This week, we can learn so much from comparing twins, especially if they are astronauts. Plus, a driverless car kills a pedestrian and flying taxis may soon be in the skies of New Zealand. But first, here’s how you can limit your exposure on Facebook.

You have (some) control over how much Facebook can do with your data

With the revelation this week of what organizations can do with the data they can get from our Facebook profiles, more people than ever are talking about, musing, and even following through with deleting their profile from Facebook.

That’s certainly an option, but you can limit how much you expose yourself on the social platform and still be able to wish your best friend a happy birthday. Most of these can be configured through the settings page.

Stop apps from accessing your information

When you install and run Facebook applications, you grant those apps access to your information. You can revoke that permission at any time through the “Apps” settings.

Keep in mind that doing any of these things will limit your experiences on Facebook. You may not be able to use your Facebook profile to log in to other app accounts. You may not be able to play the Facebook games that help you get through the day in your cubicle.

You have discrete control here, so you can allow access to the apps you want to be using, and with some apps can even be specific about the information that can be used.

Strip personal data

You can also remove personal information from your Facebook profile. Edit the “About Me” section of your profile to strip out education and work history, phone numbers, and birthdates.

Prevent targeted advertising

It can be convenient to see an ad for your favourite hair conditioner just as you’re running out, but if you find that the least bit creepy, you can turn off the “interest-based ads” setting in Facebook to prevent the system and advertisers from targeting you based on your information.

Keep your info from traveling with friends

People you’re connected to on Facebook can take your information with them when they use their apps. That’s how you can get tokens from your friends who are playing the same games as you. But you can limit the information that travels with them so you don’t unnecessarily expose your data. You do this from the “Apps Others Use” section of the settings.

Prolonged time in space changes your genes

Scott Kelly is an astronaut who spent nearly a year in space at the International Space Station. NASA discovered that his gene expression changed while he was out there.

This is not to say that his DNA changed; Kelly did not begin the transformation into a new species while orbiting the Earth.

But his body did change at the molecular level. Among those changes was the parts of Scott’s chromosomes that get shorter as we age – telomeres have been suggested as being tied to the aging process – actually got longer in space, and then shortened again after Scott returned to terra firma.

Maybe that means that space travellers will live longer. (Probably not.)

First fatality caused by driverless car

A woman in Arizona was struck and killed by an Uber vehicle operating autonomously. The accident occurred at 10 p.m. at night. There was a human operator in the car at the time.

Uber has halted testing of its self-driving cars in other cities, including Toronto, while an investigation takes place.

The flying taxis of New Zealand

Meanwhile, in New Zealand, autonomous flying taxis may be in the air before long. Kitty Hawk, a company started by Larry Page, one of Google’s cofounders, has developed a two-person hybrid vehicle that has rotors for vertical take-off and landing, and a rear propeller for forward motion.

Last night, on The Shift with Drex, Drex and I talked about the death of Stephen Hawking, why Alexa is laughing at you, how much time can be saved thanks to autocorrect, and violent video games.

This week, understanding why Alexa became scary last week, considering how much time you’ve saved using autocorrect, and setting the record straight on the impact of video game violence. But first, Stephen Hawking has died.

Stephen Hawking has become the stuff of stars

Stephen Hawking, who advanced our understanding of black holes and the nature of the universe, has died.

Given two years to live after being diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis at age 21, Hawking made the most of his time, saying, “I found, to my surprise, that I was enjoying life in the present more than before. I began to make progress with my research.”

And while he was wrong about some of his ideas, he was correct a lot, too. His influence on science, physics, and cosmology is unparalleled.

Think of it this way: He had to do all the math and calculations in his head.

Beyond his contributions to science, he also popularized science, including really difficult concepts like relativity and space-time. There are many scientists today who would agree that Hawking was one reason for their career path.

Amazon’s Alexa toys with sentience

We were all aflutter last week when people – Echo users – shared audio and video of Alexa laughing at them.

Understandably, people were freaked out.

Amazon reportedly came out with a fix for the problem within a couple of days, and said that the devices had likely picked up traces of conversations that were interpreted to be instructing Alexa to laugh.

So remember that if you’ve got these devices in the house, they are always listening. Although I don’t believe in the conspiracy that they are always eavesdropping.

Now if you did ask Alexa to laugh, and it’s reasonable to assume many people do, just to see how robust the interface is, the sound of Alexa laughing is very troubling. It does not sound like a person, but like a machine trying to sound like a person.

It’s an uncanny valley for sound.

But what if what was going on last week as Alexa actually becoming aware? Did we unwittingly experience true machine intelligence for the first time?

Now that’s scary.

WTF? Autocorrect can be good for you?

In the age of social media, and smartphones, there are constant examples of how autocorrect features bungle message and meaning. But autocorrect can be your friend.

