Category: Technology

When Rep. Leigh Finke spoke last month before the Minnesota House Commerce Finance and Policy Committee to testify against HF1434, a broad-sweeping proposal to age-gate the internet, she began with something disarming: agreement. “I want to support the basic part of this,” she said, the shared goal of protecting young people online. Because that is […]

Imagine looking up at the night sky and seeing a star suddenly burst into a blaze of light brighter than anything nearby. A flash so bright that it briefly outshines an entire galaxy before fading forever. This violent fate is rare: fewer than about 1% of stars are big enough to end their lives this […]

(Note: This post is also cross-posted on the Let’s Encrypt blog) As announced earlier this year, Let’s Encrypt now issues IP address and six-day certificates to the general public. The Certbot team here at the Electronic Frontier Foundation has been working on two improvements to support these features: the –preferred-profile flag released last year in […]

Have you ever seen a really creepy targeted ad online? One that revealed just how much these companies know about your life? It’s unsettling enough to see how much companies know about you—but now we have confirmation that the government is also tapping the advertising surveillance machine to get your data. We’re explaining the dangers […]

In biology and palaeontology (the study of extinct organisms) there are a few ways to estimate the age of an animal’s skeleton. One is the extent of fusion of sutures in the skeleton – how much the plates of bone have joined together as the animal matured. Another is the texture of the bone surfaces. […]

Radiology team analysing a scan. Do they think AI could do better? DC Studio /Shutterstock Since the 2010s, breakthroughs in AI have prompted discussion about their implications for work, including a possible “workless” future. Those forecasted to face replacement are no longer only the lower-skilled, but also professionals, once viewed as impervious to technological automation. […]

The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) Hartree Centre is working with the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO), a leading centre for optical and infrared astronomy, to deliver the ‘Intelligent Observatory’ programme. The programme is using AI and advanced digital technologies to automate and make telescopes smarter. So they can monitor themselves, process data instantly, […]

The hedgehog is one of Europe’s most familiar and well-loved wild mammals. Many people encounter them in gardens, hear their snuffling at dusk, or glimpse their spiny shapes moving through the night. But sadly, across Europe, hedgehog populations are shrinking rapidly. The European hedgehog is now listed as “near threatened” on the International Union for […]

The government should not help a religious institution to punish or deter members from inquiring about their faith. Yet, once again, the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society is trying to use flimsy copyright claims to exploit the special legal tools available to copyright owners in order to unmask anonymous online speakers. And, once again, […]

Over the last decade or so, the tech industry has tried, and mostly failed, to make “smart glasses”—tech-infused glasses with cameras, AI, maps, displays, and more—a thing. But over the past year, products like Meta’s Ray-Ban Display Glasses and Oakley’s Meta Glasses have gone from a curious niche to the mainstream.  Before you strap a […]