The Moon, The Stars, Mars, & Robots!

This week, it's all things space, as we explore the possibility of life on Mars, Star Trek's upcoming 60th Anniversary, and the University of Akron's NASA Mining Robot team. Another new development this week that's newsworthy but unfortunately didn't make it into this a edition of "This Week in Tech with Jeanne Destro", is that NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, has just been selected to lead the way on a new billion dollar effort to build a nuclear reactor on the Moon. But it's a perfect lead in as we  set our sights on the stars, and boldly go where imagination, ingenuity, and great technology can take us. Listen now.

Want highly skilled STEM-skilled workers to permanently relocate to Ohio? Offer their employers cold, hard, taxpayer-generated cash to bring them here. That's what JobsOhio is doing right now, and you can get details on that story plus a whole lot more, like the latest on Google's big privacy fine, a last minute surge in EV sales before tariffs kick in, and a new data center planned for the site of the old Lordstown GM plant, when you listen to the latest edition of "This Week In Tech with Jeanne Destro".

The City of Fairlawn is embarking on an ambitious new plan to ease traffic flow and prioritize safety on State Route 18. They're spending $300,000 on a new system that will turn lights green ahead of buses and emergency vehicles, and warn motorists about adverse traffic conditions through a new mobile app. Listen now for details from Fairlawn Public Service Director Ernie Staten, in this week's edition of "This Week in Tech with Jeanne Destro".

It was one of those "I can't believe I fell for it", moments on social media, where somebody was going on about how this "old lady" couldn't figure out how to process a particular type of electronic payment at a store, when I started seeing red, especially because "old" was defined (in her mind at least) as "over 50". The nerve!  Well, I can laugh about it now, but at the time I was pretty steamed. Once I calmed down, I realized that I had fallen for the bait that the tech giants behind social media build into their algorithms, to generate both outrage, and engagement. The madder we get, the more we click, the more we click and comment, the more money they make on ads.  Anyway, it got me thinking, and I decided to stop being mad, and start getting even, in a positive way. So I called some experts to help me find out if there really is any truth to what I perceived as an ageist bias against older people, for their (alleged) inability to use technology. Our featured guests on today's edition of "This Week in Tech with Jeanne Destro", are Abby Morgan, who is the CEO of Direction Home, the Akron-Canton Area Agency on Aging, and Cleveland Clinic Gerontologist Dr. Ken Koncilja. Listen now.

Google took action this week to better protect children from harmful content on YouTube; announcing they're using artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze users' behavior to determine whether they're under the age of 18. Like Meta did a few months ago on Instagram; they will restrict that user from viewing what they believe is age-inappropriate content, and will also disable personalized advertising. If an adult believes they have been incorrectly identified as a minor; they can prove their age by providing a credit card or government ID. In other tech news this week, we're noting the end of an era, as the venerable old web portal and online service provider most closely identified with the early internet era–AOL–is discontinuing dial-up internet service. To find out more; I had a conversation with former CNET Editor, and CBS News Tech Contributor, Ian Sherr:

