Category Archives: Technology

Passengers walk by a security sign warning about a facial recognition area at the Suedkreuz train station in Berlin, Germany.(Photo by Michele Tantussi/Getty Images)

The King County Council recently passed an ordinance that bans government use of facial recognition technology. That was fairly controversial within the council, but also with a group called the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation.

King County Council votes to ban facial recognition software

The foundation is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank based out of Washington, D.C. According to vice president Daniel Castro, it looks at policies around the world focused on innovation and technology.

So what was it that bothered Castro about what the King County Council did?

Well, what was surprising to me is that they seemed to be basing their decision on no real evidence, he said. So this ban was primarily based on the idea that facial recognition technology is inaccurate and highly biased towards people with darker skin and sometimes women.

But when you look at the testing thats come out from the federal government, the best performing facial recognition algorithms now perform not only better than any human, but they exhibit basically no bias, he added. And so to ban the technology because of those concerns is really misguided. And the use and procurement of this technology across the entire county is prohibited. So you cant even use the technology, for example, to unlock a door.

The outdated study Castro cites is a report from the ACLU, specifically the ACLU of California.

They never released their data, they never released their methods, even when outsiders asked to look at it and validate it, he said. And thats been a motivation for many of the laws that weve seen around the country.

And the other thing that came out was there were a number of studies that looked at facial analysis, he explained. So facial recognition is when you match one photo to another photo, facial analysis is when you look at a photo and you try and decide is this person old or young? Are they male or female? And that technology has been shown to have some racial biases, but facial recognition where youre matching one photo to another, in the most recent tests, the best performing algorithms show no bias.

Those studies were done in late 2019.

In addition to that knowledge, facial recognition has been shown to be more reliable and less biased than relying on eyewitnesses.

Right now, we still of course do facial recognition ourselves, Castro said. People arent very good at recognizing and matching people. Thats actually the cause of a number of misidentifications in the past. And what this technology does is it allows you to do this at a much more accurate level and more reliably than you could do with a human. Also, of course at a much faster speed when time is of the essence.

Municipal broadband in Washington will soon offer options beyond Comcast

Castro says his foundation has asked ACLU to release their data and methods, but they havent.

The problem is the ACLU has, of course, long-standing opposition to public cameras and surveillance in general, he said. So the fact that facial recognition is being used on some of these images is really secondary for their long-standing opposition.

To be clear, there are very good reasons why we might not want police to surveil protests. There are legitimate concerns about policing and racial bias in policing, he added. None of my critique here is to take away from that. What is so much more important than enacting these types of bans is enacting oversight, and transparency, and accountability in our police departments and law enforcement agencies so that this type of inconclusive police work cant happen.

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King County Councils ban of facial recognition technology is misguided - MyNorthwest.com

Some technology is OK, like remote controls and Google maps, but for the most part, I think life was a lot easier and far less stressful when the world wasnt wireless and the only people who understood computers were the geeky guys in high school who all became bazillionaires.

An example of how frustrating technology can be has been all the electronic hoops Mark and I have had to jump through while trying to refinance our mortgage, a process that has dragged on far too long due to our loan officer (who is in another state) suddenly going AWOL in the middle of the process and apparently taking all our paperwork with him.

Were trying again with a different loan officer and new paperwork. Of course, everythings online, which seems like it should be a lot more efficient than having actual paper copies.

The original loan officer, aka Mr. Vanishing Act, swore the e-signing was a breeze, and it certainly isnt hard, but for some reason the software has repeatedly put my name where Marks should go and his where mine belongs. Those problems only come to light when an actual human being looks at them and emails us to try again.

Then theres the thrill of finally e-signing one batch of documents correctly only to learn we have to wet sign them, which would be all right, except then we have to upload them into the correct portal. For someone like me, who isnt quite sure what a portal is, and for someone like Mark, who still has a flip phone, the result has been were both cranky much of the time and have at least one conversation a day asking each other why we cant just win the lottery and forget refinancing anything for the rest of our lives.

Then again, technology gaffes can sometimes be fun.

Every so often, I get together with some friends for lunch and to catch up on what weve all been up to. Lets call them Friend One, Friend Two, and Friend Three. A few weeks ago, I received a group text from Friend One suggesting we set up a lunch date and Friend Two and I both responded, Sure. Where do you want to go?

Thats when Friend Three chimed in. Mettlers?

Now, for the record, Friend Three is a retired teacher and the kind of person who hangs out on golf courses, not in bars, so the rest of us hahad before making more suitable suggestions. My only request was that we didnt meet somewhere that required driving on a roundabout to get there. (Yes, I know Im a chicken and I realize my world is going to continue to shrink as Mankato keeps on building more and more roundabouts, but thats another story.)

We batted around a few restaurants without roundabouts nearby when Friend Three piped up again. You dont drive in roundabouts? Theyre easy AF.

