Category Archives: Technology

TWO SATELLITES JUST AVOIDED A HEAD-ON SMASH. HOW CLOSE DID THEY COME TO DISASTER?

Technology

It appears we have missed another close call between two satellites – but how close did we really come to a catastrophic event in space?

WHY IS TESLA SELLING INSURANCE AND WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR DRIVERS?

Technology

Tesla Insurance is available only in some states of the US at present.
For those eligible, the company claims to offer premiums up to 30% lower than rivals.

WOULD YOU NOTICE IF YOUR CALCULATOR WAS LYING TO YOU? THE RESEARCH SAYS PROBABLY NOT.

Technology

There’s no reason an individual ought to feel suspicious about a calculator. This offers tremendous opportunities for hackers using phishing methods.

MINIATURIZATION WILL LEAD TO SMART SPACES AND BLUR THE LINE BETWEEN ON AND OFFLINE

Technology

Intel ushered a new era of miniature computer systems with its Compute Stick dongle, enabling the latest system-in-package and system-on-a-chip approaches.

WHEN DE-AGING DE NIRO AND PACINO, IRISHMAN ANIMATORS TRIED TO AVOID PITFALLS OF THE PAST

Technology

Wonderful Animation technology allowed 76-year-old Robert De Niro and 79-year-old Al Pacino to star in ‘The Irishman’ after de-aging them.

FORMULA 1 SAYS IT’S GOING CARBON NEUTRAL BUT FANS MUST DEMAND GREATER DETAIL ON HOW

Technology

Formula 1 authorities promised to move to 100% Second Generation Advanced Sustainable Fuels in F1 cars by 2030 to tackle climate change.

WEAPONISED RESEARCH: HOW TO KEEP YOU AND YOUR SOURCES SAFE IN THE AGE OF SURVEILLANCE

Technology

Hackers may not only be reading your published research work – they could also be tracking your online activity and even listening in on your conversations.

DOMAIN NAME FRAUD: IS THE GLOBAL INTERNET IN DANGER?

Technology

In late February 2019, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the organization that manages the IP addresses and domain names used on the web, issued a warning on the risks of systemic Internet attacks.

TALKING TO MARS: NEW ANTENNA DESIGN COULD AID INTERPLANETARY COMMUNICATION

Technology

When enough of these antenna elements – 256 in this case – are combined together just right into what antenna engineers call an array, the whole can transmit and receive much greater power.

BEYOND INVISIBILITY: ENGINEERING LIGHT WITH METAMATERIALS

Technology

We can build metamaterials to respond in particular ways to certain frequencies of light. For example, we can create a smart filter for infrared cameras.

HOW TENCENT BECAME THE WORLD’S MOST VALUABLE SOCIAL NETWORK FIRM – WITH BARELY ANY ADVERTISING

Technology

Advertising makes only 18% of Tencent’s total revenue; whereas it makes up 98% of Facebook’s. Yet, Tencent is the most valuable social networking company.

HIGH-TECH CONCERT HALL MEASURES BRAIN WAVES AND HEART RATES DURING PERFORMANCES

Arts, Technology

The LIVELab at McMaster University is a research concert hall. It functions as both a laboratory and theater, opening up opportunities for music research.

NOT ONE BUT TWO AUSSIE DISHES WERE USED TO GET THE TV SIGNALS BACK FROM THE APOLLO 11 MOONWALK

History, Technology

When Neil Armstrong stepped on to the Moon, Australians saw the images first. They used a second Aussie dish to bring the historic images to the world.

AERIAL THREAT: WHY DRONE HACKING COULD BE BAD NEWS FOR THE MILITARY

Technology

Imagine a defense operation in which a drone is sent out to spy on enemy territory. The enemy identifies the drone but instead of disabling it, compromises the sensors (vision, sonar, and so on) to inject false data.

INSPIRED BY SCI-FI, AN AIRPLANE WITH NO MOVING PARTS AND A BLUE IONIC GLOW

Technology

The plane uses electroaerodynamic propulsion, which was investigated as far back as the 1920s by an eccentric scientist who was researching anti-gravity.

