Darrell M. West

TechTank Podcast Episode 58: Twitter, Trump, and online speech

Nicol Turner Lee, Darrell M. West, and Tom Wheeler

Monday, November 28, 2022

An image of Elon Musk is seen next to Twitter logos

The future of Twitter: Four scenarios

Darrell M. West

Tuesday, November 22, 2022

An election worker wears stickers on election day in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., November 2, 2021. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

TechTank Podcast Episode 55: How to improve election security

Darrell M. West

Monday, October 17, 2022

Research and development for the public good: Strengthening societal innovation

10:00 AM - 11:00 AM EDT

Your new BMW could make you feel like a fish out of water - as in the future parts will be made from recycled fishing nets.In a first for the automotive industry, from 2025 models of their NEUE KLASSE cars will feature trim parts made of plastic whose raw material contains around 30 percent recycled nets and ropes. This raw material is proactively sourced at ports all around the world to ensure that it doesn’t end up being discarded in the sea.In an exclusive recycling process, waste material from the maritime industry is used to produce trim parts suitable for the exterior and interior of future vehicles. The resulting components have an approximately 25 percent lower carbon footprint than their counterparts made from conventionally manufactured plastics.The BMW Group is working with different approaches to use plastic waste from the maritime industry as a raw material for vehicle components in order to conserve valuable resources and reduce CO2 emissions. This form of recycling makes it possible to reduce the need for petroleum-based primary plastics and at the same time counteract ocean pollution.Recycled nylon waste forms the basis for a synthetic yarn from which the floor mats in the BMW iX and the new BMW X1, for example, are made. This material, known as ECONYL, is made from discarded fishing nets well as worn floor coverings and residual waste from plastics production.In a new initiative developed in cooperation with the Danish company PLASTIX, the BMW Group is taking the recycling of maritime plastic waste a step further. After separation, fishing nets and ropes undergo an innovative process that produces plastic granules. While recycled maritime plastic has so far only been used in the automotive industry in the form of fibres for new vehicle components, this recycled material is now also suitable for the injection moulding process for the first time. The raw material for the components manufactured in this way can consist of around 30 percent mari

R&D for the public good: Ways to strengthen societal innovation in the United States

Darrell M. West

Monday, October 10, 2022

May 14, 2019, Tokyo, Japan - Japan's computer giant Fujitsu unveils a 300mm wafer which has the CPU chips with 48-core and 2-assistant core Arm architecture "A64FX" processor at Fujitsu's high-tech exhibition Fujitsu Forum 2019 in Tokyo on Tuesday, May 14, 2019. Fujitsu and Riken are developing the government-backed next generation supercomputer called Post-K computer, 100 times greater performance of K computer. (Photo by Yoshio Tsunoda/AFLO) No Use China. No Use Taiwan. No Use Korea. No Use Japan.

TechTank Podcast Episode 54: Can AI developers be incentivized to debias their algorithms?

Darrell M. West and Nicol Turner Lee

Monday, October 3, 2022

American flags partially torn from their poles fly as a storm producing strong winds passes through Washington, U.S., March 2, 2018. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

Why federalism has become risky for American democracy

Darrell M. West

Friday, September 23, 2022

Students walk past Wilson Library on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, U.S., September 20, 2018. Picture taken on September 20, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Drake

Why academic freedom challenges are dangerous for democracy

Darrell M. West

Thursday, September 8, 2022

Power politics: Trump and the assault on American democracy

10:00 AM - 11:00 AM EDT

Workers install razor wire atop the unscalable fence surrounding the U.S. Capitol in the wake of the January 6th riot and ahead of the upcoming inauguration in Washington, U.S. January 14, 2021. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

TechTank Podcast Episode 51: The weaponization of information threatens American democracy. What should we do about that?

Samantha Lai and Darrell M. West

Monday, August 22, 2022