Now we knew something was wrong. Either Friend Three had started happy hour at 9 in the morning, or there was a stranger in our cellphone midst.

Friend Two wrote to Friend One and me. I dont think thats the same phone number I have for Friend Three at the exact same moment Friend One and I were both texting: Has she been drinking?

Friend Two was right; it wasnt the right phone number. A random person got Friend Ones text and decided to have some fun. Im guessing, from the speed of his or her responses, that it was a young person with lightning-fast fingers. Im also guessing it was a young person of the male persuasion because most females would either tell us wed texted the wrong number or wouldnt bother to join our group conversation.

Friends One and Two and I deleted the conversation and got in touch with Friend Three who was blissfully unaware of what wed been thinking about her drinking habits. Thankfully, we figured out what was going on before inviting Faux Friend Three to join us, although that might have been entertaining.

Im sure technology is only going to get faster and more confusing, so I guess the best thing to do is sit back and enjoy it whenever a random stranger joins a group conversation and to use Google maps to find out which restaurants arent surrounded by roundabouts. Oh, and once we finally get our house refinanced, try to avoid ever signing into any kind of portal ever again.

Nell Musolf is a freelance writer living in Mankato with her husband and two dogs. She can be reached at nmusolf@gmail.com.

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Sit back and enjoy the technology ride - Mankato Free Press

BEIJING, June 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --Recon Technology, Ltd (NASDAQ: RCON) ("Recon" or the "Company") today announced that its subsidiary, Beijing BHD Petroleum Technology Limited, signed two contracts with North China E&P Company (the "North China Branch") of China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation ("Sinopec"). Pursuant to these two contracts, the Company has provided technical service with ultra-deep electric submersible progressing cavity pump ("ESPCP") to one gas well at the Dongsheng Field of the Second Gas Production Plant (the "Plant No. 2") of the North China Branch and will provide the same service to another gas well at the Plant No. 2. Total amount of these two contracts is RMB 3,277,000 (approximately $0.51 million).

Management Statement

"We are extremely excited to make more breakthroughs in the ultra-deep submersible progressing cavity pump business," said Mr. Guangqiang Chen, founder and CTO of Recon, "Since last year when we signed a contract with the North China Branch and completed our first trial, we have now signed service contracts for RMB5.077 million (approximately $0.8 million) with the North China Branch for three gas wells. We are in the process of communicating with the North China Branch for ESPCP and related services for 15 more wells and expect to complete services by the end of calendar year 2021. Added together, we expect these services will bring us about $5 million of income."

Mr. Chen continued, "Beyond our own AI-based technology, we further integrated and upgraded downhole gas-liquid separation metering technology with equipment such as the ultra-deep screw pump from National Oilwell Varco Inc. (NYSE: NOV) and the downhole multi-parameter sensing devices from Power Max Petroleum Technologies Ltd, a Canada based company. We completed the construction for one gas well at Plant No. 2 with our comprehensive solution by April 16, 2021. According to our observation and testing for almost two months, the drainage and gas boosting effect has been stable, and the production status of the whole set of equipment has been reliable. Without this solution, submersible pumps used by oil companies generally have a working life cycle of only three months, after which time sand jams and equipment wear tend to result in interruption of gas well production. As a result, oil and gas companies incur costly inspection and repair fees. Our solution is expected to guarantee stable operation for more than one year, thus saving the high inspection and repair service costs, equipment and accessories replacement costs, electricity costs and sewage treatment costs. Taken together, our solution can help our clients increase their margin by up to 40%. We held an on-site technical exchange and promotion meeting with the North China Branch on May 20, 2021 and we were told that the North China Branch will promote our ultra-deep screw pump same well recovery and injection technology to all the new gas wells to be invested by the North China Branch. In the future, we plan to continue upgrading our technology in the same well recovery and injection business to provide more value-added services to our clients, and bring more long term returns to the Company."

About Recon Technology, Ltd

Recon Technology, Ltd (NASDAQ: Recon) is China's first listed non-state owned oil and gas field service company on NASDAQ. Recon supplies China's largest oil exploration companies, Sinopec (NYSE: SNP) and The China National Petroleum Corporation ("CNPC"), with advanced automated technologies, efficient gathering and transportation equipment and reservoir stimulation measure for increasing petroleum extraction levels, reducing impurities and lowering production costs. Through the years, Recon has taken leading positions on several segmented markets of the oil and gas filed service industry. Recon also has developed stable long-term cooperation relationship with its major clients. For additional information please visit: http://www.recon.cn.

