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Dec 18, 2021

NSO iPhone malware builds a computer inside your phone to steal data

Posted by in categories: cybercrime/malcode, law, mobile phones

NSO Group, an Israeli tech firm, developed malware to hack iPhones by creating a “computer within a computer” capable of stealing sensitive data and sitting undetected for months or even years, researchers at Google have revealed.

The malware is part of NSO Group’s Pegasus software tool, which it is thought to have sold to countries including Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, India and the United Arab Emirates. US law-makers have called for sanctions against the firm.


An incredibly sophisticated piece of malware developed by the Israeli tech firm NSO Group works by creating an entirely separate computer inside the memory of an iPhone, allowing attackers to snoop and steal data.

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Dec 16, 2021

Elon Musk Says No Other CEO Cares About Safety as Much as Him

Posted by in categories: Elon Musk, law, robotics/AI, space travel

Referring to Tesla’s Autopilot and Full Self Driving features.

Elon Musk has claimed that no other CEO cares as much about safety as he does in an interview with Financial Times.

In the year that has seen his private wealth balloon like never before, Musk has also been showered with titles, beginning with the richest person in the world and more recently, the person of the year by Time Magazine. The Time accolade is probably one of the many titles Musk will receive as he embarks on his mission to send humanity to Moon with his space company, SpaceX.

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Dec 3, 2021

‘If Human, Kill’: Video Warns Of Need For Legal Controls On Killer Robots

Posted by in categories: drones, Elon Musk, law, military, robotics/AI, terrorism

A new video released by nonprofit The Future of Life Institute (FLI) highlights the risks posed by autonomous weapons or ‘killer robots’ – and the steps we can take to prevent them from being used. It even has Elon Musk scared.

Its original Slaughterbots video, released in 2017, was a short Black Mirror-style narrative showing how small quadcopters equipped with artificial intelligence and explosive warheads could become weapons of mass destruction. Initially developed for the military, the Slaughterbots end up being used by terrorists and criminals. As Professor Stuart Russell points out at the end of the video, all the technologies depicted already existed, but had not been put together.

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Dec 2, 2021

The Movement to Hold AI Accountable Gains More Steam

Posted by in categories: information science, law, robotics/AI

A New York City law requires algorithms used in hiring to be “audited” for bias. It’s the first in the US—and part of a larger push toward regulation.

Nov 21, 2021

Octopuses, crabs and lobsters to be recognised as sentient beings under UK law following LSE report findings

Posted by in categories: government, law

Octopuses, crabs and lobsters will receive greater welfare protection in UK law following an LSE report which demonstrates that there is strong scientific evidence that these animals have the capacity to experience pain, distress or harm.

The UK government has today confirmed that that the scope of the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill will be extended to all decapod crustaceans and cephalopod molluscs.

This move follows the findings of a government-commissioned independent review led by Dr Jonathan Birch. The review drew on over 300 existing scientific studies to evaluate evidence of sentience in cephalopods (including octopuses, squid and cuttlefish) and decapods (including crabs, lobsters and crayfish).

Nov 20, 2021

Calls grow for US to bolster defense against asteroid threat

Posted by in categories: asteroid/comet impacts, existential risks, government, law

Experts are sounding the alarm about the threat of asteroids to life on Earth — and warning that the United States does not have a clear plan to prevent catastrophe.

Though NASA says the odds are literally one in a millennium, no US agency is explicitly responsible if space rocks are headed our way.

“No one is tasked with mitigation,” former Air Force space strategist Peter Garretson, an expert in planetary defense told Politico. “Congress did put in law that the White House identify who should be responsible, but fully four subsequent administrations so far have blown off their request.”

Nov 19, 2021

Why is No One Talking About “Informed Consent?”

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, government, law

Informed consent not something we hear a lot about these days, which is kind of odd, given all the drugs our government currently insists that we take and how often those very same legal concepts are invoked for aboriginal rights and sexual assault cases.


“Informed consent” is a well understood legal doctrine in healthcare, requiring the healthcare provider (traditionally a doctor) to educate patients about the risks, benefits, and alternatives of any given recommended procedure or intervention, allowing the patient to make informed and “voluntary” decisions about whether to undergo the procedure.

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Nov 10, 2021

NASA update: What Blue Origin’s lawsuit means for crewed Artemis Moon missions

Posted by in categories: law, space travel

NASA might be going to the Moon a bit later.


NASA wants to send humans back to the Moon as part of the Artemis program, but Blue Origin’s legal action has pushed the launch back further.

Nov 6, 2021

Elon Musk proposes selling 10% of his Tesla stock in a Twitter poll

Posted by in categories: Elon Musk, law, sustainability, transportation

Billionaire Elon Musk on Saturday asked his Twitter followers to decide whether he should sell 10% of his Tesla stock, promising to “abide by the results of this poll, whichever way it goes.”

“Much is made lately of unrealized gains being a means of tax avoidance, so I propose selling 10% of my Tesla stock,” the electric car maker’s CEO said. He did not directly specify where that 10% would go.

This isn’t the first time Musk has taken aim at proposals in Washington that would tax billionaires’ net worth gains. Under current US tax law, assets like stocks are taxed only when they’re sold — what’s called a capital gain. But the richest of the rich in America probably aren’t selling off their massive stock portfolios; instead, their main form of income is the value that those assets accrue, or unrealized gains.

Nov 6, 2021

“The General Index”: New tool allows you to search 107 million research papers for free

Posted by in categories: computing, law, open access

A new database aims to make it easier than ever to access and search through the world’s massive trove of research papers.

Each year, millions of scientific and academic papers get published across thousands of journals. The majority of those papers lie behind paywalls, costing $9 to $30 (or more) to read. Finding them can be difficult: Tools like Google Scholar allow you to search for paper titles and keywords, but more specialized queries are difficult.

The General Index was designed to reduce those obstacles without breaking the law. Developed by the technologist Carl Malamud and his nonprofit foundation Public Resource, the free-to-use index contains words and phrases from more than 107 million research papers, comprising 8.5 terabytes when compressed.

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