Internet Archives - Viterbi Conversations in Ethics

Fall 2022 Weekly News Profile

Mass Protests in Iran Garner U.S. Tech Support

Iranian protests have made headlines – and social media feeds – around the world. As the internet becomes an increasingly important ally in the global fight for human rights, tech firms in the United States are seeking to expand internet access to Iranians.

Spring 2022 Weekly News Profile

Outages in Ukraine Demonstrate the Internet’s Role in Modern Conflict

Sabrina Sy February 28, 2022 Information Internet War

Outage reports in multiple cities following Russian invasion on Wednesday night pose the possibility of direct attacks on Ukraine’s internet infrastructure, resulting in obstacles to the flow of information in and out of the country.

Spring 2022 Weekly News Profile

SpaceX and Amazon’s Starlink Spat

Isabel Brieler January 17, 2022 FCC Internet Satellites SpaceX

In the most recent update to SpaceX and Amazon’s ongoing conflict over the proposed Starlink Satellite Internet plan, Amazon has requested further delays to SpaceX’s launch schedule in order to “allow for more thorough analysis.”

Fall 2022 VCE Podcast

Predictive Policing

VCE October 31, 2022

In this episode, the Viterbi Conversations in Ethics team explores the ethics behind predictive policing.

Fall 2022 VCE Podcast

Clean Energy

VCE October 31, 2022

In this episode, the Viterbi Conversations in Ethics team explores the ethics behind clean energy.

Fall 2022 Featured VCE Podcast

Cryptocurrency

VCE October 24, 2022

In this episode, the Viterbi Conversations in Ethics team explores the ethics behind cryptocurrency.

Fall 2022 VCE Podcast

Autonomous Vehicles

VCE October 24, 2022

In this episode, the Viterbi Conversations in Ethics team explores the ethics behind autonomous vehicles.

Fall 2022 VCE Podcast

Digital Voice Assistants

VCE October 19, 2022

In this episode, the Viterbi Conversations in Ethics team explores the ethics behind digital voice assistants such as Siri and Alexa.

Spring 2022 Volume 6 Issue 1

The Costs of Megaprojects: An Analysis of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge

Helen Situ May 4, 2022

Megaprojects are large scale investment projects, many of which are internationally famous, such as Australia’s Sydney Opera House, SpaceX’s program to colonize Mars, and the Panama Canal. Megaprojects garner a high level of excitement — and justly so, as they hold cultural, economic, and social significance. However, the questionable ethics of megaprojects needs to be examined as they increasingly become the dominant mode of infrastructure construction.

Spring 2022 Volume 6 Issue 1

A Credit Card a Week: The Environmental Ethics of Plastics

Kaylee Tseng May 4, 2022

In an industrialized world, it seems impossible to live without plastics. From food storage to aircrafts, plastics provide benefits that make them an irreplaceable material. However, a consistent increase in plastic production and use has led to a massive plastic pollution crisis. Plastics are produced from non-renewable resources and can never fully decompose. They end up in our oceans, our environment, and even our stomachs (a credit card’s worth per week). Additionally, the massive amount of plastic waste has created a global plastic trade that unfairly places the burden of waste processing on less developed countries that may not be able to support even their own waste. The effects of plastic pollution are reaching a critical stage, and engineers must find solutions to relieve the growing pressure.

Spring 2022 Volume 6 Issue 1

The Ethics of Stockpiling Zero-Day Vulnerabilities

Matthew Wilson May 4, 2022

The development of new technology has allowed the evolution of new methods of warfare. The use of zero-days has propelled this exploration and empowered governments to remotely attack the software systems of their adversaries. Despite the potential military benefits of this weapon, government officials are still questioning whether they should stockpile zero-days, especially when the vulnerability is found in software that everyday citizens use. Analyses of previous zero-day attacks and the US government’s overpowering national security stance reveals that the consequences of stockpiling zero-days outweigh the benefits and are a clear violation of the rights of citizens.

Fall 2022 Featured Weekly News Profile

The Impact of STEM From Childhood Toys to Adult Careers

Jennah Saqib November 28, 2022

In recent years there has been an increased interest in toys that are designed to enhance children’s cognitive development. The goal of these toys is to encourage scientific curiosity outside of the classroom; however, the benefits of STEM toys over other forms of play are debatable. Additionally, the increased pressure from parents to push their children into STEM fields may do them more harm than good in the long run.

Fall 2022 Weekly News Profile

Running Low on Gas: Technologies Affected by the Helium Shortage

Kaylee Tseng November 14, 2022

Advanced technologies such as MRI scans and quantum computing are at risk of losing one of their most important elements: liquid helium. The unique properties of helium lend it to a wide array of scientific uses, but these properties also make helium difficult to capture and reuse. The ongoing shortage of helium has prompted researchers to find ways to recycle or replace helium to conserve this dwindling resource.

Fall 2022 Weekly News Profile

FDA Advisory Panel Asks for Improvements in Pulse Oximeters

Sabrina Sy November 7, 2022

An FDA Anesthesiology and Respiratory Therapy Devices advisory panel met this week to discuss racial and skin-pigmentation bias in pulse oximeter devices. This comes in the wake of research demonstrating that inaccurate blood oxygen readings may have contributed to the greater number of Covid-19 deaths in minority patients compared to white patients.

Fall 2022 Weekly News Profile

War and Progress: The Invasion of Ukraine and Its Impact on Renewable Energy

Jennah Saqib October 31, 2022

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has led to an energy crisis in much of the world. As a result, Western leaders are pushing for increased interest and investment in renewable energy. This introduces an ethical dilemma of the impacts of war on technological progress, and what it says about humanity that such motivations are required for change to be made.