The surveillance technology that will watch us all, all the time

Wide Angle Motion Imagery (WAMI) is a surveillance game-changer. And it's here.

Photo by Stanislav Krasilnikov\TASS via Getty Images
  • In his new book, Eyes in the Sky, Arthur Holland Michel details the evolution of aerial surveillance technology.
  • Cameras aboard drones can monitor the entirety of 50 square kilometers for hours without refueling.
  • New aerial technologies are going to create the privacy fights of the future.
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Immigration: Why the well-meaning ‘successful immigrant’ narrative is faulty

We tend to promote foreigners by broadcasting their economic and scholarly value, instead of their intrinsic humanity.

  • There's a tendency to fight dehumanizing narratives about immigrants and refugees with stories about how much value they have to the United States, in terms of economic and academic achievements and abilities.
  • Though these counternarratives might come from a good place, Adam Waytz doesn't believe they "really consider people in terms of human dignity." They fail to call out immigrants and refugees inherent dignity.
  • The image of the deceased Aylan Kurdi washed ashore evoked immense sympathy for refugees. Besides showcasing their economic values, it highlighted their shared humanity.
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The incredible history of the 2nd Amendment and America’s gun violence problem

Gun safety laws have a historical precedent in the 1939 court case U.S. v Miller.

  • In 1765, the Britain Parliament passed a Stamp Act, but people in New England rebelled against it. In response to this, the king sent two regimens of the British army to Boston to occupy the city. They were much despised by Bostonians, and this occuptation led to the Boston Massacre in 1770. Since then, many have interpreted the Second Amendment to mean the right of the people to bear arms to aid them in a possible insurrection against the government.
  • The Supreme Court in 1939 in U.S. v Miller, decided unanimously that gun safety laws are perfectly constitutional — the justices declared that the Second Amendment does not protect the rights of an individual to carry firearms. They said the Second Amendment protects the right of people to form militias, or to participate in the common defense.
  • According to many historians, bearing arms evokes a military use for the common defense — not for shooting rabbits or for the insurrection against one's government. It seems the purpose of the law is to allow citizens to participate in defense of the country against a common enemy.
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FBI and ICE scan millions of DMV photos to find suspects, raising concerns

Researchers discover government agencies use facial recognition software on photos from local DMVs.

Photo by Lawrence K. Ho/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images. 2004.
  • FBI and ICE routinely scan through millions of photos in state DMV databases.
  • The agencies use facial recognition software to find matches for suspects.
  • Congressmen on both sides of the isle are worried about privacy implications of such unregulated practices.
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Preliminary evidence that stress makes negative memories less distinctive, with implications for witness testimony

Studies on stress and memory have often given conflicting results.

Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Stress has complicated effects on our memories.

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