In The News

Ebola Is Rapidly Mutating As It Spreads Across West Africa

Michaeleen Doucleff September 1, 2014
An international team – 20 researchers working around the clock – sequenced DNA from 78 human subjects infected with Ebola and report the virus is mutating quickly. “The Ebola genome is incredibly simple,” writes Michaeleen Doucleff for NPR in the United States, based on an interview with a lead author on the study, Pardis Sabeti. computational biologist at Harvard University. Ebola has seven...

The Science Behind ISIS Savagery: 5 Ways Humans Become Hardwired for Violence

Ian Robertson August 20, 2014
Islamic State militants stun the world with senseless acts of violence, with the public beheading of a journalist covering civil war in Syria as the most recent example. Such atrocities are not limited to Islamic extremists and have been waged by throughout history by many other religious fanatics and even governments, reminds Ian Robertson, professor of psychology in an essay for the Telegraph....

The Social Laboratory

Shane Harris August 4, 2014
Big data – “emails, phone logs, Internet searches, airline reservations, hotel bookings, credit card transactions, medical reports” – can point to patterns in motivation and behavior. Eager to expand such programs for security purposes, some US officials envy Singapore’s law-and-order attitudes and the uninterrupted power of the People's Action Party since 1959: “They are drawn not just to...

Delhi Gets Its First Internet De-Addiction

Durgesh Nandan Jha July 28, 2014
Addiction is when a substance or activity gets out of control, consuming so much time that it interferes with work, family relationships or health. Video games, online shopping, mobile-phone use and constant internet browsing join the list of addictions. “Worried over the complete lack of socialization arising out of an internet-driven lifestyle among children, an NGO has launched Delhi's...

Russia Clampdown Stokes Fears of Balkanization of the Web

Kathrin Hille July 11, 2014
Governments and tech companies continue to tussle over control of the internet. Russia’s parliament approved “a bill requiring all technology companies to store the personal data of their Russian users in the country,” reports Kathrin Hille for the Financial Times. “The Russian clampdown is the first serious move to assert national control over segments of the web in the wake of the revelation of...

Google to Spread the Web With $1 Billion Worth of Satellites

Kris Holt July 4, 2014
Google is in a hurry to extend its reach and connect the world to the internet by installing a fleet of satellites. The company that started by providing a popular search engine is investing in a range of other technologies, including alternative energies and driverless vehicles. The company also aids internet use with Project Loon, a network of high-altitude balloons, quick to build and...

China's Tianhe-2 Tops Supercomputer Chart Again

June 25, 2014
The Chinese computer Tianhe-2 is listed once again as the world’s most powerful supercomputer. China has increased its presence by 20 percent in the Top 500 list of supercomputers while the US presence decreased by 15 percent, reports BBC News. However, the US still dominates the list with more than 230 computers. China has 76, almost as many as the UK, France and Germany combined with 30, 27 and...