Net neutrality legal contest begins

Federal Communications Commission chairman Tom Wheeler faces a legal battle over net neutrality

US broadband providers have filed legal challenges to new net neutrality rules.

The claims, brought by the broadband industry trade group USTelecom and Texas-based provider Alamo Broadband Inc, are the first in what is expected to be a series of legal challenges.

USTelecom said the planned rules were misguided, but it did not object to "open internet" laws per se.

The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) called the legal challenges "premature".

The FCC recently agreed a set of rules that would enshrine net neutrality - the principle that internet access cannot be blocked or slowed in favour of services that pay for so-called fast lanes - in US law.

But USTelecom said the rules, under which internet service providers would be defined as public utilities and more heavily regulated, were "arbitrary, capricious, and an abuse of discretion" and violated various US laws, regulations and rulemaking procedures.

Pro-net neutrality campaigners said they were fighting against priority internet access for those able to pay

The industry body's president, Walter McCormick, said its members supported the enactment of "open internet" principles into law, but not using the new regulatory regime chosen by the FCC.

"We do not believe the Federal Communications Commission's move to utility-style regulation... is legally sustainable," he said.

USTelecom's case was brought in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, which has rejected net neutrality regulations proposed by the FCC twice already.

Alamo challenged the new rules in the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans, making a similar argument to that made by USTelecom.

Challenges

According to the Reuters news agency, industry sources have previously said USTelecom and two other trade groups - CTIA - The Wireless Association, which represents the wireless communications industry, and the National Cable and Telecommunications Association, which acts for the US cable television industry - were expected to lead legal challenges.

Verizon Communications Inc, which won a 2010 case against the FCC, was unlikely to mount its own legal challenge this time around, an industry source familiar with Verizon's plan told the agency.

The FCC said the legal challenges were "premature and subject to dismissal."

Officials added they had been prepared for legal action and the new rules were on much firmer legal ground than previous iterations.

The FCC's rules have yet to be published in the Federal Register and formally go into effect.

USTelecom, in its legal action, said it had filed the challenge on Monday in case the rules were construed to be final on the date of issue.

Priority access

In a blogpost, the Center for Boundless Innovation in Technology - a free-market group - said the FCC's net neutrality rules were ideological and removed from the "real internet... [where] congestion is commonplace and the interests of content owners are divergent".

It referred to a Wall Street Journal report that major streaming networks were already seeking to separate their services from the public internet in search of higher speeds.

In Europe, regulators have also proposed allowing services other than those used to access the public internet a fast lane if they require a higher quality connection to function.

However, they sought to avoid a detrimental effect on the quality of service to internet users.

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Sexism on trial in Silicon Valley

It is widely acknowledged that there is a lack of women in the Silicon Valley workforce

A judge has ruled that a woman may seek punitive damages from a venture capital firm in Silicon Valley on the grounds of sexual discrimination.

Ellen Pao, now boss of community site Reddit, claims she missed out on promotions during her time at Kleiner Perkins because of her gender.

She says she was dismissed after complaining.

The firm denies the charges and says its decisions were based on her performance.

Facebook and Twitter are also facing separate legal action over allegations of sexual discrimination from two former employees, which they deny.

The controversial court case between Ms Pao and Kleiner Perkins Caulfield and Byers, a high profile investor, has been in session for the last few weeks, with closing arguments due to be heard tomorrow (24 March).

Ellen Pao will be able to seek punitive damages from her former Silicon Valley employer

In addition to punitive damages, Ms Pao is also seeking $16m (£11m) in compensation for lost wages.

The court had already heard that Ms Pao sent a memo to the management at Kleiner Perkins in January 2012 expressing concerns about the treatment of women at the firm after learning that three junior male partners in the firm were facing promotion while their female counterparts were not, and that events were taking place to which she claimed women were not invited.

'Best in business'

However, investor Mary Meeker, a partner at Kleiner Perkins, said that the firm was not a bad employer.

"When I look at the venture capital business and look at the players in the industry, Kleiner Perkins is the best place to be a woman in the business," she told the court.

"When you have people from all walks of life, all genders, all races, it helps people make better decisions because we have different perspectives."

Ms Pao had embarked on an affair with a male partner of the firm who was later fired for unrelated sexual harassment, the court also heard.

Judge Harold Kahn ruled on Saturday that there was "sufficient evidence" in favour of Ms Pao's complaint.

