Information about the new Samsung device: the Galaxy S22 has been being leaked and circulating the internet recently. However, one of the leaks seems to be very interesting. The new smartphone will make use of a “new material” one reportedly made from plastic in recycled fishing nets.

Samsung claims that they will be incorporating reused ocean bound plastics in all their products, and that the Galaxy S22 is just the first step. The one thing that is not entirely clear is how the recycled plastics will be incorporated into the device.

There are 640,000 tons of fishing nets thrown into the ocean every year; Samsung says that “Collecting and repurposing these nets are vital steps in keeping our oceans clean.” This announcement seems to be good news and a step in the right direction, however, with how the reused plastic will be incorporated into the device still unknown, the extent of the environmental benefits is uncertain.

Source: https://www.theverge.com/2022/2/7/22921361/galaxy-s22-plastic-recycled-fishing-nets

Last year, the IRS announced the use of facial recognition software, ID.me. The user must submit a video or selfie in order to  verify their identity using this service. Initially, the creators of ID.me claimed the service used one to one matching, where they matched an image of the face to the same face. However, they have stepped down from this claim after the CEO admitted that they use a much larger database to match faces.

During 2021, Many individuals who used the software in order to apply for benefits ended up loosing out on those benefits due to issues with the software. The IRS states that the use of this service is to “ensure criminals do not have access to taxpayer accounts”, however many disagree with the IRS having access to a large database of every taxpayer’s face. This service has already sparked complaints from The American Civil Liberties Union, digital rights advocates, and politicians.

According to a Bloomberg report, the IRS is looking for an alternative to this controversial software. The IRS did not cite a reason for this, however due to all the backlash, it is not hard to imagine why. Will the alternative that the IRS produces be a step in the right direction, or will it just worsen the issues?

Source: https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/29/22907853/irs-idme-facial-recognition-alternatives-privacy-concerns

El Salvador adopted Bitcoin as an official legal tender in September 2021. Citizens of the Central American nation can pay their taxes with the cryptocurrency as well as shops being able to list item pricing in Bitcoin. This is due to the president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, being highly enthusiastic about the digital currency. The president announced the law at a cryptocurrency conference in Miami as well as investing in the currency himself often. The coffers of El Salvador also include over 1,500 Bitcoin.

Fast foreword to January 2022 and the IMF is now advising that El Salvador step back on this decision. The International Monetary Fund’s main concern is the instability of the currency, as well as the government issuing bitcoin backed bonds. The fluctuating currency may make it difficult for the nation to get a loan from the IMF. The Fund advises the country to not stop using Bitcoin entirely, just to revert their decision on making it legal tender.

Things were not all negative, however, the IMF did speak positively of the government on its goals of utilizing Bitcoin and Chivo Wallets in order to make Financial services more easily available to El Salvadorians.

Source: https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/25/22901374/el-salvador-bitcoin-international-monetary-fund-crypto

The small island nation of Tonga, a speck in the middle of the pacific ocean, was rocked by a large volcanic explosion on January 14th. This natural disaster has claimed three lives from the tsunami generated by the volcano, and severed Tonga’s connection to the outside world.

Tonga is connected to the internet through a single undersea cable, like many other island nations. These cables rely on delicate fiber optic filaments in order to get it’s citizens connected to the internet. This lone cable was damaged in the explosion, cutting the entire nation off from the internet entirely. The government of the small island nation stated: “communications both international and domestic were severed due to damage sustained by the submarine cable.” The only method of communication currently is the use of satellite phones and high-frequency radio which are making it difficult to fully asses the damage of the eruption.

The cable was 827 kilometers and connected via rely to Fiji, the second nearest neighbor to the island nation. Fixing the damaged cable might take up to two weeks, leaving the nation cut off from the internet. The cable will also required a special undersea cable repair ship, however the nearest vessel that is capable of repairing the cable is anchored in Papua New Guinea, 4,700 kilometers away.

This incident is a demonstration of the fragility of access to the internet, especially in smaller nations like Tonga.

Source: https://www.theverge.com/22891031/tonga-volcano-eruption-broke-undersea-internet-cable-repair

NFTs (or Non Fungible Tokens) are something that have taken the internet by storm recently, with multiple celebrities like Post Malone and Shaq using the pricy images as their profile pictures on twitter. These “pieces of digital art” have been extremely polarizing recently due to their hefty price tag for something that is essentially an image associated with a cryptocurrency “token”. However, there is a much larger reason to dislike this internet craze, the heavy carbon emission toll they take in order to be created.

For example, one NFT entitled “space cat”, a simple gif of a cat riding a rocket into space, is responsible for as much carbon emissions as an EU resident’s electricity usage for 2 months. NFT’s are purchased in online marketplaces using a cryptocurrency called Ethereum. This digital currency uses a system entitled “Proof of work” that uses an incredible amount of energy. Proof of work is a system in which the currency is mined, using machines to solve complex problems. These complex problems require an extensive amount of energy in order to be solved.

Currently there are less energy intensive methods of buying an trading these expensive pieces of “art” however they much less common. NFTs sold by the NBA use a cryptocurrency called Flow which is much less energy intensive to be produced. The creators of Ethereum  have been promising to adapt and use a much less energy intensive source of production, however it has been years since they stated this and there is no change in sight.

If you are like my and you strongly dislike these gaudy expensive jpegs that have been circulating the internet recently, you now have another reason to despise NFTs, their heavy environmental toll.

Source: https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/15/22328203/nft-cryptoart-ethereum-blockchain-climate-change