In The News

BBC: Could AI Help Create a Meat-Free World?

Jose Luis Penarredonda January 18, 2018
With expanding wealth and middle classes in emerging economies, global production of meat has more than doubled since 1986. Such agricultural production also has environmental costs. So entrepreneurs are trying to develop new foods that taste like meat products. “Meat is not their only target: mayonnaise, cookie dough, cheese, chocolate, and pretty much every other food produced using animal-...

Financial Times: China-Russia Rocket Talks Spark US Disquiet Over Growing Links

Charles Clover January 18, 2018
Companies from China and Russia are in talks over a sale of aerospace technology – specifically, Russia’s Energomash would license space engine technology to China’s Great Wall Industry. “Energomash’s engine, the RD-180, is so highly rated that it is used by the US for its own satellite launches — a curious exception to Washington’s sanctions on Russia implemented following the 2014 invasion of...

CNET: Details on Big Chip Flaws Spectre and Meltdown

Laura Hautala January 4, 2018
Silicon processing chips are reported to have security flaws known as Spectre and Meltdown that could expose computer to hacking attacks. Skilled hackers could view passwords, encryption keys and other secret data on those chips. “To make computer processes run faster, a chip will essentially guess what information the computer needs to perform its next function,” explains Laura Hautala for CNET...

Wired: Big Brother Meets Big Data as China Rates Citizens

Rachel Botsman January 3, 2018
Trust is in the eye the beholder, and the friend who speaks the truth is better than the one who tells others what they want to hear. China is developing a Social Credit System to evaluate citizens and assign trust scores, explains Rachel Botsam. An excerpt from her book was published by Wired. Of course, the system has many critics who compare the system to George Orwell’s novel 1984. “For now,...

BBC: India Net Neutrality Rules Could Be World's Strongest

Prasanto K Roy November 30, 2017
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India issued recommendations in strong support for net neutrality, prohibiting discrimination and ensuring equal internet access for all. The recommendations are unlike efforts in the United States to reverse net neutrality rules and allow internet providers to set limits and impose differential pricing for access. Reversing the US protections will mean the...

The Washington Post: With Technology, Researchers Figure Out North Korea’s Nuclear Secrets

Anna Fifield November 22, 2017
Anyone with satellite imagery tools and persistence can monitor activities on the ground in North Korea or, for that matter, China or the United States. Reports emerged that North Korea had tested a solid-fuel missile engine in October, unconfirmed by the government. The East Asia Program of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies’ nonproliferation center in Monterey, California, went...

Wired: FCC Plans to Gut Net Neutrality, Allow Internet “Fast Lanes”

Klint Finley November 22, 2017
The US Federal Communications Commission has published its plans to reverse net neutrality rules that ban blocking or slowing certain internet content. Proponents describe the action as “fast lanes” and ending government “micromanaging.” In truth, corporations and anyone willing to pay will have unhindered internet service, while small startups and organizations could struggle for notice or even...