Official Blog
Insights from Googlers into our products, technology, and the Google culture
Moon Shot
: A space story about life on Earth
March 3, 2016
Right now, 16 private teams from around the world are in a race to the moon. They’re in a $30 million competition called the
Google Lunar XPRIZE
(GLXP), which challenges teams to design and build a rover, land it on the surface of the moon, drive it 500 meters across the lunar landscape, and send HD video and imagery back to Earth by the end of 2017. And soon, you’ll be able to learn their stories in a new digital documentary series from Google, Academy Award®-nominated director Orlando von Einsiedel, Executive Producer J.J. Abrams, Bad Robot, and Epic Digital.
The GLXP competition, which started in 2007, aims to kick off a new era of space exploration by enabling low-cost and efficient access to the moon. Not only is the moon our closest neighbor in space, it’s also the gateway to exploring the rest of the universe—and provides opportunities for discovery in the fields of science, technology, and human habitation.
The teams in the competition come from all walks of life, from Silicon Valley tech experts, to hackers in Germany, to IT specialists in India, to a father and son working out of their their Vancouver apartment. In a series of 9 digital documentaries,
Moon Shot
goes behind the scenes with each team, bringing to life their challenges, sacrifices, quirks, and most importantly, the reasons why they’re making the 238,900 mile journey to the moon.
The series will be available for free on Google Play on March 15 and on YouTube on March 17. Subscribe to the
Google Lunar XPRIZE YouTube Channel
to be one of the first to see it, and for more information, visit
lunar.xprize.org
.
Posted by Yasemin Denari Southworth, Marketing Manager, Google Brand Marketing
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Providing support to combat Zika in Brazil and beyond
March 3, 2016
The recent Zika virus outbreak has caused concern around the world. We’ve seen more than a
3,000 percent increase in global search interest
since November, and last month, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a
Public Health Emergency
. The possible correlation with
Zika, microcephaly and other birth defects
is particularly alarming.
But unlike many other global pandemics, the spread of Zika has been harder to identify, map and contain. It’s believed that
4 in 5 people
with the virus don’t show any symptoms, and the primary transmitter for the disease, the
Aedes
mosquito species, is both widespread and challenging to eliminate. That means that fighting Zika requires raising awareness on how people can protect themselves, as well as supporting organizations who can help drive the development of rapid diagnostics and vaccines. We also have to find better ways to visualize the threat so that public health officials and NGO’s can support communities at risk.
As a company whose mission is helping people find information, with a lot of experience in analyzing large sets of data, we’re in a good position to help—at scale and at speed. So today we have Google engineers working with UNICEF to analyze data to determine how to map and anticipate the virus. We’ve also made some updates to our products to make Zika information more accessible, and we’re providing
UNICEF
with a $1 million grant to help their efforts on the ground.
Mapping information to help with prevention
A volunteer team of Google engineers, designers, and data scientists is helping UNICEF build a platform to process data from different sources (i.e., weather and travel patterns) in order to visualize potential outbreaks. Ultimately, the goal of this open source platform is to identify the risk of Zika transmission for different regions and help UNICEF, governments and NGO’s decide how and where to focus their time and resources. This set of tools is being prototyped for the Zika response, but will also be applicable to future emergencies.
Google software engineers John Li and Zora Tung with UNICEF research scientist Manuel Garcia Herranz and UX designer Tanya Bhandari working on the open source data platform.
Supporting UNICEF’s efforts to combat Zika
Our $1 million grant will be used by UNICEF to raise widespread awareness, reduce mosquito populations, support the development of diagnostics and vaccines, and work with communities and governments to prevent Zika transmission. The organization expects to reach 200 million affected or vulnerable people in Brazil and throughout Latin America with these efforts.
© UNICEF/Ueslei Marcelino2016. A mother holds her 4-month old baby born with microcephaly in Recife, Brazil. "When I left the hospital, they already had another 7 children with the same situation," she shared with UNICEF.
We’ve also launched a matching campaign for Google employees, aimed at providing an additional $500,000 to UNICEF and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) to support their work on the ground.
Making Zika virus information accessible
We already include
robust information for 900+ health conditions
directly on Search for people in the U.S. We’ve now also added extensive information about Zika globally in 16 languages, with an overview of the virus, symptom information, and Public Health Alerts from that can be updated with new information as it becomes available.
We’re also working with popular YouTube creators across Latin America, including
Sesame Street
and Brazilian physician
Drauzio Varella
, to raise awareness about Zika prevention via their channels.
We hope these efforts are helpful in fighting this new public health emergency, and we will continue to do our part to help combat this outbreak.
