WEBVTT - Tech News: I Never Metamate I Didn't Like 0:00:04.400 --> 0:00:07.800 Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 0:00:12.039 --> 0:00:14.600 Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 0:00:14.720 --> 0:00:18.000 Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with iHeart Radio. And 0:00:18.040 --> 0:00:24.040 how the tech are you Today? Is Thursday, February twenty two. 0:00:24.239 --> 0:00:27.840 Let us get to the tech news. Should be a 0:00:28.160 --> 0:00:30.760 nice quake episode today. And by now, I'm sure you've 0:00:30.800 --> 0:00:36.080 all heard how Mark Zuckerberg has gifted his underlings I'm sorry, peons, 0:00:36.920 --> 0:00:41.919 I'm sorry employees with a new designation. Yes, they are 0:00:42.040 --> 0:00:47.360 called meta mats. Now thanks, I hate it. He also 0:00:47.440 --> 0:00:50.040 said that a new corporate value for the company goes 0:00:50.080 --> 0:00:55.680 something like this meta meta mates me, which means that 0:00:55.960 --> 0:00:59.520 employees should think about what's important in that order, namely, 0:01:00.040 --> 0:01:03.440 first comes the company, then come the co workers, then 0:01:03.600 --> 0:01:06.520 comes yourself. And I just want to say, that's kind 0:01:06.520 --> 0:01:09.600 of messed up. All right, It's it's Jonathan soapbox time. 0:01:09.640 --> 0:01:12.720 You all get out the popcorn. We're gonna go early today. 0:01:12.760 --> 0:01:16.320 So you have likely heard the phrase the show must 0:01:16.400 --> 0:01:19.559 go on, which is an old theater phrase and it's 0:01:19.640 --> 0:01:23.600 toxic as all get out. So let me explain. The 0:01:23.600 --> 0:01:27.720 phrase suggests that the most important element here is the 0:01:27.760 --> 0:01:31.400 show that the show is more important than the people 0:01:31.440 --> 0:01:35.160 who are involved in making the show happen. So if 0:01:35.240 --> 0:01:38.240 you are a performer and you're sick or you're hurt, 0:01:38.560 --> 0:01:42.720 you gotta suck it up because the show must go on. 0:01:43.600 --> 0:01:46.200 The show is way more important than your personal health 0:01:46.200 --> 0:01:48.960 and well being. And if you happen to have the 0:01:49.000 --> 0:01:52.120 temerity to think that your own welfare is at least 0:01:52.160 --> 0:01:57.440 as important as the show, then you are an egomaniacal diva. 0:01:57.600 --> 0:02:02.160 Well I've got news for you. All actors are egomaniacal divas. 0:02:02.720 --> 0:02:06.200 We just are. It's just the ones who value their 0:02:06.200 --> 0:02:11.600 own welfare can often be portrayed as being the real jerks. Now, 0:02:11.639 --> 0:02:15.200 to be fair, some of them are real jerks. Some 0:02:15.240 --> 0:02:18.120 of them go beyond valuing their welfare and they think 0:02:18.160 --> 0:02:22.000 that the world revolves around them. But that's beside the 0:02:22.000 --> 0:02:25.440 point anyway. I feel this show must go on. Mentality 0:02:25.520 --> 0:02:29.800 has kind of benefited organizations at the cost of their 0:02:29.880 --> 0:02:34.640 own employees health and wellness for like ever, and I 0:02:34.680 --> 0:02:37.760 don't think that's a good mindset. And that doesn't even 0:02:37.800 --> 0:02:40.639 take into account the fact that meta mates is an 0:02:40.760 --> 0:02:45.400 awful thing to call here employees that seems dehumanizing to me, 0:02:45.760 --> 0:02:50.720 maybe because I'm still reeling from Meta's commercial during the 0:02:50.760 --> 0:02:54.440 Super Bowl, and I guess I shouldn't be surprised. So 0:02:54.919 --> 0:02:58.280 I think we could say that the spirit of the 0:02:58.360 --> 0:03:03.320 message is that an organization really only succeeds if the 0:03:03.400 --> 0:03:06.960 people who are working in that organization are working together 0:03:07.080 --> 0:03:10.560 toward a common goal, and that if everyone had a 0:03:10.600 --> 0:03:15.040 more kind of self centered approach, then nothing would get accomplished. 