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9 great reads from CNET this week

Social media pushes the panic button on coronavirus, teens are messing with Instagram's tracking algorithm, and aliens make their presence known in California tide pools.

CNET News staff
2 min read

It was a pretty good week for many newsmakers. Google and Twitter were among the companies reporting positive earnings for the last quarter. Motorola rebooted its iconic Razr as an impressive cutting-edge foldable smartphone. Even President Donald Trump was acquitted in the Senate on two articles of impeachment.

But tech failed the Iowa Caucus. And coronavirus is really starting to take a toll on the tech industry globally, with LG pulling out of Mobile World Congress because of concerns about the outbreak.

Here are the week's stories you don't want to miss:

'We're nudibranch people': How enthusiasts help get science done

The iNaturalist app helps California Academy of Sciences biologists monitor flamboyant sea slugs and other tide pool inhabitants.

Sunburst sea anemone by ultraviolet light
Stephen Shankland/CNET

Iowa caucus app debacle: What went wrong?

A smartphone app, developed by a company called Shadow, Inc., is at the heart of a mess that's delayed the results in Iowa.

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Getty Images

Let's hope Moto's new Razr holds up better than the original

I fixed dozens of original Motorola Razr phones, and they had serious hardware issues.

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Tyler Lizenby/CNET

Pixel 3A: I 'dumbed' down my phone and didn't last 24 hours

A quest to digitally detox sheds an unexpected light on personal safety.

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Angela Lang/CNET

Teens have figured out how to mess with Instagram's tracking algorithm

Teenagers are using group accounts to flood Instagram with random user data that can't be tied to a single person.

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Alfred Ng/CNET

Coronavirus panic thrives on Twitter, and science struggles to keep up

The public can access new research faster than ever before. But in the era of misinformation, new challenges emerge.

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Getty Images

Clearview AI says the First Amendment lets it scrape the internet. Lawyers disagree

Earlier court cases have permitted data scraping. But never for facial recognition.

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James Martin/CNET

20 years ago, The Sims gave millennials a dream life that reality couldn't match

We would happily learn Simlish if it meant achieving success without student loan debt.

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EA Games

Birds of Prey: And the fantabulous emancipation of female filmmakers

Actress Rosie Perez and screenwriter Christina Hodson talk about making a superhero movie when women are in charge.

BIRDS OF PREY (AND THE FANTABULOUS EMANCIPATION OF ONE HARLEY QUINN)
Claudette Barius/Warner Bros.