Visit our website
New America Cypbersecurity Initiative
New America Cypbersecurity Initiative
MIT Technology Review
MIT Technology Review
io9
io9
Techdirt
Techdirt
Knowledge@Wharton
Knowledge@Wharton
Bioscience Technology
Bioscience Technology
redOrbit
redOrbit
Technology & Marketing Law Blog
Technology & Marketing Law Blog
Popular Science Blog
Popular Science Blog
Pew Research Center
Pew Research Center
Genomics Law Report
Genomics Law Report
Science 2.0
Science 2.0
The Guardian Headquarters
The Guardian Headquarters
Genetic Literacy Project
Genetic Literacy Project
Disclaimer

Statements posted on this blog represent the views of individual authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Center for Law Science & Innovation (which does not take positions on policy issues) or of the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law or Arizona State University.

Technology Triple Trivia

TTT15

3 Questions. 3 Hints. 3 Answers.

July 28, 2015

1. What do urine and a basketball have in common?

Hint:

Answer: both bounce.  San Francisco, in an attempt to control its Peeing Tom problem,  is putting a special coat of UV-coated, urine-repellent paint on some of its city walls.  If urine hits the wall, it bounces right back at the perpetrator.   This might just be a better deterrent than the decade-old $50-$100 fine.   Read more here.

2. What recent win for labeling is causing some brains to swell (and rightfully so)?

Hint:

Answer: the City of Berkley has passed an ordinance that requires cellular phone retailers to warn customers that mobile phones may be a health hazard.  The “Right to Know” ordinance (aka precautionary principle on steroids) is based on a purported unsubstantiated correlation between cell phone radiation and cancer.  A lawsuit, alleging a First Amendment violation against Berkley by a cell phone industry interest group, has already been filed.  The Right to Know ordinance, which implies the presence of a threat, however unlikely or non-existent, is a close cousin of the GMO labeling effort — also rooted in pseudoscience.  As experts point out, non-ionizing cell phone radiation is not the same as cancer-linked ionizing X-ray radiation.  Just because there is radiation, does not mean it is cancerous.   Read the details here.

3. What does an AI arms race potentially mean for the human race?

Hint:

Answer: an impressive list of signatories is attached to a letter calling for the abandonment of autonomous weapons development that would result in an AI arms race.  The letter, which made its official public debut yesterday, cautions if human control over weaponry is eliminated, the human race could succumb to a similar fate.  The letter points out that “most AI researchers have no interest in building AI weapons” and highlights a fear that AI’s benefits could be sideswiped by bad use of the technology.  Read more here.