Instagram to blur nudity in messages in bid to protect teens | Technology

Instagram to blur nudity in messages in bid to protect teens | Technology

Instagram says it is deploying new tools to protect young people and combat sexual extortion, including a feature that will automatically blur nudity in direct messages.

The social media company said in a blogpost on Thursday that it was testing the features as part of its campaign to fight sexual scams and other forms of “image abuse”, and to make it tougher for criminals to contact teens.

Sexual extortion, or sextortion, involves persuading a person to send explicit photos online and then threatening to make the images public unless the victim pays money or engages in sexual favors. Recent high-profile cases include two Nigerian brothers who pleaded guilty to sexually extorting teen boys and young men in Michigan, including one who took his own life, and a Virginia sheriff’s deputy who sexually extorted and kidnapped a 15-year-old girl.

Instagram said scammers often use direct messages to ask for “intimate images”.

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Technology to boost high-speed satellite connectivity

Technology to boost high-speed satellite connectivity

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15/09/2023
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British electronics specialist Filtronic is developing advanced technology that will enable next-generation satellite constellations to deliver high-speed broadband internet coverage.

Backed by ESA and the UK Space Agency, the company is working on spacefaring hardware that aims to provide fast, high-capacity links between low Earth orbiting communications satellites and receiving ground stations.

Filtronic secures contract with ESA

The contract forms part of ESA’s efforts to advance the 5G digital transformation of society and industry.

Low Earth orbit constellations are a crucial element of next-generation 5G and 6G converged networks, augmenting communications infrastructure on the ground and ensuring the provision of continuous, instant and ubiquitous connectivity.

Telecommunications satellites provide connectivity by receiving and sending data via radio waves, with different parts of the radio spectrum having contrasting capabilities in terms of speed, data volumes, and bandwidth.

ESA announces contract with Filtronic

Filtronic’s technology operates over

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Toronto’s ArtWalk 2.0 combines art and technology to bring a multi-sensory experience

Toronto’s ArtWalk 2.0 combines art and technology to bring a multi-sensory experience

Toronto’s new ArtWalk 2.0 combines art and technology to provide viewers with a fresh and modern take on outdoor public art and the best part? It’s all for free. 

ArtWalk 2.0 is a new, immersive augmented reality (AR) and audio experience that showcases over 70 outdoor public art pieces across downtown Toronto.

Organized by Toronto Downtown West BIA, ArtWalk 2.0 allows people to use their technology to view digital art in the city’s most popular areas. This includes the CN Tower, King Street W. and Front Street W. among others. 

“ArtWalk 2.0 creates an experience where residents and visitors alike can connect with the district’s rich concentration of art and history. It encourages dialogue, ignites curiosity, and transforms Toronto’s downtown into an interactive cultural playground,” Director, Marketing & Communications of Toronto Downtown West BIA Dana Duncanson said in a statement. 

Viewers will use an online map and go on a

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Dutch hyperloop centre aims to advance futuristic transport technology

Dutch hyperloop centre aims to advance futuristic transport technology

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The split in a hyperloop tube allows vehicles to change directions at a test facility of the new European test centre for hyperloop transportation technology, which opened in Veendam, northern Netherlands on March 26.Peter Dejong/The Associated Press

A 420-metre white steel tube running alongside a railway line in the windswept northern Netherlands could usher in a new era in the transportation of people and freight.

The tube is the heart of the new European Hyperloop Center that opens Tuesday and will be a proving ground in coming years for developers of the evolving technology.

Hyperloop, once trumpeted by Elon Musk, involves capsules floating on magnetic fields zipping at speeds of around 700 km/h through low-pressure tubes. Its advocates tout it as far more efficient than short-haul flights, high-speed rail and freight trucks.

But since Mr. Musk unveiled the concept that he said could shuttle

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Battery material groups expect use of solid-state technology to accelerate before 2030

Battery material groups expect use of solid-state technology to accelerate before 2030

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Leading battery material executives, who are witnessing breakthroughs in the development of next-generation “solid-state” batteries, are bringing forward their forecasts for the take-up of the technology, previously dismissed as too expensive and difficult to produce.

So-called solid-state battery technology has been regarded as the most promising development to solve the problems of the lithium-ion batteries in use at present, such as the driving range they provide on a single charge and their risk of catching fire.

Although development timetables have been pushed back repeatedly, Mathias Miedreich, chief executive of Umicore, one of the world’s largest producers of battery materials, is now expecting solid-state batteries to take more than 10 per cent of the global market by 2030.

Commercial development at Japanese carmakers such as Toyota and Chinese battery maker CATL

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