0:03:15.320 --> 0:03:17.400 And I can get behind that. I can understand that 0:03:17.440 --> 0:03:21.000 the idea that, hey, this enterprise only works if we 0:03:21.080 --> 0:03:24.240 all work together. I get that. It's just that this 0:03:24.320 --> 0:03:28.480 particular phrasing doesn't read that way to me. It almost 0:03:28.520 --> 0:03:31.799 sounds more like this is what's important, and you are 0:03:31.919 --> 0:03:36.360 like third on the list. Yuck. Earlier this week, I 0:03:36.400 --> 0:03:39.720 talked about how research shows a significant percentage of hacker 0:03:39.760 --> 0:03:44.680 activity originates out of Russia. No big surprise there. Well, yesterday, 0:03:44.720 --> 0:03:48.320 the US intelligence community published an alert saying that Russian 0:03:48.360 --> 0:03:53.400 hackers have been compromising defense contractors and subcontractors in an 0:03:53.400 --> 0:03:57.800 effort to steal information regarding US defenses. The alert said 0:03:57.840 --> 0:04:01.000 that a pattern of regular targeting of these companies dates 0:04:01.000 --> 0:04:04.480 back to at least January twenty twenty, and according to 0:04:04.520 --> 0:04:08.440 the alert, the data in question relates to quote US 0:04:08.520 --> 0:04:14.600 weapons platforms, development and deployment timelines, vehicle specifications, and plans 0:04:14.600 --> 0:04:19.719 for communications, infrastructure, and information technology end quote. That is 0:04:19.800 --> 0:04:23.679 really bad news for the United States. And I'm definitely 0:04:23.680 --> 0:04:27.440 not surprised at this thing, at the fact that Russia 0:04:27.440 --> 0:04:30.240 has been targeting those systems. Cyber warfare is just a 0:04:30.320 --> 0:04:33.520 fact of life right now. Also, I can guarantee you 0:04:33.720 --> 0:04:37.280 that the United States is trying and potentially succeeding at 0:04:37.320 --> 0:04:40.159 doing the exact same thing to Russia. We just don't 0:04:40.240 --> 0:04:45.360 hear about that typically, But I I would be shocked 0:04:45.680 --> 0:04:48.599 to learn that we don't have anything related to those 0:04:48.680 --> 0:04:52.000 kinds of activities going on here in the States. The 0:04:52.080 --> 0:04:56.000 upsetting thing is hearing how these attacks have actually been effective, 0:04:56.520 --> 0:05:00.400 because a lot of them apparently are using bay sick 0:05:00.680 --> 0:05:05.320 tactics that could easily be defeated with just the bare 0:05:05.680 --> 0:05:09.320 minimum amount of attention and care. Stuff that folks should 0:05:09.360 --> 0:05:13.200 be aware of by now, Like spear phishing attempts. You 0:05:13.240 --> 0:05:15.400 know what phishing attempts are. That's when someone's trying to 0:05:15.440 --> 0:05:19.520 trick you into giving up information. Spear Fishing is a 0:05:19.520 --> 0:05:22.760 little bit more targeted, right, You are using what you 0:05:22.800 --> 0:05:27.520 know about your target to improve the chances of fooling 0:05:27.520 --> 0:05:30.359 them into giving you information. And you would think that 0:05:30.480 --> 0:05:34.440 defense contractors would have a pretty good process to identify 0:05:34.560 --> 0:05:37.159 and prevent that kind of thing from happening. But I 0:05:37.200 --> 0:05:39.919 guess it just proves that people continue to be the 0:05:40.000 --> 0:05:44.480 weakest link in any security system. Uh So we won't 0:05:44.520 --> 0:05:47.520 have a perfect information security system until we get rid 0:05:47.560 --> 0:05:49.560 of people, I guess, is what I'm saying, Not that 0:05:49.640 --> 0:05:51.760 I want to get rid of people. That kind of 0:05:52.560 --> 0:05:56.680 ends up making the whole thing moot. If you live 0:05:56.720 --> 0:05:59.719 in an apartment in the United States, well, the fc 0:06:00.040 --> 0:06:02.240 CE just gave you more options when it comes to 0:06:02.279 --> 0:06:07.719 Internet service providers. And here's the sitch. Sometimes landlords