A new study shows the prevalence of smartphones, tablets and laptops are causing a problem among children with sleep patterns and quality.
The devices emit what scientists call “blue light” that works against the sleep process by hampering the body’s ability to produce melatonin, the chemical that causes the body to feel tired and enhances sleepiness.
The National Sleep Foundation has released a study showing that youth who use smartphones or computer devices before bedtime have a lower quality of sleep and sleep less than peers without the heavy use of electronic devices.
“To ensure a better night’s sleep for their children, parents may want to limit their [children’s use of] technology in the bedroom near or during bedtime,” Orfeu Buxton, PhD, of Harvard Medical School told The Fiscal Times.
The study also showed that the sleep patterns of parents have a direct impact on their children. If the parents are using electronic devices in the evening before bedtime, the children will follow their parent’s patterns.
The next time you walk into a building that is lit by an LED lighting system, you might not be simply walking into the light.
Newark Liberty International Airport’s new LED lighting system is actually spying on the passengers that come through the airport before they reach the gates. The lights include computer chips, cameras, sensors and Wi-Fi antennas. They collect data that police can scan in real time to look for possible problems.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the airport, said the special spy lights are currently only in the ticketing area of the airport but they could soon spread to the rest of the complex. The Port Authority claimed the lights were installed as part of a plan to cut energy use within the complex.
The company behind the “NetSense” system says that while the idea of putting cameras on light poles isn’t new, the system they’ve developed is unique in that it is turnkey. Anyone can install the lights, plug them in and then observe through a computer.
Personal liberty watchdogs are concerned about a bill working through the California legislature that would require all cell phones to have a “kill switch” that can be activated by law enforcement.
Proponents of the bill say it would allow police or cell phone owners to shut off a device that is stolen so it cannot be used or resold by a thief.
However, critics say that the device could actually be used by authorities as a way to keep citizens from being able to communicate with each other in a time of crisis or as a way to quell dissent in a community.
For example, if police are caught abusing their authority, the police could activate the kill switches to destroy the phones and remove any video evidence of the abuse. It could also stop live streaming of any event authorities do not want to have publicized.
Wireless cell phone manufacturers and carriers have opposed similar measures in other states.
A new technology claims to allow customers to pay for purchases by using a scan of their veins.
The program is called Pulse Wallet and the device is scanner similar to the point of sale devices where you slide your credit or debit card. Pulse Wallet links to a credit card or other payment methods so that a customer can leave all identifying information at home.
The founders say the technology has many benefits.
In addition to being used in retail locations, the device can be used by airlines as a new form of boarding pass. They say because the form and scan of veins is unique to each person…and people don’t really know what the pattern of their veins looks like…it gives them a password that no thief can steal.
The company says that there are no traces for someone to find like fingerprints and the person would have to be alive with the limb attached because blood flow is needed to perform the scan.
Security critics are raising the alarm about a new surveillance system that can track all the citizens and vehicles in a small city at the same time.
Dayton, Ohio based Persistent Surveillance Systems has been demonstrating a system where a low flying aircraft continually monitors traffic and humans in a wide area. While the system cannot show individual details like hair color, the motion of the objects and their travel locations can help police and federal agents identify and track civilians.
The system does not require a warrant from a judge to be used for tracking an individual.
Defense contractors are working on similar systems for military use but the PSS unit is designed to be used by civilian sources as well.
Ross McNutt of PSS says that a single camera from their system mounted on the top of the Washington Monument would allow police to monitor and track every person and vehicle that uses or approaches the National Mall. He says the devices could help police make a significant dent in crime levels.
China has developed the ability for space-based warfare including satellite targeting missiles and other weapons that can destroy the U.S. communication net.
Space warfare experts say that the United States’ dependence on satellites for communications among military units is a weakness that is being targeted by the Chinese in the event of future military conflict.
“The current and evolving counterspace threat posed by China to U.S. military operations in the Asia Pacific theater and outside is extremely serious,” Ashley Tellis, former State Department and National Security Council strategic specialist, told Congress.
The experts believe that in the short term China will focus on producing missiles capable of destroying U.S. satellites in space. They testified that most current models used by the military for potential conflicts assume that their satellite based communication system would not be disrupted.
Robert Butterworth, former chief of strategic planning for Air Force Space Command, said that while war with China is not an imminent threat, Congress needs to remember that China won’t be dissuaded in their efforts by the world reminding them about current norms against weaponizing space.
If you thought your cell phone, laptop or other electronics were draining faster than usual during the unusual bitter cold, you’re not wrong.
Electronic experts say the bitter cold drains batteries faster so people who depend on their cell phones in remote locations need to make sure they recharge often and have chargers in their car in the event of an emergency.
One computer expert said that Apple computers are especially vulnerable to the cold.
“Apple is rated from I believe 32 degrees to roughly 95 degrees,” David Greer of Digital Doc told CBS. “Samsung is rated from minus, negative 4 to up to 128.”
Greer also warned of the importance of not trying to rapidly heat your phone or computer if it’s cold. Greer said you risk major damage to the devices if you do not allow them to slowly reach room temperature.
He suggests making sure you keep your phone in a jacket or close to your body to keep it warm.
Want to spy on your neighbor? Want to see where your spouse goes in the afternoon? Want to peer in on the meeting at church you weren’t invited to?
Starting in June, you could spy on all of those with a personal drone you can carry in your pocket and have airborne and spying on someone within 20 seconds.
The “Pocket Drone” by AirDroids was seeking $35,000 from the crowdfunding site Kickstarter to launch their company. With 45 days left in their funding campaign, the company has raised $365,000 from over 800 backers seeking to get their hands on a personal spy craft.
The craft will be remote controlled either with a specialized controller or from a laptop, desktop or smartphone using the Android operating system. While the system only allows for 20 minute flights before needed a recharge, it can capture hundreds of photographs in that short time.
The system will also allow users to have a “follow me” mode where a mobile device with GPS can be tracked by the drone. If the user can hack a subject’s phone, they can program the drone or series of drones to follow a target.
The drone could also be used for real-time video surveillance.
China’s Defense Ministry has confirmed long rumored development of a new hypersonic aircraft that could attack thousands of miles from its launch point.
The hypersonic glide vehicle would be launched using an intercontinental ballistic missile and could travel at speeds of Mach 10. The device would be very difficult to detect by warning systems because unlike the missiles the glider would not enter space.
Military affairs analysts told the Washington Free Beacon the weapon is part of weapons called an “assassin’s mace.” Those weapons are designed to be used by a weaker military force to gain an advantage against a superior foe.
A Pentagon spokesman said that they were aware of the Chinese test.
The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee and two subcommittee chairman called the test concerning and that it showed a fast technological leap by the Chinese military.
The FBI has announced they will be launching a system in 2014 that will allow law enforcement to use facial recognition to track and follow citizens.
The computer-based system will automatically identify a person based on a digital image or video source that is matched to a massive database.
The process had been a work of fiction on TV shows like CSI and other police procedurals but now such a system will be used in real life. The facial recognition program is part of a $1 billion Next Generation Identification System being created by the FBI.
The system will also include iris scans, DNA analysis and voice identification.
The FBI says the new system will allow them to reduce terrorist and criminal activity by expanding criminal history information services.