Technology

Economy

Netflix Pays Comcast To Ensure Its Videos Stream Smoothly

8:02pm February 24, 2014

by Jim Zarroli

Content companies and internet service providers have disagreed over who should pay for broadband infrastructure upgrades. A new agreement between Nextflix and Comcast suggests that's changing.

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Internet service providers are having trouble keeping pace with growing demand for video streaming services. But there's disagreement over how to fix the problem.

National

Video Streaming Is Straining, But Who Will Ease The Tension?

2:16pm February 21, 2014

by Jim Zarroli

Services like Netflix take up a lot of bandwidth, and their increasing popularity is fueling a dispute between these companies and the Internet service providers that carry them.

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National

Cold War Technology Sought By Spy Is In Your Pocket — Sort Of

7:59pm February 17, 2014

by Martin Kaste

Federal authorities have arrested a Chinese national who is accused of trying to buy accelerometers from a company in suburban Seattle. Certain kinds of accelerometers are subject to export controls, because they're used to guide missiles and spacecraft. The U.S. has been trying to keep accelerometer technology under wraps for half a century. Even as some accelerometers were used to guide Cold War missiles into space and around the world, today's technological descendents allow you to play racing games on your iPhone.

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National

The Art And Practice Of Protecting American Technology

7:59pm February 17, 2014

The recent allegations that a Chinese spy was trying to steal technology are in fact nothing new. Audie Cornish talks to James Lewis, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, about protecting U.S. technology from spying abroad.

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Getting Better At Predicting The Weather

9:18pm February 15, 2014

After a brutal week of winter storms, the meteorological community is trying to improve the way weather is studied, predicted and communicated to the public. Thomas Bogdan, president of University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, talks with NPR's Arun Rath about the innovations in weather reporting.

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Arts

An App On The Search For The Secret To Happiness

1:13pm February 15, 2014

An app that helps researchers measure happiness? It's here! NPR's Guy Raz from the Ted Radio Hour speaks with social scientist Matt Killingsworth, who has developed the Happy App.

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'House Of Cards' Star Wright, Creator Willimon On Love And Power

9:09am February 14, 2014

The Netflix original series House of Cards launches its second season Friday. Morning Edition co-host David Greene talks to series creator Beau Willimon and star Robin Wright, who plays the ruthless Claire Underwood and directed part of the new season.

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Wikipedia is a go-to source for medical information, but much of it is inaccurate.

Dr. Wikipedia: The 'Double-Edged Sword' Of Crowdsourced Medicine

1:17pm February 10, 2014

by NPR Staff

A report on health and social media finds that Wikipedia is the "single leading source of medical information" for patients and health care professionals. But not all of the articles are accurate. To address that issue, Dr. Amin Azzam requires his fourth-year medical students to revise and publish medical articles on the site.

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Chris Wasil, a forest area supervisor for Palm Beach County, demonstrates how satellite maps depict the location and movement of fire equipment.

National

Technology Tracks Crews Through The Fog Of Wildfire

9:04pm February 07, 2014

by Greg Allen

Communication breakdowns can be fatal for firefighters, but are all too easy when crews are shrouded in smoke and a blaze is moving fast. Florida, with its millions of acres of forest and grassland, has rolled out a new system that can pinpoint crews without relying on voice communication.

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Susan Crawford says that in cities like Seoul and Stockholm, high-speed, high-capacity networks are taken for granted. "It really is astonishing what's going on in America," she says. "We're falling way behind in the pack of developed nations when it come

National

Author: When It Comes To High-Speed Internet, U.S. 'Falling Way Behind'

12:41pm February 07, 2014

The U.S. needs to start treating the Internet like electricity or railroads, law professor and author Susan Crawford says. "We can't create a level playing field for all Americans or indeed compete on the world stage without having some form of government involvement," she says.

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