someone 0:06:07.760 --> 0:06:13.320 who owns a multi tenant building of some sort, they 0:06:13.360 --> 0:06:17.080 will make a sweetheart deal with a specific Internet service 0:06:17.120 --> 0:06:20.400 provider and that makes that I s P the only 0:06:20.520 --> 0:06:24.279 provider for that building. So anyone living inside the building 0:06:24.680 --> 0:06:27.960 has no choice when it comes to an I s P. 0:06:28.520 --> 0:06:31.720 They either pay for service from that one provider that 0:06:31.800 --> 0:06:34.359 the landlord made an agreement with, or they have to 0:06:34.400 --> 0:06:38.840 go without internet service. Now, technically this was already against 0:06:38.880 --> 0:06:41.400 the rules in the United States, but there were various 0:06:41.440 --> 0:06:44.320 loopholes that landlords and I s p s could use 0:06:44.360 --> 0:06:48.040 to assentially ignore the rules. Now the f c C, 0:06:48.440 --> 0:06:52.400 which is the Federal Communications Commission, has passed a four 0:06:52.760 --> 0:06:58.440 to zero vote to close those loopholes. That is awesome, 0:06:58.720 --> 0:07:02.360 particularly since the CC currently has an equal split of 0:07:02.400 --> 0:07:06.920 Democrat and Republican reps sitting at it. So it's very 0:07:07.040 --> 0:07:10.720 rare to find a topic where both of those parties 0:07:10.720 --> 0:07:15.520 will actually align and support it in an a unanimous vote. 0:07:15.600 --> 0:07:21.200 That like never happens, So that's nice. And uh, you know, 0:07:21.600 --> 0:07:23.720 there's still one empty seat on the f c C. 0:07:24.240 --> 0:07:25.880 That's something that a lot of people are kind of 0:07:25.920 --> 0:07:29.000 irritated about because they would love to see the FCC 0:07:29.160 --> 0:07:32.920 at full operation, particularly because that would mean you would 0:07:32.960 --> 0:07:36.120 have a tie breaking vote, a three to two vote, 0:07:36.360 --> 0:07:40.400 and uh, because we're talking about a democratic administration, it 0:07:40.400 --> 0:07:44.080 would mean a Democrat sitting at that extra seat, but 0:07:44.200 --> 0:07:47.120 that has not been filled as of yet. Anyway, the 0:07:47.160 --> 0:07:50.720 hope is that now these loopholes have been closed and 0:07:50.760 --> 0:07:52.720 competing I s p s will be able to get 0:07:52.760 --> 0:07:55.880 access to those buildings that previously had been off limits. 0:07:55.880 --> 0:07:59.400 To them and tenants or choices when it comes to 0:08:00.040 --> 0:08:03.360 choosing an internet service provider, and here in America, a 0:08:03.360 --> 0:08:05.960 lot of places have very limited options when it comes 0:08:06.000 --> 0:08:09.160 to internet service. For example, at my home in the 0:08:09.200 --> 0:08:13.200 city of Atlanta, I essentially have two broadband options for 0:08:13.280 --> 0:08:16.400 cable based internet, and then one other one if I 0:08:16.480 --> 0:08:20.600 wanted satellite and to have the slowest internet ever, Folks 0:08:20.600 --> 0:08:23.880 who live in apartments typically don't even get that limited 0:08:23.960 --> 0:08:26.480 amount of choice. So here's hoping this means we're going 0:08:26.520 --> 0:08:28.440 to see a big change for people who are living 0:08:28.440 --> 0:08:31.760 in apartment buildings and such, though there are several consumer 0:08:31.800 --> 0:08:34.600 advocacy groups that are saying we're likely to see more 0:08:34.679 --> 0:08:37.760 loopholes pop up, and what we really need is a 0:08:37.880 --> 0:08:43.440 full FCC that is capable of taking larger steps towards 0:08:43.480 --> 0:08:48.400 preventing that practice from continuing. Well, we all know that 0:08:48.520 --> 0:08:51.880 meta slash Facebook has been hurt pretty badly by Apple's 0:08:51.960 --> 0:08:56.880 changed to iOS. That is that Apple gave iOS users 0:08:56.920 --> 0:09:01.720 the opportunity to opt out of app tracking or app 0:09:01.800 --> 0:09:04.640 based tracking, and that meant that iPhone owners