And if you’re curious about what that 3,000 percent search increase looks like, take a look:
Posted by Jacquelline Fuller, Director, Google.org
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-69Kp0i5Uu4k/VtfWsWVqrUI/AAAAAAAAR8s/gRbx_qcaCc8/s1600/UN011564%2B%25281%2529.JPG
Jacquelline Fuller
Director
Google.org
Strengthening our commitment to racial justice
February 26, 2016
I started working with Dr. Carl Mack when I took an engineering internship in my hometown of Seattle. But it wasn’t long before my internship took me in a completely different direction. The city was
on high alert
in the wake of racial discrimination and violence, and Dr. Mack was the VP of the city’s NAACP chapter. At his side, I was soon participating in protests and closed door meetings with city leaders—opening my eyes to non-technical solutions, and setting me off on a path that would eventually lead me to
Google.org
, where today I lead giving projects focused on the Bay Area and on racial justice.
More recently, incidences of racial violence have again dominated our headlines, with the killing of young men like Tamir Rice and Jordan Davis, the deaths of Michael Brown and Sandra Bland, and countless other acts of injustice. And it isn’t just heartbreaking individual stories. The data is troubling: African Americans are incarcerated at nearly six times the rate of whites. An estimated 40 percent of all students expelled from U.S. schools are black, and 30 percent are Latino. Of course, Google and our own industry
need to do more
to promote equality and opportunities for all.
Social innovators can help us move closer to our ideals of equality and justice. That’s why last year, Google.org launched a new, dedicated effort to support leaders who are doing critical work to end mass incarceration and combat endemic educational inequality for black and brown students. We
announced $2.35 million in grants
to support leaders like #BlackLivesMatter co-founder
Patrisse Cullors
;
Chris Chatmon
, who leads Oakland's African American Male Achievement Initiative; and
Raj Jayadev
, who founded the criminal justice reform organization Silicon Valley De-Bug.
Patrisse Cullors, Co-Founder of #BlackLivesMatter, at the
Google.org screening of 3 ½ Minutes and 10 bullets
, Castro Theatre in San Francisco, Calif. on November 3, 2015.
Today, I'm excited to continue that momentum with the addition of four more organizations in this space, totalling $3 million in new grants. To help eliminate racial bias within our educational systems, we’re supporting San Francisco’s
My Brother and Sister's Keeper (MBSK) program
, Oakland’s
Roses in Concrete Community School
, and the tech-enabled college success startup,
Beyond12
. We're also supporting
Bryan Stevenson
and the national
Equal Justice Initiative
(EJI), which is focused on countering deep-seated bias against people of color in our communities and institutions. In addition to the grant, we’re committed to working with EJI to bring its public education work online so that millions more can experience it.
From left to right: David Drummond, Senior Vice President, Corporate Development, Alphabet; Bryan Stevenson, Founder and CEO, Equal Justice Initiative; Dr. Jeff Duncan-Andrade, Founder, Roses in Concrete Community School, Oakland; Landon Dickey, Special Assistant for African American Achievement & Leadership, San Francisco Unified School District; Alexandra Bernadotte, Founder and CEO, Beyond 12; Richard Carranza, Superintendent, San Francisco Unified School District; and Justin Steele, Principal, Google.org. Photo credit: 510Media.
Each of these organizations and their leaders have shown a deep, fundamental understanding of racial injustice and are actively finding ways to rid our systems of social, educational and economic exclusion. We as a company are proud to support them.
Posted by Justin Steele, Principal, Google.org
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Protecting the world's news from digital attack
February 25, 2016
The web is an increasingly critical tool for news organizations, allowing them to communicate faster, research more easily, and disseminate their work to a global audience. Often it's the primary distribution channel for critical, investigative work that shines a light into the darkest corners of society and the economy—the kind of reporting that exposes wrongdoing, causes upset and brings about change.
Unfortunately there are some out there who want to prevent this kind of reporting—to silence journalism when it’s needed most. A simple, inexpensive distributed
denial of service (DDoS) attack
can be carried out by almost anyone with access to a computer—and take a site completely offline before its owners even know they’ve been attacked.
These attacks threaten free expression and access to information—two of Google’s core values. So a few years ago we created
Project Shield
, an effort that uses Google’s security infrastructure to detect and filter attacks on news and human rights websites. Now we’re expanding Project Shield beyond our trusted testers, and opening it up to all the world’s news sites to protect them from DDoS attacks and eliminate DDoS as a form of censorship.
We learned a lot from our early group of Project Shield testers. Not only have we kept websites online during attacks that otherwise would have taken them offline, we learned crucial information about how these types of attacks happen, and how we can improve our services to defend against them.
With this expansion, tens of thousands of news sites will have access to Project Shield. And because Project Shield is free, even the smallest independent news organizations will be able to continue their important work without the fear of being shut down.
Finally, Project Shield is not just about protecting journalism. It’s about improving the health of the Internet by mitigating against a significant threat for publishers and people who want to publish content that some might find inconvenient. A free and open Internet depends on protecting the free flow of information—starting with the news.
