Technology

New Brain-Controlled Robotic Arm Gives Wearer The Sense Of Touch

4:22pm May 20, 2021

by Jon Hamilton

A robotic arm with a sense of touch has allowed a man who is paralyzed to quickly perform tasks like pouring water into a cup. The arm provides sensory information directly to the man's brain.

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Twitter is rolling out a more stringent verification process for certain accounts, the social media company announced Thursday.

National

Twitter Relaunches Verification Check. Here's How To Apply For One

11:51am May 20, 2021

The social media giant said it will again begin verifying certain accounts after putting the process on hold for more than three years.

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, speaks virtually during a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing in March.

Facebook Calls Links To Depression Inconclusive. These Researchers Disagree

4:10pm May 19, 2021

by Miles Parks

The company has reached out to a number of researchers in recent months, though those same researchers are skeptical about the company's motivations.

People holding umbrellas walk through New York City's Times Square in 2019. The U.S. Census Bureau plans to change how it protects the confidentiality of people's information in the detailed demographic data it produces through the 2020 count.

For The U.S. Census, Keeping Your Data Anonymous And Useful Is A Tricky Balance

5:00am May 19, 2021

by Hansi Lo Wang

The Census Bureau must protect people's privacy when it releases demographic data from the 2020 count. Plans to change how it does that have sparked controversy over how it may affect redistricting.

A laptop displays a message after being infected by ransomware in 2017. Thousands of institutions in the U.S. fall victim to ransomware attacks each year.

'You Can't Just Concede.' How One Expert Explains Negotiating With Cybercriminals

5:06am May 18, 2021

Bill Siegel works with companies that fall victim to the same type of ransomware attack that disrupted fuel supplies across large parts of the South and East Coast last week.

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AT&T To Spin Off, Merge With Discovery To Compete With Streaming Giants

4:50pm May 17, 2021

by Eric Deggans

AT&T announced it's spinning off WarnerMedia, just five years after acquiring Time Warner. It will create a new media company with Discovery in an attempt to better compete with Netflix and Disney.

A spokeswoman for Bill Gates denied on Sunday that an investigation into a prior romantic relationship with an employee had anything to do with him leaving Microsoft's Board of Directors last year.

National

Microsoft Board Investigated Bill Gates' 'Intimate Relationship' With Employee

10:35pm May 16, 2021

by Bobby Allyn

A spokesperson for Gates maintained that his decades-old "affair," which was the subject of the recent investigation, had no connection to his decision to step down.

The majority of anti-vaccine claims on social media trace back to a small number of influential figures, according to researchers.

Health & Safety

Just 12 People Are Behind Most Vaccine Hoaxes On Social Media, Research Shows

12:18pm May 14, 2021

by Shannon Bond

The majority of false claims about COVID-19 vaccines on social media trace back to just a handful of influential figures. So why don't the companies just shut them down?

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National

Former NSA Chief Assess U.S. Vulnerability To Cyberattacks

7:26am May 14, 2021

NPR's Noel King talks to Keith Alexander, former director of the National Security Agency, about the risk of cyberattacks on the country's infrastructure, following the Colonial Pipeline shutdown.

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National

Biden Adviser On Cyber Threats And The New Executive Order To Combat Them

6:10pm May 13, 2021

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly speaks with Anne Neuberger, deputy national security adviser focused on cybersecurity, about the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack and a new executive order on cyberdefenses.

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