Category Archives: Technology

Catastrophic failure of Ukraine jet in Iran suggests missile strike

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Experts say debris fragments and sudden loss of fail-safe systems point to missile

To civil aviation professionals, including pilots, engineers and former crash investigators, there was something immediately puzzling about the crash of the Ukraine International Airlines passenger jet that fell burning out of the sky minutes after takeoff from Tehran.

Conversation on forums, and in a risk assessment that was rapidly produced by the organisations OpsGroup, pointed to the sudden and catastrophic nature of the event, including the loss of both communications and tracking systems.

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Water wars: early warning tool uses climate data to predict conflict hotspots

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Tension over water scarcity is increasing across the globe. A new system flags up where this threatens to erupt into violence

Researchers from six organisations have developed an early warning system to help predict potential water conflicts as violence associated with water surges globally.

The Dutch government-funded Water, Peace and Security (WPS) global early warning tool, which was presented to the UN security council before it was launched formally last month, combines environmental variables such as rainfall and crop failures with political, economic and social factors to predict the risk of violent water-related conflicts up to a year in advance.

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‘Extreme privilege’: Ivanka Trump faces backlash over keynote speech at CES

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Decision to have president’s daughter deliver keynote invited scathing criticism, especially from women in the tech industry

Ivanka Trump’s appearance at a major technology conference in Las Vegas has been met with a backlash from industry figures, who denounced her “privilege” and lack of tech qualifications.

Trump spoke in a keynote session on Tuesday afternoon at CES, a consumer electronics trade show, on “the path to the future of work”. In an interview with Gary Shapiro, the CEO of the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), which organizes the show, she addressed technology’s role in creating and enabling the workforce of the future.

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Uber reveals plans for flying taxi to bypass road traffic congestion

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Aerial ridesharing would allow for a pilot and three passengers at speeds of up to 180mph

Uber has unveiled plans for a flying taxi at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The ride-sharing company on Tuesday showed off a full-size mock-up of the electric plane concept vehicle created with South Korean carmaker Hyundai, as it seeks to fly above traffic rather than add to it.

Uber wants to offer aerial ridesharing, allowing a pilot and three passengers to take city trips of up to 60 miles at a speed of up to 180mph. Resembling a winged helicopter and featuring four propellers, Uber and Hyundai joined forces to design a personal air vehicle, or PAV, which can take off and land vertically.

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Greta Thunberg changes Twitter name to Sharon after quiz show error

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Actor Amanda Henderson answered ‘Sharon’ to Thunberg-related question on Celebrity Mastermind – and the teen activist loved it

Greta Thunberg has been mocked and called many names since becoming the world’s most famous climate activist.

Related: Greta Thunberg: 'I wouldn't have wasted my time' speaking to Trump

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Mystery of Rolling Stones tracks posted briefly on YouTube

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Vintage recordings may have been published in attempt to extend copyright protection

A mysterious YouTube account that posted, then hid, a collection of 75 rare and unpublished Rolling Stones recordings may have been a canny attempt to avoid EU copyright laws and keep the tracks out of the public domain on the 50th anniversary of their creation.

Shortly before midnight on 31 December, the YouTube account 69RSTRAX posted a collection of recordings including studio out-takes and live performances to its public page on the video-sharing site, with no commentary or explanation. Hours later, on 1 January, again with no warning, the account made all the videos private.

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Amazon threatened to fire employees for speaking out on climate, workers say

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Revealed: emails show group of employees who called for stronger climate action by the company were told they risked dismissal

Amazon has threatened to fire employees for speaking publicly about the company’s role in the climate crisis, tech workers at the retail giant have revealed.

Related: Trump campaign credits impeachment for helping to fundraise $46m – live

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Can your phone keep you fit? Our writers try 10 big fitness apps – from weightlifting to pilates

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There are a dizzying number of apps promising to get you in shape – even if you can’t get to a gym. But can any of them keep our writers moving?

Price £15.49 a month.
What is it? A full-service experience from the Hollywood star Chris Hemsworth: not just workouts, but a complete meal planner – with food for breakfast, lunch and dinner – a daily guided meditation and a daily motivational article.
The experience I immediately regret declaring myself “intermediate” as the app launches into a punishing pilates workout. I am not very flexible at all, and it turns out that my baseline fitness leaves much to be desired in terms of core strength.
More frustrating is the fact that the various workouts are introduced as videos. Clearly, this is supposed to emulate a real pilates class, but when my phone tells me to lie face-down on the floor I can no longer see the screen. It is frustrating to have to repeatedly break out of the pose to check the next movement.
Worth a download? Only if you are single, enjoy cooking and are willing to hand control of your life to an app.
AH

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AI system outperforms experts in spotting breast cancer

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Program developed by Google Health tested on mammograms of UK and US women

An artificial intelligence program has been developed that is better at spotting breast cancer in mammograms than expert radiologists.

The AI outperformed the specialists by detecting cancers that the radiologists missed in the images, while ignoring features they falsely flagged as possible tumours.

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Get yourself cybersecure for 2020

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With ever more tech in our lives, our data is vulnerable. Here are our six top tips to keep it safe in the new year

Technology is changing our lives for the better; yet it’s also exposing us to organised crime, online scammers and hackers – and whole industries built around monetising our personal data. But you don’t have to be resigned to cyber-victimhood. Give yourself, and your devices, a security update for 2020 and start fighting back.

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India primed: what Amazon’s vast new Hyderabad campus reveals about its plans

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Amazon have arrived in force in rapidly expanding Hyderabad, with designs on the currently almost non-existent Indian e-commence market

The futuristic lobby of the new Amazon building in Hyderabad feels as though it should have a permanent orchestra blasting out Also Sprach Zarathustra. The scale is intended to awe. A large slogan on a wall suggests the company is “Delivering smiles”. The only sound that rises above the hush is a synthesised beep, coming from a giant screen playing a video of the campus at various stages of its construction.

