We live in our smartphones, anthropologists say
Monday, 10 May 2021 15:29 GMT
ARCHIVE PHOTO: A schoolboy shows his mobile phone to a rickshaw puller takign him and other students to school on a cold winter morning in the old quarters of Delhi January 30, 2014. REUTERS/Anindito Mukherjee
About our Technology coverage We explore how data and technology are impacting people’s rights and societies.
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By Umberto Bacchi
May 10 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - According to the saying, there s no place like home. But a group of anthropologists argue that smartphones have become so fundamental to human life, they are like places people live rather than mere tools of communication.
Forests as big as France have grown back since 2000, research shows Reuters 2 days ago
By Umberto Bacchi
May 11 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - From Mongolia to southern Brazil, forests big enough to cover France have grown back during the last 20 years, but the gains did not make up for losses elsewhere, a study found on Tuesday.
An analysis of satellite data by a team of researchers led by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), a conservation group, revealed that almost 59 million hectares (146 million acres) of forests have regenerated since 2000.
That much forest has the potential to absorb 5.9 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) - more than the annual emissions of the United States, according to the study.
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(Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Cities embracing technology to improve urban life risk falling prey to hackers, Britain’s cyber security agency warned on Friday, urging local authorities to ensure smart cities are armed with digital defences.
Criminals and foreign governments can target technologies deployed to improve city services such as sensors and internet-connected devices to steal sensitive data and cause disruption, said Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).
“New digital technology is going to improve our lives and help protect the environment, but it is essential we take steps now to make connected places more resilient to cyber attacks,” Digital Infrastructure Minister Matt Warman said in a statement.
Spotify urged to rule out invasive voice recognition tech Reuters 7 hrs ago
By Umberto Bacchi
May 4 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A coalition of musicians and human rights groups urged music streaming company Spotify on Tuesday to rule out possible use of a speech recognition tool it recently developed to suggest songs - describing the technology as creepy and invasive .
In January, Sweden-based Spotify patented a technology that analyses users speech and background noise to suggest tracks based on their mood, gender, age, accent or surroundings.
The company did not immediately reply to a request for comment, pointing instead to a letter it published in April in which it said it has never implemented the tool in its products and does not plan to do so in the future.