"There is sufficient evidence from which a reasonable juror could find, as to Ms Pao's claims for gender discrimination and retaliation, that Kleiner Perkins acted with malice, fraud or oppression," ruled Judge Kahn.

"There is sufficient evidence from which a reasonable juror could conclude that Kleiner Perkins engaged in intentional gender discrimination by failing to promote Ms Pao and terminating her employment, and that Kleiner Perkins attempted to hide its illegal conduct by offering knowingly false and pretexual explanations for its decisions not to promote Ms Pao and to terminate her employment," he added.

'Predominantly male'

Facebook says it takes diversity issues seriously

Tina Huang, a former software engineer at Twitter, has filed a proposed class action legal action against the firm, alleging that promotions are based on "subjective judgement" by committees that are "predominantly male".

She resigned last year after emailing Twitter's chief executive about her concerns.

"Ms Huang resigned voluntarily from Twitter, after our leadership tried to persuade her to stay," a Twitter spokesman told website Mashable .

"Twitter is deeply committed to a diverse and supportive workplace, and we believe the facts will show Ms Huang was treated fairly."

Meanwhile programme manager Chia Hong has also filed a lawsuit against her former employer Facebook.

According to the complaint she has filed with San Mateo Court, she was ordered to organise parties and serve drinks to male colleagues, told off for requesting time off to visit her child's school and asked why she did not just stay at home with her children.

"We work extremely hard on issues related to diversity, gender and equality, and we believe we've made progress," said Facebook in a statement to website Re/code.

"In this case, we have substantive disagreements on the facts, and we believe the record shows the employee was treated fairly."

Meritocracy

Diversity is a continuing challenge for the tech industry, experts say

Californian investor and entrepreneur Eric Ries told the BBC the wider issue of gender bias in Silicon Valley is well documented but can be unintentional.

"Our business operates on pattern recognition. They look at patterns of what has succeeded in the past and they try to identify those patterns in the future," he said.

"So everyone wants to invest in the next Mark Zuckerberg... the problem comes when you're doing pattern recognition you're using unconscious selection... that's, I think, where you see the sex [and other forms of] discrimination," he added.

"Silicon Valley aspires to be a meritocracy so we have a culture that values outsiders and the perspectives they bring, and there is this idea that good ideas can come from anywhere... that's our aspiration but the reality is in many ways we fall short," he said.

Dr Sue Black, who has founded networks for women in computer science, said that she was pleased to see women taking legal action in the face of unfair treatment in the technology sector.

"Sure, [the cases] are very traumatic but it's great that they are taking a stand," she told the BBC.

"The numbers of women in technology are still about the same as they were 20 years ago," she added.

"In some ways we have not managed to change anything but in other ways, especially with social media, it's bringing lots of things out of the woodwork - more people are giving credibility to the fact that we need diversity in general in the workplace.

"We hear more and more women's voices about what's been happening to them - and we have more men agreeing it's a problem."

There is also more support, Dr Black said.

"I have felt in the last two or three years that there is a groundswell around this issue.

"Women are speaking out more publicly, more confidently, and there are more networks of people backing them up."

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End online humiliation says Lewinsky

Monica Lewnisky's speech at the Ted conference was given a standing ovation

Monica Lewinsky has taken to the stage at the Ted (Technology, Entertainment and Design) conference to call for a more compassionate internet.

The former White House intern's love affair with President Bill Clinton made headlines around the world in 1998.

Describing herself as one of the first victims of cyberbullying, she said the internet had created a culture where people enjoyed viewing other's shame online.

Her speech received a standing ovation.

It is only the second time she has spoken publicly since disappearing from the public eye in 2005. In October she spoke at Forbes' Under 30 Summit.

She began her speech by joking she was the only 40-something who did not wish to be 22 again.

"At the age of 22, I fell in love with my boss. At the age of 24, I learned the devastating consequences."

The Clinton-Lewinsky scandal was one of the first major stories to break online

The internet, she said, had made her own personal humiliation far worse.

"In 1998, after having been swept up in an improbable romance, I was then swept up into the eye of a political, legal and media maelstrom like we had never seen before."

And this particular scandal was, she said, "brought to you by the digital revolution".

"When the story broke it broke online. It was one of the first times that the traditional news had been usurped by the internet for a major news story," she told the Ted audience.

Although there was no social media in 1998 as we know it today, images of Ms Lewinsky famously wearing a black beret quickly went viral online as did comments posted in response to online articles while jokes based on the details of her affair were emailed around the world.

"I went from being a private figure to being a publicly humiliated one worldwide. There were mobs of virtual stone-throwers."

"I was branded a tart, a slut, a whore, a bimbo. I lost my reputation and my dignity and I almost lost my life."

"Seventeen years ago there was no name for it but now we call it cyberbullying or online harassment," she said.

UK charity Childline reported a 87% increase in calls related to cyberbullying last year and, according the children's charity NSPCC, one in five children is now bullied online.

Last year, a study conducted in the Netherlands found that cyberbullying was more likely to lead young people to suicide than its offline equivalent.

Cyberbullying is a growing problem and can have devastating consequences

What is cyberbullying?

It can include:

• Texting scary or rude messages by mobile phone

• Sending unpleasant photos by mobile phone

• Using online message boards, chatrooms or social networks to post cruel messages

• Deleting the victim's name or ignoring their messages on groups or social networks

What to do about cyberbullying

• Tell someone, be it a family member, teacher or other trusted adult, if something upsets you

• Don't respond to messages but save evidence

• Don't take everything to heart; know yourself

• Don't give out your own or friends' personal information

• Be careful about what you write and post online

• Know how to block or report people

• Don't add to the problem by liking or sharing an unkind image or comment

Ms Lewinsky told the story of 18-year-old Tyler Clementi, who was a student at Rutgers University in New Jersey when his roommate set up a webcam and captured video of him in bed with another man.

The resulting online harassment led Mr Clementi to suicide, jumping from the George Washington Bridge.

"Tyler's tragic, senseless death was a turning point for me," said Ms Lewinsky.

"It served to re-contextualise my experiences. I began to look at the world of humiliation and bullying around me and see something different … every day online, people -especially young people who are not developmentally equipped to handle this - are so abused and humiliated that they can't imagine living to the next day. And some don't."

That, she said, was unacceptable. She urged people to approach their online communications with more compassion.

"Post a positive comment, imagine walking a mile in someone else's headline," she said.

Culture of shame

Youngsters are increasingly falling victim to cyberbullies

Technology, she said, had extended the "echo of embarrassment".

"It used to only extend as far as your family, your school, your village, but now it is to the whole online community.

"The more shame, the more clicks and the more clicks the more advertising dollars. We are making money off the back of suffering."

She pointed to recent cases such as the leaking of nude photos of celebrities such as Jennifer Lawrence.

"One gossip website had five million hits for this one," she said.

And when Sony Pictures was hacked, the private emails between executives and actors were the ones that garnered the most interest because they were ones that would lead to "the most public humiliation" she said.

The internet had made people numb to the suffering and humiliation of others, she concluded.

Ms Lewinsky ended her talk on a personal note, explaining why she had decided to speak out after a decade of silence.

"It was time to stop tip-toeing around my past, it was time to take back my narrative and let others know that you can survive it."

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UK lack of cyber-insurance exposed

Insurance can help firms assess risks and pay for clean-up, said the report

About 98% of large UK firms lack insurance that could help them recover from a serious cyber-attack, says a UK government report.

They lack cover even though 81% suffered a security breach in the last 12 months, it said.

The report aims to convince firms to buy insurance to help them manage escalating cyber-threats

Insurance can show companies how to cope better with attacks and understand the risks they face, it said.

The report revealed that a tiny fraction of large UK firms have taken out insurance that could help pay the cost of recovering from a serious security breach. In smaller firms, insurance was almost unknown, it found.

A separate security survey, released in 2014, suggests that the average cost of the most serious security breach large firms face every year is between £600,000 and £1.15m to clean up and remedy. For small firms, costs are £65,000-£115,000.

"The cyber-threat remains one of the most significant - and growing - risks facing UK business," said Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude in a statement.

About half of the chief executives interviewed for the report did not even know it was possible to buy cyber-insurance, found the report. Insurance firm Marsh helped write the report which emerged from work the government carried out in late 2014 on risks facing UK business.

Mr Maude added that over the last few years, UK industry had improved its understanding of the dangers it faced from cyber-thieves but more still needed to be done.

That understanding could be helped by insurance, he said, because it could help highlight where firms were weakest and pass on information about the most serious threats.

In a bid to help companies improve their awareness of the risks they face, the report said that insurers were now being encouraged to apply government advice on safe computing when they assess a firm as they draw up an insurance policy or contract.

"Insurers can help guide and incentivise significant improvements in cybersecurity practice across industry by asking the right questions of their customers on how they handle cyber-threats," said Mr Maude.

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Taylor Swift buys .porn domain name

Taylor Swift has bought the web domain names TaylorSwift.porn and TaylorSwift.adult.

The addresses are part of a public sale by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

The web domain names go on sale to the public on 1 June but some stars and companies are being given the opportunity to buy them ahead of then.

Microsoft Office has registered Office.porn and Office.adult. Domains can cost up to $2,500 (£1,674).

However, .porn and .adult are $99 (£66).

Richard Branson and Stringfellows are other names to have bought .adult and .porn domains, according to ICANN.

The American non-profit group expanded the number of generic top-level domains, or gTLDs, such as .com and .net in 2011.

There were 22 four years ago but now there are nearly 550 with new ones released every month.

The group says different endings to web addresses can help users arrive at their destination quicker because they know what they're getting.

It also says websites ending in .porn or .adult are easier for parents to monitor and block.

Another domain name being released in June is .sucks.

In January Taylor Swift applied to trademark five phrases from her latest album 1989 with the US government.

"Party like it's 1989", "this sick beat", "cause we never go out of style", "could show you incredible things" and "nice to meet you, where you been?" were all apparently registered by the singer with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Follow @BBCNewsbeat on Twitter, BBCNewsbeat on Instagram and Radio1Newsbeat on YouTube

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BBC News switches users to new site

Users are now being taken automatically to the new website

The desktop version of the BBC News website has been switched off, and all visitors are now being directed to a newer, responsive design.

The new site adapts its layout depending on what type of device it is being used on, be it a desktop PC, tablet or mobile.

The BBC said the move reflected the change in how the majority of visitors were consuming their news.

However, some users said the design felt "empty" and "too bright".

Desktop visitors to the BBC News site have been prompted to try out the new responsive design for the past few weeks - but now the desktop-only site has been switched off for good.

Users are being automatically taken to the new-look site.

"We now see 65% of our visitors to the website are on mobile or tablet devices," said Robin Pembrooke, the BBC's head of product for the News and Weather sites.

The new design adapts to different types of devices

"The old site that we had, which is now four-plus years old, was really designed with PCs in mind. Moving to a fully responsive solution which works across mobile, tablets and desktops is the way to go. It means that we can have one solution that is a web solution for all of our users."

The new layout gives higher priority to video content as well as analytical articles by BBC reporters.

Mr Pembrooke said that while the like-for-like running costs of the BBC News website will be lower, the amount the corporation spends on online will not be reduced.

"We can now start to introduce new features such as personalisation with the same size of development team," he said.

Starting point

A post on the BBC Internet Blog gives more detail on the changes and invites feedback from the public.

Initial reactions to the new design were mixed.

User almamatters on the BBC Internet Blog described the new design as "an unmitigated disaster" while another, Josh Tumath, said, "It's great to use and so quick to load."

The move to responsive follows the launch of the new app earlier this year

User JoJo wrote: "Please don't do this."

Common among the complaints was that the site is too bright. Mr Pembrooke said Monday's launch was a starting point.

"I think we'll see that evolve over time. What this opens up is the possibility to start experimenting with different types of colour palettes as well - for different types of content.

"This first release we feel we've got it to the point where we've got parity with the existing site, but what it opens up is now the ability to start adding in a whole range of new features such as being able to introduce topic pages and the ability for us to start introducing more personalised features on the website."

'Big bang'

Online news veteran Martin Belam, currently editor of new formats at the Daily Mirror, told the BBC that redesigns of major websites are often met with shock and anger among some regular users.

"Having gone through several big redesigns at the BBC, Guardian and the Mirror over the years I have a mental checklist of the feedback I'm expecting to get each time: "If it ain't broke don't fix it", "It looks like something Fisher-Price built", "Did you let the work experience kid design this".

"Very vocal criticism online often reflects a real hardcore minority view though.

"A site will judge whether a redesign has been a success on metrics like speed, availability, cost of maintaining code, ease of making changes and of course audience growth. Those things won't always be apparent to the general user."

BBC News website editor Steve Herrmann said lessons have been learnt since previous relaunches of the BBC News site.

"The last relaunch was very much a big bang, all in one go.

"At the time we didn't give people a way of previewing or getting a sense of what it was going to be like. With this, first of all, the new site itself is actually the mobile site that we've had for some time.

"We created a promotional banner to bring it to people's attention on desktop to say have a look - with the aim of inviting people to see what we were working on.

"For me that's a critical difference."

Follow Dave Lee on Twitter @DaveLeeBBC

"If it ain't broke": BBC News website through the ages

1998

2000

2003

2006

2008

The current design, in place since 2010

The new responsive design

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Big rise in solar energy use predicted

Solar power could provide up to 4% of the UK's electricity by the end of the decade, the government has said.

The plummeting cost of solar panels has caused the government to revise upwards its forecast for solar energy use, Energy Secretary Ed Davey said.

This had contributed to the government decision to end most subsidies for large-scale solar this month, he added.

But the solar industry said the cuts were a mistake and would prevent it from competing with fossil fuels.

'We need subsidies'

The price of solar panels has reduced by 70% in the past few years as subsidies in many countries created a mass market and drew in Chinese manufacturers.

In the UK this prompted the government to withdraw subsidies from large-scale solar farms - above 5MW - from the end of March.

That in turn has created a temporary solar boom as firms race to connect to the grid in the coming days.

The Solar Trades Association said as much new capacity has been installed in the first three months of this year as in the whole of 2014.

But after April it expects installations to fall 80%, because most firms will not be able to compete.

The association's spokesman, Leonie Greene, said: "We need subsidies for another few years - maybe five - before we can compete with fossil fuels in the UK.

"Only 35% of the cost of solar is the price of the panels - the majority cost is the installation and that will only come down if we have a large and thriving competitive industry in the UK.

"The government's decision to pull out subsidies is an own goal - it will delay the moment when solar can compete with fossil fuels."

'Wonderful for humanity'

But Mr Davey said recent tenders for energy contracts among different types of renewable energy companies showed that solar was ready to compete already.

Two of the lowest bids were from solar firms.

Speaking to the BBC, he said he had been "amazed and delighted" by the plummeting costs of solar power.

Mr Davey said: "This is wonderful for humanity.

"There are 300 million Indians without electricity… the effects in sub-Saharan Africa will be dramatic.

"Solar power will do to energy what mobile phones did for communication and markets."

He said he expected up to 14GW of solar by 2020 - up from 5GW at the end of 2014. That equates roughly to 1.5% of total UK annual electricity to just under 4%. He said he expected it to grow further in the next decade.

But he said solar was not swallowing too much of the renewables budget, so its subsidy needed to be cut. He said subsidy for domestic solar would continue.

Ms Greene said: "We get words - we don't get a policy. The government has created this solar rush in the UK because firms are so unconfident about policy later.

"Previously the minister Greg Barker expressed an ambition to get 20GW of solar by 2020 - we could have hit that figure if the government wasn't so blind to solar's potential."

A government spokesman said there were now 650,000 solar installations in the UK, including panels on homes.

Follow Roger on Twitter: @rharrabin

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India court scraps online arrest law

Critics said the law restricted the principle of free speech

India's Supreme Court has struck down a controversial law which allowed police to arrest people for comments on social networks and other internet sites.

The court ruled that the controversial Section 66A of the Information Technology Act was unconstitutional.

In recent years, several people have been arrested for their comments on Facebook or Twitter, sparking outrage.

The government had defended the law, saying it was meant to deter people from uploading offensive material.

Tuesday's order was delivered by a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court on petitions filed by civil rights groups and a law student who argued that Section 66A violated people's fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression.

"Section 66A is unconstitutional and we have no hesitation in striking it down," news agency AFP quoted Justice RF Nariman as saying in court.

"The public's right to know is directly affected by section 66A," he added.

Section 66A was sweeping in its powers - it could send a person to jail for three years for sending an email or other electronic message that "causes annoyance or inconvenience".

The law was first challenged by a law student after two young women were arrested in November 2012 in Mumbai for comments on Facebook following the death of politician Bal Thackeray.

Shaheen Dhada was held for criticising Mumbai's shutdown after Thackeray's death. Renu Srinivasan, who "liked" the comment, was also arrested. The two were later released on bail.

The arrests led to outrage in India with many calling for the law to be scrapped.

Since then there have been several other arrests under the law, leading to charges of abuse:

• On 17 March 2015, a teenage student was jailed in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh for allegedly posting a comment on Facebook criticising state minister Azam Khan. The teenager was later freed on bail.
• In October 2012, a 46-year-old businessman in the southern city of Pondicherry was arrested for a tweet criticising Karti Chidambaram, son of then finance minister P Chidambaram. He was later released on bail.
• In September 2012, there was outrage when a cartoonist was jailed in Mumbai on charges of sedition for his anti-corruption drawings. The charges were later dropped.
• In April 2012, the West Bengal government arrested a teacher who had emailed to friends a cartoon that was critical of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. He too was later released on bail.

Within minutes of Tuesday's court order, #Sec66A was trending on Twitter with many Indians applauding the ruling.

Delhi's governing Aam Aadmi Party welcomed the order:

Journalist Swati Vashishtha said the right to dissent was the most important right for citizens:

Popular author Chetan Bhagat said he was "super happy":

Pankaj Pachauri, communications advisor to former prime minister Manmohan Singh, said "good riddance" to the law:

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Ordnance Survey releases map tool

The mapping data brings together lots of sources of information about locations

A mapping tool that gives a detailed picture of local information in almost every corner of Great Britain has been released by Ordnance Survey (OS).

The free data set brings together information about crime, business rates, property types, local transport and geographical information.

The OS expects developers and designers to use the tool to improve information people can access via the web.

The local information is one of several data sets the OS has released.

"Good mapping products before now have been there just to get people from A to B," said a spokesman for the OS.

Increasingly, he said, people and businesses wanted more detail from online maps and wanted to get lots of local information about locations from one app or site.

"Now you would struggle to find a firm out there that does not use maps to help its business or that does not underpin its decision-making," said the spokesman.

The OS is not creating a new Google Maps-style service of its own, but is rather providing its data for use by other third-party apps and online tools that can use it to enhance their products.

The data set could be used by people looking to start a cafe to find out if any rivals were located nearby, if business rates were high, how many people live near the site and to check local crime statistics and their influence on insurance.

The map data includes 460 million separate features and includes information about the footprint and boundaries of buildings and organisations as well as the names of streets, neighbourhoods and regions.

Suggestions about what types of information to make available came from the community of people already using OS mapping data, said the spokesman.

One requested feature involves being able to change the colour palette in which information is presented which could lead to maps tuned for people with different types of colour-blindness.

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Bees get wearable tech trackers

The tiny trackers measure have a range of up to 2.5m (8.2ft)

A tiny new tracker designed to monitor bee behaviour is being tested by ecologists at Kew Gardens in London.

It is made from off-the-shelf technology and is based on equipment used to track pallets in warehouses, said its creator Dr Mark O'Neill.

Readers, used to pick up a signal from the kit, are connected to Raspberry Pi computers, which log the readings.

The device has a reach of up to 2.5m (8.2ft). Previously used models were restricted to 1cm (0.4in).

The tracker consists of a standard RFID (radio frequency identification) chip and a specially designed aerial, which Dr O'Neill has created to be thinner and lighter than other models used to track small insects, allowing him to boost the range.

The engineer, who is technical director at the Newcastle-based tech firm Tumbling Dice, is currently trying to patent the invention.

"The first stage was to make very raw pre-production tags using components I could easily buy", he said.

"I want to make optimised aerial components which would be a lot smaller."

"I've made about 50 so far. I've soldered them all on my desk - it feels like surgery."

The average "forage time" for a worker bee is around 20 minutes, suggesting they have a forage range of around 1km (0.6 miles) , Dr O'Neill explained.

The idea is to have readers dotted around a hive and flower patch in order to track the signals as the bees move around freely in the wild.

The tiny trackers, which are just 8mm (0.3in) high and 4.8mm (1.9in) wide, are stuck to the bees with superglue in a process which takes five to 10 minutes. The bees are chilled first to make them more docile.

"They make a hell of a noise," acknowledged Dr O'Neill.

He told the BBC he hoped that the trackers - which weigh less than a bee and are attached at their centre of gravity so as not to affect their flight - would remain attached for their three-month expected lifespan.

The bees are chilled before the trackers are attached.

They have only been fitted to worker bees, which do not mate.

"If an animal ate one, I guess it would have a tracker in its stomach," Dr O'Neill said.

"But the attrition rate for field worker bees is very low. Most die of old age - they are very competent, and good at getting out of the way."

Dr Sarah Barlow, a restoration ecologist from Kew Gardens, was involved in testing the as-yet unnamed trackers.

"These tags are a big step forward in radio technology and no one has a decent medium to long range tag yet that is suitable for flying on small insects," she said.

"This new technology will open up possibilities for scientists to track bees in the landscape.

"This piece of the puzzle, of bee behaviour, is absolutely vital if we are to understand better why our bees are struggling and how we can reverse their decline."

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