Author: iMaster

Author: iMaster

SpaceX Sends Saudi Astronauts, Including Nation’s 1st Woman in Space, to International Space Station
05/22/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Saudi Arabia’s first astronauts in decades rocketed toward the International Space Station on a chartered multimillion-dollar flight Sunday.  SpaceX launched the ticket-holding crew, led by a retired NASA astronaut now working for the company that arranged the trip from Kennedy Space Center. Also on board: a U.S. businessman who now owns a sports car racing

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SpaceX Launching Saudi Astronauts on Private Flight to Space Station
05/21/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

SpaceX’s next private flight to the International Space Station awaited takeoff Sunday, weather and rocket permitting. The passengers include Saudi Arabia’s first astronauts in decades, as well as a Tennessee businessman who started his own sports car racing team. They’ll be led by a retired NASA astronaut who now works for the company that arranged

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Iraq Rebuilding Efforts Get High-Tech Boost
05/21/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

It’s been more than a decade since the end of the Iraq War. Much of the country still bears the scars of the U.S.-led invasion. But Iraqis today are working to clean up their country, and some have turned to technology for help. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has more. …

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China Tells Tech Manufacturers: Stop Using US-Made Micron Chips
05/21/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Stepping up a feud with Washington over technology and security, China’s government Sunday told users of computer equipment deemed sensitive to stop buying products from the biggest U.S. memory chipmaker, Micron Technology Inc.  Micron products have unspecified “serious network security risks” that pose hazards to China’s information infrastructure and affect national security, the Cyberspace Administration

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G7 Calls for ‘Responsible’ Use of Generative AI
05/20/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

The world must urgently assess the impact of generative artificial intelligence, G7 leaders said Saturday, announcing they will launch discussions this year on “responsible” use of the technology. A working group will be set up to tackle issues from copyright to disinformation, the seven leading economies said in a final communique released during a summit

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US Supreme Court Lets Twitter Off Hook in Terror Lawsuit Over Istanbul Massacre
05/18/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday refused to clear a path for victims of attacks by militant organizations to hold social media companies liable under a federal anti-terrorism law for failing to prevent the groups from using their platforms, handing a victory to Twitter. The justices, in a unanimous decision, reversed a lower court’s ruling

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Montana Becomes First US State to Ban TikTok
05/18/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Montana Governor Greg Gianforte on Wednesday signed legislation to ban Chinese-owned TikTok from operating in the state, making it the first U.S. state to ban the popular short video app. Montana will make it unlawful for Google’s and Apple’s app stores to offer the TikTok app within its borders. The ban takes effect January 1,

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‘It’s the Algorithms’: YouTube Sent Violent Gun Videos to 9-Year-Olds, Study Finds
05/17/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

When researchers at a nonprofit that studies social media wanted to understand the connection between YouTube videos and gun violence, they set up accounts on the platform that mimicked the behavior of typical boys living in the United States. They simulated two 9-year-olds who liked video games. The accounts were identical, except that one clicked

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US Announces Charges Related to Efforts by Russia, China, Iran to Steal Technology
05/16/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

U.S. law enforcement officials on Tuesday announced a series of criminal cases exposing the relentless efforts by Russia, China and Iran to steal sensitive U.S. technologies.   The five cases, which spanned a wide range of protected U.S. technologies, were brought by a new “strike force” created earlier this year to deter foreign adversaries from

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ChatGPT’s Chief Testifies Before US Congress as Concerns Grow About AI Risks
05/16/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

The head of the artificial intelligence company that makes ChatGPT told U.S. Congress on Tuesday that government intervention “will be critical to mitigate the risks of increasingly powerful” AI systems. “As this technology advances, we understand that people are anxious about how it could change the way we live. We are too,” OpenAI CEO Sam

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STEM Courses in Rural Kenya Open Doors for Girls With Disabilities
05/15/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Studying science, technology, engineering, and math — or STEM — can be a challenge for girls in rural Africa, especially those with disabilities. In Kenya, an aid group called The Action Foundation is helping to change that by providing remote STEM courses for girls with hearing, visual and physical impairments. Ahmed Hussein reports from Wajir

