreds of current and future NHS patients just like me is the best early Christmas present I could’ve asked for.
“While I know it isn’t a long-term cure, it has shrunk the tumour on my kidney and stabilised my cancer in my lungs, which gives me precious time to spend with my family and loved ones.”
Image: Joanne Foster said uveal melanoma has been ‘both physically and mentally draining’. Pic: Joanne Foster/PA
The drug works by attaching to the proteins on the surface of cancer cells and T cells, a type of white blood cell
It helps the immune system recognise and kill cancer cells, slowing the growth of the disease.
According to NHS England, trials have shown the chance of surviving three years after starting tebentafusp is 27% compared with 18% on the current standard treatment checkpoint inhibitors.
Overall survival on tebentafusp was also 21.6 months, compared with 16.9 months.
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Professor Peter Johnson, NHS national clinical director for cancer, said: “It is great news that the NHS can now offer this pioneering treatment, giving people an option that can extend their lives and offer them valuable extra time with their families and friends”.
Jo Gumbs, CEO and founder of Ocular Melanoma UK, said: “Today’s announcement that tebentafusp will be available for people with metastatic uveal melanoma is simply incredible.”
She added: “For too long, metastatic uveal melanoma has been a devastating cancer so we look forward to many more improvements in the future so every patient has access to the treatments they need.”
The first new treatment for asthma attacks in 50 years has been hailed as a “game-changer” by doctors and patients.
A clinical trial of the drug benralizumab showed it was far more effective than conventional steroid tablets at treating life-threatening breathing difficulties in people with a severe form of the disease.
The monoclonal antibody specifically targets white blood cells that can invade the lungs of people with so-called eosinophilic asthma and cause the airways to swell and close up.
The form of asthma accounts for around half of all emergency flare-ups of the disease.
The same biological mechanism also underlies a third of all severe exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
But researchers at King’s College London found asthma or COPD patients who were given an injection of the smart drug during their attack were less likely to suffer from wheezing, breathlessness and other symptoms four weeks later.
There was also a marked improvement in their quality of life, according to results published in the journal The Lancet Respiratory Medicine.
Professor Mona Bafadhel, the lead investigator for the study, said: “This could be a game-changer for people with asthma and COPD.
“We hope this study will change how exacerbations are treated for the future, ultimately improving the health of over a billion people living with asthma and COPD across the world.”
An average of four people with asthma and 85 with COPD die in the UK every day.
Steroid tablets have been the mainstay of treatment during flare-ups for decades, reducing inflammation in the lungs.
But they don’t always work so patients have to have repeated courses of the drugs, with a risk of re-admission to hospital and sometimes death.
Regular use also increases the risk of diabetes and the bone-weakening disease osteoporosis.
‘An amazing turnaround’
Sheraz Hussein, 36, developed eosinophilic asthma 13 years ago. His condition spiralled out of control, with asthma attacks almost every day.
But the benralizumab injection he had in hospital helped stabilise his disease.
He told Sky News he can scarcely believe his renewed health and vitality.
He said: “I was going into that gloomy kind of state that nothing seems to be working for me, how am I going to survive my whole life?
“The exacerbations I was getting, the chest infections, the shortness of breath – my normal lifestyle was completely distorted.
“But since the drug, it has been an amazing turnaround.”
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‘It’s appalling this is the first new treatment in 50 years’
Benralizumab can be used at a lower dose to manage symptoms in people with eosinophilic asthma. But the finding that a higher dose injection during an attack leads to better outcomes is significant.
Dr Samantha Walker of the charity Asthma + Lung UK said: “It’s great news for people with lung conditions.
“But it’s appalling that this is the first new treatment in 50 years, and an indication of how desperately underfunded lung health research is.”
The Prince of Wales will attend next year’s COP climate conference in Brazil, it has been confirmed, as he pushes to “use his platform to spread urgent optimism” around the environmental debate.
It follows Prince William’s week-long trip to South Africa where he celebrated the fourth year of his annual Earthshot prize.
He launched the environmental awards in 2021 to try and counter the pessimism around climate crisis discussions.
Now he wants to take that message to the high-level UN climate conference – due to take place in Belem next November.
A royal source said: “Throughout his trip (to South Africa) the prince spoke about the importance of not losing sight of what needs to be done between now and 2030 – the Earthshot decade.