Built on nine acres in this Indian city’s financial district, it is Amazon’s single largest building globally and the only Amazon-owned campus outside the US. It can house over 15,000 employees, but its size is its main architectural feature: it resembles the same cube of glass steel and chrome seen in corporate offices across Hyderabad, though a flash of magenta reflected in one of the top floor windows, from a billowing sari across the road, is a nice Indian touch.

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Huawei says ‘survival is our first priority’ in 2020 as western boycott bites

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Chairman Eric Xu warns that hit from US sanctions means telecoms firm must ‘go all out’ to maintain sales

The embattled Chinese telecommunications company Huawei says “survival” is its first priority after announcing sales were hit hard by a boycott from western countries.

Eric Xu, the company’s chairman, said estimated sales revenue would reach 850bn yuan for 2019 (US$121bn) - up roughly 18% from the previous year, but much lower than initially expected.

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Fraud fighters and bamboo bikes: the African innovators driving change

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Software for fighting cybercrime in Ghana and tools for speeding up cervical cancer diagnosis in Uganda are among innovations recognised by the judges of this year’s Africa prize

The Royal Academy of Engineering’s Africa prize, now in its sixth year, is the continent’s biggest award for engineering innovation. Sixteen African inventors from six countries – including, for the first time, Malawi – have been shortlisted to receive funding, training and mentoring for projects intended to revolutionise sectors ranging from agriculture and banking to women’s health. The winner will be awarded £25,000 and the three runners-up will receive £10,000 each.

This year’s inventions include facial recognition software to prevent financial fraud, a low-cost digital microscope to speed up cervical cancer diagnosis, and two separate innovations made from water hyacinth plants. Four inventors spoke to the Guardian about their innovations and their plans to change Africa for the better.

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Popular chat app is actually a spying tool of UAE government – report

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Government reportedly uses ToTok to track conversations, locations and other data of those who install the app

A chat app that quickly became popular in the United Arab Emirates for communicating with friends and family is actually a spying tool used by the government to track its users, according to a New York Times report.

The government uses ToTok to track conversations, locations, images and other data of those who install the app on their phones, the Times reported, citing US officials familiar with a classified intelligence assessment and the newspaper’s own investigation.

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‘Handing control away’: UK’s sale of Cobham defence firm to US company decried

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Founding family criticises approval of £4bn deal despite national security concerns

The government has been accused of handing control away after it approved a US private equity firm’s £4bn takeover of the UK defence company Cobham despite national security concerns.

The deal had been delayed since mid-2019 after fears were raised that Advent International’s acquisition could undermine the country’s security.

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US Navy bans TikTok from mobile devices saying it’s a cybersecurity threat

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Users who don’t remove the Beijing-based app will be blocked from Navy Marine Corp intranet

The United States Navy has banned the social media app TikTok from government-issued mobile devices, saying the popular short video app represented a cybersecurity threat.

Related: US 'investigating TikTok as potential national security risk'

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Twitter blocks accounts linked to Saudi ‘state-backed’ manipulation effort

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Social network suspends thousands in the latest crackdown on state-sponsored propaganda

Twitter said on Friday it had suspended thousands of accounts linked to a manipulation effort stemming from Saudi Arabia, in the latest crackdown on state-sponsored propaganda efforts.

The social network said some 88,000 accounts being blocked were linked to Saudi state-backed “information operations” in violation of Twitter’s platform manipulation rules.

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I saw the unbearable grief inflicted on families by cobalt mining. I pray for change

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When Raphael turned 15, he started digging tunnels at the cobalt mine where he worked – two years later he was dead

Bisette sits before me, her face drawn with woe. Even though this is my second research trip to the cobalt provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, I am ill-prepared for the torment I will witness. We thank Bisette for her courage, for we know she is fearful that even a rumour that she is speaking to us could result in brutal reprisals against her and her family. She inhales sharply and recounts a tale of unimaginable grief.

Raphael was born to Bisette’s sister, but after both his parents died when he was a baby, Bisette raised Raphael as her own son. She says he was a bright and cheerful child. Raphael loved to learn but, when he was 12 years old, the family could no longer afford the $6 (£4) a month required to send him to school. Instead, Bisette says Raphael did what most children in his village had to do: he went to work as a surface digger at a nearby industrial cobalt mine near Kolwezi.

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Apple and Google named in US lawsuit over Congolese child cobalt mining deaths

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Dell, Microsoft and Tesla also among tech firms named in case brought by families of children killed or injured while mining in DRC

A landmark legal case has been launched against the world’s largest tech companies by Congolese families who say their children were killed or maimed while mining for cobalt used to power smartphones, laptops and electric cars, the Guardian can reveal.

Apple, Google, Dell, Microsoft and Tesla have been named as defendants in a lawsuit filed in Washington DC by human rights firm International Rights Advocates on behalf of 14 parents and children from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The lawsuit accuses the companies of aiding and abetting in the death and serious injury of children who they claim were working in cobalt mines in their supply chain.

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‘I was hacked,’ says woman whose account claimed hospital boy photo was staged

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Woman denies posting false information that photo of four-year-old was political stunt

A medical secretary has claimed her Facebook account was hacked after it was used to post false information claiming that a photograph of an ill boy on the floor at Leeds General Infirmary was staged for political purposes.

The woman denied posting the allegation that four-year-old Jack Willment-Barr’s mother placed him on the floor specifically to take the picture which became symbolic of the NHS’s troubles after it appeared on the front page of Monday’s Daily Mirror.

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