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There is currently a bipartisan push from state and federal governments to introduce laws in Australia banning young people under 16 from accessing social media platforms. Politicians are citing fears that minors are exposed to harmful or inappropriate content online. The proposed reform has been accompanied by federal government plans to pilot “age assurance” technologies. Proposed tools for age verification range from uploading ID documents to the use of biometric face-scanning technologies. Most of these methods are fraught with problems, including privacy risks. Research from overseas has already raised concerns about the potenti...... Read Full article on HadNews

A 21-year-old from Ukraine has found her image has been taken and duplicated using artificial intelligence (AI) to create an alter-ego on Chinese social media networks. Olga Loiek, a University of Pennsylvania student, launched a YouTube channel in November last year to share her lifestyle and experiences. She was looking to build an audience for her content, but things have taken an unexpected turn. It has emerged her image has been lifted and processed through AI programs to create a series of personas, like “Natasha” who appears to be a Russian woman, fluent in Mandarin, who wants to express her gratitude for Chinese support of Russ...... Read Full article on HadNews

The United States has the largest philanthropic sector in the world. Foundations and similar grantmakers have US$1.5 trillion in assets and disburse more than $100 billion annually to everything from hospitals and museums to making communities more walkable and improving care at the end of life. Many foundations task in-house and outside communications experts with helping the public learn about their grantmaking and its impact. And yet polling indicates that few people know what foundations do or how philanthropy affects their lives. We are communications scholars who research ways that organizations seeking to bring about social cha...... Read Full article on HadNews

It could soon be possible to speak without vocal cords, as engineers are focusing on a square-inch device that can help people regain their voice. This could be extremely beneficial for people with pathological vocal cord conditions or those who are recovering from laryngeal cancer surgery as this tiny new patch is being developed by engineers at the University of California. In a journal published in Nature Communications last week (Mar. 12), the researchers outlined their invention and the results of testing the device on eight adults. They describe the wearable tool as being a “self-powered sensing-actuation system” based on soft ma...... Read Full article on HadNews

The concept of communicating with animals has long been a fascination for humans, and now, with advancements in technology, we may be closer than ever to breaking the language barrier with sperm whales. These magnificent creatures, known for their complex communication system, could hold the key to unlocking interspecies communication like never before. Sperm whales have been studied for decades, and researchers have discovered that their communication is not just random noise, but a structured form of language. With distinct patterns and sequences of clicks called codas, sperm whales seem to have a sophisticated way of conveying messa...... Read Full article on HadNews

What is love? Could those feelings you label as love be something else? What about infatuation? Obsession? A passing fancy? Being smitten? Enthrallment? Beguilement? Lust? A crush? A squish? Platonic admiration? Why do people categorize some attachments as romantic love but not others? Suppose Holly meets someone on vacation. They quickly become romantically and sexually intimate and seem deeply compatible. Holly is from the U.K., where the term “holiday romance” is commonly used and part of her vocabulary. Because she knows this term, she can apply its social scaffolding to this relationship. She understands that the rapid emotiona...... Read Full article on HadNews

WhatsApp is set to introduce an expansion of its Chat Lock feature for full connectivity across all linked devices. This enhancement will mean if you lock a chat on your mobile, it will stay that way on WhatsApp for web and Windows, breaking away from the current setup which treats non-mobile platforms as separate channels. The information has been unearthed by WABetaInfo after it delved into the most recent Android beta. In WhatsApp’s previous announcement in November, Secret Code was introduced as a way of enhancing the security and privacy of the Meta-owned messenger app. Soon, you will need the code to access chat logs across vario...... Read Full article on HadNews

True Love — and the Myth of “Happily Ever After” | Francesca Hogi | TED In the TED talk "True Love — and the Myth of 'Happily Ever After'," relationship expert Francesca Hogi challenges the fairytale industrial complex that has been feeding us the myth of "happily ever after." Through a pervasive web of marketing, advertising, music, movies, and more, we have been led to believe that love is something external and scarce, something that can only be achieved through luck, worthiness, and the approval of a high-status partner. Hogi argues that instead of treating love as a storybook fantasy, we need to center self-love and self-worth and pri...... Read Full article on HadNews

What Makes Someone Vote Against Their Political Party? | Sarah Longwell | TED we need to find a way to bridge the gap and speak to people in terms that they understand and resonate with. This means understanding that tribal loyalty often comes before political ideology or concern for the democratic process. It means creating safe spaces for people to express dissenting views and providing them with trusted messengers who they can relate to and trust. The success of Republican Voters Against Trump in the 2020 election demonstrates that people are willing to vote against their political tribe when given the proper motivation and support. The ...... Read Full article on HadNews

Good sex explained in 9 minutes | Dr. Emily Nagoski is having sex that they like, that's all we need. Pleasure is the measure of successful sexual experiences, and it's important to understand that desire can be both spontaneous and responsive. The history of the science of sex therapy has evolved to recognize the importance of desire in sexual response. The Dual Control Model explains how both accelerators and brakes in the brain affect sexual arousal and response. Understanding the context and emotional state in which we experience sensations is crucial in enjoying sexual pleasure. It's important for couples to co-create a context that all...... Read Full article on HadNews