In The News

Stay Just a Little Bit Longer

Elizabeth Redden March 14, 2016
Studies in science and math contribute to innovations and jobs. As of May 10, the United States will extend the time that international students enrolled in select degree programs in science, technology, engineer and math can remain in the country after graduation. “The new rule addresses a program known as optional practical training, or OPT, which permits international students to work in the U...

NASA Accidentally Found a Way to Make Buildings Safer During Earthquakes

Margo Pierce March 3, 2016
Space flight has contributed many innovations with applications on Earth including LEDs, firefighting technologies and freeze-dried foods just to name a few. NASA has developed a stabilizing technology that prevents rockets from shaking and will also help protect buildings against high winds and earthquakes. The new stabilizer is less costly, a benefit for developing nations, and kicks into...

Why More Defense Spending Could Slow Technology Growth

Satyajit Das February 24, 2016
Scientific research in any sector introduces innovations that deliver new products and jobs for society. The science during periods of peace may produce more innovations than the science of war, and Satyajit Das, writing for MarketWatch, points to the end of the Cold War as an example: “scientific and mathematical resources previously employed in the defense-industrial infrastructure were...

How Technology Could Unwind a Decade-Long Trend in Global Trade

Luke Kawa February 24, 2016
Globalization pushes production and jobs to emerging economies while automation in technology has reduced jobs in the developed economies, explains Luke Kawa for Bloomberg Business. The article is based on a note to clients from analysts at the Goldman Sachs Group Inc. led by Senior Asia Economist Goohoon Kwon. As robots become less costly, companies will move production closer to customer bases...

Magistrate Orders Apple to Help FBI Hack San Bernardino Shooter’s Phone

Kim Zetter February 17, 2016
The founding fathers of the United States were fierce in protecting civil liberties, and the principles continue to be argued over technology developed more than two centuries later. A US magistrate in California has ordered Apple to provide the FBI software designed to defeat a self-destruct capability in iPhones that goes into effect once multiple incorrect passwords are tried. The county phone...

AI and Robots Threaten to Unleash Mass Unemployment, Scientists Warn

Clive Cookson February 16, 2016
Almost any task performed by humans could be automated, and development of robots could soon replace most human jobs. Computer scientists Moshe Vardi of Rice University and Bart Selman of Cornell University warned the American Association for the Advancement of Science, that “governments – and society as a whole – were not facing up to the acceleration of AI and robotics research,” reports Clive...

Gravity Waves From Black Holes Verify Einstein’s Prediction

Andrew Grant February 12, 2016
Gravitational waves blanket the universe with tremors, as theorized a century ago with Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity and detected in 2015 by the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, or Advanced LIGO, with giant lasers in Louisiana and Washington states. “The fleeting burst of waves arrived on Earth long after two black holes, one about 36 times the mass...