Investors row back on ethical principles, research shows
By: Financial Times May 27, 2020 Nine out of 10 investors would prioritise a company’s economic recovery over its ethical principles, in a sign that investor commitment to more responsible forms of investing is faltering in the market downturn. A new survey by Boston Consulting Group, the management consultants, found that 92 per cent of […]
Facebook Executives Shut Down Efforts to Make the Site Less Divisive
By: The Wall Street Journal May 26, 2020 A Facebook Inc. team had a blunt message for senior executives. The company’s algorithms weren’t bringing people together. They were driving people apart. “Our algorithms exploit the human brain’s attraction to divisiveness,” read a slide from a 2018 presentation. “If left unchecked,” it warned, Facebook would feed […]
Creepy Technologies Invade European Workplaces
By: Bloomberg May 22, 2017 A “Romware Covid Radius bracelet” beeps every time a Tata Steel Ltd. worker in the U.K. or a docker at Belgium’s Antwerp port is within virus-catching distance of someone. At Bouygues SA construction sites and in Sanofi and Schneider Electric SE offices in France employees enter after thermal cameras check […]
Oops: China Just Dropped a Huge Rocket Piece Back to Earth
By: Futurism May 12, 2020 Parts of China’s gigantic Long March 5B rocket finally made their uncontrolled descent back to Earth on Monday, CNN reports. Pieces of debris soared over the continental United States before splashing into the Atlantic Monday afternoon, as confirmed by the US Air Force. “For a large object like this, dense […]
Darpa Is About To Launch A Military Version Of Spacex’s Starlink
By: Futurism May 12, 2020 DARPA, the research wing of the U.S. Military, is preparing to launch an orbital mesh network similar to SpaceX’s Starlink. The first satellite for the Blackjack network will launch later this year, C4ISRNET reports. While there’s still lots of testing, simulation, and launching to be done before Blackjack is complete, […]
AI cannot be recognised as an inventor, US rules
By: New York Times April 29, 2020 An artificial intelligence system has been refused the right to two patents in the US, after a ruling only “natural persons” could be inventors. The US Patent and Trademark Office rejected two patents where the AI system Dabus was listed as the inventor, in a ruling on Monday. […]
China starts major trial of state-run digital currency
By: The Guardian April 28, 2020 China will begin trialling payments in its new digital currency in four major cities from next week, according to domestic media. In recent months, China’s central bank has stepped up its development of the e-RMB, which is set to be the first digital currency operated by a major economy. […]
UK’s lowest paid most at risk during Covid-19 crisis, report finds
By: The Guardian April 28, 2020 Britain’s lowest-paid workers, women and young adults have jobs with the biggest health and economic risks during the coronavirus lockdown, according to a report into the uneven impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. More than a month into the UK’s lockdown, the Resolution Foundation thinktank said jobs in shutdown parts […]
Apple and Google will shut down coronavirus tracing app when pandemic ends, companies say
By: Fox News April 24, 2020 Apple and Google say they will shut down their coronavirus contact tracing app after the pandemic is under control, as the tech giants strive to address ongoing privacy concerns about the effort. The two Silicon Valley giants on Friday announced a series of adjustments in the effort that they’ve […]