The Tech4Humanity Lab blog is comprised of research and general interests posts from lab students and faculty.
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Virginia Students Are Game Changineers
Computational Thinking (CT) forms the backbone behind cybersecurity, autonomous systems, data sciences, and many of the tech jobs. Understanding CT instills in the learners the manner in which computer scientists and cyber professionals think about the problems at hand. Needless to say, the construction of modern-day digital artifacts is highly complex. The skill set…
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AI in agriculture: symptom or a remedy?
Every day new technologies, in particular Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), are being developed and implemented on farms in the United States and around the world. Yet, rarely is the changing nature of technology on farms considered from a human perspective. Specifically, is AI in agriculture, in fact, benefiting or harming humanity?
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How could AI Pilots affect the Air Force?
A quick Google search of ‘US Air Force’ instantly pulls up images of fighter pilots and stunning photos of fighter aircrafts like Lockheed Martin’s F-22 Raptor flying menacingly across a vast blue sky. After loading the Air Force website, the user is greeted with the Air Force’s recruiting slogan “Aim High” with a montage…
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To Prevent Pandemics, Automate Meat Production by Divorcing it from Animals
If ever there were a need for a safer, more automated food production process, it’s in our meat industry. Right now, we breed into existence billions upon billions of farm animals each year, living creatures who require extensive resources (food, water, land, etc.) for months or years before we slaughter them. The inefficiency of…
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Misperceptions about Misinformation and Disinformation
As the election cycle in the U.S. entered its final stretches, many personae non gratae have emerged, aiming to influence the election at the last minute by spreading political misinformation and disinformation. They include the Russian government and the individuals and groups it sponsored, such as the Internet Research Agency (IRA). They are allegedly…
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Electronic Voting and Election Security
With the onset of the pandemic, several countries and local governments, including state governments in the U.S., are considering or have adopted online voting, also known as remote voting or Internet-voting. Some countries, such as Estonia, have fully embraced I-voting as a regular mode of voting. Moreover, many governments have already adopted tools of…
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Innovation in Election Administration and Voter Turnout
Recently, mail-in voting has been under the media spotlight. Due to the COVID-19 pan- demic, demands for mail-in voting are expected to be significantly higher for this election. Political elites on both sides of the aisle have been busily reacting to this trend.
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Silencing Freedom: Belarus’ Internet Shutdown
When authoritarian regimes are faced with increasing protests and unrest within their domestic populations the blocking and throttling of a nation’s Internet is an all too common occurrence. Recent days have seen a bevy of reports that the Belarusian government of Alexander Lukashenko, having engaged in suspected election manipulations on a massive scale, is…
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The TikTok Ban: A Closer Look
TikTok, a Chinese video-sharing social networking service has risen in global prominence in recent years to a user base of more than 800 million. There are more than 40 million U.S. TikTok users. The Trump administration has declared TikToK to be national security threat. Most security analysts have found this not to be the…
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Book Review: The Decision to Attack: Military and Intelligence Cyber Decision-Making
Aaron Franklin Brantly University of Georgia Press, 2016, 226 pp. Reviewed by Dr. John G. Breen Distinguished Chair for National Intelligence Studies, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, and CIA Representative to the U.S. Army Combined Arms Center “The Russian government hacked into the e-mail accounts of top Democratic Party officials in order…