Tanner Stening, Author at News @ Northeastern

Is there such a thing as a safe algorithm? Talk of Facebook regulation gathers momentum.

One potential solution to Facebook’s lack of transparency is to create a new federal agency charged with regulating the social media companies. But that raises questions about how the political process, and the parties’ different ideas about privacy and free speech, would come to bear on such an effort, say several Northeastern experts.

by Tanner Stening October 13, 2021

Photo Illustration of Kwak'wala text written by Northeastern clinical instructor Michael Running Wolf. Photo by Alyssa Stone/Northeastern University

The race to save indigenous languages, using automatic speech recognition

“The grandiose plan, the far-off dream, is we can create technology to not only preserve, but reclaim languages,” says Michael Running Wolf, who teaches computer science at Northeastern’s Vancouver campus.

by Tanner Stening October 8, 2021

How should Facebook be regulated? Why political solutions will be hard to achieve

As ready as Democrats and Republicans appear to work together to shine a light on the inner workings of Facebook and companies like it, it remains to be seen if any potential political solutions that may emerge from this moment will really reflect a consensus on the fundamental issues at hand, several Northeastern experts say.

by Tanner Stening October 5, 2021

‘One-of-a-kind’ cellular platform could help usher in 6G technology

New funding from the National Science Foundation will be put toward the construction of a fully open, programmable platform that could test higher frequency radio bands in an effort to unlock higher internet speeds and solve barriers to connectivity plaguing the current generation of wireless communications, say several Northeastern experts involved in the research.

by Tanner Stening October 4, 2021

patient receives one of the treatments for covid

New COVID-19 drug therapies are on the horizon. But will they matter?

While these drug solutions have helped to shore up hospital resources by preventing severe illness in many patients, they are far from a silver bullet, and face numerous production challenges, say several Northeastern experts.

by Tanner Stening September 30, 2021

It’s been ‘a litany of lament.’ New speaker series sheds light on the history of anti-Asian hate.

Russell Jeung, who founded the platform Stop Anti-Asian American Pacific Islander Hate, spoke at Northeastern University as part of a new lecture series that explores the troubling rise in anti-Asian bigotry sweeping the country.

by Tanner Stening September 28, 2021

With the COVID-19 vaccine for children near, will parents give it to their kids?

The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine has been tested on children ages 5 to11 and deemed “safe and highly effective,” the company announced amid its ongoing clinical trials for children. The question remains: How to effectively deal with parents’ concerns, say Northeastern health experts.

by Tanner Stening September 27, 2021

Biden’s infrastructure bill includes funding to dismantle ‘racist infrastructure.’ Here’s what it could do.

It’s time the federal government began to undo the damages caused by “racist infrastructure” that have helped shape economic disparities among communities of color and white communities, says Joan Fitzgerald, professor of public policy and urban affairs at Northeastern.

by Tanner Stening September 23, 2021

hand raised over iphone preparing to start doomscrolling

‘Take breaks, but don’t disengage’; The perils of ‘doomscrolling’ when the world is on fire

As our news consumption habits continue to evolve around the use of social media, new pressures arise over how to respond to what we see; how we—as digital witnesses, global citizens, and human beings—should act in the face of injustices and crises far and wide. How to cope with the onslaught? Northeastern experts say it’s a difficult balancing act.

by Tanner Stening September 21, 2021

Study finds broad bipartisan support for social media ‘labeling’ to counter misinformation, problematic speech

The results of the national survey, published on Wednesday, may speak to new concerns about misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly surrounding the use of vaccines and other health protocols, says John Wihbey, an assistant professor of journalism and media innovation at Northeastern and co-author of the study.

by Tanner Stening September 16, 2021

Posts by Tanner Stening