and alike 0:09:04.720 --> 0:09:07.920 could decide to not feed into Facebook's tried and true 0:09:07.960 --> 0:09:11.600 method of gobbling up user data to aid in its 0:09:11.800 --> 0:09:16.280 business of targeted advertising. So the company reportedly lost out 0:09:16.320 --> 0:09:19.880 on like ten billion dollars of revenue last year because 0:09:19.920 --> 0:09:24.199 of this change to iOS. Well, now Alphabet slash Google 0:09:24.480 --> 0:09:27.520 is following suit. The company announced yesterday that it is 0:09:27.640 --> 0:09:30.679 updating its own policies that would restrict how apps can 0:09:30.720 --> 0:09:34.640 share user data with third parties. But Alphabet's approach is 0:09:34.679 --> 0:09:37.520 going to be a little bit different. In fact, in 0:09:37.600 --> 0:09:41.040 the announcement, there is a passage that reads, quote, other 0:09:41.200 --> 0:09:45.200 platforms have taken a different approach to ads privacy, bluntly 0:09:45.280 --> 0:09:49.520 restricting existing technologies used by developers and advertisers. End quote. 0:09:50.000 --> 0:09:52.760 I put the sas in that, But no, there's sass there. 0:09:52.800 --> 0:09:55.880 It looks like it's targeting Apple, saying Apples using a 0:09:56.280 --> 0:10:01.000 hammer instead of say, a scalpel. So Google's approach will 0:10:01.000 --> 0:10:03.360 allow for some sort of wiggle room, it seems. And 0:10:03.360 --> 0:10:05.360 the company has also said it's not going to implement 0:10:05.400 --> 0:10:07.800 these changes for another two years, and that will give 0:10:07.840 --> 0:10:11.680 developers and advertisers time to prepare for that and to 0:10:11.760 --> 0:10:15.800 create new plans and strategies. So it doesn't sound like 0:10:15.840 --> 0:10:18.160 it's going to be quite as severe a change as 0:10:18.240 --> 0:10:21.120 Apple's approach, but it can still pose a threat to 0:10:21.160 --> 0:10:24.959 revenue for companies like Meta down the line. Okay, we've 0:10:25.000 --> 0:10:27.360 got some more news stories to cover before we get 0:10:27.360 --> 0:10:37.800 to those, Let's take a quick break. Hi. Are you 0:10:37.880 --> 0:10:40.839 Canadian or do you use a Canadian bank? No, this 0:10:40.880 --> 0:10:43.160 isn't an ad this is this is a news story. 0:10:43.440 --> 0:10:45.600 If you are a Canadian or use a Canadian bank, 0:10:45.640 --> 0:10:48.360 you might have been experiencing some pretty rough issues with 0:10:48.440 --> 0:10:52.640 your bank recently. Uh So, yesterday on Wednesday, online services 0:10:52.640 --> 0:10:56.320 went down for five major banks in Canada, including the 0:10:56.400 --> 0:10:59.760 Royal Bank of Canada. Customers found it impossible to perform 0:10:59.760 --> 0:11:03.520 by sick tasks like e transfers and mobile banking, and 0:11:03.559 --> 0:11:06.440 there were reports of people being unable to pay for 0:11:06.480 --> 0:11:09.679 purchases at the point of sale due to this outage. 0:11:10.160 --> 0:11:13.320 It happened yesterday evening, and as of this recording, there 0:11:13.320 --> 0:11:16.000 has not yet been an explanation as to what happened. 0:11:16.640 --> 0:11:19.360 Uh and in some cases it sounds like services are 0:11:19.400 --> 0:11:23.200 continuing to be disrupted. Uh. There is some speculation about 0:11:23.240 --> 0:11:26.319 what happened, but since that speculation lacks any evidence as 0:11:26.360 --> 0:11:28.079 of the time I'm recording this, I'm not going to 0:11:28.160 --> 0:11:31.240 talk about it until we learn more. We have seen 0:11:31.320 --> 0:11:34.960 big outages and services father online stuff before, but it's 0:11:35.280 --> 0:11:38.839 is unusual to see something that's specifically affecting a single 0:11:39.040 --> 0:11:43.400 sector banking in this case, and stretching across multiple institutions, 0:11:43.400 --> 0:11:45.960 which is pretty freaky. I'll be sure to follow up 0:11:45.960 --> 0:11:48.240 on this once we know more about what is going on. 0:11:48.880 --> 0:11:51.840 In the state of California, lawmakers are working on legislation 0:11:51.840 --> 0:11:54.760 that would put tighter restrictions on how big tech companies 0:11:54.800 --> 0:11:58.400 in the state can collect and use children's personal information. 