In an article for the Spectator last year, the newspaper’s literary editor, Sam Leith, asked a few writers about their process of writing.

Michael Moorcock, of the Eternal Champion series of books, remembers writing 15,000 words a day – a novel every three days – in part because he was a “very fast typist”.

For some writers, being able to record thoughts quickly is a benefit.

In the same article, Geoff Dyer estimates he may have saved “a couple of years” because of how he uses autocorrect settings.

It’s an interesting notion. The same kind of shorthand is used across online communication channels to communicate quickly and efficiently. It’s why WTF is listed in the Oxford English dictionary.

Violent video games are not to blame for America’s violence problem

Okay, let’s go over this again: Playing violent video games does not create violent people.

Video games, all sorts of them, are played around the world. It’s only the U.S. that has this problem with gun violence.

The statistics are clear. The vast majority of mass shooters showed no interest in video games.

In fact, one of the mass shooters who did play video games had an obsession with Dance Dance Revolution, which epitomizes non-violence.

And the research is very clear.

Members of the Society for Media Psychology and Technology, a division of the American Psychological Association statement, wrote that, “there’s little scientific evidence to support the connection” between “real-world violence with the perpetrators’ exposure to violent video games or other violent media”.

When research accounts for differences in game mechanics, controls, and frustration, there is no post-aggressive effect.

Finally, violent video games are created and intended for mature audiences. Some of whom also watch the Saw movies.

There are all sorts of video games that are not violent. The video montage below, produced by Games for Change, aims to showcase “the beauty, creativity and joy that is inherent in this medium”.

Last night, on The Shift with Drex, Drex and I talked about the Tesla Model 3 now on display at the Yorkdale Shopping Centre showroom, the Velometro Veemo electric-assist vehicles roaming Vancouver, Dyson’s new Cyclone V10 vacuum, and the future of internet connectivity.

This week, Tesla’s Model 3 in Toronto, Velometro’s Veemo in Vancouver, and SpaceX satellites surround Earth. But first, Dyson’s improved on the digital motor.

Dyson’s made its digital motor better again

James Dyson keeps making things better. He brought the power of the cyclone to vacuums and the latest version of his company’s digital motor, the V10, is so powerful and efficient that they aren’t making vacuums with cords any longer.

Revealed in a press event earlier this week in New York, the Dyson Cyclone V10 leverages the V10 digital motor will provide an hour of suction from a three-and-a-half hour charge.

As with previous versions of the cordless Dyson, other improvements have been made, too, including a redesigned bin that makes it easier to empty. And for the first time there are two bin sizes. The Motorhead, which is half a litre, or the Animal or Absolute models, which have a bin at three-quarters of a litre.

The Dyson Cyclone V10 is available now and starts at $600.

Torontonians get a glimpse at Tesla’s Model 3

If you’re curious about the Tesla Model 3, the version of the electric vehicle intended for regular people, you can actually sit inside one at the showroom located in Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre

You can reserve your Model 3 for a fee of only $1,000. But you might not get one until next year.

What the future of internet connectivity looks like

Imagine being able to connect to the internet from anywhere on Earth. In the heart of the Georgian Bay, or in the middle of the Canadian Shield, or standing in the waving wheat fields of the prairies, or surfing off the coast of Tofino.

It’s not a pipe dream, it’s one of Elon Musk’s plans, and the first steps to making it a reality have been taken.

Last month, SpaceX launched two small satellites from one of its Falcon 9 spacecraft. They are “demonstration” satellites that are being used to test out how a space-based internet delivery service will work. The plan is to have some 12,000 satellites operating in a “constellation” and beaming connectivity to antennas on the ground.

SpaceX isn’t the only company with this idea, either.

OneWeb has a similar plan. The difference for them is that they don’t have their own rocket program, so will be contracting with Virgin Orbit and Blue Origins to get their satellites into orbit.

And then there’s the Canadian solution coming from Telesat. The Canadian company launched its phase 1 LEO satellite in January.

The promise is of blinding wireless connectivity speeds that are faster than what fibre connections currently deliver. OneWeb and SpaceX plan on being able to offer connectivity to consumers in 2019; Telesat is aiming for 2021.

Nobody knows how full the skies above Earth will be.

Veemo a new vehicle sharing option in Vancouver

You can get into an entirely different kind of vehicle in Vancouver, where Velometro has officially put its fleet of Veemo’s on the road.

These three-wheeled vehicles are pedal-powered with electric-assist. They are enclosed to keep you protected from the elements and have a lockable cargo space that is big enough for a bag of groceries.

With full lighting and turn indicators and regenerative braking, these are being pegged as replacements for cars.

But they are classified as bicycles.

That means you don’t need a driver’s license to operate one (although you need to be over the age of 19), and you can travel in bike lanes.

For the time being, the will be deployed at UBC, but I expect to see the fleet expand rapidly to the downtown core and beyond.