News

Amazon offers assist with US COVID-19 vaccine distribution

Amazon is offering its colossal operations network and advanced technologies to assist President Joe Biden in his vow to get 100 million COVID-19 vaccinations to Americans in his first 100 days in office. “We are prepared to leverage our operations, information technology, and communications capabilities and expertise to assist your administration’s vaccination efforts,” wrote the […]

Chinese Embassy Twitter account locked for "dehumanization"

Twitter locked the account belonging to the Chinese Embassy in Washington after a tweet stated that Uighur women in Xinjiang have been emancipated and are no longer “baby making machines.” One of the final acts of the Trump administration this week was declaring that China’s policies and actions in regard to Muslims and ethnic minorities […]

Behind those dancing robots, scientists had to bust a move

The man who designed some of the world’s most advanced dynamic robots was on a daunting mission: programming his creations to dance to the beat with a mix of fluid, explosive and expressive motions that are almost human. The results? Almost a year and half of choreography, simulation, programming and upgrades that were capped by […]

European Central Bank faces gloomier picture for economy

The European Central Bank is looking at a darkening picture for the economy as infections and deaths surge. With more than a trillion euros of pandemic stimulus still in the pipeline, President Christine Lagarde is expected to underline Thursday that the bank has the means keep credit affordable and support the hoped-for recovery. Spiking virus […]

GM teams up with Microsoft on driverless cars

General Motors is teaming up with Microsoft to accelerate its rollout of electric, self-driving cars. In the partnership announced Tuesday, the companies said Microsoft’s Azure cloud and edge computing platform would be used to “commercialize its unique autonomous vehicle solutions at scale.” Microsoft joins General Motors, Honda and other institutional investors in a combined new […]

Cybersecurity firm: Booting hackers a complex chore

Efforts to assess the impact of a more than seven-month-old cyberespionage campaign blamed on Russia — and boot the intruders — remain in their early stages, says the cybersecurity firm that discovered the attack. The hack has badly shaken the U.S. government and private sector. The firm, FireEye, released a tool and a white paper […]

Prada intros anti-uniform during all-digital Fashion Week

No traffic jams, no rush to the next venue, no front rows — not even socially distanced. Milan Fashion Week is unfolding entirely on computer screens and social media platforms this round for the first time ever, as the persistent virus resurgence dashed any hopes of even a handful of physical shows. Luxury is in […]

Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit reaches space on 2nd try

Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit reached space on Sunday, eight months after the first demonstration flight of its air-launched rocket system failed, the company said. A 70-foot-long (21.34-meter-long) LauncherOne rocket was released from beneath the wing of a Boeing 747 carrier aircraft off the coast of Southern California, ignited moments later and soared toward space. The […]

EU regulator: Hackers 'manipulated' stolen vaccine documents

The European Union’s drug regulator said Friday that COVID-19 vaccine documents stolen from its servers by hackers have been not only leaked to the web, but “manipulated.” The European Medicines Agency said that an ongoing investigation showed that hackers obtained emails and documents from November related to the evaluation of experimental coronavirus vaccines. The agency, […]

Deaths, self-immolation draw scrutiny on China tech giants

E-commerce workers who kept China fed during the coronavirus pandemic, making their billionaire bosses even richer, are so unhappy with their pay and treatment that one just set himself on fire in protest. China’s internet industries already were known for long, demanding days. With millions of families confined at home, demand surged and employees delivered […]