Category: VOA Technology Report

More than two hundred eighty million people around the world have vision problems or are blind. The World Health Organization says nine out of ten of them live in developing countries. And eighty percent of the problems can be prevented or cured. Uncorrected cases of near-sightedness, far-sightedness and astigmatism are the leading cause of vision …

Sony officials held a news conference in early May in Tokyo. They apologized for the theft of personal information from millions of users of the company’s online services. Hackers targeted Sony’s PlayStation Network, Sony Online Entertainment and Qriocity music systems. In all, Sony says information may have been stolen from more than one hundred million …

American lawmakers have expanded an investigation into the use of location-tracking systems on mobile devices. This follows recent reports about the storing of information on the Apple iPhone, iPad and iTouch. Questions have also been raised about Google Android devices. Some people consider location tracking to be a threat to personal privacy and security. Allan …

Solar water heaters are used around the world and are not very difficult to build. The system we are going to describe is based on a design developed some years ago in Afghanistan. Since then, it has been built and used in many countries. It can heat seventy liters of water to sixty degrees Celsius. …

Using a computer mouse or trackball can be a little tricky. You choose the object you want and move it to where you want it, only to have it end up in a different position. This happens to all of us sometimes, and we think little of it. But for people who have a difficult …

Since the nineteen seventies, scientists have been searching for ways to link the brain with computers. Brain-computer interface, or BCI, technology could help people with disabilities send commands to machines. Recently, scientists demonstrated a small robotic vehicle directed by a person’s thoughts. The demonstration took place at the Swiss embassy in Washington. Jose Millan and …

An American space company says a powerful new rocket should be ready for a test launch by the end of next year. The company is Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX. Its new rocket is called the Falcon Heavy. Company officials say it will be able to transport satellites or spacecraft weighing up to fifty-three metric …

Builders in developing countries are often not required to build strong buildings. So, when a disaster strikes, the damage is often widespread. Yet Japan is one of the most developed countries in the world. Still, the March eleventh earthquake and tsunami waves destroyed more than fourteen thousand buildings. Brady Cox is an assistant professor of …

Tens of thousands of people travel to Austin, Texas each year to attend the South by Southwest festival. The festival is most famous for its music and film presentations. In recent years it has also become one of the biggest new media events of the year. Last year more than fourteen thousand people from fifty-four …

A powerful earthquake struck the northeastern coast of Japan at two forty-six p.m. local time on March eleventh. Japan’s Meteorological Agency released its first tsunami warnings just three minutes later. The country has one of the best earthquake early warning systems in the world. There are more than four thousand Seismic Intensity Meters in place …

A new survey finds that more than eighty percent of Internet users in the United States search for health information online. The survey is from the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project and the California HealthCare Foundation. Susannah Fox from the Pew Internet Project says doctors are still the main source of health …

An IBM super computer named Watson has won the latest battle of man versus machine. Watson won the first ever “Jeopardy!” quiz show competition starring a computer as a player. The show was broadcast on American television February sixteenth. The super computer defeated former “Jeopardy!” champions Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter during the three-day competition. …

In January, a five-day Internet shutdown in Egypt failed to stop the protests that forced President Hosni Mubarak to resign. But it raised a technical question. Just how were Egyptian officials able to shut down Internet service in their country?Craig Labovitz is chief scientist at Arbor Networks, an Internet security company in the American state …

Silicon Valley in Northern California is home to many of the world’s largest technology companies. These include Apple, Google, Oracle, Intel, Cisco Systems and Hewlett-Packard. The valley is also home to the Computer History Museum in Mountain View. It reopened in December after nineteen million dollars worth of improvements.One of the additions is a permanent …

A shortwave radio might seem like ancient technology these days. But for some people, it remains their only link to the wider world. Ears to Our World is an organization based in the United States. It provides shortwave radios to schools and communities in some of the poorest areas of the world. The radio is …

Egypt’s government faced international criticism when it blocked Internet service to try to suppress the uprising there. But Egyptian activists found other ways to get their message out. Google, Twitter and a company called SayNow launched a service called speak2tweet. They wanted to give Egyptians a way to communicate with the outside world. There are …

A new Internet training center in Togo will give young people in that part of West Africa a chance to improve their job skills. The International Telecommunication Union and the computer-networking company Cisco Systems launched the center. A telecom company in Lome is also taking part in the effort. Robert Shaw of the ITU says …

Dogs are known for a strong sense of smell. Their noses can be trained to identify different odors. Dogs are often used in search and rescue operations and to sniff for things like drugs and explosives. Some dogs have even been trained to sniff for cancer in people. Researchers have been trying to reproduce the …

Tablet computers were the stars of this year’s Consumer Electronics Show. The international gathering in Las Vegas, Nevada, is the world’s biggest technology trade show. Companies launched more than eighty handheld computers similar to the popular Apple iPad. Tara Dunion from the Consumer Electronics Association is a spokeswoman for the show which ended January ninth. …

An organization called the World Future Society publishes a yearly report about how technology, the economy and society are influencing the world. Tim Mack heads the World Future Society. He says medicine is one area of growth. Mr. Mack says the fields of nanotechnology, biotechnology and information technology are working together to create new ways …