FORMULA ONE MOTOR FIRMS ARE BECOMING TEXTBOOK CASES IN HOW TO SUCCESSFULLY BRANCH INTO OTHER SECTORS

Sports, Technology

Formula one companies have been reinventing themselves for the digital era and selling their tech know-how to other sectors.

NETHERLANDS POLICE TRAIN EAGLES TO CATCH DRONES

Misc, Technology

Netherlands Police are training eagles to catch drones to prevent illegal use. They said that they will investigate the birds’ safety as safety continue.

RESEARCHERS INVENT DEVICE THAT GENERATES LIGHT FROM THE COLD NIGHT SKY – HERE’S WHAT IT MEANS FOR MILLIONS LIVING OFF GRID

Science, Technology

What if we could generate electricity from the cold night sky? Researchers at Stanford and UCLA have just done exactly that.

TELETEXT WAS SLOW BUT IT PAVED THE WAY FOR THE SUPER-FAST WORLD OF THE INTERNET

Technology

The BBC has announced that 2020 will mark the end of the Red Button text service – the final incarnation of what was originally known as CEEFAX and Oracle.

FORD BRIDGEND CLOSURE: THE UK’S CAR INDUSTRY COULD STAGE A REVIVAL BY RECYCLING RARE EARTHS

Economics, Technology

The intended closure of Ford’s Bridgend engine plant in 2020, with the loss of 1,700 industry jobs, has sent shock waves through Wales.

STOLEN FINGERPRINTS COULD SPELL THE END OF BIOMETRIC SECURITY – HERE’S HOW TO SAVE IT

Technology

Traditional passwords are something you know. Biometric features are something you are. Unlike passwords, biometric data can’t be changed if it’s stolen.

NEW TELESCOPE WILL SCAN THE SKIES FOR ASTEROIDS ON COLLISION COURSE WITH EARTH

Science, Technology

An international team of scientists is constructing the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope in Chile, which will be an essential tool for asteroids alert.

THE ANSWER TO FORECASTING BITCOIN MAY LIE IN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Economics, Technology

Using daily observations from 2011-2018, we created an ANN with three predictors: returns, 50-day buy-sell signal and 200-day buy-sell signal.

AUSTRALIA BANS VIDEO GAMES FOR THINGS YOU’D SEE IN MOVIES. BUT GAMERS CAN ACCESS THEM ANYWAY

Technology

The Australian Classification Board has refused classification for at least four video games, effectively banning them in Australia.

TOP 5 MICROSOFT FAIL MOMENTS

Sidebar, Technology

A CYBERATTACK COULD WREAK DESTRUCTION COMPARABLE TO A NUCLEAR WEAPON

Technology

People may be worried about nuclear tensions rising, but I think they’re missing the fact that a major cyberattack could be just as damaging.

FACEAPP’S FINE PRINT MEANS YOU EFFECTIVELY CAN’T SUE THEM, UNLESS YOU SEND A LETTER TO THEIR RUSSIAN OFFICE

Politics, Technology

Faceapp can do whatever it likes with your photos. More concerning is the range of disturbing conditions users unwittingly sign up to.

HOW WOULD ENGINEERS BUILD THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE TODAY?

Technology

Engineers have suggested reconstructing the Golden Gate Bridge in a way that would limit ongoing maintenance and operation bills.

TO UPGRADE OR NOT UPGRADE? THAT IS THE ALL-TOO-FREQUENT QUESTION

Technology

The question of whether or not to go for the upgrade or stick with the devil you know is an increasingly common contemporary dilemma

GAMERS USE MACHINE LEARNING TO NAVIGATE COMPLEX VIDEO GAMES – BUT IT’S NOT FREE

Technology

Dota 2 tracks your activity as you play. The aim is to create machine learning systems that can learn and coach you to become a competent player.

