Column: Tesla’s reluctant commitment to cobalt a warning to others – Andy Home
By: Reuters June 23, 2020 Just when his electric vehicle (EV) company Tesla seemed to be pivoting away from using cobalt in its batteries, it signs a long-term supply deal for the controversial metal with Glencore. This from the man who has vowed to eliminate cobalt from the Tesla product mix because of its financial […]
‘A big victory’: Zoom to provide end-to-end encryption after mounting privacy concerns
By: ABC News June 18, 2020 Zoom will now allow end-to-end encryption for all users after the videoconferencing platform came under fire for privacy concerns. Evan Greer, the deputy director of nonprofit digital rights group Fight for the Future, called the decision “a big victory for grassroots activists who fought hard to make sure that […]
US upends global digital tax plans after pulling out of talks with Europe
By: Financial Times June 17, 2020 The US has thrown into disarray plans for a new global tax framework for technology companies after suspending talks with European countries — and warning them of retaliatory measures if they press ahead with their own taxes. In a letter to four European finance ministers seen by the Financial […]
Facebook closes political ads loophole ahead of US presidential election
By: Fox Business June 17, 2020 Facebook Inc said on Tuesday it would affix labels to political ads shared by users on their own feeds, closing what critics have said for years was a glaring loophole in the company’s election transparency measures. The world’s biggest social network has attached a “paid for by” disclaimer to political ads since […]
China Is Collecting DNA From Tens of Millions of Men and Boys, Using U.S. Equipment
By: The New York Times June 17, 2020 The police in China are collecting blood samples from men and boys from across the country to build a genetic map of its roughly 700 million males, giving the authorities a powerful new tool for their emerging high-tech surveillance state. They have swept across the country since late […]
Not just nipples: how Facebook’s AI struggles to detect misinformation
By: The Guardian June 16, 2020 “It’s much easier to build an AI system that can detect a nipple than it is to determine what is linguistically hate speech.” The Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg made that comment in 2018 when he was discussing how the company tackles content that is deemed inappropriate or, in Facebook […]
Tesla to buy cobalt from Glencore for new car plants
By: Financial Times June 16, 2020 Tesla Inc. will buy cobalt from from Glencore Plc, the world’s biggest miner of the metal, as the carmaker looks to avoid a future supply squeeze on the key battery metal, a person familiar with the matter said. The contract will help Tesla shore up its cobalt supply for new […]
China’s quantum satellite helps send secure messages over 1200km
By: New Scientist August 15, 2020 Two observatories in China have used a quantum communications satellite to send an encrypted message a record-breaking 1200 kilometres – a major step towards building a secure quantum internet. China launched its Micius quantum satellite in 2016. It produces pairs of photons that are quantum entangled, meaning the measured state of one […]
Ethical investments are outperforming traditional funds
By: The Guardian Jun 13, 2020 Environmentalists cheered by huge improvements in air quality during the lockdown – and the collapse in coal power generation – have another reason to celebrate. Even the stock market has gone in their favour. A detailed number-crunching of environmentally sustainable funds has revealed that they have outperformed traditional funds across […]