Forward Looking Statements

Forward-Looking Statements in this press release, which are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Our actual results, performance or achievements may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the use of words such as "may," "could," "expect," "intend," "plan," "seek," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential," "continue," "likely," "will," "would" and variations of these terms and similar expressions, or the negative of these terms or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by us and our management, are inherently uncertain. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, among others, whether we will sign any additional contracts with the North China Branch, the final revenue from providing services to the North China Branch, actual results of our solutions in the field, levels of spending in our industry as well as consumer confidence generally; changes in the competitive environment in our industry and the markets where we operate; our ability to access the capital markets; and other risks discussed in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 20-F, which filings are available from the SEC. We caution you not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which are made as of the date of this press release. We undertake no obligation to update publicly any of these forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, new information or future events, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting forward-looking statements, except to the extent required by applicable laws. If we update one or more forward-looking statements, no inference should be drawn that we will make additional updates with respect to those or other forward-looking statements.

For more information, please contact:

Ms. Liu Jia Chief Financial Officer Recon Technology, Ltd Phone: +86 (10) 8494-5188 Email: [emailprotected]

SOURCE Recon Technology, Ltd.

http://www.recon.cn/

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Recon Updates Progress on its Technology-Driven Solutions for Electric Submersible Progressing Cavity Pump with $5 Million Orders Secured - PRNewswire

A new technology by Jetti Resources that can be used to extract copper from mine waste could be a game-changer for the copper industry, says Mike Outwin, Jettis CEO and co-founder.

The technology enables the recovery of copper trapped in primary sulphide ore usually discarded as waste by miners because of the low copper yields generated from conventional processing methods, Outwin said in an interview.

Capstone Mining(TSX: CS) is the first company to validate the effectiveness of Jettis technology on a commercial scale at its Pinto Valley open-pit copper mine in Arizona.

Japans Mitsubishi, through its Mineral Resources Group, has supported the commercialization of the technology since 2019 and holds an undisclosed stake in the company. Earlier this month it increased its ownership in the company and invested US$50 million, which also included funds from first time investors BHP Ventures,Freeport-McMoRan(NYSE: FCX), and global investment firm Orion Resources Partners.

Mitsubishiwill provide our expertise in business creation, marketing, finance, and technology and collaborate to expand the deployment of Jettis technology across the industry, Takashi Hirose, general manager of Mitsubishis Mineral Resources Group, wrote in an email to The Northern Miner.

Jettis technology has the potential to make a significant contribution to more efficient development and conservation of the worlds limited copper resources, Hirose noted. Our investment was made to both secure a stable supply of copper and to contribute to MCs efforts in addressing the problem of diminishing natural resources.

The success at Capstones Pinto Valley has deepened our confidence in Jettis technology, and we are impressed with the great performance of Jettis management team,he added.

Following the latest financing, Jetti has now raised more than US$100 million for the development and deployment of the technology.

Were looking forward to pursuing opportunities within our partners portfolios of copper assets to deliver additional copper to the markets and value to our investors, Outwin said.

Last year Jetti strengthened its board and management team, bringing on Chip Goodyear, the former CEO ofBHP(NYSE: BHP; LSE: BHP; ASX: BHP), and Trevor Reid, the former CFO of Anglo-Swiss mining company Xstrata, which was acquired byGlencore(LSE: GLEN) in 2013.

Capstone Mining first deployed the catalytic technology in mid-2019 in an effort to enhance copper recovery from the leach operation at Pinto Valley.

Last year, the company reported a doubling of copper cathode production per area irrigated, a key metric for tracking the performance of its leaching operation, since the technology was implemented at the mines solvent extraction and electrowinning (SX-EW) plant.

We were very excited by the results as it means we can now generate value from material previously considered waste, Jerrold Annett, Capstones senior vice president, strategy and capital markets, said in an interview. We have historic stockpiles potentially containing over a billion pounds of copper. So, there is huge potential to improve the competitiveness of Pinto Valley.

Another big win for us, Annett said, is the ability to produce a finished cathode product with a 99.99% copper content on site. By comparison, copper concentrates from the sites mill may only contain around 25% copper, he said, and are currently sent by Capstone for refining at smelters that are often some distance from the site.

In 1981, Pinto Valley started producing copper cathode from stockpiled material below the mills cut-off grade that had accumulated since the early 1970s. By the early 2000s, annual cathode production averaged approximately 16 million pounds.

Since then, however, annual production has fallen to around four million lb. of copper due to reduced leach recovery from the chalcopyrite mined at the operation.

Capstones use of the catalytic leach technology was an extension of its existing PV3 optimization study, which focused on several low-capex, high-impact projects to increase the net present value of the operation.

Jettis technology could enable existing SX-EW operations to process mineralised material previously considered too low-grade to be processed economically, reinvigorating aging mining operations while also providing an alternative to the development of brownfield sites.

A key aim of PV3 was to generate strong cash flow from the sites underutilized 25 million pounds per year SX-EW plant, which is currently operating at around 20% capacity, Annett said.

