Fake news is already eroding our shared sense of reality. Now, deepfakes and AI stand to fuel disinformation and imperil democracy. An image of a deepfake video of former U.S. President Barack Obama (AP Photo) The unprecedented mob assault on the U.S. Capitol on...
Technology permeates students’ lives and has contributed many economic benefits to the world while bringing far-flung communities closer together. But what of the downsides? The polarization of society? The dangers of spending too much time on social media? Citizens being hoodwinked into believing the unreal? One of the biggest questions facing policymakers around the world today is how to protect democracy without infringing on free speech. It’s a question that is not going to go away and which students would do well to start considering today. In this article, Stuart Grudgings introduces us to some of the disturbing possibilities of deep fake technology and begs the question of what to do about it.
It’s hundreds of miles above Earth. But the International Space Station is a scientific laboratory that is bringing myriad benefits to humans far below. NASA astronaut Kate Rubins conducts biomedical research to help understand the aging and weakening of heart...
Worried that COVID-19 could hurt the fight against malaria, aid groups have redoubled efforts to save lives in Africa. The worst may have been avoided. Mobile clinic in Central African Republic treating people against malaria (Ton Koene/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)...
In our latest podcast episode, two students at Thacher School in California examine how COVID-19 is affecting youth climate change activism. The coronavirus pandemic has forced many young people around the world to stay home. So how is COVID-19 affecting young...
Without a push to protect nature, Earth faces the worst extinction crisis since dinosaurs were wiped out. A summit next year offers a dwindling chance. Birds fly past a smoking factory chimney in Ludwigshafen, Germany, 4 December 2018 (AP Photo/Michael Probst) Among...
Alister’s Doyle tour d’horizon of the state of biodiversity draws on years of study and probes a range of primary sources. His article is a lesson in how to pack a mass of material into a tidy, readable story that eschews jargon. Doyle’s article keeps its sight on the future: the challenges, the stakes and the calendar. This decoder is an invitation to take stock of our countries’ commitments to preserving our planet, and offers numerous entry points for classroom discussion of issues that will define students’ future.
A Canadian tech firm and foundation have teamed up with an NGO in Rwanda to offer a chatbot that answers young people’s questions about sex. Screenshots of a smartphone with the IrindeBot chatbot (photo courtesy of Rival Technologies Inc) Talking about sex is...
It makes potato chips crispier, soap frothier, lipstick smoother and fried foods crunchier. Consumers love palm oil — but at a cost to our environment. Environmental activists evacuate an orangutan whose habitat is threatened by oil palm plantations, rubber...
COVID-19 has slashed incomes in Indonesia, spurring illegal logging, poaching and mining. The environment and wildlife habitats are taking a hit. Activists protest against a government bill they say would harm the environment, Jakarta, Indonesia, 14 July 2020. (AP...
U.S. teenagers are increasingly depressed and spending more and more time on smartphones. But technology, used wisely, can make us smarter, safer and happier. A young man on his smartphone, Munich, Germany, 9 December 2014 (Tobias Hase / picture-alliance / dpa / AP...
Want to ensure the impact of COVID-19 on the environment slows climate change? Then be sure to vote, a top environmentalist tells a News Decoder webinar. Tom Burke (upper left) leads webinar on COVID-19 and climate change. What can young people do to ensure that...
