Author Archives: Loknath Das

Kids are doing ‘real science’ in this school with technology, nature

Metro-East Montessori School teacher Carrie Wilson Herndon won two awards for innovative use of technology in her classroom. Her students are making robots that can open a chicken cage, another robot that collects eggs, and another that can provide water to the birds. The students also don protective beekeeper suits and take care of honeybee hives the school maintains at ... Read More »

Predicting Emerging Tech Market Trends Beyond 2020

The pace of change in consumer electronics is break-neck. Technology labeled “emerging” last year may very well be fully matured already—or it could be labeled a bust and be deemed “the next 3D TV.” In all honesty, it’s tough writing about any of the consumer tech markets you’ll see in the next few pages and labeling them as emerging. Virtual ... Read More »

Broken teeth, broken guitar: Is social media the ultimate leveller?

The victim, Dr David Dao and (inset) Oscar Munoz president and chief executive officer of United. No adult in the world with an internet connection would have missed David Dao’s recent agony on board a United Airlines aircraft. Grainy, moving images of the 69-year-old being dragged down the aisle — and horrified reactions from fellow passengers and global viewers — ... Read More »

LinkedIn Brings Back Most Recent Option for Feed, Adds Read Receipts for Messages

I don’t know about the new LinkedIn changes. I’m generally fairly relaxed on changes and updates, whether I personally like them or not – I assume the user data has lead them to this or that update, and most of the time they end up providing a better experience. Most of the time. On LinkedIn, however – which, it’s worth noting, ... Read More »

Earth Day 2017 Google Doodle Offers Earth Day Tips

Earth Day tips is the theme of Earth Day 2017 Google doodle, and Google is offering tips of its own via the animated message on its home page: eat less meat, opt for carpooling, and unplug unused electronic devices – do your bit and make a huge difference to saving Earth. Doing these small things could go a long way ... Read More »

General election 2017 Corbyn attacks Tories over super-sized classes

Labour says children are being crammed “like sardines” into “super-sized” school classes, as it focuses its general election campaign on education. The party said 40,000 primary age children were taught in classes of 36 or more in England in 2016, blaming “broken promises” by the government. But the Tories said Labour’s attacks were “a massive own goal”. They said the ... Read More »

Venture capitalists look beyond tech to the dietary supplements market. Scientists express worry

How do you stay sharp and fit despite fatigue and age? By consuming substances extracted from blueberries, flowers and algae, say the makers of a new group of unregulated and unproven health pills. Trusting natural chemicals to solve inevitable ailments is familiar to anyone who has visited a GNC store or contributed to the $30 billion spent annually in the ... Read More »

Violence not something that social media can easily tame

It’s been a bad week for Facebook. First, a Cleveland killer livestreamed the act of murder through the app’s Live feature. Then, days later, a shooter in Fresno left behind a Facebook page littered with threats against the president and “white devils.” In one sense, for the social media behemoth, the storm of dismay and distress won’t be hard to ... Read More »

Alphabet claims Uber was hiding the self-driving technology that it allegedly ripped off

A new court filing from Alphabet claims that Uber hid a key piece of self-driving technology that it allegedly copied from Waymo, the Google parent company’s autonomous vehicle subsidiary. “They were hiding a device,” Alphabet said in a filing today, supporting its motion for a preliminary injunction that would prevent Uber from working on self-driving technology. Uber says it isn’t ... Read More »

Paris Champs Elysees attack gunman named as Karim Cheurfi

The gunman killed after shooting dead a policeman on the Champs Elysees has been named by the Paris prosecutor as Karim Cheurfi, a convicted criminal. He used a Kalashnikov assault rifle to kill the police officer with two bullets to the head, François Molins told journalists in the French capital. A note defending so-called Islamic State was found near his ... Read More »