Science & Technology

Criticism is raining down on prosecutors in Massachusetts after the suicide of computer genius Aaron Swartz, who helped to develop innovations like RSS.

Swartz, 26, had been facing trial on 13 felony charges for allegedly breaking into the Massachusetts Institute of Technology network and accessing millions of documents. Friends and family argue Swartz was the victim of Justice Department overreach. But legal experts say the case is more complicated than that.

Users of Facebook will soon have a new search tool at their disposal, the leaders of the company announced Tuesday during a live event. The new Graph Search feature will let those on Facebook sift through photos, people, places, and business pages.

The new search ability will join Facebook users' newsfeed and timeline as "pillars" of their experience, said Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who predicted Graph Search would become an "amazing resource."

Transcript

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

I'm Michel Martin and this is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. They say it takes a village to raise a child, but maybe you just need a few moms and dads in your corner. Every week, we check in with a diverse group of parents for their common sense and savvy parenting advice. We're going to do that today, but we need to let you know that today's topic is sensitive, might not be appropriate for all listeners because we are going to talk about the case of an alleged sexual assault in Steubenville, Ohio.

The natural gas fracking boom has sped up life in Towanda, Pa. There are positives and negatives to that fact — Towanda's unemployment rate stayed low throughout the recession, but its crime rate jumped, too. And now that natural gas prices have slowed down drilling, Towanda is wondering whether its boom is already turning into a bust.

The death of Aaron Swartz has intensified a debate over access to information on the Internet. Swartz was a computer prodigy and activist who committed suicide on Friday. He was only 26, but he had long ago become a leader of the Free Culture movement, which believed online information should be accessible to everyone. Audie Cornish talks about the movement with a reporter who has covered it, Declan McCullagh, chief political correspondent with CNET.

Sonari Glinton talks to Audie Cornish about the technology to be introduced at the North American International Auto Show and looks at the most important auto-related innovations to come out of the recent Consumer Electronics Show. The highlights include research in electronic vehicles, advanced manufacturing that allows one assembly line to make dozens of cars, and increasing synergy between Detroit and Silicon Valley.

Days after the Department of Homeland Security said computer users should remove the latest versions of its Java software, Oracle Corp. says it has fixed the flaw, in a new update released Monday. As we reported Friday, hacking groups included the Java 7 vulnerability in new "exploit kits" this year.