Showing Archived Posts

Women, Minorities Underrepresented in Silicon Valley, Other Tech Hubs

Posted April 11th, 2014 at 2:20 pm (UTC-4)
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Silicon Valley is the global leader in technological wizardry, but it suffers from an image as a young, all-white, all-male club. The success of social media startups like Facebook that appeared in recent years and grew their ranks by hiring young people created the notion that “young college dropouts” can “make it big in Silicon […]

Technology Still Can’t Predict When Earthquakes Hit

Posted April 4th, 2014 at 2:42 pm (UTC-4)
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These days, we can predict just about anything – from foreseeing political trends, forecasting the weather fairly accurately to tracking asteroids that might swing near the Earth. But for all of our technological savvy, we can’t predict when an earthquake like the one that just rocked Chile might occur. “We will probably not be able […]

Can Wireless Electricity Power the World?

Posted March 28th, 2014 at 2:00 pm (UTC-4)
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Remember the last time you wanted to recharge your cellphone only to discover that you forgot the electric cord somewhere else? And if you are hopelessly dependent on your cellphone and there is no replacement charger in sight, then you have a problem. It doesn’t have to be that way, says Massachusetts Institute of Technology […]

Income Governs Internet, Mobile Use in Developing World

Posted March 21st, 2014 at 2:07 pm (UTC-4)
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Young, educated people around the world are more likely to embrace Internet and mobile technology. If you missed our recent post, the young and educated go online at higher rates than other age groups and people without a college degree. They are more likely to engage in social media interactions and more likely to own […]

Fight to End Violence Against Women Goes High-Tech

Posted March 14th, 2014 at 2:04 pm (UTC-4)
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In an ideal 21st century world, there would be no violence – against women or any other group. The naive assumption would be that social strides would match technological progress going into a more enlightened future. But in this imperfect world, where violence against women remains a real, global phenomenon, technology is coming to the […]

Youth at Forefront of Global Internet Use

Posted March 7th, 2014 at 2:00 pm (UTC-4)
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If you are under 30, you are probably one of the young people leading the global charge in Internet and mobile technology. Young people are “particularly likely to use the Internet. They are particularly likely to engage in social networking,” said Richard Wike, Director of Pew Research Center’s Global Attitude Research. “They are particularly likely […]

Technology Aids Paralympians, But Playing Field Not Level

Posted February 28th, 2014 at 7:36 pm (UTC-4)
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Technology has permeated the world of sports.  Runners’ shoes, clothing, even the tracks they run on are optimized to make them perform better. Swimmers have their suits custom-designed to help them cut through the water like a shark. Various pieces of equipment, from vault poles to bobsleds are increasingly on the cutting-edge of science and […]

Digital Pen Helps Africa Fight Livestock Disease

Posted February 21st, 2014 at 1:30 pm (UTC-4)
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It began in southern Africa in 2007, when Philip Fong, FAO‘s Regional Data and Information Officer in Nairobi, Kenya turned to technology to help African countries cope with livestock diseases. What he found was that existing disease information and surveillance systems were inadequate. Officers in the field were unable to get their collected data to […]

Philips Shines Light on Vietnam’s Iconic Dragon Bridge

Posted February 14th, 2014 at 4:50 pm (UTC-4)
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If you thought dragons – those fearsome creatures of myth and legend – only come to life in video games – you’d be mistaken. Allow me to enlighten you. Every night, a fire-spewing, water-spraying, 568 meter-long dragon, with an 18-meter-wide head and a 19.73 meters wide tail comes to life in Da Nang, a city […]

A Decade Later, Facebook Wields Unprecedented Mass Influence

Posted February 7th, 2014 at 2:32 pm (UTC-4)
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The world before Facebook was a different place. Social networking sites like SixDegrees, Friendster and MySpace laid the social media groundwork as early as 1997 before some of them faded away.  But when Facebook showed up in 2004, it took the social networking game to a whole new level. Facebook changed the world in major […]