The company plans to increase copper cathode production from its SX-EW facility to around 300-350 million lb. of copper over the mines remaining 19-year mine life, and given the commercial demonstration of the technology, Capstone intends to significantly expand leaching activity at the facility, targeting the estimated 280-300 million tonnes of historic stockpile and the estimated 175-185 million tonnes of high-grade waste that will be deposited at Pinto Valley over the rest of its operational life.

There is also potential to increase the mill cut-off grade to bolster copper concentrate production, which would also increase the amount of high-grade waste available for leaching, said Annett.

Capstone is working on an updated study, PV4, which, he said, will include increased use of Jettis technology to reduce waste tonnes, increase production, and extend the life of the mine, possibly into the 2050s.

The study is expected to be completed in the second half of 2022.

Currently, around 70% of the worlds copper resources are bound up in primary sulphide minerals like chalcopyrite, the worlds most abundant copper-bearing mineral.

However, standard leaching techniques, such as heap or run-of-mine leaching with sulphuric acid, used to extract the copper from the chalcopyrite results in a hard, non-reactive coating, which forms around the crystal structures in the mineralised materials.

Mike Outwin, Jetti Resources CEO and co-founder. Credit: Jetti Resources.

This coating, called the passivation layer, prevents contact between the leaching solution and the surface of the mineral, inhibiting the recovery of copper, explained Outwin.

Over the past decade or so, the mining industry has sought to develop a cost-effective method for extracting copper from low-grade sulphide ore. These efforts have typically focused on subjecting the chalcopyrite to high temperatures or crushing it very finely to extract the copper before the passivation layer forms; however, this approach has proved to be expensive and uneconomic at scale.

As miners usually assign zero percent recovery to the low-grade chalcopyrite, which often makes up a significant component of their mines, our technology could be a game-changer for the copper industry, said Outwin. Its considered the holy grail for the industry.

Developed in collaboration with the University of British Columbia (UBC), the catalytic leach technology uses a proprietary catalyst that enhances copper recovery from heap leaching of chalcopyrite ore. (Under the partnership with UBC, Jetti holds the global license to deploy the technology.)

It works by disrupting the metal-sulphur bond in the chalcopyrite and prevents the passivation layer from forming, allowing the copper to be extracted unimpeded. It can also remove the passivation layer if it has already formed, allowing for the re-treatment of previously leached material.

The technology allows for the efficient and effective heap and stockpile leach extraction of copper trapped in the mineralised material, said Outwin, increasing yields by as much as 300% compared to traditional processes.

It also easily integrates with existing SX-EW process infrastructure, and so requires minimal additional upfront capex other than the installation of an on-site catalyst addition facility, resulting in lower unit costs of production, he said.

In addition to the potential economic benefits, he added, the technology has significant environmental benefits too.

By using hydrometallurgical methods, processing plants that use the technology require less power and transportation compared with pyrometallurgy. As a result, Jetti estimates that 40% fewer carbon dioxide emissions and 70% fewer emissions of sulphur oxides and nitrogen oxides are generated, and consume less than half the water of traditional pyrometallurgical methods to produce the same amount of copper.

The widespread adoption of the technology by the copper industry could also reverse the decades long decline in the use of leaching and SX-EW to produce copper, which has been occurring due to falling reserve quality and lower orebody grades, said Outwin.

There are several types of mining operations and deposit categories where the technology could be deployed, he said.

These include atSX-EW plants with underutilized capacity or mines with mineralised material below cut-off grades, which could allow for the inclusion of stockpiled material in mine plans.The technologycould also enable low-grade material processing at greenfield deposits with large amounts of sulphide ore presently considered uneconomic to process. Higher-grade sulphide tailings would also benefit from the technology.

It has the potential to extend the life of a mine by allowing waste streams and uneconomic deposits to be turned into valuable assets through the conversion of resources into reserves, said Outwin.

According to a study by CRU Group commissioned by Jetti, there is a decades worth of copper contained within discarded waste dumps atmines around the world.

Released in May, the study estimated that nearly 40 million tonnes of copper are currently bound up in tailings.

As the world transitions to a low-carbon economy, global demand for the red metal, which is crucial to the electrification of the transportation and power systems needed to support this transition, is expected to soar over the coming decades.

CRU forecasts a significant supply gap emerging from the mid-2020s, which could reach nearly 11 million tonnes annually by 2050 if new supplies dont come online.

The consultingcompany estimates the cumulative total market demand for Jettis technology could be about 234 million tonnes of copper by 2050.Were the technology to be applied to 100% of this demand, CRU estimates, the technology could yield a peak production of 7.2 million tonnes of copper per year by 2034, enough to meet most of the forecast supply shortfall.

