The Rise and Fall of the Panama Canal:
The Panama Canal has been dubbed the greatest engineering feat in human history. It's also (perhaps less favorably) been called the greatest liberty mankind has ever taken with Mother Nature. But due to climate change, the Canal is drying up and fewer than half of the ships that used to pass through are now able to do so. So how did we get here? Today on the show, we're talking to Cristina Henriquez, the author of a new novel that explores the making of the Canal. It took 50,000 people from 90 different countries to carve the land in two — and the consequences of that extraordinary, nature-defying act are still echoing through our present.
Electronic warfare is interfering with GPS in areas of Gaza:
Electronic warfare connected to the conflict in Gaza is interfering with the global positioning system in a large part of the region.
A new generation is uncovering the tiny doodles left by engineers on old microchips:
Engineers left these drawings as a way to sign their work. Many are puns that made them chuckle to themselves. Now social media has rediscovered them and hobbyists try to keep that history alive.
As Iran attacked Israel, old and faked videos and images got millions of views on X:
Images and videos from previous conflicts, video games and AI generators were often spread by accounts that pay to be boosted on the social media site once known as Twitter.
To make sure grandmas like his don't get conned, he scams the scammers:
Livestreamers who bait scammers find creative ways to waste their time. This makes for entertaining viewing. But as scams spike, one streamer, Kitboga, wants to protect as many victims as possible.
Samsung gets $6.4 billion to build massive semiconductor plants in central Texas:
One of the facilities Samsung is building will be the size of 11 football fields, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said. The new investment will create thousands of jobs, the White House said.
Google blocks California news in response to bill that would force tech giant to pay:
The company on Friday said it has started blocking California-based news outlets to protest a pending bill that supporters say would extend a lifeline to the ailing news industry.
One engineer may have saved the world from a massive cyber attack:
Microsoft engineer Andres Freund found something strange when he was running routine tests of open-source software. He ended up uncovering a backdoor that could have enabled a major cyberattack.
Most doxxing campaigns only last a few days. But the effects can be felt for months:
Doxxing campaigns have been used to "name and shame" people who have expressed opinions about the Israel-Hamas war.
The government announced winners of a contest to tell real voices from deepfake audio:
Four organizations won a FTC contest for their tools that help tell real audio clips from deepfakes. The winners' approaches illuminate challenges AI audio deepfakes pose.