LIBRA: FOUR REASONS TO BE EXTREMELY CAUTIOUS ABOUT FACEBOOK’S NEW CURRENCY

Technology

Facebook has unveiled libra, a controversial cryptocurrency that will enable users to make international payments over Messenger and other group platforms.

FROM MINIATURE SATELLITES TO GIANT SUN SHIELDS – THE EXTREME TECHNOLOGY TRANSFORMING SPACE ENGINEERING

Technology

While Apollo was an example of engineering on a heroic scale, future space ventures can deliver lasting societal benefits beyond flags and footprints.

THE GUTS OF AN APPLE IPHONE SHOW EXACTLY WHAT TRUMP GETS WRONG ABOUT TRADE

Technology

The guts of an Apple iPhone show exactly what Trump gets wrong about trade The components of an iPhone add up to a different cost than the phone itself. Poravute Siriphiroon/Shutterstock.com Jason Dedrick, Syracuse University;

WITH CRYPTOCURRENCY LAUNCH, FACEBOOK SETS ITS PATH TOWARD BECOMING AN INDEPENDENT NATION

Technology

“Like all enterprise DLT it is blockchain in name only and an monopoly to extract massive seignorage from billions of users. A monopoly scam” says Roubini.

AI DEVELOPS HUMAN-LIKE NUMBER SENSE – TAKING US A STEP CLOSER TO BUILDING MACHINES WITH GENERAL INTELLIGENCE

Technology

In a new study, a deep neural network was trained for simple visual object detection spontaneously developed this kind of number sense.

HACKERS SEEK RANSOMS FROM BALTIMORE AND COMMUNITIES ACROSS THE US

Technology

The people of Baltimore are under an electronic siege that has prevented residents from obtaining building permits and business licenses.

THE NEXT CYBERATTACK COULD COME FROM SOUND WAVES

Technology

Researchers from the University of Michigan have found a new way of using sound to interfere with devices containing accelerometers.

BUILDING PRIVACY RIGHT INTO SOFTWARE CODE

Technology

The best way to avoid privacy problems is to take the task of privacy protection away from humans and entrust it to the computers themselves.

FACEBOOK WANTS TO COMBAT FAKE NEWS WITH ID CHECKS – WITH GRAVE IMPLICATIONS FOR PRIVACY

Technology

From April 2019, Facebook will request ID verification for people who wish to advertise or promote political posts or ads.

FACEBOOK’S TRANSPARENCY EFFORTS HIDE KEY REASONS FOR SHOWING ADS

Technology

Facebook’s ‘transparency’ efforts hide key reasons for showing ads Why is that ad targeting you? Olivier Le Moal/Shutterstock.com Oana Goga, Université Grenoble Alpes Facebook’s advertising platform was not built to help social media users understand

HOW CRYPTOCURRENCY SCAMS WORK?

Technology

Millions of cryptocurrency investors have been scammed out of massive real money. In 2018, losses from cryptocurrency-related crimes were US$1.7 billion.

FACEBOOK’S CRYPTOCURRENCY: A FINANCIAL EXPERT BREAKS IT DOWN

Technology

Unlike Bitcoin, which is not pegged to any other currency, Facecoin will need the backing of real money to maintain its fixed price.

COMPLICATIONS AND QUANDARIES IN THE ICT SECTOR – STANDARD ESSENTIAL PATENTS AND COMPETITION ISSUES

Technology

Complications and Quandaries in the ICT Sector – Standard Essential Patents and Competition Issues Ashish Bharadwaj, Vishwas H. Devaiah, Indranath Gupta Introduction Many countries have formulated policies and re-oriented their economy to foster innovation as

TO WIN THE BATTLE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, MULTIPLY THE LEGAL GEEKS

Technology

To win the battle of artificial intelligence, the digital law has to increasingly integrate other disciplines especially computer science and cognitive psychology.

ALGORITHMS ARE MAXIMIZING PROFITS FOR ONLINE RETAILERS BY COLLUDING TO KEEP PRICES HIGH

Technology

Algorithms are maximizing profits for online retailers by colluding to set prices above where they would otherwise be in a competitive market.

