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Hitting the Books: How NASA helped JFK build his 'Nation of Immigrants'
After Apollo: Cultural Legacies of the Race to the Moon, explores the myriad ways that putting a man on the moon changed the American Experience.
Huawei reports increased sales despite US sanctions
Huawei's latest quarterly results show that the Chinese company is doing just fine, despite ongoing trade issues with America. Third-quarter revenue is up 24.4 percent on the same period last year, while the company says it has shipped more than 185 million smartphones in the first three quarters of 2019, up 26 percent year-on-year.
Honda has a modular EV plan for the US
Honda might have delighted the European market with details of its cute and compact electric Honda E, but that's no use to American drivers -- the Honda E isn't destined for US soil and even if it was, its top range of 125 miles is pretty useless for such a vast country. But the company is reportedly working on something new and exclusive for the States: a modular EV platform that puts affordability, performance and -- crucially -- a long cruising range at the top of the agenda.
America's love affair with firearms bleeds into gaming culture
Gaming culture is rife with graphic representations of gun violence and has been since arcade goers first blew aliens out of Space Invader's skies. You'll be hard-pressed to find more than a handful of AAA titles designed for adults (sit down Rayman) that don't rely on firearms, or use gore in substitution, either as a primary tool for the gameplay or as a thematic element.
ISPs barred from telling users they’re under FBI investigation
Back in 2013, a federal judge ruled that the FBI couldn't force ISPs to hand over a users' private data without the suspect being informed first. Now, however, a change in the law means that's no longer the case. Thanks to a federal appeals court ruling on Monday, ISPs, financial institutions and phone carriers are now completely prohibited from informing a user if the FBI is investigating them. Under the new 'gag' ruling, the FBI can still issue a National Security Letter (or NSL) without immediately notifying their target, but must instead review the need for an NSL three years after the letter was sent. On top of that, the FBI must also completely terminate their prying into the user's online activities once the national security investigation in question has concluded.
Germany confronts Russia over election hacking
Speaking with reporters at a conference in Potsdam, Hans-Georg Maassen, president of the BfV agency (Germany's domestic intelligence group) renewed claims that Russian hackers were behind the attack on his country's parliament. He also warned the other nation against attempting to weaponize the "large amounts of data" stolen in that breach in the upcoming national elections come September.
Most American households have abandoned their landlines
A US Health Department study has confirmed that most US citizens have completely stopped using landline phones -- shocking no-one. In a report released today, the government revealed that 50.8 percent of American households are now cellphone-only, with just 39.4 percent using both a mobile and a landline. That leaves a measly 6.5 percent of US homes that just use a landline, with the remaining 3.2 percent not owning a phone of any kind. The declining interest in landlines likely has one major culprit: the smartphone.
National Academy of Sciences endorses embryonic engineering
The next generation of humans may well be genetically modified. The National Academy of Sciences on Tuesday issued a 216-page report endorsing human germline modification in the future, but only in certain cases that would otherwise result in children being born with serious genetic diseases.
The year's biggest loser was the American public
Even if we judge 2016 purely on the musical legends it stole from us, it would be an awful one. The truth is, this year has been rough by any standard. Our social networks, ostensibly designed to connect us, led us to turn on one another. Incidents of harassment and abuse came to define Twitter. Our already bitter and destructive discourse dissolved even further in the midst of a divisive election season. Meanwhile Facebook was flooded with an alarming number of fake news stories. And if that wasn't enough, we were constantly reminded that none of us are safe from the seemingly endless barrage of hackers. Yep, this year the American public lost, big league.
US National Archives gets into the historical GIF game
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) serves as America's historian, cataloging and preserving the nation's most precious documents, audio and video recordings. On Thursday, NARA announced that it had launched a Giphy channel with more than 150 animations to help showcase its vast trove of video content. The administration plans to expand upon that figure with an eclectic mix of classic footage. via GIPHY What's more, every GIF automatically links back to the archive's website which includes additional information on the significance of the piece. The Bugs Bunny gif above, for example, is actually from short titled "Uncle Sam Speaks" and is actually a compilation of savings bond promotions.
After Math: The final frontier
We saw some significant developments in the field of space exploration this week. Jeff Bezos unveiled his latest heavy lift rocket. The Gaia satellite has mapped its billionth Milky Way star. China launched another piece of its Heavenly Palace into orbit. And Galaxies just can't seem to stop exploding. Numbers, because how else are you going to accurately measure your insignificance against the infinite voids of space?
Northrop Grumman lands USAF deal for new long-range strike bomber
Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James announced on Tuesday that the DoD has awarded Northrop Grumman the lead contract for the US military's upcoming Long-Range Strike Bomber (LRSB). The contract is valued $60 billion, making it the single largest airframe contract since Lockheed won the deal for the $400 billion F-35 Joint Strike Fighter over a decade ago. At that price, the 21 airframes on order are expected to cost roughly $564 million apiece (in FY2016 dollars).
