Germany has threatened to slap social media companies with huge fines if they do not act quickly enough to remove “hate speech” from their websites. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cabinet on Wednesday approved a measure that would fine websites like Facebook …
Ebay founder Pierre Omidyar’s philanthropy promised $100 million over the next five years to support journalism and fight fake news, the foundation announced Wednesday. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which broke the story of the controversial Panama Papers, …
Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos said on Wednesday he is selling about $1 billion worth of the internet retailer’s stock annually to fund his Blue Origin rocket company, which aims to launch paying passengers on 11-minute space rides starting next year. …
Controversial New Zealand-based internet mogul Kim Dotcom plans to launch a Bitcoin payments system for users to sell files and video streaming as he fights extradition to the United States for criminal copyright charges. The German-born entrepreneur, who is wanted …
Mercedes-Benz owner Daimler and supplier Robert Bosch are teaming up to develop self-driving cars in an alliance aimed at accelerating the production of “robo-taxis.” The pact between the world’s largest maker of premium cars and the world’s largest automotive supplier …
A “massive and growing” mental health burden across the world can only be tackled successfully with a major expansion of online psychiatric resources such as virtual clinics and web-based psychotherapies, specialists said on Tuesday. With resources tight and the global …
Since the 1990’s the U.S. has steadily abandoned coal and instead turned to natural gas and renewables to run America. But coal is back, thanks to President Trump’s recent repeal of restrictions on the coal industry. Most scientists agree that …
After his press secretary blasted it as an example of rampant government overreach, President Donald Trump signed a bill into law Monday that could eventually allow internet providers to sell information about their customers’ browsing habits. The bill scraps …
A new method could turn seawater into drinking water for millions around the world without access to clean water. Researchers at the University of Manchester in England say they’ve successfully used graphene-oxide membranes to filter common salts from seawater, turning …
Those handy Android apps on your smartphone are apparently mining your personal information, according to a new study. The study, done by researchers at Virginia Tech, is the first to study how apps “talk to one another and trade information,” …
Facebook and Mozilla are among the companies and organizations launching a $14 million fund to promote news literacy and increase trust in journalism. The nonprofit, called the News Integrity Initiative, will be based at the City University of New …
Fed up with the theft of toilet paper from public bathrooms, tourist authorities in China’s capital have begun using facial recognition technology to limit how much paper a person can take. The unusual move – part of a “toilet …
Snap Inc. said Friday that its Snapchat messaging app would add an option for users to search through photos and videos that users have posted to the public. The move came days after larger rival Facebook Inc. stepped up efforts …
Boris Kiknadze, chief executive of Pawwwn, took a deep breath as he looked out to the crowd of Silicon Valley venture capitalists and began his pitch. With just 10 minutes to speak, Kiknadze rapidly described his business idea — Pawwwn, …
U.S. President Donald Trump is poised to sign legislation overturning privacy protections for Internet users, a move supporters say will level the playing field for providers but critics argue will hurt consumers. The bill eliminates Obama-era regulations that required Internet …
Palmer Luckey, the co-founder of Facebook’s Oculus virtual-reality business, is leaving the company. Facebook didn’t give a reason for Luckey’s departure. His last day is Friday. Luckey, who is 24, is leaving Facebook in the heels of controversies. Earlier this …
Researchers in a pilot clinical trial have made it possible for a paralyzed man to move his arm. As Bronwyn Benito reports, it is a critical step toward restoring mobility to people with paralysis. …
The White House on Thursday defended a bill recently passed by Congress to repeal Obama-era internet privacy protections, saying the move was meant to create a fair playing field for telecommunication companies. White House spokesman Sean Spicer, during a Thursday …
In a cave in a mountain in western Texas, the Long Now Foundation is building a clock – a big clock, 150 meters tall. The clock will tick only once each year, go bong once a century, and once a …
Twitter has found more creative ways to ease its 140-character limit without officially raising it. Now, the company says that when you reply to someone – or to a group – usernames will no longer count toward those 140 …
In the U.S., people often measure “success” as fifteen minutes of fame, or a blockbuster financial quarter. This focus on short term results doesn’t always build the skills needed to solve long-term problems, such as reducing disease outbreaks or maintaining …
The vote by the U.S. Congress to repeal rules that limit how internet service providers can use customer data has generated renewed interest in an old internet technology: virtual private networks, or VPNs. VPNs cloak a customer’s web-surfing history by …
While President Trump’s latest executive order gives renewed life to power plants that burn coal, energy companies continue to seek and find alternative, less expensive and cleaner sources of fuel. One possibility is turning trash into fuel in an environmentally …
Imagine a vaccine vial with a temperature-sensitive label that changes colors when exposed to excessive heat. That’s the sort of technology that can make a huge difference for doctors working in challenging conditions, allowing them to determine at-a-glance whether heat-sensitive …