When it comes to very large numbers, it can be hard to get the right perspective. If you had to count it, a €40bn pile of cash would be somewhat daunting. Place it next to to the Italian national debt, however, and the pile becomes a pimple. The number matters because it was the amount the government proposed using to assist troubled financial institutions earlier this year. […]
Saudi Arabia’s aviation agency was attacked last month by an aggressive computer virus intended to disrupt high-profile government targets, officials and experts said on Thursday. The attack, which experts say emanated from outside the country, used a version of Shamoon, malware used to target the Saudi energy sector four years ago. Similar kinds of data-clearing software were used in 2014 against the Las Vegas Sands and Sony. […]
Probability matrices in MMSBM. Credit: Antonia Godoy-Lorite et al. PNAS doi:10.1073/pnas.1606316113 The internet is rife with recommendation systems, suggesting movies you should watch or people you should date. These systems are tuned to match people with items, based on the assumption that similar people buy similar things and have similar preferences. In other words, an algorithm predicts which items you will like based only on your, and […]
Australia would have a far healthier parliament if there were more engineers in it, NSW Minister for Innovation and Better Regulation Victor Dominello MP said on Thursday. Speaking at the Reimagination Thought Leaders Summit 2016, Dominello pointed out that the government is predominantly comprised of lawyers, who are trained to think a certain way. That particular thought process is slowing down progress, he said. “Lawyers don’t think […]
Pursglove would soon learn, however, that navigating this offshore archipelago is not easy. In any given year, trillions of dollars sit safely in the offshore financial world, effectively stateless, protected by legions of well-compensated defenders and a tangle of laws deliberately designed to impede creditors and tax collectors. Even the United States government finds it challenging: A special Internal Revenue Service division known as the “wealth squad,” […]
A Cellebrite engineer explains the technology used to unlock smartphones and pull data It only takes a few seconds for an employee of one of the world’s leading hacking companies to take a locked smartphone and pull the data from it. Israeli firm Cellebrite’s technology provides a glimpse of a world of possibilities accessible to security agencies globally that worry privacy advocates. The company has contracts […]
NEW DELHI–When top American naval engineers recently inspected India’s first locally made aircraft carrier they expected to find a near battle-ready ship set to help counter China’s growing sway in the Indian Ocean. Instead, they discovered the carrier wouldn’t be operational for up to a decade and other shortcomings: no small missile system to defend itself, a limited ability to launch sorties and no defined strategy for […]
BRASILIA Prosecutors investigating Brazil’s biggest-ever graft scandal threatened to resign en masse on Wednesday if a move to gut an anti-corruption bill won approval from legislators as the nation mourns an air disaster. The lower chamber of Congress passed the bill in the early hours of Wednesday morning by 450 votes to 1, with changes that would help shield lawmakers from prosecution and weaken the authority of […]
Credit: University of Manchester An enterprising researcher from The University of Manchester has developed a prototype tool that could help transform the lives of the blind and visually impaired. Vasileios Tsormpatzoudis has upgraded the white cane – which has been used as a mobility tool for centuries – by adding a low-cost embedded computer that functions in a similar way to a car parking sensor. PhD […]
Saudi Arabia’s King Salman underlined the kingdom’s intention to invest heavily in speeding up its diversification away from oil exports with the inauguration on Tuesday of a $35 billion mining and minerals processing complex. Riyadh has tried to reduce the economy’s reliance on oil for decades, but the challenge has become particularly urgent in the past couple of years as low prices have pushed state finances deep […]
What looks like a teleporter from science fiction being draped over NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, is actually a “clean tent.” The clean tent protects Webb from dust and dirt when engineers at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center transport the telescope out of the relatively dust-free cleanroom and into the vibration and acoustics testing areas. Source link
India’s millions of Bollywood-mad movie goers will soon start a trip to the cinema with a mandatory dose of patriotism. The country’s Supreme Court said in an order Wednesday that all movie theaters should play the national anthem with an image of the Indian tricolor on the screen before the start of any feature film. All those present in the hall “are obliged to stand up to […]