Visit our
website
to learn how Project Shield works and, if you work in journalism, discover how you can join the fight to protect the world’s news.
Posted by Jared Cohen, President,
Jigsaw
, and Advisor to Executive Chairman, Alphabet Inc.
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Black Googler Network fuels inclusion at Google
February 24, 2016
Posted by Yolanda Mangolini, Director, Global Diversity & Inclusion
On February 1 we kicked off
Black History Month
with a
Doodle
recognizing the remarkable life of Frederick Douglass and a new collection of Black history archives on the
Cultural Institute
. Googlers around the world have joined in the celebrations, hosting film screenings, spoken word performances, speaker series, and participating in community service. These efforts have been driven by the
Black Googler Network
(BGN), one of Google’s largest employee resource groups with 12 branches worldwide.
BGN focuses on empowering the Black community at Google and beyond. BGN Googlers work on many different teams, participating in BGN as volunteers or in their 20 percent time. They run service trips to communities in need, provide professional development and mentorship programs, convene dialogues on topics affecting the Black community, and help Googlers connect with each other and develop a sense of community. They’ve also driven social justice movements across the company, including
solidarity for #BlackLivesMatter
and $2.35 million in
funding
from Google.org for racial justice innovators.
As Black History Month comes to a close, we asked some of these Googlers to share what they’re working on both in their day jobs and within BGN.
Brandon says:
In addition to my job working on sales for Google’s large customers, I pursue my passion for diversity, inclusion, and giving back through my role as the BGN Global co-Chair. Giving back is core to BGN’s work: our Annual Outreach Trip convenes members from around the world for several days of service. In 2015 we went to Charleston, SC, where we conducted coding workshops for around 100 students and parents to expose them to computer science and how creative, collaborative, and fun it can be. The year prior, we held a Social Media 101 training for 100+ small business owners in Atlanta. Everyone deserves equal access to opportunity, whether it’s computer science education or the economic benefits of the Internet. I’m proud to have Google’s support while doing work that affirms
#BlackLivesMatter
.
Robin says:
I work as a Data Center Facilities Specialist in Atlanta, supporting and coordinating data center functionality for 350 onsite personnel. BGN has always been an important part of my Google experience: I supported the revival of our Atlanta chapter, served for three years on our service-oriented Outreach Leadership Team, and integrated our smaller data center chapters into a stronger, more supportive unit—BGN@datacenters.
I also work on projects to expand access to technology in my local community. I serve as a
CS First
program evangelist, helping engage diverse students in computer science learning, and I’m a Diversity Ambassador advancing our diversity work in the data centers. One of my proudest moments was when I helped secure a Google grant for a robotics program at a local school—helping them scale the project from 10 students to 150!
Victor says:
In my role on the Diversity team, I work to ensure that all Googlers play a role in fostering a fair and inclusive culture. My work with BGN is focused around the multifacetedness of the Black experience. Through community partnerships and collaborations between BGN and
Gayglers
, I try to showcase the rich particularities to the personal and professional lives of Black people on the LGBTQIA spectrum. I’m celebrating Black History Month by renewing my commitment to unapologetically bringing my whole self to work each and every day.
Maasha says:
Our Black History Month theme within Google this year is "Lift Every Voice: Ignite Inclusion." This theme of inclusion is powerful for me: when I first came to Google, I felt a bit isolated. I was not only a Black woman in Tech, but also working in the corporate social responsibility space, where there aren’t many Black folks. Joining BGN was critical in helping me feel like I could truly be myself at Google, with all my triumphs, tribulations, and differences included.
These days, I’m passionate about making Google a place where
everyone
is comfortable being themselves. In my role on the GooglersGive team, a program which gets Googlers involved in charitable giving and community service, I’ve coordinated opportunities for Googlers to use their spare time giving back in places ranging from Oakland and Harlem to Ghana and South Africa. Projects include teaching students computer science skills, conducting outreach to at-risk youth, and working with communities struggling with homelessness and abuse.
Jessica says:
I first encountered Google’s commitment to making the company and the technology industry more diverse and inclusive as a
BOLD intern
on the Diversity team. Later, I returned to Google full-time on the People Operations team, and I plugged into the Black Googler Network. I’ve been able to serve in leadership roles for Black History Month, develop relationships with BGN members across the world, and interact with senior executives. BGN has provided me with opportunities that have helped me gain confidence and feel like I belong at Google—while allowing me to contribute to a cause much larger than myself.