Two well-known celebrities ignited a firestorm of controversy this week, when they used AI to bring dead people "back to life" by creating video Avatars that looked and sounded so much like the originals that they totally creeped some people out, and made them really question both the ethics of those who did it, and the technology they used to make it happen. First, it was Rock superstar, Rod Stewart, whose audience didn't think he was all that sexy, after he shared an AI-generated video of Ozzy Osbourne, who died a few weeks ago from cancer, waving a selfie stick and smiling back at a concert crowd with other dead rock stars, seemingly from the great beyond. Of course it was pure entertainment, and some fans thought it was great, but others were horrified and thought it was extremely disrespectful. Same goes for former CNN White House Correspondent, and now Independent Journalist, Jim Acosta, who did an "interview" with an AI-generated teenage victim of the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. But, unlike Rod Stewart, who knew Ozzy Osbourne; Acosta never knew the victim, 17 year old Joaquin Oliver, but he did know his parents, and they asked him to do the story. But doing the story is one thing, and making it up from thin air using AI, is another. Besides being a quintessential example of "fake news"; the ethics behind doing it in the first place, are at least arguably, pretty darn questionable–at least according to the people who have been expressing outrage about it on social media and in the press this week. On the other hand, you have to consider that the boy's parents sanctioned this, and indeed, Axios Miami reports they are planning to continue to use the AI likeness of their son in their quest for stronger gun laws, mental health support, and community engagement. So, who is right, and who is wrong? If somebody is wrong, who should we blame; the people who did it, the people who created the technology that enabled them to do it, or society in general because we put up with it, or...well, I'm really not sure who else, but probably somebody.   It all reminds me of a Monkees song that was big when I was a kid called "Shades of Gray", which included the line, "Today there is no wrong or right, only shades of gray", which used to drive my parents crazy, because in their world; there were absolute rules. What was right, was right, what was wrong, was wrong, and that was just that, end of story. But that isn't just that anymore, especially when you have all these dead people just kind of spontaneously popping back up and telling us what's what, through the seemingly magical, but entirely algorithmic power of artificial intelligence. So, that's what we're getting into, on today's edition of "This Week In Tech with Jeanne Destro", with our special guest, Dr. John Huss, who is the Chair Professor of the Department of Philosophy at the University of Akron. He's been doing research into Ethics and AI, and will be presenting a paper on the topic at a big academic conference in Poland, next month.

If you're looking for something fun and maybe a little different to do this weekend in Akron; head on over to Bowery Street, where Akron's Earthquaker Devices is having their annual "Earthquaker Day" with factory tours, live music, DIY recording demonstrations, and more. That company, which makes guitar effects pedals for musicians and bands, is one of the topics we're getting into, on today's edition of "This Week in Tech with Jeanne Destro". We're starting out with a look at what manufacturers nationwide are going through, as they try to navigate the choppy waters of President Trump's on again-off again tariffs. Are they a good thing, or a bad thing? Will they bring in more business, or drive away customers who get spooked by higher prices? We'll find out from Ethan Karp, who is the President and CEO of the non-profit manufacturing consulting firm MAGNET, in Cleveland. He recently wrote an article for Forbes, about how tariffs are affecting manufacturers, and what might be ahead. Then, we'll listen in on WAKR Morning Show Host, Ray Horner's recent interview with Jamie Stillman, the founder and chief designer at Earthquaker Devices. He's the mastermind behind many of those cool guitar effects you hear in your favorite songs, and as you'll hear; it all started because he couldn't find anybody to fix his favorite guitar effects pedal. That was 20 years ago, and now, with 34 employees and a local factory that turns out products sold all over the world; he's got something big to celebrate, and you can share it this weekend at his company's annual Earthquaker Day Festival. Listen now for more, and rock on!

Art conservators at museums worldwide had a very sticky problem, and the University of Akron had the solution. It's called "Beva 371 Akron", and is a new type of adhesive developed by polymer scientists to help preserve old, fragile paintings. Listen now to my conversation with Professor Dr. Ali Dhinojwala, who is the W. Gerald Austen Endowed Chair and H.A. Morton Professor at the University of Akron's School of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering, to find out why their innovative and less toxic adhesive is indeed a very "super" glue, that is picture perfect for the world of art.

Summit County is moving full steam ahead with its ambitious "Summit Connects" , 130 mile fiber ring, which will connect law enforcement, public agencies, smart traffic cameras, and even roadway infrastructure, through an ultra high speed broadband internet connection. However, work is running behind schedule by about six to eight weeks because of the long and snowy winter, as well as unexpected delays related to utility line inspections. Overall, though, as you'll hear from Summit County Executive Ilene Shapiro's Chief of Staff, Brian Nelsen; the work is going as planned, though its scope has changed some from the original vision, which had it not only connecting public infrastructure, but also extending out to private homes and businesses through a public-private partnership with internet service providers. But, at $50 million dollars plus; it is still a gigantic undertaking, which county officials are hoping will be of real service and value to area residents for decades to come.  Find out why. Listen now.