0:11:58.920 --> 0:12:01.840 Uh It's modeled after a similar code in the UK, 0:12:02.480 --> 0:12:05.040 and the California proposal would mean that big tech companies 0:12:05.080 --> 0:12:07.760 like Meta and Alphabet would have to limit how much 0:12:07.840 --> 0:12:12.000 data they collect from young users and restrict their use 0:12:12.000 --> 0:12:15.440 of targeted advertising to kids and prevent them from using 0:12:15.480 --> 0:12:19.760 various tricks to tempt kids, to sidestep privacy protections, and 0:12:19.800 --> 0:12:23.079 also to knockoff location tracking for children within the state. 0:12:23.760 --> 0:12:26.640 And we've seen kind of a general move towards raining 0:12:26.679 --> 0:12:29.080 in big text influence over the last couple of years, 0:12:29.080 --> 0:12:32.120 particularly when it comes to how tech can impact children. 0:12:32.480 --> 0:12:35.120 In fact, that's the surface level reason the earn It 0:12:35.320 --> 0:12:37.560 Act is going through the U. S. Senate. I talked 0:12:37.559 --> 0:12:40.480 about earn it earlier this week and how that legislation, 0:12:40.520 --> 0:12:42.880 if passed into law, could be a death sentence for 0:12:43.040 --> 0:12:45.680 end to end encrypted communication here in the United States. 0:12:46.280 --> 0:12:48.640 I would say earn it is a bad approach to 0:12:48.679 --> 0:12:52.319 trying to protect kids. But these restrictions, you know, limiting 0:12:52.360 --> 0:12:55.120 how companies can collect information and what they can do 0:12:55.160 --> 0:12:57.640 with it, that seems like a pretty good step to me. 0:12:59.120 --> 0:13:02.600 On a national In the United States, senators have introduced 0:13:02.600 --> 0:13:06.680 the Kids Online Safety Act. This legislation is meant to 0:13:06.800 --> 0:13:10.280 counteract the harmful effects certain online platforms seem to have 0:13:10.360 --> 0:13:13.080 on children. You might remember the big story of the 0:13:13.080 --> 0:13:17.440 Facebook leak last year, and that internal documents from Facebook 0:13:17.440 --> 0:13:20.760 indicated that folks at Meta you know, the parent company, 0:13:20.800 --> 0:13:23.840 are aware of the harmful effects that platforms like Instagram 0:13:23.920 --> 0:13:27.320 can have on some users, particularly young girls and young women. 0:13:28.040 --> 0:13:30.400 That's the sort of thing this Act is meant to 0:13:30.440 --> 0:13:34.079 target the risk that platforms could contribute to serious mental 0:13:34.120 --> 0:13:38.800 health issues like eating disorders, substance abuse, and even suicide. 0:13:39.280 --> 0:13:42.520 The Act calls for platforms that could be quote reasonably 0:13:42.600 --> 0:13:45.840 likely to be used in quote by people under the 0:13:45.840 --> 0:13:49.400 age of sixteen to institute more protections so that those 0:13:49.520 --> 0:13:52.880 users aren't presented with images and posts that promote things 0:13:52.880 --> 0:13:55.679 that can be harmful to mental health. The Act calls 0:13:55.720 --> 0:13:58.520 for platforms to institute limits that would prevent people from 0:13:58.559 --> 0:14:02.000 specifically seeking out younger users, and it would also restrict 0:14:02.000 --> 0:14:04.760 how much data the platforms could collect from younger users, 0:14:04.840 --> 0:14:08.280 similar to the California proposal we just talked about. Also, 0:14:08.440 --> 0:14:12.000 the Act would require platforms to make restricted settings the default, 0:14:12.360 --> 0:14:14.480 and that is a big deal. I think a lot 0:14:14.520 --> 0:14:17.720 of platforms try to skirt issues with having their data 0:14:17.800 --> 0:14:22.960 tracking abilities restricted by making those opt out choices rather 0:14:23.000 --> 0:14:25.720 than opt in choices, like you opt out of having 0:14:25.720 --> 0:14:28.840 your data tracked, and some go a step further and 0:14:28.840 --> 0:14:32.960 they bury in the opt out settings deep in the menu, 0:14:33.080 --> 0:14:36.000 so they make it really unlikely that the majority of 0:14:36.000 --> 0:14:37.960 people are actually going to go hunting for the setting 0:14:38.000 --> 0:14:42.320 to turn off data tracking, so the access you can't 0:14:42.320 --> 0:14:46.400 do that there. The opt out has to be the default. 