​In today’s Bulldog roundup of science and technology news:

  • Uber, Lyft keep fighting driver fingerprints
  • A solar-powered plane reaches Spain
  • The U.S. Senate blocks warrantless access to data
  • New technology helps in massive coral reef survey (see photo)

The details:

  • Uber, Lyft battle governments over driver fingerprint checks

Hailing a ride with a smartphone app in many U.S. cities is coming down to a fight over fingerprints.

Following incidents where Uber drivers were found to have criminal records, a number of state and local officials have proposed fingerprint background checks for ride-hailing drivers — often with the support of local taxi companies.

Uber and its chief rival, Lyft, have fought those checks, contending their own method of vetting drivers is just as safe. Their political muscle showed in the past week. The Chicago City Council Wednesday passed ride-hailing regulations that excludefingerprint checks after an alderman removed the fingerprint requirement when Uberand Lyft threatened to leave the city. Rhode Island on Saturday passed regulations without fingerprint checks, which also are under consideration in Atlanta and the states of New Jersey, California and Massachusetts.

Uber and Lyft have recently made good on threats to vacate cities that impose fingerprint checks, such as Austin, Texas, leaving drivers without jobs and riders without an alternative to taxis. Agreeing to fingerprint checks, as Uber did in Houston, slows the pace of hiring and increases pickup times. If passengers have to wait too long, the companies say, they give up on ride-hailing.

Uber and Lyft hire private background companies that run a driver’s name, license and Social Security number through local court records, national criminal databases and a federal sex offender registry. Searches can take as little as 24 hours. Lyft rechecks drivers each year, but Uber does not.

Fingerprint checks, which are run through the FBI’s national database, can take a few days longer. But experts say fingerprinting catches people who lie about their names.

  • Solar-powered plane lands in Spain

An experimental solar-powered airplane landed in Spain Thursday, completing an unprecedented three-day flight across the Atlantic in the latest leg of its globe-circling voyage.

The Solar Impulse 2 landed in Seville in southern Spain at 0540 GMT on Thursday, ending a 71-hour, 8-minute flight which began from New York City on Monday. It was the first time a solar-powered plane has made such a journey using zero fuel and zero emissions, organizers said.

A note on the plane’s official website said the aircraft had flown 6,765 kilometers (4,204 miles) at a maximum height of 8,534 meters (27,999 feet).

It was the 15th leg of a planned around-the-world flight which began in March 2015 from Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.

The wings of Solar Impulse 2, which stretch wider than those of a Boeing 747, are equipped with 17,000 solar cells that power propellers and charge batteries. The planeruns on stored energy at night.

The Aero-Club of Switzerland is responsible for validating records of the flight.

Watch video at:

  • Senate blocks access to online data without warrant

The Senate on Wednesday blocked an expansion of the government’s power to investigate suspected terrorists, a victory for civil libertarians and privacy advocates emboldened after a National Security Agency contractor’s revelations forced changes in how the communications of Americans are monitored.

After the massacre at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, senior Republicans had pressed for allowing the FBI to obtain a person’s digital fingerprints without first securing a judge’s permission. The mass shooting in Orlando on June 12 left 49 dead and 53 injured. The gunman had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State and other militant groups.

But the Senate rejected the amendment 58-38, two votes short of the 60 necessary to move ahead with the measure that would give federal law enforcement direct access to email and text message logs, internet browsing histories and other potentially sensitiveonline data.

“We aren’t asking for content, we’re asking for usage,” said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in defense of the amendment that, if passed, would have been added to a Justice Department spending bill. “This is an important tool.”

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., opposed the amendment and decried what he said was the hypocrisy of defending gun rights while pushing for a measure that would undermine the constitutional prohibition against unlawful search and seizures. The Senate on Monday rejected plans to curb firearms, with many Republicans refusing to approve any legislation that would infringe on the broad right to bear arms.

“Due process ought to apply as it relates to guns, but due process wouldn’t apply as it relates to the internet activity of millions of Americans,” Wyden said.

Three years ago, former NSA contractor Edward Snowden’s revelations about the agency’s bulk collection of millions of Americans’ phone records set off a fierce debate, pitting civil libertarians concerned about privacy against more hawkish lawmakers fearful about losing tools to combat terrorism. Democrats and libertarian-leaning Republicans pushed through a reauthorization of the Patriot Act last year that ended the program.

The House last week rejected a measure that would have prohibited the government from searching the online communications of Americans without a warrant. The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and other opponents of the measure cautioned it would compromise the investigation into the Orlando gunman, Omar Mateen, and the ability to disrupt other terrorist plots.

  • New technology speeds massive coral reef survey

Scientists using facial recognition technology and 360-degree underwater photos said Wednesday they have developed new software to quickly assess coral bleaching and other damage to the world’s imperiled reefs.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officials say the technology will provide an unmatched resource for assessing the growing problem.

Researchers at the XL Catlin Global Reef Record told The Associated Press that creating the virtual reality scenes allows hundreds of thousands of images to be analyzed within weeks rather than years.

Coral reefs are essential to food supplies, natural environment and coastal economies the world over, according to scientists who attended this week’s International Coral Reef Symposium in Hawaii.

The survey crew also partnered with Google Street View to provide interactive underwater reef experiences for users all around the world. Now, with the click of a mouse people can immerse themselves in a world they may never have been able to see.

“Less than one percent of humanity has been diving on a coral reef,” said Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, director of the Global Change Institute at the University of Queensland and lead scientist for the project. “So most of us on the planet don’t know what a coral reef really is, and thereby, if you don’t know about something, how are you going to feel compelled to protect it?”

The data on damage is critically important because it provides a baseline for much of the world’s undocumented reef, Hoegh-Guldberg said.

“As we see greater impacts from climate change, things like larger cyclones, mass bleaching events and so on, we really need to know what’s in the cupboard to begin with,” Hoegh-Guldberg said. “That’s what this technology does.”

Scientists have never before captured such a comprehensive picture of reef health — and they hope it will lead to the discovery of new phenomena on reefs, said Ruth Gates, president of the International Society for Reef Studies and director of the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology.