Should the U.S. revive nuclear power to satisfy the growing electricity demands of artificial intelligence? The Three Mile Island nuclear power plant offers a cautionary tale of technology outpacing expertise.
Tag: technology
Russia’s Roskomnadzor agency blocked the Discord messaging application earlier this month, and thus disrupted one of the Russian military’s well-established communication systems. It’s a reminder of the Kremlin’s need for Western technology to wage its war against Ukraine.
A new generation of coca leaf growers and pickers is posting video content on social media. They show their life in the fields, how the crops grow, the laboratories where they create the coca paste, and even the exit routes for drug trafficking. And while they used to be stigmatized, and threatened by armed groups, their content is escaping censorship and violence.
Tech’s biggest fortunes are funding a project to build a new city of 400,000 people just an hour outside of San Francisco. But the residents of the region’s most rural county are resisting.
The resurgence of China’s richest tech billionaire might seem like a positive signal of a more permissive market environment. But it’s worth remembering that Beijing remains the ultimate authority to regulate and mobilise market resources.
Nine dead and nearly 3,000 wounded. The unprecedented attack on the pagers of Hezbollah members is the larger explosion of a war already underway that could consume the whole Middle East.
With no fitness apps, emails or social media, the Barbie Phone speaks the same language of mindfulness seminars, digital fasting cures and wellness retreats that seek a simple, undisturbed and healthy life. But can a phone — no matter how simple — really be a self-care tool?
U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan has assured Xi Jinping that, if elected, Kamala Harris would handle ties between their countries “responsibly.” U.S.-China relations are the major issue of this century, as tensions rise over Taiwan, technology and the South China Sea. A Trump victory would make that prospect scary.
Many of life’s biggest questions can’t be answered by an algorithm. We must learn to embrace uncertainty instead.
Summer Special – Innovation Edition – August 26- September 1, 2024
Updated July 26, 2024 at 11:20 a.m. The Solar Impulse 2 completed its historic circumnavigation of the Earth on this day in 2016, after a journey that spanned approximately 26,000 miles (42,000 kilometers) and took over a year to complete. It demonstrated the feasibility of long-duration, solar-powered flights, encouraging further research and innovation in renewable […]
Updated July 21, 2014 at 11:45 a.m. Neil Armstrong took his first steps on the Moon on this day in 1969 as part of the Apollo 11 mission. What were Neil Armstrong’s famous words when he first stepped onto the Moon’s surface? Neil Armstrong famously said, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap […]
Stromboli, located in Sicily’s Aeolian Islands, is one of the most famous volcanoes in the world, attracting tourists for its pristine black sand beaches. Yet due to its characteristics, including its uniquely consistent and predictable eruptions, it has also become an international reference point in the study of explosive dynamics.
Technology is often blamed for our growing lack of focus. But our modern lifestyles — stress, a work system based on competitiveness and even our diet — also impair our ability to pay attention. Is this cause for concern or a natural consequence of our evolution? And what, if anything, can be done about it?
Long neglected in our homes, toilets are undergoing a revolution through both technological and design innovations. As we spend on average more than a year of our lives on them, consumers are increasingly looking for something more than purely functional.
Driven by advances in artificial intelligence, the development of human-shaped robots is accelerating on both sides of the Pacific. China see it as a way of accelerating modernization of its industrial base, while American venture capitalists are betting on their mass adoption in warehouses and factories.
Following police violence against young people protesting in Pisa, the Italian government remains entrenched in its silence by merely promising investigations. But perhaps the issue is that the government perceives teenagers as a threat?
Located between Marrakech and Casablanca, the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University is trying to replicate the recipes that have made the United States’ Silicon Valley successful, fusing research and business — with special attention given to green energies and food sovereignty.
An endeavor to retrieve samples from the red planet is in the works. Some scientists wonder if it’s a wise investment.
Sweden recently announced that the country’s schools will remove digital technology from classrooms because of poor student performance. Some ask how useful is digital learning. But it also poses the question: is “digital de-escalation” even possible?
