by Stuart Grudgings | 18 Jan 2021 | Educators' Catalog, Journalism, Media Literacy, Technology
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.
by Tira Shubart | 21 Dec 2020 | Science, Space, Technology
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...
by Susanne Courtney | 15 Oct 2020 | Africa, Health and Wellness, Technology, World
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...
by Leela Rosaz Shariyf | 14 Jul 2020 | Health and Wellness, Miss Porter's School, Technology, Youth Voices
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...
by Stuart Grudgings | 23 Mar 2020 | Economy, Environment, Health and Wellness, Nationalism, Technology
The coronavirus has turned life upside down for billions of people around the world. It’s bound to have a lasting impact once the pandemic subsides. Hikers maintain distance at Vista View Point, Los Angeles, 20 March 2020. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello) The...
by Alan Wheatley | 20 Jan 2020 | Decoders, Health and Wellness, Technology
A microbiologist checks on a bacterium’s resistance to an antibiotic at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, 25 November 2013 (AP Photo/David Goldman). By Alan Wheatley What could be killing millions of people a year by 2050? What...
by Bernd Debusmann | 14 Jan 2020 | Decoders, Islam, Middle East, Technology
The U.S. used a drone, controlled from an Air Force base thousands of kilometers away, to kill Iran’s top general. Are drones reshaping war? A U.S. MQ-4 Predator drone at Balad Air Base, north of Baghdad, Iraq, 21 June 2007 (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo) The death of...
by Lauren Heuser | 29 Aug 2019 | Human Rights, Technology
A new speech policy looks set to rein in Google’s intellectually freewheeling culture. It points to difficult trade-offs today’s organizations must make. A man passes by a Google logo. (EPA-EFE/Julien de Rosa) Google recently published Community Guidelines, an...
by Bernd Debusmann | 17 Jul 2019 | Decoders, Technology
It’s been 50 years since the U.S. put a man on the moon. It’s worth recalling how the U.S. lagged at the start of the Space Age. And what about Earth? A footprint left by a U.S. astronaut on the moon, 20 July 1969 (AP Photo/NASA) The Space Age began on...
by Malcolm Davidson | 11 Jul 2019 | Europe, Technology
Populist parties are the political groupings of the 21st century. Insurgents who get social media right can make big gains. But not all succeed. A supporter of Change UK party holds a poster advertising for voting in the European election in London, 14 May 2019 (AP...