The study highlights the huge contribution our technology can make in providing the copper vital for de-carbonizing the worlds economies, said Outwin. Furthermore, the technology also enables the production of copper in a cost-effective and environmentally sustainable manner.

Jetti currently has a pipeline of 23 projects at various stages of development, including five active pilots and three opportunities transitioning to commercial status, he said. Were now in full-blown execution mode and are hard at work scaling up our growth phase.

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Jetti Resources' technology could help unlock millions of tonnes of copper from tailings - The Northern Miner

Lets face it, there are many unknowns about offshore wind energy and its ability to meaningfully contribute to our efforts to lessen dependency on fossil fuels. Despite being active in Europe and the United Kingdom for decades, offshore-wind unknowns still exist.

Questions include how to maintain a buried cable, what is the life of the wind turbines in the North Atlantic environment, and how can operators effectively store the energy created in order to smooth out the peaks and valleys associated with wind variation. The list goes on.

Locally, concerns associated with these unknowns are exacerbated by the questionable actions of the Connecticut Port Authority and the unavailability of the State Pier in New London whenit becomes fully dedicated to offshore wind development.

We can get overwhelmed by the unknowns and wait for answers, or we can look at this through the eyes of an entrepreneur or researcher. These unknowns are not problems, they are opportunities. It may take time to fully realize the opportunities, but that shouldnt stop us from making every effort to make it work.

Here in southeastern Connecticut, too much time has been spent looking at the small picture, at the problems, at the concerns. That approach risks letting the opportunities associated with the massive potential of offshore wind energy topass us by.

Instead, lets go big.

It is time to work with our congressional delegation and Gov. Ned Lamont and push for the creation of a National Laboratory for Offshore Wind Energy to be established in the region. One obvious choice for its location is the Avery Point Campus of the University of Connecticut in Groton or, if not there, the Fort Trumbull area in New London.

The Biden Administration and many in Congress are putting a big bet on the success of offshore wind being a major contributor to the nations electric grid and the creator of new, well-paying jobs. Tens ofbillions of dollars are being anted up in the face of the unknowns and the challenges.

The New London-Groton area is not only incredibly well situated to be able to fabricate and haul these gigantic wind machines out to ocean, but also to host a national research lab. UConn already has its Marine Sciences program at Avery Point, and the School of Engineering is pioneering work on next generation battery storage, as well as on advanced material research in composites to allow the blades to be stronger and lighter.

Adding to the region's potential to be the leader in driving offshore wind-power technology is the location ofthe Coast Guard Research and Development Center at Fort Trumbull.And most of the major players in theindustry rsted, Equinor, Vineyard Wind have partnerships and offices in Connecticut.

The New London-Groton areaiscentrally located and easily accessible by researchers at top universities throughout New England and the Northeast. Researchers working in a national lab could coordinate with researchers at the federal level and with industry experts to help answer the unknowns, drive the industry forward, and meet the challenges that lie ahead.

A national lab in and of itself would be an economic development catalyst for the region by attracting companies that want to be nearby the latest research.

But we can do better than that.

Connected to the national lab could be a robust program for testing under real-world conditions technology developed in the laboratory. Just over the horizon will be one of the biggest offshore wind installations in the world. What would be better than for entrepreneurs, startup companies, and even the established companies to usethose wind farms as test sites where innovatedideas can be evaluatedin practical applications?

The national lab could develop as an accelerator program where startups from around the world come to test the cutting-edge science and engineering necessary to achieve wind-powers full potential. The startups, in turn, could receive mentoring and business development services, while working directly with their potential clients or through joint-venture partners. Such accelerator programs are a tried-and-true method for instilling innovation in industries, as has been seen by the creativity and innovation prompted by the InsureTech accelerators in Hartford.

With the Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut working hard to develop an Innovation Center in downtown New London, this accelerator program could be an anchor tenant to help move that project forward as well.

Locating a National Lab for Offshore Wind Energy in southeastern Connecticut makes too much sense not to pursue.

So, lets go big and work to realize what is possible, before it is too late.

Bruce Carlson developed the Tech Transfer Program at the University of Connecticut and has worked with entrepreneurs and startups, and on various economic development efforts in Connecticut for the past 20 years.

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We can take the lead in offshore wind-energy technology - theday.com

Declaring "America is back," President Joe Biden pushed his $2.3 trillion infrastructure package Tuesday, visiting a Ford electric vehicle plant to make the case his plan will tackle climate change, create jobs and help the U.S. lead the world. (May 18) AP Domestic

WASHINGTON An expansive bill aimed at reinvigorating America's technological footprint to counter China has passed the Senate and now heads to the House, where it faces a competing bill and somewhat murky future.

The legislation, called theInnovation and Competition Act, largely drew bipartisan support with the promise of bolstering America's competitive edge byinvestingbillions of dollars in scientificand technological innovations including artificial intelligence, computer chipsand robotics.

