Editor's note

Since U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents began increasing their demands to search travelers’ smartphones when entering the U.S., people have begun trying to figure out how to prevent the government from copying their digital lives. A key concept involves finding ways to avoid turning over login information to federal officers. But what if you didn’t have any login information to give up?

Elon University computer science professor Megan Squire describes the elusive search for the unknowable password, and adds some suggestions if you find yourself in an undesirable pinch coming into the country.

And after millions of years of evolution on Earth, what happens to our cells and tissues if they don’t feel the pull of gravity? UCLA’s Andy Tay explains that this force we take for granted has big effects on the smallest parts of our physiology – and how researchers are investigating ways to compensate for gravity on long, weightless space journeys.

Jeff Inglis

Editor, Science + Technology

Top story

What if even you didn’t know your own password? Password via shutterstock.com

Why we should not know our own passwords

Megan Squire, Elon University

As searches of smartphones and other digital devices at US borders become more common, can research and computer science help protect travelers' privacy?

Science + Technology

Environment + Energy

Arts + Culture

Politics + Society

Health + Medicine

The game theory framework has significant benefits both for the disaster victims and for the NGOs.

Anna Nagurney

University of Massachusetts Amherst

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Anna Nagurney

Ethics + Religion

  • Is the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization?

    Terje Ostebo, University of Florida

    The Muslim Brotherhood exists in the form of many local organizations and well as an international organization. Research shows there isn't a coherent Muslim Brotherhood ideology.

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