We’re renouncing books to gorge ourselves on digital imagery and short texts. If we continue like this, ditching the written word of the past, we may soon become fitting descendants of the cringing, timorous masses of the dark ages.
In Oulu, Finland, near the Arctic Circle, 500 researchers at the 6G Flagship laboratory are already outlining the next generation of mobile technology, due to arrive by 2030. Nokia’s homeland wants to turn the page on 5G, which failed to win over the industry.
The Skiif navigation app relies on GPS and user data to tell skiers which chairlifts are crowded…and where accidents have backed up traffic on the slopes. Sound familiar?
Artificial intelligence can now provide you with a friend or a romantic partner — for a fee. Italian daily La Stampa tested whether true romance can blossom between human and machine, or if it’s the ultimate bug…
Bolivia believes lithium is the new “white gold,” for its role in fueling new technologies. Distrusting Western investments and technology, it’s counting on collaborations with Russia and China. But there will be problems at home that could block it all.
Chatbots and other machine learning tools could make the legal system more equitable for those seeking civil justice, or it could do other things with that power too….
Stuffed toys, fetish objects, lucky charms, pets — we all have our comforting objects or companions, even if we sometimes find it hard to admit to ourselves. It’s an anthropological need that makes our lives more comfortable. But with smartphones, chatbots, and soon robots, taking up a new role as our future companions, we need to rethink whether our new, digital teddy bears create more harm than they provide comfort.
To avoid succumbing to machines, we must understand the difference between risk and danger, argues noted Italian technology ethicist Paolo Benanti.
If computing power becomes a major tool for superpowers like China and the U.S., then what does the latest U.S. technology blockade mean for the race to a more powerful AI? Honk Kong-based daily The Initium looks at the nuclear race of our time, with chips as the modern-day equivalent of enriched uranium.
Putting the latest AI breakthroughs at the service of national security raises major practical and ethical questions for the Pentagon.
Phd candidate Tashi Dema, from the University of New England, discusses how social media apps, particularly WeChat, are helping to preserve local Bhutanese languages without a written alphabet. Dema argues that preservation of these languages has far-reaching benefits for the small Himalayan country’s rich culture and tradition.
Hamas’ unprecedented attack last month reflected an intelligence failure for Israel, which raises questions about the country’s dominance on the global market for sophisticated espionage technology and other hi-tech offerings. Meanwhile, some of the best young Israeli coders have been called up for military service.
As the importance of the global microchip economy continues to grow, companies like Intel may one day reign supreme over today’s corporate giants: Meta, Apple and Google. And, in a measure some are calling “reverse globalization,” production is beginning to move back into the Global North, including Poland. In a rare visit to Intel’s factories in Malaysia, Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza takes a look into what the future of its manufacturing will look like.
French multinational insurance company AXA has just published the new edition of its Futures Risk Report — and if climate change remains the top concern, many are keeping a close eye on Big Data and Artificial Intelligence’s worrying rise in the list.
In response to the attack by Hamas, Israel promises to eradicate the group, but what does this really look like? With the promise of a high toll in human lives and the complex network of the Gaza Strip, an operation to retaliate against Hamas may be even more difficult that one may think.
September 25 – October 1, 2023
A niche research community plays out what existence might be like on, or en route to, another planet.
There are many frontiers being crossed by AI lately, sparking debate and anxiety. But now, we’re entering strange, new territory: an algorithm that lets bereaved family members communicate with deceased loved ones in the most realistic of ways. Yet it comes with very real and complicated risks.
Research by anthropologist Darren Byler provides a rare look inside the surveillance state China has created to control the Uyghur population of Xinjiang province, where every move is tracked, people are forced to carry cell phones, and “re-education camps” await anyone suspected of trying to break free.
A new biography of the Tesla, X (formerly Twitter) and Space X boss reveals that Elon Musk prevented the Ukrainian army from attacking the Russian fleet in Crimea last year, by limiting the beam of his Starlink satellites. Unchecked power is a problem.