In The News

US Demands China Block Cyberattacks

Mark Landler, David E. Sanger March 13, 2013
A speech by the US national security adviser has emerged as the first public demand that China end the theft of data from US computer networks. China repeated its own denunciations of such attacks and denied that its military is involved in wholesale cybertheft from US corporations and government agencies, report Mark Landler and David Sanger for the New York Times. A spokesperson for the Chinese...

Getting Ready to Print a New Future

Nayan Chanda March 12, 2013
Imaginations of inventors and investors are running wild at the thought of 3D printing technology, printer that can add “layers of microscopic material the way an inkjet printer delivers layers of ink on paper,” suggests Nayan Chanda, YaleGlobal editor, in his column for Businessworld, who adds, “there is no doubt that the technology has the potential to be as disruptive as the steam engine or...

GitHub Revolution: We’re All in Open Source Now

Mikeal Rogers March 8, 2013
Open source software is freely available to all, and new potential is discovered daily by companies, cities, and individuals ranging from artists to developers who work with software code. GitHub, an open software platform for collaboration, “is doing to open source what the internet did to the publishing industry,” explains Mikeal Rogers, an advocate for open source programming, for Wired. “As...

As Sea Ice Melts, Storm Surges Batter Arctic Coasts

Becky Oskin March 7, 2013
As the climate warms and changes, scientists learn more about the planet’s the intricate connections. Rising temperatures not only deliver harsher storms and melt sea ice – the loss of thick sea ice eliminates an obstacle that once slowed Arctic storms, and analysts predict new speed and power behind storm surges and ocean flooding. In turn, rising saltwater is killing off vegetation that...

US Boosts War Role in Africa

Adam Entous, David Gauthier-Villars, Drew Hinshaw March 6, 2013
The US is providing intelligence assistance to the French in the campaign against extremists in Mali. “U.S. Reaper drones have provided intelligence and targeting information that have led to nearly 60 French airstrikes in the past week alone in a range of mountains the size of Britain, where Western intelligence agencies believe militant leaders are hiding,” reports the Wall Street Journal about...

Police Defend Probe Into Singapore Death

Christine Spolar February 22, 2013
The death of an engineer working on gallium nitride research in Singapore has many complexities – considering he had expressed concerns that his work at Singapore’s Institute of Microelectronics may be compromising US security. Shane Todd was found hanged in his home after his last day of work at IME. “After Todd’s death, the family found an external computer hard drive in his Singapore apartment...

The Rise of the Robots

Robert Skidelsky February 21, 2013
Automation and technology, along with a do-it-yourself culture, contribute to greater productivity and fewer jobs, with some developments more disruptive for labor and select industries than others. Countries, particularly the most developed, must consider the prospect of running out of jobs, and not just for the low-skilled, writes political economist Robert Skidelsky for Project Syndicate....