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Microsoft will end Skype in May, leaving some users upset https://ift.tt/1XKOSHg Microsoft says it will wind down the pioneering and once ubiquitous free video calling service so it can streamline its consumer communications offerings, such as Microsoft Teams. (Image credit: Anonymous)

To ease the energy crisis, we're going to need better batteries https://ift.tt/IRo1BMx Batteries are everywhere. They're in our phones, our remote controls, smart-watches, electric cars and so much more. They could also be the solution to a problem that renewable energy companies have faced for years: How to store the mass amounts of energy they produce for later use. Some companies are using batteries to make renewable energy accessible 24/7. Today, we dig into how the technology is rapidly progressing with Cooper Katz McKim, a producer from fellow NPR podcast The Indicator from Planet Money . Listen to The Indicator's three-part battery series . Have questions about the future of technology? Contact us at shortwave@npr.org . Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave .

DOGE work could 'cross extreme ethical and legal lines,' says former employee https://ift.tt/NtqZ65H On Tuesday, 21 DOGE employees resigned. NPR spoke to one of them who says she felt the new administration was causing "harm to the American people." As Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency work to remake the federal government, some of the people tasked with executing his vision have serious concerns about what the changes will do. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for C onsider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org . Email us at considerthis@npr.org . (Image credit: JIM WATSON)

The search for the missing Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 has resumed once again https://ift.tt/PjgLGVC After 11 years of the plane's untraceable disappearance, authorities have announced that the search is back on. (Image credit: Rahman Roslan/Getty Images)

50 years after a seminal conference, big questions about biotechnology remain https://ift.tt/mf38KuP In 1975, researchers met to discuss the emerging field of biotechnology. The issues surrounding the field today are familiar. (Image credit: San Francisco Chronicle/Hearst N/Hearst Newspapers via Getty Images)

A new document undercuts Trump admin's denials about $400 million Tesla deal https://ift.tt/n4lWw1B The State Department claimed a plan to buy thousands of armored Teslas was left over from the Biden administration. A document obtained by NPR shows the Biden plan was far smaller. (Image credit: Justin Sullivan)

Lonely? There's an app for that... but should there be? https://ift.tt/Jd8aPHG We're back with "All the Lonely People," a series diving deep into how loneliness shows up in our lives. This week: can tech cure our loneliness? Companies like Meeno (an AI relationship coaching app), Peoplehood (a platform that organizes guided group conversations), Timeleft (an app which matches strangers for dinner), and Bumble for Friends all say they want to help people make more and better connections. But do we need tech solutions to what may partially be a tech problem? Brittany sits down with Sam Pressler, who studies community and social connection at the University of Virginia's Karsh Institute of Democracy, and Vauhini Vara, veteran tech reporter and author of the upcoming book Searches: Selfhood in the Digital Age, to break it all down.

Trump says Elon Musk's $10 million settlement over Twitter suit was 'a big discount' https://ift.tt/kDfsQT7 It's the second tech company to agree to a payout after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol prompted Trump to be kicked off numerous social media platforms. (Image credit: Jim Watson)

Like a snake eating its own tail: What happens when AI consumes its own data? https://ift.tt/kqfM8XZ Asked ChatGPT anything lately? Talked with a customer service chatbot? Read the results of Google's "AI Overviews" summary feature? If you've used the Internet lately, chances are, you've consumed content created by a large language model. These models, like DeepSeek-R1 or OpenAI's ChatGPT, are kind of like the predictive text feature in your phone on steroids . In order for them to "learn" how to write, the models are trained on millions of examples of human-written text. Thanks in part to these same large language models, a lot of content on the Internet today is written by generative AI. That means that AI models trained nowadays may be consuming their own synthetic content ... and suffering the consequences. View the AI-generated images mentioned in this episode. Have another topic in artificial intelligence you want us to cover? Let us kno...

Mexico's President Sheinbaum threatens to take legal action over the Gulf name change https://ift.tt/nkHUuEB Earlier this month, Sheinbaum shared a letter addressed to Google with reporters, arguing that the U.S. had no authority to unilaterally rename the Gulf. (Image credit: ALFREDO ESTRELLA/AFP via Getty Images)

Prize-winning pictures: Images from this photo contest show tech changing the world https://ift.tt/vDsQLHP The website restofworld got entries from 45 countries for a photo contest focusing on technology. Here are their top picks -- from facial scans for migrants to kids in a Mongolian tent transfixed by of a TV. (Image credit: Grace Yoon)