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8kyv9slItfQ/Vs5OXW3WL-I/AAAAAAAAR4U/CDGOfkpTwzQ/s1600/BGN.jpg
Yolanda Mangolini
Director
Global Diversity & Inclusion
AMPing up in mobile Search
February 24, 2016
Access to information is at the heart of Google’s mission. Unfortunately, today, the mobile web isn't living up to the expectations people have for getting the information they need, particularly when it comes to speed. In fact, data shows that people abandon websites after just
three seconds
if the content doesn't load quickly—which is bad not just for people trying to get what they want online, but for the publishers who want those readers to enjoy the content they've created for them. That's why, last October, we joined others across the industry on the
Accelerated Mobile Pages Project
(AMP for short), an open source initiative to make the mobile web as fast as possible.
In just over four months, AMP has come a long way, with hundreds of publishers, scores of technology companies and ad-tech businesses all taking part in this joint mission to improve the mobile web for everyone. And starting today, we’ll make it easy to find AMP webpages in relevant mobile search results, giving you a lightning-fast reading experience for top stories.
Now when you search for a story or topic on Google from a mobile device, webpages created using AMP will appear when relevant in the Top Stories section of the search results page. Any story you choose to read will load blazingly fast—and it’s easy to scroll through the article without it taking forever to load or jumping all around as you read. It’s also easy to quickly flip through the search results just by swiping from one full-page AMP story to the next.
AMP is great for browsing the web on mobile devices, because webpages built with AMP load an average of four times faster and use 10 times less data than equivalent non-AMP pages. In many cases, they’ll load instantly. It's how reading on the mobile web should be—fast, responsive and fun.
While helping people find fast AMP content through Google Search is a significant step, there’s still a lot of work ahead for the
open source AMP Project
. Still, it’s been thrilling to see how the industry has come together to work on this common goal of making the mobile web great for everyone. And given the potential AMP holds for other types of content, we’re excited about what the future holds.
Posted by David Besbris, VP Engineering, Search
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AstzXdmDwhg/Vs5OXT22dWI/AAAAAAAAR4Q/bQLXTpG9MZg/s1600/AMP%2Bhero.jpg
David Besbris
VP Engineering
Search
Google Science Fair 2016: #howcanwe make things better with science?
February 23, 2016
The
2016 Google Science Fair
opens for submissions today. Together with LEGO Education, National Geographic, Scientific American and Virgin Galactic, we’re inviting all young explorers and innovators to make something better through science and engineering. To learn more about the competition, how to enter, prize details and more, visit the
site
, and
follow along on Google+
and
Twitter
.
In this post,
2015 Grand Prize winner, Olivia Hallisey,
joins us to reflect back on her own experience with Google Science Fair.
-Ed.
I remember the day I first heard about the Google Science Fair last year. I was sitting in my 10th grade science class when my teacher asked us: “What will you try?” I loved the invitation—and the challenge—that the Google Science Fair offered. It was a chance to use science to do something that could really make a difference in the world.
I had always been curious and interested in science, and knew I wanted to submit a project, but didn’t really know exactly where to begin. I asked my teacher for his advice on selecting a research topic. He encouraged me to choose something that I felt passionate about, or something that outraged me, and told me to look at the world around me for inspiration. So I did. At that time, the Ebola crisis was all over the news. It was a devastating situation and I wanted to help be a part of the solution. I had found my project.
With the outbreak spreading so quickly, I decided that I wanted to find a way to diagnose the virus earlier so that treatment could be delivered as quickly as possible to those who were affected. I read online about silk’s amazing storage and stabilizing properties, and wondered if I could use silk to transport antibodies that could test for the virus. After many failed attempts (and cutting up lots of cocoons) I finally succeeded in creating a temperature-independent, portable, and inexpensive diagnostic test that could detect the Ebola virus in under 30 minutes. I was really excited that my research could help contribute to saving lives, and I was proud to be selected as the Grand Prize winner a few months later.
As the 2016 Google Science Fair launches today, I wanted to share a few tips from my own experience: First, as my teacher once guided me to do, look at the world around you for ideas. If you’re stuck, try the
Make Better Generator
to find something that excites or inspires you. Second, find a mentor who’s interested in the same things as you. There are a lot of
helpful ideas
on the GSF site to get you started. And finally, don’t get discouraged—often what first appears like failure can teach you so much more.
I urge other teenagers like me to take this opportunity to find a way to make the world around them better. Every one of us, no matter our age or background, can make a difference—and as young people, we’re not always so afraid to try things that adults think will fail. But change doesn’t happen overnight, and it often starts with a question. So look at the world around you and challenge yourself to make something better.
Science isn’t just a subject—it’s a way to make things better. So I hope you’ll join the
conversation
and
enter the Google Science Fair this year
. Our world is waiting to see what you come up with!
Posted by Olivia Hallisey, 2015 Grand Prize winner, Google Science Fair
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AdD3J4PHv_A/Vs5OXbEltKI/AAAAAAAAR4M/IMUAo3p9JXU/s1600/Science%2BFair.jpg
Olivia Hallisey
2015 Grand Prize winner
Google Science Fair
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