It passed 68-32 Tuesday after some drama a few weeks ago ofhours of behind-the-scene negotiations, a flurry of last-minute amendments and an all-nighter of negotiations. Ultimately, Senate leaders canned it until the lawmakers returned from their Memorial Day recess after a compromise could not be reached.

President Joe Biden praised passage of the bill making generational investments in American workers. "This legislation addresses key elements that were included in my American Jobs Plan, and I am encouraged by this bipartisan effort to advance those elements separately through this bill," Biden said in a statement. "It is long past time that we invest in American workers and American innovation."

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called the bill one of the most significant pieces of legislation passed in a long time and said it would have a huge impact on the American economy and jobs.

"Its the largest investment in scientific research and technological innovation in generations," Schumer said. "It sets the United States on a path to lead the world in the industries of the future."

More: China represents 'unparalleled,' 'severe' threat, US intelligence officials warn

In April, U.S. intelligence officials cast China,the worlds second-largest economy,as an "unparalleled" security threat, warning of Beijing's increasing efforts to suppress its regional adversariesand expand its military might while racing to achieve technological superiority across the globe.

The Senate's action highlights a rare bipartisan consensus in Congress that the U.S. needs a more coherent strategy to respond toChina's rise as a global power.

The bill would boost fundingfor research and technology manufacturing to increase America's competitiveness, strengthen national security and grow the economy.

Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., co-author of the legislation, singled out the bill's passage as a mark of unity.

"Im proud the Senate voted to advance this bill to outcompete China and invest in the U.S.," Young said in a statement. "Let history record that, at this moment, we stood united."

Schumer said Tuesday that he has already spoken with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and expects to reach a compromise between the chambers to send to the president.

Im quite certain that we will get a really good product on the presidents desk," Schumer said.

The legislation, spearheaded by Schumer and Young,would pumpmore than $200billion into U.S.scientific and technological innovation over the nextfive years.

The bill, which originally began as the Endless Frontier Act, was expanded and renamed the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act by Schumer in May. He joked Tuesday that the "frontier" name made it sound like "covered wagon" legislation.

The broadened bill establishesa new directorate for technology and innovationat the National Science Foundationto ensure$100 billion is funneled to the development of artificial intelligences, semiconductors, roboticsand high-performance computing.

Schumer said Washington has let U.S. competitiveness "lag" compared with China's, particularly when it comes to technological innovation.

"Weve become far too complacent, and the United States commits less than 1% of its GDP towards basic scientific research," he said. "That's the fault of government, but it's also the fault of the private sector. The world is so competitive and global competition is so severe, companies feel they can't invest as much in the kind of research that might pay off profits fiveor 10 years down the road."

The expanded legislation would provide$52 billion in assistance to semiconductor manufacturing companies to makecomputer chips, which have been in a global shortage since last summer. The shortage has affected manufacturers and automakers thatuse the chips in vehicles, cellphones and video game consoles.

The microchip shortage explained: How it's impacting car prices and the tech industry

More: As chip shortage cripples auto production, Biden steps in

Seventy-five percent of the world's chipscomefrom Asia, according to a report in September 2020 from the Semiconductor Industry Association.

"Weve seen what happens when our automakers and manufacturers depend on semiconductors made overseas alone. COVID-19 exposed the weaknesses in our supply chains, both our medical supply chains and our manufacturing supply chains," said Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., who sits on theCommittee on Energy and Natural Resources, in a news conference.

The legislation also would shell out $81 billion in congressional spending to the National Science Foundation budget between fiscal years 2022 and 2026, aimingto energize innovation by revamping ongoing programs and starting the new directorate.

In addition, it would establish tech hubs in places they have not traditionally existed.

Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., lead sponsor of the Endless Frontiers Actin the House, told USA TODAY investing in tech education is one of the most important aspects of the bill, along with the "fundamental focus in applied science research."

Supporting thegeographical spread of innovation will be "transformative," Khanna said.

More: Biden tells intelligence agencies to step up probe of COVID-19's origins, including theory of Wuhan lab leak

Though the legislation has passed the Senate, it will have to compete against a similar bill inthe House,where the legislation heads next.

The House has introduced another, similar piece of legislation: the NSF for the Future Act.

Both billsfocus on expanding the National Science Foundations budget to boost American innovation.The NSF for the Future Act is a smaller-scale, more narrowly focusedbill that would double the NSF's budget over five years. It also includes a new directorate for science and engineering solutions.

Some have expressed concern with the Senatebill's heavy focus onChina, and others want a piece oflegislation that is morefocusedon applied sciencewith a newtech directorate.

The same piece of legislation has to be passed in both chambers before it is signed by the president.

The chairwoman of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Texas, has hailed the NSF House legislation as a "solutions-driven approach."

