Technology

National

U.S. Military Researchers Work To Fix Easily Fooled AI

3:49pm September 18, 2019

Researchers in the U.S. military are working to combat what they call "adversarial artificial intelligence." That's when someone hacks into an AI system to transmit the wrong information.

Graph showing twitter activity from banned accounts in the last year.

World News

China Used Twitter To Disrupt Hong Kong Protests, But Efforts Began Years Earlier

10:17pm September 17, 2019

Social media networks banned hundreds of thousands of accounts last month. In NPR's assessment of the data, telling details begin to depict large disinformation campaigns.

Richard Stallman, pictured in 2015, resigned from his posts as President of the Free Software Foundation and visiting scientist at MIT's Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence lab.

Free Software Pioneer Quits MIT Over His Comments On Epstein Sex Trafficking Case

7:02pm September 17, 2019

by Vanessa Romo

"I am doing this due to pressure on MIT and me over a series of misunderstandings and mischaracterizations," Richard Stallman wrote on his blog.

Using AI In Malawi To Save Elephants

4:30pm September 17, 2019

by Dina Temple-Raston

Poachers killed almost a third of the African elephant population between 2007 and 2014, a recent census found. Researchers hope artificial intelligence can help stop poachers and other threats, too.

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NASA's Dragonfly mission will hop across Saturn's moon Titan, taking samples and photos.

Meet The Nuclear-Powered Self-Driving Drone NASA Is Sending To A Moon Of Saturn

8:58am September 17, 2019

by Geoff Brumfiel

Almost everyone who learns about the project thinks it sounds "crazy," admits one scientist. But the technology should work.

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Sophistication Of Saudi Airstrike Points To Iranian Involvement

4:25pm September 16, 2019

by Geoff Brumfiel

An attack over the weekend crippled a major Saudi Arabian oil facility. Evidence suggests the strike may have involved both missiles and drones and means Iran probably played a role.

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MuralNet CEO Mariel Triggs installs broadband equipment on the Havasupai reservation. Tribal members Travis Hamibreek and Ophelia Watahomigie-Corliss can see the Wi-Fi signal on their phones.

Most Isolated Tribe In Continental U.S. Gets Broadband

4:25pm September 16, 2019

by Laurel Morales

The Havasupai Tribe's reservation, located at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, is finally getting broadband access. Tribal members say it will improve education, health care and economic development.

Philip Connors has spent 17 summers as a fire lookout in the Gila National Forest. Lookouts are the eyes in the forest, even as the forests they watch have changed, shaped by developers, shifting land management policies and climate change.

A Fire Lookout On What's Lost In A Transition To Technology

8:30am September 15, 2019

by Nathan Rott

The number of manned fire lookouts in the U.S. is dwindling, as technology is increasingly used to spot and monitor wildfires. But can technology replace a human watch?

Uber To Pull Jump Bikes From Atlanta And San Diego

7:18pm September 13, 2019

by Peter Talbot

Shareable bikes and electric scooters have continued to create issues for cities, prompting some to implement bans and regulations.