In The News

Population Explosion Scrutinized

Steve Connor July 14, 2010
Researchers increasingly link population with global problems like climate change and declining resources as basic as fresh water, and the UK national academy of science will launch a study on what others regard as an overused term and needless concern. Fertility rates in most nations are falling, but the planet’s population is estimated to grow from 6.8 billion to more than 9 billion by 2050 –...

US Blocks China Fibre Optics Deal Over Security

Stephanie Kirchgaessner July 2, 2010
Fiber optics and other technologies add to globalization’s speed. But national-security concerns lead the US to apply the brakes. Plans for a joint venture between a New Mexico manufacturer of fiber-optic and solar-panel components and a Chinese investment firm were dropped after the government announced some "regulatory concerns." The US Committee on Foreign Investment – chaired by the...

Diplomatic Pressure Narrows Iran’s Nuclear Options

Leonard S. Spector May 25, 2010
The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons allows non-nuclear nations to engage in scientific research on using nuclear power for peaceful purposes. States cannot engage in the transfer of nuclear material without safeguards, and non-nuclear states agree to accept safeguards and verification to prevent any diversion from peaceful uses toward weapon programs. The five-year NPT review...

Dealing With Disasters in a Connected World

S.L. Bachman May 10, 2010
Natural disasters are as old as the planet, but new technologies are making a difference. Social-media networks that thrive on cell phones, other mobile devices and the internet – including Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and more – have reduced the waiting time for news, relief and fundraising after any natural disaster. The response after three major earthquakes this year on three...

Think Again: The Internet

Evgeny Morozov April 29, 2010
The Internet was once seen as a force for tremendous good around the world, promoting commerce, peace, human rights, and democracy. But none of those promises have come fully true. The transnational networks created by the Internet can be as much a force for ill as for good. Twitter and other social networking media may be useful for activists but they are also useful for repressive governments....

Spreading Digital Revolution in a Cuban Living Room

Nick Miroff April 12, 2010
Yoani Sanchez, the Cuban blogger who was been recognized internationally for her Generation Y blog, hosts a Blogger Academy to teach other Cubans the skills required to participate in social media, including Twitter, blogging, and Wikipedia. While the Cuban government has not shown any intentions to shut down the Blogger Academy, it continues to view Sanchez as “part of an aggressive US foreign...

Iraq Video Brings Notice to a Web Site

Noam Cohen, Brian Stelter April 8, 2010
The recent release of a video showing the killing of two Reuters' employees in Iraq by the web site Wikileaks shows how power is shifting to new sources in the age of global interconnectedness. Reuters had tried for several years to obtain the video from the Pentagon through Freedom of Information request without success. Wikileaks, which is a voluntary organization with a political agenda...