"I believe the competitive and security threat from China is real. I also believe the solutions-driven approach we take in the NSF for the Future Act offers the nation a win-win science and innovation strategy. History teaches us that problem-solving can itself drive the innovation that in turn spawns new industries and achieves competitive advantage," Johnson said in a hearing on the NSF legislation.

More: Zhurong rover lands on Mars; China joins US as only nations to successfully land on planet

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Contributing: Deirdre Shesgreen

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Senate passes bill to boost US science and tech innovation to compete with China - USA TODAY

The economy is booming. Why isnt job growth?

Payrolls have risen 1.6 million in the past three months and are up 1.7% this year through May, which in normal times would be impressive. But these arent normal times. The economy is rapidly reopening, consumers are flush with federal stimulus cash, and retail sales, factory orders and housing are all booming. Inflation-adjusted gross domestic product is up 5.3% through May this year, according to a monthly series calculated by IHS Markit .

The gap between GDP and jobs is explained by soaring output per worker. The U.S. is in the midst of a productivity boom. That is positive for wages and inflation because higher revenue can absorb increased wages without companies raising prices. It isnt such great news for the jobs outlook if employers conclude they can meet sales goals with less hiring.

In recessions employers are typically slow to cut jobs as sales slump, which causes productivity to decline. When sales recover, they are slow to add jobs and productivity rebounds. The pandemic has broken with that pattern. Business output per hour has grown in three of the past four quarters. In the January-to-March quarter of this year, it was up 4.1% from a year earlier, the fastest in a decade.

Some of this reflects the unusual patterns of this particular downturn. The losses suffered by low productivity, low wage sectors such as leisure, hospitality and other in-person services artificially boosted average overall productivity.

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Technology Fills the Gap as Jobs Lag GDP - The Wall Street Journal

Salesforce (CRM) CEO Marc Benioff says the software giant's upcoming $27.7 billion acquisition of messaging app Slack Technologies (WORK) will help the cloud company become "a key leader in the future of work."

"We're going to rebuild all of our technology, once again, to become Slack-first to help our customers have a harness to work in this new world where you're working at home; you're working in the office; you're working at events; you're working anywhere. Well, if you're going to be successful from anywhere, you're going to need an incredible platform like Slack," Benioff told Yahoo Finance Live on Wednesday, taking a pause from his digital hiatus this summer. According to Benioff's Twitter (TWTR) bio, he's "intentionally offline" until Aug. 1.

In December, the software giant signed a definitive agreement to acquire popular messaging software platform Slack Technologies in a cash and stock deal worth $27.7 billion, making it Salesforce's largest-ever acquisition. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter.

In the company's annual letter, Benioff noted that the integration with Slack improved Salesforce's Service Cloud case close rate by 26%. Benioff told Yahoo Finance that integrating the customer service product with Slack allowed for those cases to "be swarmed."

"What does that mean? Swarm means, oh, we have a problem. There's an issue. You can bring the whole team together and kind of swarm around a case or an escalation. We learned a lot about that with our core technology, Chatter. With Slack, it's a whole other level. We're really able to help customers be more connected with their customers in a new way, but also resolve customer service issues even faster. Slack accelerates all of those things," Benioff explained.

As Benioff outlined in the company's annual letter, the broader ambition is to build Slack which the CEO has dubbed "the central nervous system for the new world of work" into Salesforce products to enhance productivity from anywhere and "create the most open and interoperable ecosystem of apps and workflows in enterprise software," Benioff wrote at the time.

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According to Benioff, Slack will be critical in the changing nature of work post-pandemic as more companies offer flexible options for employees to work both on-site and remotely.

"[The] world is changing. We can all see that. The pandemic has caused all of us to change. And we're creating a new work environment. We're going to be working more at home. We're going to be working also at the office," Benioff said.

The CEO pointed that Salesforce had 20% of its workers at home pre-pandemic. He expects that population to increase to about half, but there's "still going to be a large percentage in the office."

To be sure, Salesforce will host off-sites and events, including bringing back its Dreamforce Conference in San Francisco in September with simultaneous events in other locations. However, it will be a much smaller in-person gathering in San Francisco than prior years, and attendees must be fully vaccinated.

Benioff also has ambitions in the post-pandemic world to build a Salesforce ranch similar to General Electric's Crotonville campus, which will service as a training and cultural immersion facility to onboard employees and welcome their families.

"I'm very excited about the future and the future of work. I think Slack will be a key part of it. I think Salesforce Customer 360 will be a key part of it. Tableau, the analytics, MuleSoft. That's why, I think, Salesforce is so well positioned and wants to be a key leader and, I think, is becoming a key leader in the future of work," Benioff said.

Benioff, 56, Benioff started Salesforce in 1999, and in that time, it's become one of the top enterprise software companies in the world with a market cap greater than $218 billion.

