PRI's The World: Technology from BBC/PRI/WGBH

A Soviet spacecraft is expected to come hurtling back to Earth after being stuck in orbit for more than 50 years. The Kosmos 482 probe was intended to reach Venus, however, it never got to its destination. Instead, it’s been circling Earth since 1972, and gradually descending.

The post A Soviet spacecraft is expected to make a crash landing on Earth this week. But nobody knows where — yet. appeared first on The World from PRX .

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, owners have been training their dogs to “tell” them what they want by mashing buttons with their paws to express words in various human languages. A UCSD study began to explore the practice further and now includes participants in dozens of countries around the world.

The post A new global study allows dogs to ‘talk’ to their owners by pressing buttons that say human words appeared first on The World from PRX .

“Maybe Happy Ending” is an intimate science fiction story that has been performed many times in Seoul, South Korea. Now, its adapted version is playing on Broadway. The story, about a pair of robots, sheds light on the human condition in this digital age.

The post Can robots fall in love? A sci-fi musical from South Korea is now a hit on Broadway. appeared first on The World from PRX .

WhatsApp, used by millions of people around the world, says its users were hacked by the Paragon Solutions spyware company. The World's Host Marco Werman speaks with John Scott-Railton, a senior researcher at Citizen Lab, about the continuing threat of sophisticated spyware.

The post WhatsApp identifies dozens of users hacked by Paragon spyware company appeared first on The World from PRX .

In Russia, the Kremlin has been steadily cracking down on the internet. Surveillance and censorship have increased, especially since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The Kremlin has cut off access to many of the most popular websites and apps. The latest target is YouTube.

The post Kremlin’s internet crackdown is taking on YouTube appeared first on The World from PRX .

Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, people have been evacuating and safeguarding Ukrainian works of art and museum pieces. Now, a team of conservators and students are also creating permanent, 3D records of buildings and objects that can’t be moved in case they are damaged or destroyed.

The post Conservators scan Ukraine’s wooden churches to help preserve them appeared first on The World from PRX .

Back in February, Dylan went to the Philippines for what he thought would be a great Chinese Lunar New Year vacation. Then he found himself held hostage in a gang-run scamming compound. Here's one man’s story about getting out and what the Philippines is doing to shut these operations down.

The post Escape from Bamban: One man’s scam farm nightmare in the Philippines appeared first on The World from PRX .