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Called "Xavier," the robots are equipped with seven cameras that enable them to detect "undesirable social behaviour," for instance if you incorrectly park your bike, if you smoke in an unauthorised area or if social distancing is not being respected. "If the robot is around and something happens, the people in the control room will have a trace and will be able to see what happened", he said. This type of activity can have huge social impacts: paranoia with anything and everything you do. Who decides 'undesirable social behavior'? How about when only part of the scenario is captured by the robot, who is believed? You or the robot? What's next - a taser-armed robot, with someone in a room with a joystick ready to deploy? On do we eventually get so many robots that we just let them decide? And how about let's hack in to a few thousand of those armed robots…

The COVID-19 pandemic and killing of George Floyd along with other recent deaths of Black people at the hands of police have laid bare stark structural and systemic racial inequities and their impacts on the health and well-being of individuals and communities. While these events have brought health and health care disparities into sharp focus for the media and public, they are not new. These longstanding and persistent health disparities are symptoms of broader social and economic challenges that are rooted in structural and systemic barriers across sectors - including housing, education, employment, and the justice system - as well as underlying racism and discrimination. Amid this difficult time for our nation, the increased recognition and understanding of disparities could provide a catalyst for the challenging work required to address them.

"By analyzing #BlackLivesMatter tweets, we found three main strategies: empowerment, mobilization and reputational damage, all as part of an effort that social scientists call "social accountability...We were looking to see whether the people using the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter were using any of three key elements of social accountability as they worked to call out the harm done by public institutions and to bring attention to police misconduct..."

"For, above all, it is the chasm between the rich and poor in our societies and on a global level that Covid-19 has unlocked. The fatal flaw of the Enlightenment - the unfulfilled promise of economic, social and political equality - has opened up beneath our feet. We are not so much as being thrown back into a bygone primitive age, as being thrown forward into a primitivism that is the true essence of twenty-first century capitalism."

Engineers Demographic changing:women and racial and ethnic minorities increasingly have been choosing a wider range of degrees and occupations.Political representation needed. The number of women in S&E occupations or with S&E degrees has doubled over the past two decade. In 2017, women constituted 29% of workers in S&E occupations-up from 23% in 1993-relative to over half (52%) of the college-educated workforce overall. Among S&E degree holders, women represented 40% of employed individuals-up from 34% in 1993-with a highest degree in S&E Women make up over 34% of all scientists (engineers excluded), although representation varies across the broad fields. Women account for approximately 48% and 59% of life scientists and social scientists, respectively, and nearly 30% of physical scientists and computer and mathematical scientists (Figure 3-19; Table S3-12). Notably, while 59% of social scientists are female, occupations within social sciences varied widely: women accounted for 21% of economists and 69% of psychologists. About 16% of engineers are women, ranging from about 7% of mechanical engineers to 25% of chemical engineers (Figure 3-19; Table S3-12).

"The smart homes market was valued at USD 79.13 billion in 2020, and it is expected to reach USD 313.95 billion by 2026 and register a CAGR of 25.3% over the forecast period (2021 - 2026). Across real estate companies and the architect ecosystem, the 'new normal' defined through the social distancing results in a requirement to go back to the redesign basics and reinvent the residential real estate product by factoring in new-age designing, efficiency, and innovation. As the redesign happens, the need for a totally new set of amenities has resurfaced and gained prominence. What the customer will need in the 'new normal' has undergone a revolution in the crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is leading to a paradigm shift in residential spaces."

"Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg-who in the past openly pandered to Chinese officials, likely in an effort to ensure the social media giant's entry into the Chinese market-recently made a speech at Georgetown University in which he criticized the Chinese regime for its internet censorship, striking a remarkably different tone. "

One-in-ten eligible voters in the 2020 electorate was part of a new generation of Americans - Generation Z. Members of Gen Z are more racially and ethnically diverse than any previous generation, and they are on track to be the most well-educated generation yet. But when it comes to their views on key social and policy issues, they look very much like Millennials.

DRIVER-SCARCITY The Industrial Revolutions improved living standards for people in most nations where technology proliferated.[1] Populations in modern societies are not overly concerned with accessing food or water on a daily basis. In particular, the availability of clean, freshwater is a reasonable expectation throughout the modern world. However, a growing lack of water ("water scarcity"), propelled by continued technological advancement and high demand, is creating a global crisis. This resource scarcity will change long-held expectations and demonstrate the capacity to disrupt the security and stability of entire regions. This Article examines the global state of freshwater scarcity[2] and the often-neglected linkages of water scarcity to economic, social, political, legal, and security consequences arising from disruptions, failures, or attacks on water access and distribution systems.[3] Our research concentrates on examples of the impacts of water scarcity from past and present utilizing selected examples from North America, the Middle East, South Asia, and Africa. We contend that poorly understood links between access to adequate water and national stability pose severe global security risks, especially if technological and policy correctives are not implemented to increase water resiliency and ensure availability and access.

"The administration's multitrillion-dollar social spending package, widely considered the most comprehensive climate legislation ever put forward in the US, must survive razor-thin Democratic majorities in Congress...The bill includes a program of payments and penalties to ensure utilities phase out fossil fuels from America's electricity supply, a huge expansion in tax credits for clean energy and new restrictions on methane, a potent greenhouse gas that is emitted from oil and gas drilling."

Splashy headlines have long overshadowed inconvenient truths about biology and economics. Now, extensive new research suggests the industry may be on a billion-dollar crash course with reality.

In 2020 Europe saw a great reverse migration, as those who had sought work abroad returned home. Exact numbers are hard to come by. An estimated 1.3m Romanians went back to Romania-equivalent to three times the population of its second-biggest city. Perhaps 500,000 Bulgarians returned to Bulgaria-a huge number for a country of 7m. Lithuania has seen more citizens arriving than leaving for the first time in years.

Article explains peoples concerns about the rapd implementation of facial recognition technology and other biometric screening and the effect it has on minorities.