The company recently delivered its best first-quarter earnings results ever, delivering revenue of $5.96 billion, up 23% from a year ago. Salesforce expects to generate $26 billion in fiscal 2022, with plans to reach $50 billion in 2026.

"The really exciting story here is that Salesforce is, very imminent, will pass SAP (SAP), and Salesforce will become the number one enterprise applications company in the world, not just number one CRM [customer relationship management], but also number one enterprise applications company," Benioff added.

Photo by: STRF/STAR MAX/IPx 2021 1/4/21 Slack restores service after starting 2021 with outage. STAR MAX File Photo: 11/30/20 'Slack' logo shot off an iphone SE 2020.

Julia La Roche is a correspondent for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter.

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Salesforce CEO: We're going to rebuild all of our technology to become Slack-first - Yahoo Finance

On the surface it was an odd, temporary issue that affected some users and not others. But it was also forcibly changing peoples appearancean important glitch for an app that is used by around 100 million people in the US. So I also sent the video to Amy Niu, a PhD candidate at the University of Wisconsin who studies the psychological impact of beauty filters. She pointed out that in China, and some other places, some apps add a subtle beauty filter by default. When Niu uses apps like WeChat, she can only really tell that a filter is in place by comparing a photo of herself using her camera with the image produced in the app.

A couple of months ago, she said, she downloaded the Chinese version of TikTok, called Douyin. When I turned off the beauty mode and filters, I can still see an adjustment to my face, she said.

Having beauty filters in an app isnt necessarily a bad thing, Niu said, but app designers have a responsibility to consider how those filters will be used, and how they will change the people who use them. Even if it was a temporary bug, it could have an impact on how people see themselves.

Peoples internalization of beauty standards, their own body image, or whether they will intensify their appearance concern, are all considerations, Niu said.

For Dawn, the strange facial effect was just one more thing to add to the list of frustrations with TikTok: Its been very reminiscent of a relationship with a narcissist, because they love-bomb you one minute, theyre giving you all these followers and all this attention and it feels so good, they said. And then for some reason they justtheyre just like, were cutting you off.

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TikTok changed the shape of some peoples faces without asking - MIT Technology Review

NFTs have recently taken the world by storm, as media headlines in the last month will attest. The digital artist Beeple sold the NFT for one of his pieces for a record US$69mn in a Christies auction. Jack Dorsey just sold a digital version of his first tweet for over $2.9mn in the same way, with the buyer comparing it to the Mona Lisa. The band Kings of Leon are even selling their new album in the form of an NFT.

In simple terms, NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, provide verification of ownership of a digital asset. They are unique digital tokens stored on a blockchain ledger, which means that they cannot be changed or tampered with. Traditional artworks, such as paintings or sculptures, are valuable because they are one of a kind and cannot be replicated. Conversely, digital files can be easily and endlessly copied. However, by purchasing an NFT, the buyer can prove that they own the rights to the "original" digital asset.

There have been mixed responses to NFTs sudden popularity, with some seeing it as the emergence of a new asset class, while others cannot wrap their heads around the idea of paying such large sums of money for a digital asset that can be duplicated.

However, surely this is a natural evolution in todays digital world? As with traditional art, digital art is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. In theory, anyone could have an excellent replica made of a traditional artwork if they wanted to, but a large part of arts value is derived from its originality. Serious art collectors dont want a copy. Countless people around the world have Matisse prints on their walls, but it isnt the same as owning the original painting. Why should it be so different for digital art?

Blockchain is enabling monetary value to be assigned to the digital twin of a physical asset and, by virtue of distributed ledger technology, creating a virtual environment in which the authenticity of a digital asset or twin is a separate value in its own right - due to the unique corresponding verification on a blockchain. Digital twins have not instantly taken off in the mainstream, as the risk of duplication has been a significant deterrent however, NFTs are paving the way for a new era of trust in digital assets.

For our part, we see NFTs as yet another way that blockchain is creating opportunities and shaping the world in which we live. Blockchains ability to record data securely and immutably is an incredibly important technological advancement, and it is no surprise that it is being capitalised on in so many different ways.

This powerful technology has certainly come a long way since its origins as the foundation of cryptocurrency, and we are seeing new applications every day. We set up Finboot in the first place because we could see the value of introducing blockchain to enterprise supply and value chains, and were seeing the technology deployed in a number of ways by our clients, from invoice reconciliation to the verification of sustainability credentials, giving them a competitive edge as well as building trust.

Some might be skeptical about NFTs but they would be wrong to dismiss it as a passing fad. NFTs effectively solve the problem of authenticity and, because the tokens are stored on a decentralised database, the record is public, significantly reducing the possibility of theft or fraud or theft. NFTs are a game-changer, and this is just the start.

This article was contributed by Juan Miguel Prez Rosas, CEO, Finboot

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