The Feds Are Building an America-Wide Face Surveillance System – and We’re Going to Court to Prove It, Says ACLU – This Week in Tech – 11/03/2019
The Feds Are Building an America-Wide Face Surveillance System – and We’re Going to Court to Prove It, Says ACLU
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is suing the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), and the Department of Justice (DoJ) in an effort to find out what the US federal government’s systems and policies are around facial recognition…
Microsoft Japan’s Experiment With 3-Day Weekend Boosts Worker Productivity by 40 Percent
Japan has a reputation for not being so great when it comes to work-life balance. And it’s a reputation that makes sense, considering the country routinely scores toward the bottom when it comes to employee satisfaction around the developed world…
New Lithium Ion Battery Design Could Allow Electric Vehicles to Be Charged in Ten Minutes
Engineers at Penn State University have pioneered a new method that swiftly charges a lithium ion electric vehicle battery, adding roughly 200 miles of driving range in just ten minutes. Crucially, the method does not produce damaging side effects that limit the battery’s lifespan…
Researchers Have Developed a Way to 3D Print Living Skin, Complete With Blood Vessels. The Advancement Is a Significant Step Toward Creating Grafts That Are More Like the Skin Our Bodies Produce Naturally
TROY, N.Y. — Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a way to 3D print living skin, complete with blood vessels. The advancement, published online today in Tissue Engineering Part A, is a significant step toward creating grafts that are more like the skin our bodies produce naturally…
Google Buys Fitbit for $2.1 Billion
Google has just announced that it’s buying wearable company Fitbit for $2.1 billion. In a blog post announcing the news, Google SVP of devices and services Rick Osterloh said that the Fitbit purchase is “an opportunity to invest even more in Wear OS as well as introduce Made by Google wearable devices into the market.”…
Alcohol Breath Tests, a Linchpin of the Criminal Justice System, Are Often Unreliable, a Times Investigation Found
A million Americans a year are arrested for drunken driving, and most stops begin the same way: flashing blue lights in the rearview mirror, then a battery of tests that might include standing on one foot or reciting the alphabet…
China Establishes $29B Fund to Wean Itself Off of US Semiconductors
Why it matters: China’s semiconductor industry has largely depended on American technology, but China has long been working on technological self-reliance. In the wake of the US-China trade war, China seems to be heeding calls of urgency to wean itself off of US semiconductors and IP and accelerate its own semiconductor industry — which some believe could hurt American interests in the long run…