Beyond Infinity

Our weekly news round-up: Elon Musk backs #deletefacebook campaign by taking down Tesla and SpaceX pages; Tim Cook tells China Development Forum new regulations are needed to protect privacy online; Australia to deploy wind and solar powered ocean research drones; Great Pacific Garbage Patch far bigger than previously thought; Millions of Spotify users have ad blockers to avoid paying for the service; Smart farms showcased in Sydney; Google Chrome cracks down on autoplay video ads; Samsung Pay connects Australia's big banks into its NFC payment system.

RMIT's Dr. Ian Storey teaches risk and prospect theory. Here he discusses risk assessment for companies, explaining the psychology of risk analysis and how it's not just a matter of maths, there's plenty of psychology too.

Where do devices like Google Home, Home Pod or Alexa store all the data they collect about your life at home? What protections should exist for users of this technology?

With John's purchases safely landed from America, he concludes his look at the ins and outs of Australia Post's ShopMate service.

Our weekly news round-up: Platypus milk could help battle antibiotic-resistant bugs; Bantu archaeology aids study of gap in Earth's magnetic field; Murchison Radio Astronomy Observatory peers back almost to the time of the Big Bang, shedding light on poorly understood Dark Matter; VR providing the 'gamification of learning'; Kitty hawk autonomous planes to be tested for official certification in NZ; Send your name to the Sun aboard NASA's Parker Solar Probe; Sydney bio-hacker with implanted public transport pass loses court case; Google Maps to include wheelchair accessible routes; Oculus Rift headsets suffer major outage; Uber self-driving car kills pedestrian in Arizona; Facebook shares drop amid concerns of misuse of users' data.

Dr Ian Storey walks us through the late cosmologist's career highlights. He also explains Hawking's strong belief in the benefits of the National Health Service and some of the practical applications of his theoretical work in physics.

We get down to the nitty gritty about which iPhone you should buy and why - the 8, 8 Plus or X. We also look at the latest, very competitive Pixel phones from Google.

With heritage status confirmed, government funding will be provided for the preservation of this important part of Australia's engineering heritage. According to Graeme Hanigan, who was pivotal in securing the grant, insights about the promise of solar energy gained from the project - and teaching this to future generations - is the main reason to preserve the outback site at White Cliffs in Western NSW.

Our weekly news round-up: US schools fitting bullet proof student shelters in classrooms; Mercedes and BMW team up to develop driverless taxis; Driverless autonomous cars will soon be allowed on US roads; False claims by ISPs about NBN speeds to be outlawed; Facebook approaches maximum penetration; Smart phone rabble copy iPhone's notch.

We're good at research but not so good at developing the fruits of our research. A new plan seeks to lay out a road map for the next 13 years to maintain the country's quality of life and job security.

John runs through some of the headline mobile phone offerings, including Nokia's re-release of its Matrix banana phone, new keenly priced Huawei products, Telstra's ultra fast 5G network and the Galaxy S9.

Our weekly news round-up: Melbourne University study of baby Tasmanian tigers reveals when they developed their similarities to dogs; LRO data suggests the moon has water all over it; Opportunity rover's 5000 days on Mars; Refunds for those caught up in Western Union scams; SA government promises $30m NBN speed boost for Adelaide; AI can diagnose diseases from retina scans; Almost 1.5b smart phones sold in 2017!

Next gen computers promise a paradigm shift in biotech, weather forecasting and logistical planning. They also pose security risks due to their ability to crack advanced encryption.

With 13 Russians and 3 organisations charged with alleged interference, the spotlight returns to the role played by social media. Have vulnerabilities been effectively shut down? Or are future elections, including the 2018 US mid terms, open to foreign meddling as before?

Our weekly news round-up: Sony's new super cute Aibo robot dog on sale in Japan; How to use a 4WD to attract frenzied spiders; Space X's Starlink microsats aim to bring low-cost internet to anywhere in the world; FAA investigating collisions between drones and larger aircraft amid rising safety concerns; Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority moves to improve safety understanding by drone operators; UK unveils AI-based extremism blocking tool; Belgium takes Google to court over breach of privacy laws; SnapChat redesign alienates users.

When ordering a new laptop, John found some useful ways to ensure he got the exact model he wanted at a reasonable delivery cost.

We chew over the recent dramatic falls in the much hyped and super volatile cryptocurrency. What does the future hold for bitcoin and other digital currencies? Is the world headed for a single global, blockchain-based currency?

In an open letter of January 6, 2018, JANA Partners and The California State Teachers’ Retirement System, a big teachers' pension fund, pleaded with Apple to take steps to decisively protect young people from excessive use of iPhones. We discuss the issues of smart phones in the classroom, managing screen time, plus the tech giant's response to the letter.

The popular sports app's visualisation of its global network of athletes shows over a billion activities covering all of Earth's continents. But some intelligence services are concerned about what this map might reveal.

Our weekly news round-up: Intel's Shooting Stars provide spectacular Olympics Opening Ceremony drone show; Trump Administration weighs privatising International Space Station; Falcon Heavy success ushers in new era of competition in space; Social media bans pornographic face-swapping 'deep fakes'; Equifax hack compromises more consumer data than first admitted; Chinese police wearing facial recognition glasses; Embark's self-driving truck travels from LA to Florida; Australian government websites hacked and used to mine cryptocurrencies.