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Bolivian EV Startup Hopes Tiny Car Will Make It Big in Lithium-Rich Country
05/15/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

On a recent, cold morning, Dr. Carlos Ortuño hopped into a tiny electric car to go check on a patient in the outskirts of Bolivia’s capital of La Paz, unsure if the vehicle would be able to handle the steep, winding streets of the high-altitude city.  “I thought that because of the city’s topography it

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AI Presents Political Peril for 2024 With Threat to Mislead Voters
05/15/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Computer engineers and tech-inclined political scientists have warned for years that cheap, powerful artificial intelligence tools would soon allow anyone to create fake images, video and audio that was realistic enough to fool voters and perhaps sway an election.  The synthetic images that emerged were often crude, unconvincing and costly to produce, especially when other

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Child Social Media Stars Have Few Protections; Illinois Aims to Fix That
05/15/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Holed up at home during the pandemic lockdown three years ago, 13-year-old Shreya Nallamothu was scrolling through social media when she noticed a pattern: Children even younger than her were the stars — dancing, cracking one-liners and being generally adorable.  “It seemed innocuous to me at first,” Nallamothu said.  But as she watched more and

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As Net Tightens, Iranians Pushed to Take Up Homegrown Apps
05/14/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Banned from using popular Western apps, Iranians have been left with little choice but to take up state-backed alternatives, as the authorities tighten internet restrictions for security reasons following months of protests. Iranians are accustomed to using virtual private networks, or VPNs, to evade restrictions and access prohibited websites or apps, including the U.S.-based Facebook,

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Off-Grid Solar Brings Light, Time, Income to Remotest Indonesia Villages
05/14/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

As Tamar Ana Jawa wove a red sarong in the fading sunlight, her neighbor switched on a light bulb dangling from the sloping tin roof. It was just one bulb powered by a small solar panel, but in this remote village that means a lot. In some of the world’s most remote places, off-grid solar

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Audio Book Narrators Say AI Is Already Taking Away Business
05/14/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

As people brace for the disruptive impact of artificial intelligence on jobs and everyday living, those in the world of audio books say their field is already being transformed. AI has the ability to create human-sounding recordings — at assembly-line speed — while bypassing at least part of the services of the human professionals who

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Apple to Launch First Online Store in Vietnam
05/12/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Apple will launch its first online store in Vietnam next week, the company said Friday, hoping to cash in on the country’s young and tech-savvy population. The iPhone maker is among a host of global tech giants including Intel, Samsung and LG, that have chosen Vietnam for assembly of their products. But up to now,

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Elon Musk Names NBCUniversal’s Yaccarino as New Twitter CEO
05/12/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk on Friday named NBCUniversal executive Linda Yaccarino as the chief executive officer of social media giant Twitter. From his own Twitter account Friday, Musk wrote, “I am excited to welcome Linda Yaccarino as the new CEO of Twitter! (She) will focus primarily on business operations, while I focus on product

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Stunning Mosaic of Baby Star Clusters Created From 1 Million Telescope Shots
05/11/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Astronomers have created a stunning mosaic of baby star clusters hiding in our galactic backyard. The montage, published Thursday, reveals five vast stellar nurseries less than 1,500 light-years away. A light-year is nearly 9.7 trillion kilometers. To come up with their atlas, scientists pieced together more than 1 million images taken over five years by

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Will Artificial Intelligence Take Away Jobs? Not Many for Now, Says Expert
05/10/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

The growing abilities of artificial intelligence have left many observers wondering how AI will impact people’s jobs and livelihoods. One expert in the field predicts it won’t have much effect, at least in the short term.   The topic was a point of discussion at the annual TED conference held recently in Vancouver.    In a world

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Elon Musk and Tesla Break Ground on Massive Texas Lithium Refinery
05/09/2023 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Tesla Inc on Monday broke ground on a Texas lithium refinery that CEO Elon Musk said should produce enough of the battery metal to build about 1 million electric vehicles (EVs) by 2025, making it the largest North American processor of the material.  The facility will push Tesla outside its core focus of building automobiles and

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