communications

Aaron Strickland stands in front of a mudslide ravaged landscape.

Weather

'Helene's Unheard Warnings' raises awareness about natural disaster preparedness in remote communities

5:37pm May 21, 2025

"Helene’s Unheard Warnings" is the title of a new ProPublica article that takes a deep dive into the catastrophic damage left behind by the storm. It also chronicles how, even with dire warnings from local and national outlets, Helene caught entire communities off guard.

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World News

Fax machines permeate Germany's business culture. But parliament is ditching them

10:46am May 31, 2024

by Esme Nicholson

Four out of five companies in Europe's largest economy continue to use fax machines. But Germany's parliament has until the end of June to stop relying on the antiquated communication technology.

Ibrahim, 12, speaks to his grandmother, who lives in Gaza, from his home in Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Jan. 31. The family did not want to use their full names out of fear of reprisals from Israeli authorities.

Destruction from the war with Israel has cut Gaza off from the outside world

1:41pm March 03, 2024

by Hadeel Al-Shalchi

Spotty internet and cell services, blackouts and the destruction of infrastructure in Gaza during Israel's war with Hamas have hampered aid and medical services and keeping in touch with loved ones.

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A visitor at the Connections Museum works the kind of switchboard system that first connected American phone users.

National

Remembering America's first social network: the landline telephone

5:08am May 10, 2023

by Brian Mann

Young tech nerds in Seattle are trying to preserve the mysterious machines — many of them almost lost forever — that made America's landline telephone system work before the age of computers.

Workers remove the final New York City pay phone near Seventh Avenue and 50th Street in Midtown Manhattan on Monday. Despite the fanfare, there are still some pay phones standing in the city.

National

Last call: New York City bids an official farewell to its last public pay phone

11:47am May 24, 2022

by Rachel Treisman

Officials gathered in Times Square for the removal of what they called New York City's last public pay phone, which is headed to a local museum. But a number of other pay phones are still standing.

Conceptual illustration representing the new 5G mobile data network.

National

Who Gets 5G — And Who Gets Left Behind — Has Some Worried About Digital Inequality

12:00pm February 25, 2020

by Paul Flahive

As wireless companies continue to roll out 5G — the next generation of wireless technology — advocates worry this latest high-speed update will widen the digital divide.

This artist's-concept illustration depicts NASA's Psyche spacecraft which will carry a deep-space laser communications system.

Science

Live High Definition Video From Mars? NASA Is Getting Ready

6:06pm March 14, 2018

by Joe Palca

NASA is building a new space-based laser communication that will allow live, high-definition video from Mars and beyond — something that's not possible with standard radio equipment.

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Daily News

Study: Fake News Tweets Flooded North Carolina Before Presidential Election

10:29am September 29, 2017

by Sean Bueter

New analysis from the University of Oxford shows Twitter was swamped with fake news during the 2016 presidential campaign, and that bad information was especially prevalent in key states like North

Actor Alan Alda poses for a portrait during the International Film Festival in Toronto.

Alan Alda's Experiment: Helping Scientists Learn To Talk To The Rest Of Us

8:11am June 04, 2017

by Lulu Garcia-Navarro

The actor's new book, If I Understood You, Would I Have This Look on My Face?, is all about communication — and miscommunication — between doctors, scientists and civilians.