Technology

The U.S. warns companies to stay on guard for possible Russian cyberattacks

6:29pm March 21, 2022

by James Doubek

President Biden said "evolving intelligence" showed Russia is "exploring options for potential cyberattacks." The U.S. has previously warned about Russia's capability to attack U.S. infrastructure.

A Russian court has banned Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, for "extremist activities." WhatsApp is excluded from the ruling, however.

A Russian court bans Facebook and Instagram as extremist

12:42pm March 21, 2022

by Alina Selyukh

The ruling amounts to an immediate ban of Facebook and Instagram in Russia, where both platforms are already blocked. WhatsApp, which is owned by the same company, is still allowed.

Iryna Holoshchapova, a Ukrainian refugee who fled the embattled city of Mykolaiv, shows a video on her smartphone of an apartment block on fire following a Russian attack.

4 reasons why social media can give a skewed account of the war in Ukraine

8:31am March 19, 2022

by Geoff Brumfiel

Images of Ukraine are flooding social media, but experts warn they don't show the full picture and can sometimes give a misleading account of the conflict on the ground.

NPR talked to nearly two dozen judges, attorneys and jurors who have participated in online jury trials. Nearly 18 months in, some evidence is in but the verdict is still out. Some fears were realized but there were unexpected benefits as well, including

National

To try or not to try — remotely. As jury trials move online, courts see pros and cons

5:45am March 18, 2022

by Huo Jingnan

Courts turned to remote juries during the pandemic. Now they're grappling with continuing a practice that can expand the pool of jurors but is also susceptible to problems common to all video calls.

Netflix is testing a way to crack down on password sharing. The streaming service has been asking some users of the popular streaming site to verify that they live with the holder of the account.

Economy

Netflix plans to start charging for password sharing, and customers aren't happy

4:19pm March 17, 2022

by Ayana Archie

The company said it has previously encouraged account sharing but that the practices are "impacting our ability to invest in great new TV and films for our members."

This image provided by the Marine Corps shows a Switchblade drone. One hundred Switchblades — which are small enough to be carried in a backpack — are part of the new U.S. package to Ukraine.

World News

What the latest U.S. military aid to Ukraine can tell us about the state of the war

1:25pm March 17, 2022

The package by the White House includes missiles to take out tanks and bring down Russian aircraft — as well as drones that the U.S. hasn't provided previously.

Queue Listen Now

National

Vermont tech firm believes to experience the metaverse, you have to smell it too

5:10am March 16, 2022

by Mikaela Lefrak

OVR Technology in Burlington has developed a way to incorporate smell into virtual reality. This modern day "Smell-O-Vision" could have far-reaching applications in gaming, health and wellness.

Russian Channel One employee Marina Ovsyannikova interrupted a live broadcast in Moscow on Monday, holding up a poster reading "No War" and condemning Moscow's military action in Ukraine.

World News

What Ukraine war news looks like from Russia

11:14pm March 15, 2022

by NPR Staff

State TV has long been Russians' top news source. Now it's becoming the only word of record, presenting stories of "surgical" attacks on Ukrainian nationalists and threats of anti-Russian bioweapons.

An iPhone screen shows a Telegram account of OVD-Info, prominent legal aid group in Russia that tracks political arrests in Moscow.

World News

Telegram is the app of choice in the war in Ukraine despite experts' privacy concerns

11:06pm March 14, 2022

by Bobby Allyn

The messaging app Telegram has been heavily used by both sides in the war in Ukraine. But privacy experts say people using the service should be wary of the app's level of security.

Queue Listen Now

Panel 4: "You might have a data set that's 75% male faces and over 80% lighter-skin faces. So what it means is the machine is learning a representation of the world that is skewed. But how are we getting such skewed data sets?"

Science

COMIC: How a computer scientist fights bias in algorithms

5:00am March 14, 2022

Computer scientist Joy Buolamwini is on a mission to fight bias in algorithms. In this comic, Buolamwini discusses the way biased algorithms can lead to real world inequality — and what we can do.

Queue Listen Now