The Trans-Pacific Partnership could spell the end of filesharing sites
According to documents leaked by Wikileaks -- specifically, the TPP's finalized chapter on Intellectual Property -- the days of filesharing sites could quickly be coming to a close. Per the agreement, which would be enforced across all 12 member states, ISPs would be required to "remove or disable access" as soon as they "become aware" of a court decision that deems a piece of content infringes upon an existing copyright. This is a more extreme version of America's DMCA takedown notices and would effectively tie domestic ISP actions to another nation's legal decisions. So if, say, a court in Malaysia says a piece of content infringes on a Malaysian copyright, ISPs in America (really ISPs in all 12 member nations) would be required to remove it -- regardless of whether or not it infringes upon any local copyrights.
Hitchhiking robot lasts just two weeks in the US
Hitchbot might have made it across Canada, but it appears that the US wasn't quite so kind to this mechanical traveler. The hitchhiking robot's American journey has ended after a mere two weeks thanks to a vandal attack in Philadelphia. While the team behind Hitchbot vows that its experiments with artificial intelligence and human interaction are "not over," it's clear that this nomad isn't about to resume its cross-America trek all that quickly. You'll hear more details on August 5th -- here's hoping that this includes plans for Hitchbot to bum rides once again, whether it's in the States or abroad.
A hitchhiking robot needs your help getting to California
Normally, picking up hitchhikers is a really bad idea. You never know what sort of ax-wielding entrepreneur you're going to get. But if you happen to see this friendly LED face on the side of the road, consider giving it a lift. That face belongs to hitchBOT, of Port Credit, Ontario, Canada. On Friday, it left the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) in Salem, Massachusetts for an adventure on America's highways. Its final destination: San Francisco's Exploratorium. On the way, hitchBOT hopes to see some sights including Time Square in New York City; Millennium Park in Illinois; Mount Rushmore in South Dakota and the Grand Canyon in Arizona. If only there were hotels it could stay at or shows it could see along the way. There's no timetable for when it will finally reach the City by the Bay, but you can be sure that it will have plenty of tales to tell once it does.
China's 'Great Cannon' shoots down websites it doesn't like
According to a new report from Citizen Lab, China has not only built itself a "Great Cannon" but has already fired it as well. This potent online weapon seems to be capable of intercepting internet traffic at the national level then directing it at specific networks to knock them offline. China's already widely suspected of being behind the recent attack against Github, which was overloaded for nearly a week via "an ongoing and evolving large DDOS attack." Now it appears that Github's attackers used the Cannon to redirect that traffic from Chinese search engine giant Baidu to cripple the website. All reportedly because the San Francisco-based website hosted a pair of pages that link to content banned in China.
Club Nintendo closing, 'new loyalty program' on the way
'Club Nintendo is dead, long live the new loyalty program,' is the message from Nintendo this morning, after the company announced it's closing its current rewards service. Users in the US and Canada have until the end March to earn Club Nintendo Coins and until the close of June to redeem them, signalling when the service will finally hang up its brown boots. "We thank all Club Nintendo members for their dedication to Nintendo games and their ongoing love for our systems and characters," said Nintendo of America executive VP Scott Moffit in the company's press release. "We want to make this time of transition as easy as possible for our loyal Club Nintendo members, so we are going to add dozens of new rewards and downloadable games to help members clear out their Coin balances."
Etrian Mystery Dungeon plots odyssey to Americas in 2015
The Etrian Odyssey and Mystery Dungeon crossover is confirmed for the Americas, with Atlus publishing in spring 2015. Titled Etrian Mystery Dungeon, the 3DS mesh of RPG questing and roguelike dungeons is due on retail shelves and the eShop with a $40 price tag. Along with today's announcement, Atlus revealed some details on what to expect from its latest marriage of series. Etrian Odyssey fans can level up heroes through familiar skill trees and "up to 10 classes" that include Landsknecht and Runemaster, before taking on dungeons in four-man parties. Meanwhile, Mystery Dungeon aficionados will be accustomed to the series' randomly generated, loot-stuffed dungeon crawl. As for the perspective, the roguelike wins out on that count; Etrian Mystery Dungeon goes with Spike Chunsoft's top-down, third-person perspective rather than Etrian Odyssey's traditional first-person view.
Bing's new election tool helps you make an informed vote
Not sure where your local politicians stand in the upcoming US midterm election? You won't have to vote blind. Microsoft has followed in Google's footsteps by launching Bing Elections, its own tool for helping you make informed decisions at the voting booth. The search-based tool lets you know candidates' positions on the issues, details propositions on the ballot and predicts the outcomes for both congressional and gubernatorial races. It'll also help you find the nearest polling station if you're not certain where to go. No, the site won't let you escape aggressive campaign ads, but it may let you ignore them when it comes time to choose. [Image credit: Getty Images]
Google's Megan Smith rumored as America's next CTO
The United States found itself without a Chief Technology Officer yesterday when Todd Park relinquished his post to go trawl Silicon Valley for IT types, but that spot may not stay open for long. Bloomberg claims that there's already a frontrunner for the job: Megan Smith, the 49 year old vice president of Google's moonshot-loving X division. If the rumors hold true, Smith would become the country's third CTO (succeeding Park and his predecessor Aneesh Chopra), and the first not to trade one government job for another.