The 2017 Honda CR-V made an appearance in Detroit in October this year. The fifth-gen CR-V comes with a new style and premium interiors. 2017 CR-V Design And Specs The redesigned CR-V has crisper lines at the front. The SUV has a longer wheelbase that accommodates larger wheels. Honda has also added extra ground clearance and overall the car looks more muscular than the previous versions. Honda has […]
A thrilling ride is about to begin for NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. Engineers have been pumping up the spacecraft’s orbit around Saturn this year to increase its tilt with respect to the planet’s equator and rings. And on Nov. 30, following a gravitational nudge from Saturn’s moon Titan, Cassini will enter the first phase of the mission’s dramatic endgame. (via WSJ)
Credit: Concordia University In the age of WikiLeaks, Russian hacks and increased government surveillance, many computer users are feeling increasingly worried about how best to protect their personal information—even if they aren’t guarding state secrets. Luckily, there’s a solution: Hypnoguard, powerful new software developed by Concordia University researchers to safeguard data even when computer is in sleep mode. Sweet dreams are made of this “Protecting […]
The research team created a new sensing technology platform by using adaptive metamaterial concepts. The platform creates a hybrid wave concentration mechanism through the material’s ability to further tune the signal and using electric signal amplification provided by a set of circuits connected to an array of sensors. Credit: Ryan Owens, MU College of Engineering Piezoelectric sensors measure changes in pressure, acceleration, temperature, strain or force and […]
Toyota Motor Corp. engineer Hisao Yamashige speaks to reporters at the Japanese automaker’s Tokyo office Thursday, Nov. 24, 2016. Toyota says it has developed a new way of observing the movements of tiny particles in a battery used to power electric vehicles—an advance it says will help boost their cruise range by 10 percent to 15 percent. Yamashige explained to reporters the complex method for tracking the […]
In this year’s election, the most powerful news source was Facebook. More than 40 percent of US adults—that’s more than watch any single TV channel—get their news from Facebook, according to Pew, and as plenty of journalists have recounted, the platform is flooded with hyperpartisan fake news. Yet Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook’s leadership refuse to own up to their responsibility for our politics. Zuckerberg argued […]
An employee of a foreign exchange trading company works near monitors showing U.S. President-elect Donald Trump speaking on TV news (top) in Tokyo, Japan, November 9, 2016. (Toru Hanai/Reuters). With Donald Trump’s victory, the prospects for digital trade have dimmed. This development owes much to the hostility towards trade that Trump brings to the presidency. But it also involves shifts more fundamental than Trump’s rejection of trade […]
In late 2000, rumors about about a new personal transportation device that could change the way people got around started making the rounds. Steve Jobs initially said it could be “as big as the PC,” while John Doerr speculated that it would be more important than the Internet. So when the Segway was actually introduced in December 2001, anticipation was very high. But while it […]
Source: GSMA Singapore’s three mobile operators have announced plans to support a global authentication standard that will allow their customers to access online services with their mobile number. In a joint statement released Tuesday, M1, StarHub, and Singtel said they would adopt the GSMA authentication standard, Mobile Connect, which would create a single digital user identity. This would enable their mobile customers to access supporting services including […]
The coolest vehicle I saw at AutoMobilityLA (aka, the LA Auto Show) this week wasn’t even real, at least initially. To debut its new I-PACE all-electric crossover, Jaguar herded media into a Hollywood studio with a dozen or so tables in a large room, each topped with HTC Vive VR headsets, Dell Precision workstations, stereo headphones, and a joystick controller. Keep in mind that automotive […]
Illegal file sharing is in the news again, as a report from the Australian government finds piracy on the decline thanks to the rise of legitimate streaming services. Respondents indicate they would be glad to pay for content rather than illegally download it, provided the alternatives are reasonable. Piracy, it seems, is not simply about getting free content, but about finding content in the most […]
Two weeks before the election, I traveled to Maine for a conference and drove through Massachusetts and New Hampshire on my way. In Silicon Valley, which was mostly Clinton country, I’d seen very few signs or bumper stickers promoting any candidates. But as I drove through the northeast, plenty of Trump signs were displayed on people’s lawns, fences, and car bumpers. I did see a […]
