Author: The Conversation

Imagine running on a cement footpath, and then suddenly through dry sand. Just to keep upright, you would have to slow down and change the way you run. In the same way, a walking robot would have to change its gait to handle different surfaces. Generally, we humans and most robots can only change how we run. But what if we could also change the shape of our bodies to run as fast and safely as possible on any surface? We would like to rely on robots for difficult and dangerous tasks, from inspecting failed nuclear reactors to space exploration. For these…

Thomas Jefferson, the American statesman and third US president, was many things (including, notoriously, a slave-owner). But whatever else he was (or wasn’t), he was a firm believer in what he called the “suffrage of the people” — what today we’d call democracy. The democracy he had in mind, of course, wasn’t a truly “general suffrage” of all citizens: in its most ambitious form it enfranchised only male taxpayers and soldiers. It was also far removed from the classical ideal set by Ancient Athens, in which all eligible citizens gathered regularly to debate and settle policy. Still, even Jefferson’s limited…

Over the past year, our lives have seen extensive changes which have led to many of us feeling a sense of exhaustion and burnout. The luckiest among us have been able to remove ourselves from harm’s way and work from home during the pandemic. We now spend our days looking at a screen, with a great deal of our communication taking place via video calls. This has led to what has been termed “zoom fatigue”, where our brains are exhausted from overstimulation. Aside from the eye strain of looking at a screen all day (if we are not looking at a…

Léa hated 2020. She missed out on a high school graduation ceremony, a class trip to Spain and her graduation dance. She was also deprived of the excitement that came with starting college — the welcome parties, living her first moments of adult life, taking responsibility for her career and life choices — and just having more freedom. Instead, Léa spent hours staring at her tablet and her computer, whether it was to do online courses, watch a TV show like Pandemic or catch up with her friends. The year ended in a blur — not the blur of an uncertain future,…

If Apple and other tech companies have their way, it will only become harder to have our phones and other devices repaired by third-party businesses. Smartphones and many other tech devices are increasingly being designed in ways that make it challenging to repair or replace individual components. This might involve soldering the processor and flash memory to the motherboard, gluing components together unnecessarily, or using non-standard pentalobe screws which make replacements problematic. Many submissions to an Australian “right to repair” inquiry have called on tech manufacturers to provide a fair and competitive market for repairs, and produce products that are easily repairable. The right…

Search engines are one of society’s primary gateways to information and people, but they are also conduits for misinformation. Similar to problematic social media algorithms, search engines learn to serve you what you and others have clicked on before. Because people are drawn to the sensational, this dance between algorithms and human nature can foster the spread of misinformation. Search engine companies, like most online services, make money not only by selling ads, but also by tracking users and selling their data through real-time bidding on it. People are often led to misinformation by their desire for sensational and entertaining news as well…

Google has announced plans to stop using tracking cookies on its Chrome browser by 2022, replacing them with a group profiling system in a move the company says will plot “a course towards a more privacy-friendly web”. The change is significant. Chrome commands some two-thirds of the web browser market. Third-party tracking cookies, meanwhile, underpin much of the targeted advertising industry. And, while Mozilla’s Firefox and Apple’s Safari have already stopped supporting third-party cookies, Google is the first firm to produce replacement advertising support. Rather than tracking and targeting you on an individual basis, Google’s alternative groups you instead into a crowd of people with similar…

More than ever before, as pandemic conditions persist, the threat of data breaches and cyberattacks continues to grow. COVID-19 has permanently changed organizational culture and behaviour. Recognizing these changes is the first in a series of steps to mitigate them once this pandemic ends, and before the next. As we enter the second year of the pandemic and temporary measures seem more permanent, there are five ways that cybersecurity has forever been altered: 1. Working from home What began as a temporary measure to isolate employees in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19 has morphed into a more permanent,…

A couple of days ago, the musician Grimes sold some animations she made with her brother Mac on a website called Nifty Gateway. Some were one-offs, while others were limited editions of a few hundred – and all were snapped up in about 20 minutes, with total takings of more than US$6 million. Despite the steep price tag, anybody can watch or (with a simple right-click) save a copy of the videos, which show a cherub ascending over Mars, Earth, and imaginary landscapes. Rather than a copy of the files themselves, the eager buyers received a special kind of tradable certificate called a “non-fungible token” or…

There’s a global shortage in semiconductors, and it’s becoming increasingly serious. The US is currently reviewing of its supply of the technology, following a landmark executive order from President Joe Biden. The president also pledged US$37 billion (£26 billion) to cover the short-term costs of rebuilding and securing America’s supply of semiconductors, which are a fundamental part of microchips and thus integral to everything from computers to smartphones to renewable energy and military hardware. The automotive sector has been worst affected by the drought, in an era where microchips now form the backbone of most cars. Ford is predicting a 20% slump in production and…