“His commitment to restoring the future of the planet is unwavering and the prince is determined to do all he can to use his platform to spread urgent optimism.
“Next year, the climate COP will take place in Brazil, and it’s set to be hugely consequential. The Prince of Wales is looking forward to playing a role there.”
Photos taken behind the scenes at Earthshot week show a more statesmanlike side of the prince.
In some, he’s seen wearing bio-degradable trainers and vintage jackets bought from markets, signs of his intention to do diplomacy his way, with an emphasis on reaching out to future young leaders.
Image: Prince William during the Earthshot awards.
Pic: Andrew Parsons/Kensington Palace
Image: Pic: Andrew Parsons/Kensington Palace
Image: Pic: Andrew Parsons/Kensington Palace
The week reinforced how seriously William now takes his role in terms of his significant convening power.
His decision to attend COP can potentially be seen as a sign of his desire to take on an even greater diplomatic role in the environmental sphere.
So far his Earthshot Prize has been held in the UK, the USA, Singapore and Cape Town.
The location for next year’s awards hasn’t been revealed yet, but the prince has spoken previously about wanting to take them to every corner of the planet and mentioned China, India and South America.
It’s understood that Prince William’s decision to fly to Brazil won’t necessarily be in place of the King, who has delivered keynote speeches at a number of COP conferences, and is viewed as a global leader in environmental matters.
But the King’s attendance would be at the foreign office’s request, and under the advice of doctors following his cancer treatment.
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Both Prince William and Prince Charles attended COP26 in Glasgow in 2021.
The urgent need to protect the environment is a topic on which father and son are very much aligned.
This weekend they will be seen alongside each other and other family members, including the Princess of Wales, for Remembrance Events.
On Thursday, William described how proud he was of his wife and father after what has been a “brutal” year.
The presenter of Prince William’s Earthshot Awards says he’s been “crying all day” following Donald Trump’s win in the US presidential election.
Billy Porter, the Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Award-winning actor and singer spoke to Sky News ahead of presenting William’s environmental award ceremony in Cape Town.
He said he had been feeling “horrible” following the election result and could not explain the outcome.
Image: The Prince of Wales wore a jacket bought from a London market and biodegradable trainers. Pic: PA
He said: “America has decided, everything has been laid out… good luck to you all, I’m here, I have a face on, we’re going to soldier on, that’s all, I have no idea.
“There’s no more hiding, no more excuses, everybody knew and they decided for this [Donald Trump], so we’ll see. I have no answers for this.”
An ardent supporter of Kamala Harris, he told his two million Instagram followers before Tuesday’s vote, that Americans had to decide if they wanted “democracy or not”.
President-elect Trump is known to be a climate change denier.
Prince William’s Earthshot Awards have been described as the Oscars of the environmental world.
They celebrate and reward innovators working to combat some of the world’s most pressing environmental issues.
William arrived on the green carpet wearing a black and white jacket that was bought from a market in London and sustainable trainers made by Purified Shoes, which contain no plastic and are biodegradable.
In his speech, in front of a live TV audience, he called on everyone to become part of the Earthshot “movement”.
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The prince said the Earthshot Prize “isn’t just a celebration of winners. It’s a collaborative movement for change”.
He invited his audience “to join the movement for climate innovation that’s happening around the world. Because that’s why we’re here. To champion the dreamers, the thinkers, and the innovators from every walk of life, who share an ambition to build a better, more sustainable world”.
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William promised the organisation would “do everything we can to support them and help speed their solutions to scale. Because when they succeed, we all succeed. When they thrive, we all thrive. And when they win, we all win”.
William also spoke in nine different African languages, representing the north, south, east, and west of the continent.
Billy Porter was similarly enthused by the standards of the contestants’ efforts, saying he “loved” how the finalists “have figured out how to be of use. I’ve been blown away by the minds and ideas of finalists to make a difference and make a change.”
People who hear bullying or abusive voices could find peace with the help of therapy using computer-generated avatars, according to new research.
The digital animations are created by people with psychosis to fit the voices they hear.
They then role-play with the avatar under the guidance of a therapist, learning to push back against their tormentor.
Image: The avatars are used in role-play for therapy
A study by clinical psychologists at Kings College London (KCL) shows just a few sessions of avatar therapy reduces both the distress and frequency of the voices.
