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Archive for the ‘government’ category: Page 153

May 13, 2019

How facial recognition became a routine policing tool in America

Posted by in categories: government, robotics/AI, surveillance

The technology is proliferating amid concerns that it is prone to errors and allows the government to expand surveillance without much oversight.

Police are increasingly using facial recognition to solve low-level crimes and to quickly identify people they see as suspicious. Claire Merchlinsky / for NBC News.

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May 11, 2019

Reboot ethics governance in China

Posted by in categories: ethics, genetics, governance, government, health

In the months since, China’s scientists and regulators have been going through a period of soul-searching. We, our colleagues and our government agencies, such as the Ministry of Science and Technology and the National Health Commission, have reflected on what the incident says about the culture and regulation of research in China. We’ve also thought about what long-term strategies need to be put in place to strengthen the nation’s governance of science and ethics.


The shocking announcement of genetically modified babies creates an opportunity to overhaul the nation’s science, argue Ruipeng Lei and colleagues.

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May 10, 2019

Australia Allows CRISPR Editing Of Plants And Animals Without Government Approval

Posted by in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, government

Australia has approved the use of CRISPR gene editing tool on plants and animals without the oversight of a governmental body. The controversial move has been called a ‘middle ground’ compared to regulations on other countries.

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May 10, 2019

A distracted, divided U.S. is no match for China’s long-term plan for domination

Posted by in category: government

The government and tech companies have trouble seeing beyond the next presidential term or fiscal period.

[Photo: JOESPH/Pixabay]

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May 9, 2019

Billionaire Bezos unveils moon lander mockup, touts Blue Origin’s lunar goals

Posted by in categories: government, space travel

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — Billionaire entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, founder of rocket company Blue Origin, unveiled on Thursday a mockup of a lunar lander spacecraft and discussed missions to the moon in a strategy tailored to the U.S. government’s renewed push to establish a lunar outpost in just five years.

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May 9, 2019

Digital Paper Could Probably Be Alternative After France Banned Tablets in Schools

Posted by in categories: education, government, law, mobile phones, policy

From the beginning of the year 2019, the sales of Boox eReaders slightly increase, and so do many other brands such as Kindle, Kobo and Sony. All of them suffered a rapid drop in sales in the previous year but now they are getting back. This may cause by the event that France prohibits students from using smartphones and tablets in schools.

Digital Paper Could Probably Be Alternative After France Banned Tablets in Schools

Under the legislation passed in 2018, the French students as old as 15 were not allowed to bring their smartphones as well as tablets to schools from September. The law was originally noted in President Emmanuel Macron’s election campaign. Now, one semester has gone, actually what do folks think to this policy? Earlier than that, France endorsed a blanket smartphone ban for drivers, even those who park at the side of the road, so the further action to school is not that surprising. It seems that the French government is getting realized that the control of electronics use is significant to beat back the encroachment of digital technology in everyday life.

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May 9, 2019

“I don’t plan to die:” The immortality movement is going mainstream

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, government, life extension, space travel

In his 1971 State of the Union address, president Richard Nixon promised to kick off what would soon come to be known as the War on Cancer, asking congress for a $100 million appropriation to launch a campaign for finding a cure. “The time has come in America when the same kind of concentrated effort that split the atom and took man to the moon should be turned toward conquering this dread disease,” he said. “Let us make a total national commitment to achieve this goal.”


Welcome to the War on Aging, where death is optional.

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May 7, 2019

700 Years of Persian Manuscripts Now Digitized and Available Online

Posted by in category: government

Too often those in power lump thousands of years of Middle Eastern religion and culture into monolithic entities to be feared or persecuted. But at least one government institution is doing exactly the opposite. For Nowruz, the Persian New Year, the Library of Congress has released a digital collection of its rare Persian-language manuscripts, an archive spanning 700 years. This free resource opens windows on diverse religious, national, linguistic, and cultural traditions, most, but not all, Islamic, yet all different from each other in complex and striking ways.

“We nowadays are programmed to think Persia equates with Iran, but when you look at this it is a multiregional collection,” says a Library specialist in its African and Middle Eastern Division, Hirad Dinavari. “Many contributed to it. Some were Indian, some were Turkic, Central Asian.” The “deep, cosmopolitan archive,” as Atlas Obscura’s Jonathan Carey writes, consists of a relatively small number of manuscripts—only 155. That may not seem particularly significant given the enormity of some other online collections.

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May 6, 2019

German research promised a decade of budget increases

Posted by in categories: economics, government

BERLIN—German research organizations cheered a decision announced today by state and federal ministers to increase research budgets by 3% a year for the next decade—a total boost of €17 billion over that time. For more than a decade, German research organizations have enjoyed consistent budget increases—3% boosts every year since 2006, even during downturns in the German economy. But some observers have worried that falling tax revenues and deep disagreements between state and federal ministers could bring an end to the largesse.


State and federal government pledge €17 billion in extra funds through 2030.

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May 1, 2019

NASA: Manufacturer’s Lies Caused Two Satellite Launches to Fail

Posted by in categories: government, satellites

The lies cost NASA more than $700 million and years of scientific work.


On Tuesday, NASA revealed that aluminum manufacturer Sapa Profiles, Inc. (SPI) “altered test results and provided false certifications” for materials used in the rockets, causing their fairings not to separate as designed.

“For nearly 20 years, Sapa Profiles and Sapa Extrusions [SPI’s corporate parent] falsified critical tests on the aluminum they sold — tests that their customers, including the U.S. government, depended on to ensure the reliability of the aluminum they purchased,” Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski said in an April 23 statement.

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