Niall Firth
MIT Tech Review
United Kingdom
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Past articles by Niall:
Amazon has asked for permission to launch 3,200 broadband satellites
The firm has filed an application with the FCC to join SpaceX, One Web, and others in launching a constellation of satellites to provide broadband internet.The plan: Amazon has asked for permission to launch 3,236 satellites into orbit as part of Project Kuiper. → Read More
How to fight a war in space (and get away with it)
Satellites are so crucial that attacking them could be seen as an act of war. The bad news is, it may have already happened. → Read More
Facebook is expected to unveil its secretive cryptocurrency next week
Big payment firms and other digital companies are all backing the social media giant’s first foray into crypto.The news: Facebook will release the white paper associated with its new digital currency next week, the Wall Street Journal reports. → Read More
DeepMind’s AI has used teamwork to beat humans at a first-person shooter
Deep-learning algorithms have already mastered games like Starcraft to beat humans, and now they have shown they can team up to beat us too.The news: In a paper published in Science yesterday, DeepMind showed how it had let AI programs loose in a modified version of the 3D first-person video game Quake III Arena. → Read More
Twitter wants help deciding whether to keep white supremacists or not
The social media firm is asking researchers to help it work out whether they should kick racists off the platform—or keep them on to help change their mind, Motherboard reports.Errrr: Twitter’s argument is that “conversation and counter-speech” can work to de-radicalise extremists online. → Read More
Google has been funding research into cold fusion for years
Researchers have been working for the past 4 years to recreate one of science's most controversial experiments: recreating the power of the sun in a tabletop experiment.What is cold fusion? → Read More
SpaceX’s Starlink satellites are clearly visible in the sky—and astronomers aren’t happy
A video of the satellites in the night sky looked spectacular but there are fears it could interfere with science.The news: On May 23, SpaceX launched the first 60 satellites of its internet constellation, Starlink. → Read More
Zapping the brain with electricity seems to improve memory in older people
Stimulating parts of the brain with electricity to get brain waves back in synch temporarily reverses the effects of age-related memory loss. → Read More
Zapping the brain with electricity seems to improve memory in older people
Stimulating parts of the brain with electricity to get brain waves back in sync temporarily reverses the effects of age-related memory loss.Our aging brains: Working memory, the way we hold information in our brains for a short period to help us carry out tasks, gets worse as we get older. → Read More
New York’s mass face recognition trial on drivers has been a spectacular failure
A mass trial to use face recognition to identify the faces of drivers in New York has been a total failure, according to the Wall Street Journal. → Read More
India says it has just shot down a satellite in space
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the successful test in a live television broadcast to the nation, saying it now made India a space power, Reuters reports. → Read More
CRISPR experts are calling for a global moratorium on heritable gene editing
Some of the biggest names in gene editing want to stop anyone from playing around with cells that pass on changes to the next generation. → Read More
Thousands of people are protesting Russia’s new internet bill
Protests have taken place in Russian cities, including Moscow, against the government’s plans to enforce tougher internet controls. → Read More
Facebook says it’s going to make it harder to access anti-vax misinformation
The social network says it is going to make it harder for people to find pages or posts that carry anti-vaccine sentiment. → Read More
The race to grow a more planet-friendly burger
Meat production spews tons of greenhouse gas and uses up too much land and water. Is there an alternative that won’t make us do without? → Read More
CERN wants to build a particle collider that’s four times bigger than the LHC
CERN wants to go super-sized. → Read More
German politicians have had their personal data hacked and then dumped online
The hack has hit hundreds of politicians from all major parties and includes bank details, emails, addresses, private chats, and ID card details. → Read More
This is the first picture of the moon’s far side taken by China’s probe after it landed
After Chang’e 4 safely touched down, the lander's cameras sent back this image of the Von Karman crater that its rover will now explore. → Read More
This is the first picture of the moon’s far side taken by China’s probe after it landed
After Chang’e 4 safely touched down, the lander’s cameras sent back this image of the Von Karman crater that its rover will now explore. → Read More
A NASA spacecraft just did a fly-by of the most distant object we’ve ever visited
NASA’s New Horizons space probe came to within 2,200 miles (3,500 kilometers) of Ultima Thule, a space rock that lies four billion miles from Earth—and looks to be shaped a little like a peanut. → Read More