Ruth spent more than five years in hospital because of her illness.
But after therapy with an avatar that she created, she’s now married and about to start a new job.
“When I hear the voices, I hear them as if they’re standing right behind me, hissing in my ear, making remarks,” she told Sky News.
She continued: “Sometimes they do a running commentary of everything I’m doing.
“And other times it’s like they are screaming and yelling directly into my ear. It can be exhausting.
“When I first started with the avatar it was pretty brutal at times, the stuff it would say.
“But over time, I learned that I could overpower that voice.”
Image: Ruth spent over five years in hospital because of her illness but she’s now married and about to start a new job
‘Face to face’
Therapy begins with people creating a digital avatar to represent the voices they hear.
They first select the right vocal sound for the avatar.
Then, in a process similar to building a police identikit image of a suspect, they choose facial features to create an image that fits the voice they hear.
During therapy, they have a conversation with the avatar, which is under the control of a clinical psychologist, learning to stand up to the distressing voices.
Image: Digitally animated avatars are created by people with psychosis to help them stand up to the distressing voices
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Dr Tom Ward, a clinical psychologist at KCL, said: “It’s typically a very powerful experience for the person.
“The voice is something that they might have been avoiding for many years, and they’re coming face to face with it so people can be understandably anxious.
“The job of the therapist is to make sure that it feels safe enough for them to interact with the avatar.”
‘Extremely important finding’
A study on 345 people, funded by the Wellcome Trust and published in the journal Nature, showed avatar therapy helped to push the voices into the background, allowing them to resume a more normal life.
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Professor Philippa Garety, the lead researcher, said it was the first therapy shown to have a sustained impact on how often people hear voices.
“This is an extremely important finding,” she said.
“Hearing fewer voices, less often, or voices going away altogether can have a hugely positive impact on their day-to-day lives.”
NICE, the authority that regulates treatments on the NHS, has backed the therapy.
It will now be rolled out to clinics in England for more real-world testing.
Amid the hum of cooling fans and squelch of vacuum pumps, a new home for 12 quantum computers has opened in Oxfordshire, as part of a bid to put the UK ahead in a global race to harness the technology.
Quantum computers promise to solve problems too hard for even the most powerful supercomputers – like those requiring vast numbers of parallel computations like complex weather simulations, the binding of drugs to their targets, or the vagaries of financial markets.
While prototypes have proven that the weird world of quantum matter can be used to perform calculations – none are yet large or stable enough to be of much use.
“With its focus on making quantum computers practically useable at scale, this centre will help them solve some of the biggest challenges we face,” said science minister Lord Vallance.
Quantum computers exploit the strangeness of quantum physics to replace the “bits” – zeros and ones – that encode information in classical computers with something fundamentally different.
Image: Quantum computers replace ‘bits’ into quantum bits – or qubits
If manipulated in the right way, matter can be coaxed into quantum bits – or qubits – that can be both a zero and a one at the same time.
This power, and the fact qubits can become “entangled,” or interact with each other means a relatively small number of qubits can perform more calculations in parallel than a classical computer chip ever could.
However, even the slightest interference from the outside world can destroy a fragile qubit, so building groups of them large enough that last long enough to make a reliable computer is a major challenge.
The new National Quantum Computing Centre at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Harwell is designed to accelerate that research.
The 4,000-square-metre facility is designed to host multiple competing designs of quantum computer and around a hundred scientists working on them.
Some commercial, others developed by university teams – to try to solve hardware and software problems in parallel.
Image: Big tech firms like Google, Microsoft, IBM and Amazon are all investing in quantum technology
“The UK National Quantum Computing Centre is central to this critical work, bringing together internationally leading researchers and technologists from across academia and industry to ensure that the UK’s quantum computing ecosystem thrives,” said Prof Dame Ottoline Leyser, chief executive of UK Research and Innovation that is funding the centre.
Competition is fierce. Big tech firms like Google, Microsoft, IBM and Amazon are all investing in quantum technology. So too are other states, led by China, which directs more government funding into the field than anyone else.
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The potential for quantum computers to crack the encryption tools used to keep most online traffic secure gave rise to the term “Q-day” – when the first machine emerges with the capability to decrypt the internet.
It’s still some way off, but helps explain why governments are interested in betting big on a technology that promises much, but has so far delivered little.
