In fact, there are already a huge number of technologies engaged within the cultural sector. Autonomous vehicles require detailed 3D maps to operate, and this tech in now being used to digitize and map historical buildings. CyArk, for example, is aiming to digitally preserve heritage sites, and entire cities, across the world before they are lost to natural disasters, armed conflicts, and neglect, using autonomous driving and mapping technologies. Take a look at this 3D map of New Orleans quarter. The company also mapped the Royal Tombs of Kasubi (Uganda) in 2009, a year before fire destroyed many of the site's structures.

Shortly before the competition, the team was finally able to find a sponsor willing to take a chance on paying for the visa fees. Yet the sponsor would only pay for the people who had a good shot at getting an application approved under the travel ban. The team decided that Jorny and Jehad were the best candidates, since they had applied successfully for visas the year before the ban was in effect in order to attend exchange programs in the U.S. They boarded a flight to Tunisia to apply at the U.S. embassy (the U.S. does not have an embassy in Libya) and came straight to the competition in D.C. after getting visa approval.

This article was first published on the IEC e-tech website. Rapid advances in technology are revolutionizing the roles of aerial, terrestrial and maritime robotic systems in disaster relief, search and rescue (SAR) and salvage operations. Robots and drones can be deployed quickly in areas deemed too unsafe for humans and are used to guide rescuers, collect data, deliver essential supplies or provide communication services. The first reported use of SAR robots was to explore the wreckage beneath the collapsed twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York after the September 2001 terrorist attacks. Drones and robots have been used to survey damage after disasters such as the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident in Japan in 2011 and the earthquakes in Haiti (2010) and Nepal (2015).

The app store's most popular free app is being used to bully people, according to its users. Sarahah might be unknown to many people. But it has quickly become popular among some iPhone users, and has become the top performing free app in the US app store, since it was released earlier this year. But the app has a dark side, according to some users and reviewers. It is being used to anonymously bully vulnerable people and has been described as a "breeding ground for hate".

The maker of the world's most deadly firearm has unveiled plans for a radical AI controlled gun for the Russian military. Kalashnikov, best known for its AK-47 rifle, is building'a range of products based on neural networks,' including a'fully automated combat module' that can identify and shoot at its targets. The new products were revealed in an interview with Kalashnikov spokeswoman Sofiya Ivanova by TASS, a Russian government information agency. The Kalashnikov'combat module' will consist of a gun connected to a console that constantly analyses image data to identify targets. According to Kalashnikov it will be able to'make decisions' on whether to shoot.

We should have been more specific. Organizers say this event is the first global robotics competition specifically for high school students. There have been other robotics competitions with teams from multiple countries.]

A team of Afghan girls whose plight resounded with the world won a silver medal for "courageous achievement" at an international robotics contest in the United States, with judges praising the group's "can-do attitude". The First Global Challenge event in Washington ended on Tuesday, having attracted teams of teenagers from more than 150 nations. But all eyes were on the squad of girls from Afghanistan, who had twice travelled 800 kilometres to the American embassy in Kabul, only to have their visa applications turned down. They were finally granted entry with just one week to go until the event began after their story had gone viral. In an interview with Al Jazeera, before US officials decided to allow them in the country, team member Rodaba Noori said: "We wanted to show our talents to the world so they would know that we do have skills."

Trump intervened and enabled all the teams headed to Washington, DC for the F.I.R.S.T Global Robotics Championship, whose visas had been held up or denied, to get their visas. Some visas were received as late as two days before the event. Although the Afghan team got all the press, the team from Gambia was also denied when they first applied. The three-day event which started Sunday evening in Washington, DC with opening ceremonies, has teams from 157 countries (including the Afghanistan and Gambia teams) -- and some multinational teams representing continents. FIRST has organized competitions for many years but this is the first year it is hosting an international competition.

Police officers could soon be wearing body-mounted cameras programmed to spot criminals and missing people in real-time, using artificial intelligence. The cameras, built by Motorola and similar to those already used by some US police forces to record an officer's point of view, could also help find missing objects like a stolen car, thanks to machine learning. A prototype of the AI camera is already being developed by Motorola and Neurala, a deep learning startup based in Boston, Massachusetts that recently added its software to drone cameras to help track poachers in Africa. The smart camera will learn while it is used and "automatically search for persons or objects of interest, significantly reducing the time and effort required to find a missing child or suspicious object in environments that are often crowded or chaotic," Motorola and Neurala said in a joint statement. "We see powerful potential for artificial intelligence to improve safety and efficiency for our customers, which in turn helps create safer communities," said Paul Steinberg, chief technology officer of Motorola Solutions.

Motorola is adding machine learning to its surveillance equipment used by law enforcement personnel. Cops in Chicago's Waukegan police department are already suiting up with the company's Si500 body cams. But those same cameras could soon pack AI that could help officers identify missing people and objects. A prototype device is in the works with Neurala, a deep learning startup that recently integrated its software with drones to track poachers in Africa. In the near future, the camera will be able to recognize images and communicate that data with other Si500s.