0:14:46.960 --> 0:14:50.040 You have to opt into having things tracked. And uh. 0:14:50.160 --> 0:14:53.440 The Act also doesn't have a size requirement as far 0:14:53.480 --> 0:14:55.920 as the companies go. That doesn't matter how big or 0:14:55.960 --> 0:14:59.320 small the platform is. If it is reasonably likely to 0:14:59.360 --> 0:15:02.400 be used by children, the law will apply to that platform. 0:15:02.760 --> 0:15:04.600 So a lot of other laws tend to have like 0:15:04.640 --> 0:15:07.280 a restriction that say you have to have a certain 0:15:07.360 --> 0:15:10.720 number of users for you to be held accountable to 0:15:10.760 --> 0:15:13.480 that law. That's not the case here. And of course 0:15:13.520 --> 0:15:15.320 this is not a law yet. It will have to 0:15:15.360 --> 0:15:17.320 pass a vote in both the Senate and the House 0:15:17.320 --> 0:15:20.280 and get approved by the President before that happens, and 0:15:20.320 --> 0:15:23.080 it is quite possible that it could be changed significantly 0:15:23.160 --> 0:15:25.240 before it gets to that point, or it could just 0:15:25.480 --> 0:15:29.360 die on the floor. A lot of legislation does. The 0:15:29.400 --> 0:15:32.880 website Motherboard recently received a recording said to be from 0:15:32.920 --> 0:15:37.120 a mandatory anti union meeting held in Amazon's JFK eight 0:15:37.200 --> 0:15:40.960 warehouse up in New York. That's the warehouse that initially 0:15:41.000 --> 0:15:43.760 failed to get enough signatures to force a union vote 0:15:43.880 --> 0:15:47.000 last year, but now is back on track and got 0:15:47.040 --> 0:15:49.040 the signatures and now it's going to hold a vote. 0:15:49.480 --> 0:15:53.360 So at this mandatory meeting, a representative laid out the 0:15:53.440 --> 0:15:58.000 supposed risks involved if workers were to sign to join 0:15:58.040 --> 0:16:01.280 a union. You might remember that Amazon employees at a 0:16:01.280 --> 0:16:04.920 warehouse in Alabama held a union vote that failed, but 0:16:05.000 --> 0:16:08.320 then the National Labor Relations Board or in l r B, 0:16:09.040 --> 0:16:11.720 gave them a do over after the n l RB 0:16:11.880 --> 0:16:15.880 concluded that Amazon the company had interfered with the union 0:16:15.920 --> 0:16:19.680 election process in an effort to prevent a union from forming, 0:16:20.120 --> 0:16:25.400 well actively discouraging employees by threatening them, in this case, 0:16:25.440 --> 0:16:28.080 by suggesting that they could see a reduction in wages 0:16:28.120 --> 0:16:31.480 if they joined a union and implying that there could 0:16:31.480 --> 0:16:34.240 be no limit to how high union dues would be. 0:16:35.040 --> 0:16:37.920 That kind of falls into that category too. And if 0:16:37.960 --> 0:16:41.000 this recording is in fact legitimate, and I have no 0:16:41.080 --> 0:16:44.480 reason to believe otherwise, it could really be a massive 0:16:44.520 --> 0:16:47.520 blow against Amazon. The vote on whether or not to 0:16:47.680 --> 0:16:51.040 unionize should happen late next month, so we'll keep an 0:16:51.040 --> 0:16:53.880 eye on this story to see where it goes. And finally, 0:16:54.240 --> 0:16:57.600 there's a really cool article and Wired titled deep mind 0:16:57.760 --> 0:17:01.120 has trained an AI to control nuclear your fusion that 0:17:01.240 --> 0:17:03.880 I recommend you check out if you're interested