BBC News
By Mary-Ann Russon
Published
image captionVirgin Orbit s LauncherOne lofts satellites into space
Sir Richard Branson s rocket company Virgin Orbit has joined a growing list of private companies that can launch satellites into orbit.
Earlier this month, 10 payloads were lofted on the Virgin Orbit rocket, which was launched from under the wing of one of the entrepreneur s old 747 jumbos.
Sir Richard is hoping to tap into what is a growing market for small, lower-cost satellites.
Space has traditionally had a high barrier to entry. Today, just seven firms make up 75% of the industry, according to Scott Campbell, director at Deloitte Ventures.
BBC News
By Emma Woollacott
image captionGlobal demand for meat is expected to rise in the coming decades I ve tasted it, and it s great. If I had to put a flavour on it, I d say it s slightly umami, says Peter Rowe, chief executive of biotech firm Deep Branch.
Mr Rowe clearly takes his work seriously, as he is not talking about food for humans. Instead, he has sampled an artificial protein that has been created to feed to animals.
Mr Rowe and his partners are trying to reduce the carbon footprint of animal feed which is often shipped around the world.
Ridley Scott inspires Network Rail’s cave-exploring drone
By Chris Baraniuk
image captionA drone as seen in the movie Prometheus
When Hollywood director Ridley Scott filmed astronauts looking for aliens in his 2012 movie Prometheus, little did he know that it would one day inspire a Network Rail drone project.
But, bizarrely, that s exactly what has happened. Network Rail, which owns and maintains most of the railway infrastructure in Britain - from vast stretches of track to thousands of bridges, tunnels and level crossings - has long sought cheaper and easier ways of surveying the many underground caves and abandoned mines dotted around its property.