Many people struggle with feelings of loneliness and social isolation. For some, a robot companion might make a difference, and states like New York are starting to provide them to residents free of charge. VOA’s Julie Taboh has more. Videographer: Adam Greenbaum Produced by: Julie Taboh, Adam Greenbaum …
read moreA rural town in central Texas is home to the largest bitcoin mining facility in North America, bringing jobs and welcomed vitality into the community. But critics warn the operations are part of a volatile new industry. Deana Mitchell has the story. …
read moreElon Musk’s deployment of thousands of Starlink satellite internet terminals to Ukraine has been a major help for the country in its fight against Russia. VOA’s Russia Service has the story. …
read moreInstagram is blocking posts that mention abortion from public view, in some cases requiring its users to confirm their age before letting them view posts that offer up information about the procedure. Over the last day, several Instagram accounts run by abortion rights advocacy groups have found their posts or stories hidden with a warning…
read moreFuture waves of COVID-19 might be predicted using internet search data, according to a study published in the journal Scientific Reports. In the study, researchers watched the number of COVID-related Google searches made across the country and used that information, together with conventional COVID-19 metrics such as confirmed cases, to predict hospital admission rates weeks…
read moreThis week, the Group of Seven leaders launched a $600 billion global infrastructure initiative they say will compete with China’s Belt and Road Initiative. VOA White House correspondent Anita Powell reports from Telfs, Austria, with reporting from Patsy Widakuswara in Washington. …
read moreNASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, has successfully completed its first rocket launch from a commercial space facility outside of the United States. A 13-meter rocket blasted off Monday from a site in the Australian outback. A 13-meter sub-orbital rocket took off from the newly built Arnhem Space Centre in Australia’s Northern Territory Monday.…
read moreCoinciding with unrelenting cyberattacks against Ukraine, state-backed Russian hackers have engaged in “strategic espionage” against governments, think tanks, businesses and aid groups in 42 countries supporting Kyiv, Microsoft said in a report Wednesday. “Since the start of the war, the Russian targeting [of Ukraine’s allies] has been successful 29 percent of the time,” Microsoft President…
read moreTwitter’s board has recommended unanimously that shareholders approve the proposed $44 billion sale of the company to billionaire and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, according to a regulatory filing Tuesday. Musk reiterated his desire to move forward with the acquisition last week during a virtual meeting with Twitter employees, though shares of Twitter remain far below…
read more“I’m in a cryptocurrency chat group at work,” software engineer Adam Hickey of San Diego, California told VOA. Over the last few days, Hickey said, members of the group have been writing things like, “Bloodbath” and, “Are we still good?” “It shook me, honestly,” he admitted. “I just had to stop looking at my balance.…
read moreAmazon and Cartier joined forces Wednesday in U.S. court to accuse a social media influencer of working with Chinese firms to sell knock-offs of the luxury brand’s jewelry on the e-commerce giant’s site. The online personality used sites like Instagram to pitch Cartier jewelry such as “Love bracelets” to followers and then provided links that…
read moreA new study has found that Facebook has failed to catch Islamic State group and al-Shabab extremist content in posts aimed at East Africa as the region remains under threat from violent attacks and Kenya prepares to vote in a closely contested national election. An Associated Press series last year, drawing on leaked documents shared…
read moreOften touted as the next digital shift, the metaverse comprises three-dimensional online spaces where people can work, shop, play games, go to concerts and so on. Michelle Quinn on what the metaverse is — or might be. …
read moreAfter 35 years of decline, the number of nuclear weapons in the world is set to rise in the coming decade as global tensions flare amid Russia’s war in Ukraine, researchers said Monday. The nine nuclear powers — Britain, China, France, India, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, the United States and Russia — had 12,705 nuclear…
read moreRobots have long been used in manufacturing and other applications that need precise, fast and repeatable tasks. But making smart robots takes software. From Boulder, Colorado, Shelley Schlender reports. …
read moreElon Musk accused Twitter of “actively resisting and thwarting his information rights,” as the Tesla founder attempts to get information about fake and spam accounts on the platform. The accusation came in a letter Musk sent to Twitter Monday in which he warned he could walk away from the $44 billion deal to take over…
read moreA crewless robotic boat that had tried to retrace the 1620 sea voyage of the Mayflower has finally reached the shores of North America — this time in Canada instead of the Massachusetts coast where its namesake landed more than 400 years ago. The sleek autonomous trimaran docked in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on Sunday, after…
read moreFor many, grasping the concept behind cryptocurrencies is difficult enough. But let’s try to take a closer look into how they work. Matt Dibble explains. …
read moreGuided by data from a bird-watching app, conservationists and farmers are creating instant wetlands for birds travelling thousands of miles. Matt Dibble has the story …
read moreResearchers say DNA can replace hard drives to help store the world’s ever-increasing digital output. Matt Dibble has the story …
read moreThe arrival of the pandemic intensified feelings of loneliness and social isolation for millions of older people, many of whom were already battling depression and other health issues. For those struggling, a robot companion might make a difference, and states like New York are starting to provide them to residents free of charge. VOA’s Julie…
read moreRussia’s invasion of Ukraine appears to be having an unanticipated impact in cyberspace — a decrease in the number of ransomware attacks. “We have seen a recent decline since the Ukrainian invasion,” Rob Joyce, the U.S. National Security Agency’s director of cybersecurity, told a virtual forum Wednesday. Joyce said one reason for the decrease in…
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