BT battles broadband cable thieves
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- Category: Communications
BT will coat its equipment in high-tech, traceable liquid to prevent the theft of copper cables. BT has seen a 9% increase in stolen copper over the past year, costing the firm millions of pounds and cutting off broadband connections. A robbery in Kent in April saw criminals make off with 3km of cable, cutting off broadband to 2,000 people.
British solar-powered unmanned drone finally lands after flying non-stop for two weeks
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- Category: Transport
A British-designed, solar-powered aircraft today finally landed after shattering the endurance record for an unmanned plane.The Zephyr completed two weeks of non-stop flight above a US Army range in Arizona before finally coming in to land. It has more than doubled the unofficial record of more than 82 hours already held by Zephyr and has smashed the official record of more than 30 hours set in 2001. The Zephyr is the creation of Hampshire-based defense and research company QinetiQ. Launched by hand, the aircraft flies by day on solar power which is then used to recharge the lithium-sulphur batteries, which are used to power the aircraft by night.
UK government cracks down on recycling of stolen mobiles
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- Category: IT
Once a mobile is stolen, its owner generally realises quite quickly, and the handset can be blocked rendering it useless to the thief.
Although not quite, as the mobile can still be sold on to a recycling firm, who can then (unknowingly) export them for sale and use abroad. Such mobile phone theft is actually pretty big business.
The 'Eternal Aircraft' Zephyr Solar Plane Aims for 14 Days in the Air
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- Category: Transport
A couple weeks ago we wrote about the Solar Impulse, a solar airplane that flew for over 24 hours straight. That was very impressive for an aircraft with someone on board, but compared to the solar-powered Zephyr unmanned aircraft, that's child's play.
The Zephyr has broken all kinds of records last week by staying in the air for 7 days, and right now it is still flying, trying to get to 14 days of continuous flight without any kind of in-flight refueling (except by solar energy). It's a very cool plane, read on for more details and photos.
22.5 Meters of Wingspan and Just 50 Kilos