WHY HEALTH IMPLANTS SHOULD HAVE OPEN SOURCE CODE

Technology

Open-source approach must be adopted by medical implants’ manufacturers. This will reduce vulnerability to attacks and faulty code.

THERE’S A MASSIVE CYBERSECURITY JOB GAP – WE SHOULD FILL IT BY EMPLOYING HACKERS

Technology

With three million unfilled cybersecurity posts worldwide, the only way to fill such a large job gap is to employ hackers.

I’VE ALWAYS WONDERED: WHY DO OUR COMPUTING DEVICES SEEM TO SLOW DOWN

Technology

Whether you’re using a phone, tablet, PC or other devices, the most useful zero-cost action you can take is to uninstall unnecessary apps and add-ons.

YOUR CAR IS MORE LIKELY TO BE HACKED BY YOUR MECHANIC THAN A TERRORIST

Technology

When it comes to car hacking, you should be more worried about dodgy mechanic dealers than one-off hackers with criminal intent.

WHAT IF THE FBI TRIED TO CRACK AN ANDROID PHONE? RESEARCHERS ATTACKED ONE TO FIND OUT

Technology

Researchers attempted to replicate what the FBI had wanted to do on an Android phone to crack it open and found some useful results.

REGULATIONS NEEDED AFTER CRYPTOCURRENCY CEO TAKES PASSWORDS TO HIS GRAVE

Technology

CEO was the only one who knew the password to an encrypted offline cryptocurrency repository where the firm had enshrined the vast majority of clients.

CAN YOU BE HACKED BY THE WORLD AROUND YOU?

Technology

Attackers may embed malicious software in the physical world, just waiting for unsuspecting people to scan it with a smartphone or a specialized device.

EVOLUTIONARY COMPUTATION HAS BEEN PROMISING SELF-PROGRAMMING MACHINES FOR 60 YEARS. SO WHERE ARE THEY?

Technology

Evolutionary computation has been studied by researchers for over 60 years. Yet, the idea still isn’t used widely outside the research community.

IT’S POSSIBLE TO WRITE FLAW-FREE SOFTWARE, SO WHY DON’T WE?

Technology

Strong software engineering, or more usually formal methods, is a methodology that uses mathematics to ensure error-free programming.

LINUS TORVALDS VS ANDREW TANENBAUM LINUX DEBATE – 1992 MINIX NEWSGROUP

Technology

In 1992, Tanenbaum harshly criticized Linux monolithic kernel on comp.os.minix newsgroup. Linus answered in a long persuasive post.

LINUX KERNEL 5.0 INITIAL REVIEW

Technology

Initial review of the new kernel 5.0 of Linux operating system.

WHAT THE COINCHECK HACK TELLS US ABOUT HOW AUSTRALIAN REGULATORS WILL HANDLE A CRYPTOCURRENCY HACK

Technology

In the past eight years, more than a third of all cryptocurrency exchanges have been hacked. The total losses exceed US$1 billion.

THE PROMISE OF THE LEARN TO CODE MOVEMENT

Technology

Computer science and programming education must suit the needs of 21st-century learners. Otherwise, the cost will be a disillusioned workforce.

WHY DON’T BIG COMPANIES KEEP THEIR COMPUTER SYSTEMS UP TO DATE?

Technology

When senior executives at companies aren’t tech-savvy, they often lack understanding of what’s at stake and how to quickly protect valuable information.

CIVILIZATION VI: GATHERING STORM SHOWS VIDEO GAMES CAN MAKE US THINK SERIOUSLY ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE

Technology

Civilization VI, the latest in a popular series of video games adds new features, most notably climate change and natural disasters.

EFFORTS TO CONTROL CYBER WEAPONS IGNORE THE AGENTS WHO USE THEM

Technology

Global efforts are underway to govern the tools used in cyber attacks, but the expertise of cyber operatives has so far seen limited attention.