YouTube turns 20 years old today https://ift.tt/y8o2uvT Twenty years ago, three former PayPal employees activated the domain name "YouTube.com." The first YouTube video followed soon after. (Image credit: Jeff J Mitchell)

YouTube turns 20 years old today https://ift.tt/y8o2uvT Twenty years ago, three former PayPal employees activated the domain name "YouTube.com." The first YouTube video followed soon after. (Image credit: Jeff J Mitchell)

TikTok is back on the Apple and Google app stores https://ift.tt/Ii7D0FJ Apple and Google removed the app after the Supreme Court upheld a law prohibiting firms from doing business with TikTok as long as it is controlled by China-based ByteDance. (Image credit: Ashley Landis)

In Panama economic needs threaten to erase a way of life https://ift.tt/YclUjkM Panama has been looking for solutions to a long-term problem. Every time a ship passes through the Panama Canal, more than 50 million gallons of fresh water from Lake Gatun pour out into the ocean. Nobody ever thought Panama could run out of water. It is one of the rainiest countries in the world. But a couple years ago, a drought got so bad that the canal had to reduce traffic by more than a third - which had a huge impact on global shipping. The Panama Canal needs more water. Authorities have decided to get it by building a dam in a spot that would displace more than 2,000 people along the Rio Indio. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for C onsider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org Email us at considerthis@npr.org (Image credit: Tomas Ayuso)

TechTonic Justice's Kevin De Liban discusses how AI can cause problems in government https://ift.tt/f7qsiCN NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to Kevin De Liban, attorney and founder of TechTonic Justice, about how AI comes between Americans and their government.

Trump administration set to purchase $400 million worth of armored Teslas https://ift.tt/p5Pynrk That's according to a public State Department procurement document. It comes as ethics experts raise conflict of interest questions about the chief executive of Tesla, Elon Musk, who is a top White House official. (Image credit: Eric Gay)

How did Elon Musk became so powerful in the Trump administration? https://ift.tt/KjNHOh6 New York Times journalist Eric Lipton explains how Musk's companies are benefiting as he cuts federal jobs and agencies, and reporter Teddy Schleifer explains how Musk's political views turned right.

Vice President Vance lays out AI vision very different from Biden administration's https://ift.tt/jWf8MGw Vice President JD Vance laid out a vision for AI at the third AI Action Summit in Paris that is very different from the tack the Biden administration took, focusing less and less on safety.

GSA staff facing massive cuts and fears of 'nonstop' surveillance https://ift.tt/dD5XOWM The remaining employees at the General Services Administration are being warned that their work will be heavily monitored, from their swipes into the office to what they type on their computers. (Image credit: Saul Loeb)

Norway is leading the way in EV technology. Can other countries learn from it? https://ift.tt/nSkolOR Oil rich Norway is a world leader in electric vehicle use, thanks to government incentives.

Who is part of Elon Musk's DOGE and what are they doing? https://ift.tt/h6svyxX The scope of DOGE's work and the identities of the people carrying it out isn't fully clear — leaving agencies and government workers in chaos. (Image credit: Pool/Getty Images)

Exclusive: GM, Pepsi, Disney, others scrub some DEI references from investor reports https://ift.tt/1y0v2aM Some companies have announced diversity rollbacks — but many more are deleting or softening language from their investor disclosures, an NPR analysis finds. (Image credit: Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Member of Elon Musk's DOGE team resigns after racist posts resurface https://ift.tt/InVuPpB Marko Elez had recently been given special access by a federal judge to highly sensitive payment systems in the Department of Treasury. (Image credit: Chip Somodevilla)

CISA staffers offered deferred resignations, extending broader cybersecurity fears https://ift.tt/A9k2PVW Staff at the key cybersecurity agency were initially excluded from government efforts to leave their jobs, but then on Wednesday they were given deferred resignation offers with just hours to decide. (Image credit: Jim Watson)

Air traffic control expert discusses the outdated technology behind U.S. systems https://ift.tt/NCZVi8k Margaret Wallace, who teaches air traffic control and airport management at the Florida Institute of Technology, discusses the outdated technology underlying the U.S. air traffic control system.

6 unsettling thoughts Google's former CEO has about artificial intelligence https://ift.tt/Sc3BZq7 Neither the public or the tech giants pushing artificial intelligence understand its long-term implications, warns former Google CEO Eric Schmidt. (Image credit: Nathan Laine)

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt offers his take on AI and its potential impacts https://ift.tt/qhCjUpE Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt offers his take on the race to be at the forefront of artificial intelligence and how AI will impact humanity in a book he co-authored called "Genesis."