Andrew Blake

Chris Hemsworth, ‘Thor’ actor, apologizes for wearing Native American costume

Australian actor Chris Hemsworth expressed solidarity on Instagram this week with protesters opposed to the construction of the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline, but didn't stop with just showing his support -- the "Thor" star's social media post included a lengthy apology as well.

October 29, 2016

Cigarette-puffing robot gives Harvard scientists new insight on smoking’s toll on the body

Harvard scientists this week said a newly designed machine that puffs on up to 10 cigarettes at once is allowing researchers to analyze the biological effects of smoking like never before.

October 29, 2016

Supreme Court to consider constitutionality of social networking ban for sex offenders

The U.S. Supreme Court said Friday it'll review a North Carolina state law that prohibits convicted sex offenders from using social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.

October 29, 2016

Lawmakers question DOJ over expanded hacking authority

Nearly two dozen lawmakers raised questions with the Justice Department this week over a rule change slated to expand the federal government's authority to hack computers.

October 28, 2016

WikiLeaks email shows how hackers targeted John Podesta

Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign knew within hours that something suspicious had happened to the email account of its chairman, John Podesta, according to a recent exchange published Friday by WikiLeaks.

October 28, 2016

Confederate flag banned at Bloomington, Indiana, school after students complain of feeling ‘unsafe’

Confederate flags were banned at a Bloomington, Indiana, high school this week after several students complained about classmates sporting the stars-and-bars on campus.

October 28, 2016

Facebook accused of discrimination by allowing advertisers to target users by ‘ethnic affinity’

Facebook may be violating federal anti-discrimination laws by letting advertisers target users based on "ethnic affinities," according to a report published Friday.

October 28, 2016

Patton Oswalt suggests Xanax overdose caused wife’s sudden death

Actor and comedian Patton Oswalt has opened up about the recent passing of his wife, 46-year-old writer Michelle McNamara, and says a prescription drug overdose may have caused her death.

October 27, 2016

CIA to share 11 million declassified documents through agency’s website

The CIA this week said it'll make more than 11 million declassified documents searchable on the agency's website.

October 27, 2016

Vladimir Putin claims Russian hackers incapable of influencing U.S. election

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that blaming Moscow for using cyberattacks to interfere in next month's U.S. presidential election is mere "hysteria" whipped up by Washington.

October 27, 2016

Santa Ana awards $100K settlement to marijuana dispensary over 2015 raid

A Santa Ana, California, marijuana dispensary will receive $100,000 from the city to settle a federal lawsuit filed in response to a 2015 raid that led to the suspension of three local police officers, the Orange County Register reported Wednesday.

October 27, 2016

‘Celebgate’ hacker Ryan Collins sentenced to 18 months in prison

A Pennsylvania man who admitted hacking into the email accounts of celebrities and stealing their private information and personal photographs was sentenced this week to 18 months in federal prison.

October 27, 2016

LinkedIn risks Russian ban over data localization law

Russian regulators have set their sights on LinkedIn as Moscow looks to enforce a 2015 data protection law for the first time in its history.

October 26, 2016

Judge recuses herself from Anonymous case over previous hacking incident

A federal judge has recused herself from a case involving hacktivist group Anonymous by virtue of indirectly being one of its former victims.

October 26, 2016

Intel chief faces more questions over secret Yahoo email scanning program

The Obama administration is under increased pressure to explain the secret court order that resulted in millions of Yahoo customers having their emails scanned after more than two-dozen groups on Tuesday sent a letter requesting answers from the nation's top intelligence official.

October 26, 2016

Historic DDoS attack likely waged by ‘non-state actor’: Intel director

The nation's top intelligence official on Tuesday said state-sponsored hackers likely weren't behind the distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks that disrupted internet access across the United States last week.

October 26, 2016

Shoppers Drug Mart, Canada’s largest pharmacy chain, applies for medical marijuana license

Obtaining medical marijuana in Canada could soon be as easy as strolling into the neighborhood pharmacy.

October 25, 2016

Scientists find link between youth football and brain changes

Researchers are already aware of the ravaging effect repeated concussions can have on the human brain, but a new report suggests less powerful strikes to the skull may pose significant risks as well, especially among children.

October 25, 2016

Subway sued for negligence by family of former pitchman Jared Fogle

The family of former Subway pitchman and convicted sex offender Jared Fogle accused the sandwich chain this week of ignoring complaints about his "predatory compulsions" prior to his 2015 arrest.

October 25, 2016

Obama on internet outages: ‘We don’t have any idea who did that’

President Obama said the White House hasn't a clue who sidelined a critical part of the internet last week, but said he's certain his successor will have have a sizable problem on their hands regarding cybersecurity.

October 25, 2016