Last Friday, just before the Federal Communication Commission closed its comment period for its upcoming rule on "network neutrality,” a massive coalition of Asian, Latino and Black civil rights group filed letters arguing that regulators should lay off of Internet Service Providers regarding Title II reclassification and accept FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s original plan. In other words, something close to half of the entire civil rights establishment just sold out the Internet.

The civil rights group letters argue that Title II reclassification of broadband services as a public utility — the only path forward for real net neutrality after a federal court ruling in January — would somehow "harm communities of color ... Read more »

Original Link has videos: http://www.space.com/25078-universe-inflation-gravitational-waves-discovery.html

Major Discovery: 'Smoking Gun' for Universe's Incredible Big Bang Expansion Found
By Mike Wall, Senior Writer | March 17, 2014 10:45am ET

Astronomers have found the first direct evidence of cosmic inflation, the theorized dramatic expansion of the universe that put the "bang" in the Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago, new research suggests.

If it holds up, the landmark discovery — which also confirms the existence of hypothesized ripples in space-time known as gravitational waves — would give researchers a much better understanding of the Big Bang and its immediate aftermath.
BICEP 2 Sunset
The sun sets behind BICEP2 (in the foreground) and the South Pole Telescope (in the background).
Credit: Steffen Richter (Harvard University)
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"If it is confirmed, then it would be the most i ... Read more »

Nearly half of today’s jobs could be automated within the next two decades, according to one recent study, and no one seems to be prepared for what that will mean for society.

The digital revolution, just as the industrial revolution before it, is increasing productivity but also transforming the workforce – putting workers out of some jobs and into others.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as many of the newly created jobs are higher-paying or less physically demanding, but rapidly changing economies dislocates many workers and transforms societies in unpredictable ways.

The technological "tornado” will hit the rich world first, ... Read more »

Knightscope’s autonomous, crime fighting robot has the complexion of a washing machine. In pictures it looks cute, the size of a penguin maybe. In person it is five feet tall with intimidating breadth. It moves steadily and with insistence. If you stare at it long enough, the twin panels of lights about two-thirds of the way up its body start to take on the appearance of shifty, judgmental eyes. It sees what you’re doing and wants you to cut it out.

The full name of the Knightscope robot on display at the Launch Festival this morning was the K5 beta prototype. Former Ford Motor Company executive and Knightscope CEO William Santana Li describes it to MC and festival organizer Jason Calacanis onstage as a "crime fighting autonomous data machine ... Read more »

Writing in The New York Times in 1964, Isaac Asimov wondered what the world would look like 50 years in the future. Asimov had attended the World’s Fair of 1964 and took a rather optimistic view of humanity in spite of looming thermonuclear war. Technology would advance, the human population would prosper, and we would explore the frontiers of sea and space for our benefit.

Asimov got a lot right (not surprising since he was a science fiction author and real life eventually catches up with the imaginations of sci-fi authors) about how technology keeps advancing at a rapi ... Read more »