in stuff 0:17:03.880 --> 0:17:08.679 like fusion, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. I'll give the highlights, 0:17:08.720 --> 0:17:11.760 but seriously, you should read the article if you can. So. First, 0:17:12.280 --> 0:17:15.439 nuclear fusion is the process by which you release energy 0:17:15.640 --> 0:17:18.879 by fusing two atoms together to make a heavier atom. 0:17:19.520 --> 0:17:22.640 This is the nuclear process that takes place in stars 0:17:22.680 --> 0:17:25.880 like the Sun. If we could create a nuclear reactor 0:17:26.040 --> 0:17:31.160 capable of holding sustained fusion reactions, we could revolutionize how 0:17:31.640 --> 0:17:36.439 we generate an access energy. Uh, build a few of 0:17:36.480 --> 0:17:40.840 those working fusion reactors, and you would solve energy crises 0:17:40.920 --> 0:17:43.639 around the world. Plus you wouldn't have to worry about 0:17:43.760 --> 0:17:46.399 dangerous radioactive waste the way you have to do with 0:17:46.520 --> 0:17:50.320 nuclear fission reactors. Fission is the type of nuclear power 0:17:50.440 --> 0:17:52.359 we rely on now. That's when you take a heavy 0:17:52.400 --> 0:17:55.560 atom and you split it up and you release energy 0:17:55.560 --> 0:17:58.000 in the process. But I don't know if you've noticed, 0:17:58.680 --> 0:18:01.240 things are a little different here on Earth than they 0:18:01.280 --> 0:18:04.920 are on the Sun. We don't have the intense heat 0:18:05.359 --> 0:18:08.560 and we don't have the incredible gravitational forces that you 0:18:08.600 --> 0:18:11.560 would find on the Sun. So it is very challenging 0:18:11.600 --> 0:18:16.280 to push tiny atoms together with enough energy to get 0:18:16.320 --> 0:18:19.720 them to fuse. So a lot of our fusion work 0:18:19.760 --> 0:18:22.720 has been a net loss, where we're pouring more energy 0:18:22.760 --> 0:18:26.359 into making the reaction happen, then we're getting out of 0:18:26.400 --> 0:18:29.919 the reaction itself. So the way we push atoms together, 0:18:30.119 --> 0:18:33.199 since we don't have that incredible gravitational force of the 0:18:33.240 --> 0:18:36.800 sun is we use powerful magnetic fields, and if we 0:18:36.800 --> 0:18:40.800 could control these magnetic fields more precisely and efficiently, we 0:18:40.880 --> 0:18:45.320 could potentially make massive improvements towards sustained fusion reactions. This 0:18:45.359 --> 0:18:47.960 is where deep mind is coming in. Deep Mind emerged 0:18:48.000 --> 0:18:50.439 from Google's secret R and D division years ago, and 0:18:50.480 --> 0:18:54.040 it focuses primarily on machine learning. So the task at 0:18:54.040 --> 0:18:57.480 hand was teaching an AI computer system how to control 0:18:57.560 --> 0:19:01.480 a complicated series of magnets to manipulate a magnetic field 0:19:01.560 --> 0:19:04.119 in such a way to get the optimal result in 0:19:04.200 --> 0:19:08.000 a plasma that contains fusing atoms. Like I said, this 0:19:08.080 --> 0:19:10.399 is just a highlight of what is covered in the article. 0:19:11.200 --> 0:19:13.640 It is fascinating stuff and it could end up being 0:19:13.640 --> 0:19:16.600 a significant step toward making fusion go from science fiction 0:19:17.040 --> 0:19:22.600 to reality eventually. So check out that article. And that's 0:19:22.640 --> 0:19:26.879 it for the news for Thursday, February two. If you 0:19:26.960 --> 0:19:29.160 have any suggestions for topics I should cover in future 0:19:29.160 --> 0:19:31.679 episodes of tech Stuff, reach out to me on Twitter. 0:19:31.920 --> 0:19:35.800 Handle is text stuff hs W I'll talk to you again, 0:19:36.640 --> 0:19:44.920 really sick. Text Stuff is an I Heart Radio production. 0:19:45.160 --> 0:19:47.960 For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit the i 0:19:48.080 --> 0:19:51.320 heart radio, app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to 0:19:51.359 --> 0:19:52.280 your favorite shows.