Students: We're Homeroom 12-1 from St.Agnes Academic High School in New York, and Channel One News starts right now!
Tom: There we go! Thanks to St. Agnes for the shout-out!Great way to start the show.Okay, today, facial recognition is hitting the mainstream. Plus, nuclear weapons: Should we keep them or get rid of them? We put that question to government officials. I am Tom Hanson.Let's jump right in.
Okay, another year, another iPhone, another new feature — and this one is straight out of sci-fi. Apple rolled out its latest version of the iPhone this week, marking the phone's 10-year anniversary.And now all you need is your face to unlock your entire world.But will face ID really work? And if it does, is the world ready to take the leap?It is today's Get Your Geek On.
Facial recognition, which is a 3D scan of the face, has been used on smartphones for some time, and Apple just launched its latest iPhone, where users can use their face to get into their phone — even in the dark.
Tim Cook: It is the biggest leap forward since the original iPhone.
Tom: Some experts say by Apple featuring the technology, it could push facial recognition into the norm, especially because Apple is such an influential company. Customers bought more than 1.2 billion iPhones in the last decade; that is enough to put an iPhone in the hands of 1 out of every 6 people on the planet.
And even though the software briefly failed in its first public demonstration, the possibilities are endless. From scanning passengers at airports to paying your bills, facial recognition could be used anywhere.
It is already being used in parts of California to reunite lost pets with their owners.And last year, the Sacramento County sheriff's office started using facial recognition programs to successfully catch criminals.In China these KFC customers can get their chicken fix and pay with their face.
But not everyone is on board with the face of the future.
Greg Stewart: You simply look at it.It takes a couple of pictures.
Tom: Greg Stewart owns a company that sells tools that use facial recognition. But in seven years, he hasn't had one buyer.He thinks the cost is the biggest problem,but also privacy.
Stewart: People are worried a little bit about Big Brother, and they're worried about,“Oh gee, is my face being stored and then entered in some sort of other database?"
Tom: So which will win out, privacy or convenience?Well, if it follows recent trends, no doubt convenience will be the clear winner.
And today's Word in the News — you just heard it — Big Brother, which is a person or organization exercising total control over people's lives.
All right, now, what happens when your phone looks back and knows if you are happy or sad? Well, students at MIT are putting that to the test, developing emotional recognition software that could be the next wave of the future. It is all up on ChannelOne.com.Check it out.
All right, coming up, nukes: Who has them, who wants them, and do they really keep us safe?
Tom: Okay, so with all of the talks about nuclear tensions and North Korea, we have been taking a deeper look into the weapons that can destroy a city in a matter of seconds.We have seen the nukes right here in America, and today Maggie Rulli is back to show us how the U.S. is trying to keep nukes in check.
Shigeko Sasamori: Why people don’t understand?We don't need the atomic bomb!
Major General Garrett Harencak: Our main focus in America is to prevent nuclear war. And we feel the best way to do that is to be prepared with a credible, safe and effective nuclear deterrent.
Maggie: Two different philosophies on what to do with the most dangerous weapon ever created: the nuclear bomb. For more than 70 years, the United States has had a policy of both disarmament and deterrence, a delicate balancemeant to keep the world safe.
The first talk of disarmament started almost immediately after the world witnessed the massive destructive power of the nuclear bomb in Japan.And since the late1960s, 190 countries have signed on to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, including the U.S.
Five nations are currently recognized by the treaty as having nuclear weapons: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States. These nations agreed to disarmament — getting rid of some of their nukes over time — and the other countries that signed on agreed not to develop nuclear weapons.
India, Israel and Pakistan are known to possess nukes but have never signed the treaty.And the international community is now most worried about Iran and North Korea, two unpredictable countries pursuing nuclear weapons.
In 2015 the Obama administration, along with five other nations, made a historicdeal with Iran. The country agreed to only use its nuclear program for peaceful purposes, like electricity.But President Trump has said he would end the deal that he says isn't tough enough on Iran.
President Donald Trump: It’s one of the worst deals I’ve ever witnessed.
Maggie: Still, many say the biggest threat right now is North Korea.For a decade the international community has tried to stop the country from developing nukes, imposing trade restrictions and economic punishments.But it hasn't worked.Just a few days ago,North Korea said it tested a very powerful nuclear bomb — a show of power to the world.
Shea Cotton: This latest test, we're not exactly sure how big it is, but it's definitely the largest one that we've ever seen them do before.
Maggie: It comes after weeks of threats between its leader, Kim Jong-un, and President Trump, both sides saying they're ready for war.
Trump: North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States. They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen.
Maggie: But analysts say don't worry just yet.
Cotton: The situation isn't that much changed than it was before. North Korea knows that any sort of conflict would result in its destruction, and the U.S. and its allies know that any conflict would be very costly for them as well.
Maggie: A tense standoff that many say is held in check because the U.S. has so many nukes.So how come the U.S. is allowed to have nukes, but not North Korea or Iran? It is a question I asked the State Department under President Obama.
Thomas Countryman: I don't know if it’s fair or not, but I know that it’s realistic. Without the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, we could be in a world today where dozens of nations instead of fewer than 10 possess nuclear weapons. And that’s inherently unstable; the more nations that have nuclear weapons, the more likely they will be used, intentionally or accidentally.
Maggie: But activists fighting for total nuclear disarmament say even one nuclear weapon is a threat to our world, like students in Hiroshima,Japan, where a generation has grown up in the shadows of a nuclear explosion.
Student: It's really important to learn about peace or nuclear weapons because this is really huge problem in the world right now. Maybe since I am in Hiroshima, I have to tell about this story for the people in the world.
Maggie: So are nuclear weapons the greatest threat to our world’s very existence or the only thing holding peace together?
Harencak: Well, we still have them because they exist, because others have them. It would be great if everybody would just come together and say we’re going to get rid of them. And who would argue with that? Of course it would be better. But so far that hasn’t happened yet. And we have to live in the world as it exists today.
Maggie: Maggie Rulli, Channel One News.
Tom: Definitely interesting and also incredibly terrifying, and that was the last part of our series.We hope you found it interesting too.
All right, guys, that is it for us.We are out of time, but we will see you right back here tomorrow.
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