STAY ALIVE AND IF SOMETHING MOVES, SHOOT IT: THE PHENOMENAL SUCCESS OF FORTNITE

Technology

The online videogame Fortnite Battle Royale was launched in September 2017. Since then the game had amassed 125 million active players by June and made US$1.2 billion (A$1.6 billion) for the developer, Epic Games.

LINUX IS THE QUIET REVOLUTION THAT WILL LEAVE MICROSOFT EATING DUST

Technology

As long as you are capable of writing the software to solve the problem, Linux will allow you to create your own complex supercomputer for free.

OPEN SOURCE HARDWARE COULD DEFEND AGAINST THE NEXT GENERATION OF HACKING

Technology

Making open-source hardware systems more available increases regular people’s security by giving them verifiable secure options.

STOP WORRYING ABOUT HOW MUCH ENERGY BITCOIN USES

Technology

Bitcoin, and other new technologies – such as data centers, computers and before them trains, planes and automobiles – are often energy-intensive.

TRUST IN DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY WILL BE THE INTERNET’S NEXT FRONTIER

Technology

Online information isn’t reliable, whether it is news or search results, and social media is vulnerable to manipulation by hackers or foreign powers.

FACEBOOK RISKS STARTING A WAR ON KNOWLEDGE AFTER CLOSING ITS DOORS TO RESEARCHERS

Technology

Facebook is closing its doors to researchers. The latest casualty is the app Netvizz, a research tool used by hundreds of academics.

APPLE’S TRILLION DOLLARS VALUE DOES NOT MEAN IT’S THE BIGGEST COMPANY

Technology

APPLE’S TRILLION DOLLARS VALUE DOES NOT MEAN IT’S THE BIGGEST COMPANY Jerry Davis, University of Michigan On Aug. 2, Apple became the first U.S. public corporation to achieve a US$1 trillion valuation, making it the

THINK FACEBOOK CAN MANIPULATE YOU? LOOK OUT FOR VIRTUAL REALITY

Technology

As Facebook users around the world are coming to understand, some of their favorite technologies can be used against them.

SILICON VALLEY, FROM HEART’S DELIGHT TO TOXIC WASTELAND

Technology

Silicon Valley’s rise is well documented, but the backlash against its culture and unscrupulous corporations hints at an imminent twist in its fate.

THE MEDIA MERGER FRENZY AND ITS IMPACT ON NET NEUTRALITY

Technology

Allowing mergers like AT&T and Time Warner will profoundly reshape the American media landscape and may eliminate net neutrality.

PRIVACY SHIELD: THE FRAMEWORK THAT PROTECTS EUROPEAN PERSONAL DATA IN THE US

Technology

A privacy discussion is moving toward fruition with less public attention: the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield. US$260 billion are at stake.

VIDEO GAMERS MAY SOON BE PAID MORE THAN TOP PRO ATHLETES

Technology

The realm of professional sport has been taken by storm by the rise of eSports. These video game events now compete with traditional sports leagues.

AN ITALIAN COURT RULES THAT CELL PHONE USE CAUSED BRAIN TUMOR

Technology

AN ITALIAN COURT RULES THAT CELL PHONE USE CAUSED BRAIN TUMOR On April 11th 2017, an Italian court in the northern town of Ivrea has ruled that the brain tumor of Roberto Romeo, diagnosed in

UBUNTU SPYWARE CONTROVERSY

Technology

UBUNTU SPYWARE CONTROVERSY Ubuntu is one of the most popular GNU/Linux distributions. It is used in over 50 million desktop computers worldwide, and runs millions of servers, including those of Reddit, Instagram, Snapchat and Netflix. It

U.S. CONGRESS: MEUCCI IS THE INVENTOR OF THE TELEPHONE

Technology

Antonio Meucci is the true inventor of the telephone, not Alexander Graham Bell. This century-long controversy had finally been settled by the US Congress in 2002. The acknowledgement was the result of the House of Representatives’ vote of the resolution H.RES.269.