Seymour Papert with LEGO Mindstorms robotics kits, which were named in recognition of Papert's seminal book, Mindstorms: Children, Computers, and Powerful Ideas. Seymour Papert with LEGO Mindstorms robotics kits, which were named in recognition of Papert's seminal book, Mindstorms: Children, Computers, and Powerful Ideas. The field of educational technology is mourning a visionary whose work was considered 50 years ahead of its time. Seymour Papert, who died July 31 at age 88, was a mathematician and computer scientist who spent decades at MIT. "Seymour was one of the very first people to recognize that new computer technologies could be used by kids to create things in new ways and express themselves," Mitchel Resnick, a professor of learning research at MIT and a longtime colleague and friend, told NPR Ed. "It's amazing that Seymour was thinking these ideas in the 1960s," Resnick adds, "when computers cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, but he foresaw the day that every child would have access to a computer." The great theme of Papert's work and life was the nature of intelligence, or what he called thinking about thinking.

It's no secret that electronic components aren't biodegradable, although some engineers have attempted to develop more eco-friendly versions over the years. A team of researchers at the UK's National Physical Laboratory took on the challenge and wound up creating a circuit board that dissolves in hot water. The device melts away after being submerged, leaving 90 percent of its resistors and capacitors available for reuse. Compared to traditional circuit board recycling, which salvages only two percent of the electronic components, this is a major breakthrough in reducing e-waste. Leave it to one of the world's largest tech companies to bring a modular smartphone to market.

In a village in western Africa, a tsetse fly bites a human, injecting a swarm of the deadly sleeping sickness-causing parasite Trypanosoma brucei into the bloodstream. Once inside its human host, the parasite spreads through the body, rapidly using its flexible flagellum to propel itself, eventually hiding the structure inside its body to evade the host's immune system once it is safely ensconced. Imagine a swarm of microscopic bots that mimics Trypanosoma brucei's behavior. In this case, though, instead of killing their hosts, the bots are designed to circulate through the bloodstream to perform highly-targeted drug deliveries and carry out invasive and delicate surgeries that may otherwise be too risky to perform. This is what a team of scientists at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETHZ) and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) are working toward.

Nasa has announced that it has found evidence of flowing water on Mars. Scientists have long speculated that Recurring Slope Lineae -- or dark patches -- on Mars were made up of briny water but the new findings prove that those patches are caused by liquid water, which it has established by finding hydrated salts. Several hundred camped outside the London store in Covent Garden. The 6s will have new features like a vastly improved camera and a pressure-sensitive "3D Touch" display

Back on the judging panel is Professor Noel Sharkey, a robotics expert who featured on the programme for five years. Sharing memories of his time on the show, he told the BBC he was initially hesitant to take part... I was a very reluctant judge for the first series of Robot Wars. I was concerned that being on a popular TV show might damage my reputation as a university professor and as an educator. Even after the first series, I thought that I should opt out - but then something quite remarkable happened.

MyBucks, the German listed FinTech company that holds three brands - GetBucks, GetSure and GetBanked, says its groundbreaking partnership with NGO (non-governmental organization) Opportunity International continues to take strides forward in their vision of bringing financial inclusion to the unbanked and underbanked in emerging markets - most specifically in Africa. In a bold move that is contrary to the current trend worldwide where banks are acquiring FinTech companies to add value and expand services, the partnership marks the first time a FinTech company has acquired banks to bridge the gap between the virtual and traditional worlds of banking. This is ultimately to enable faster, more efficient and less expensive access to financial services for clients. The conclusion of the acquisition of four banks and two microfinance institutions from Opportunity International will add Ghana, Tanzania and Mozambique to MyBucks country portfolio and regulatory approval has already been granted in Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique. This will increase its customer base to 1.5 million, and will also more than double its assets.

Sokhela has both HIV and tuberculosis -- a brutal, one-two punch that's exacerbating epidemics of both diseases in South Africa. In most places in the country, where clinics are overtaxed, this would presage a wait of up to 10 hours. But here something different is happening. Staffers at computer monitors swiftly log in people and dispatch them for triage or, if they have tuberculosis, a special area away from others. Those who only need their antiretroviral (ARV) drugs walk directly to the pharmacists, who retrieve each patient's electronic medical record and use a robotic system to pull drugs from shelves and fill orders.

I was electrified by Jonathan Berger's music before I knew he wrote about music. His chamber works arise out of a lightning storm of modernist angles, dramatic and startling, though anchored to melodies that sail like a swallow, as one of his string quartets is called. His one-act operas Theotokia and The War Reporter, performed together in concert, match taut musical brocades to the hallucinations of, respectively, a schizophrenic, hearing voices of various mothers, and a photojournalist, based on Paul Watson, who won the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for his image of the corpse of an American soldier being dragged through the streets of Mogadishu. A few years ago, I read some of Jonathan's academic writing about music, which had a sharp focus on neurology and acoustics. He is a professor of music at Stanford, where he teaches composition, music theory, and cognition at the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics. On a hunch that he could connect with a popular audience, I asked him to write an essay for Nautilus about how composers upend expectations to keep listeners off guard and engaged. That article, "Composing Your Thoughts," and his next one for Nautilus, "How Music Hijacks Our Perception of Time," which contain musical clips to illustrate his points, have been among our most popular articles. There's a certain amount of problem solving that happens in the context of a band of noise. For this month's issue I called Jonathan and was delighted to learn he had thought a lot about noise.

From Big Ben to Battersea Power Station, London's landmarks have been painstakingly recreated using tiny virtual bricks in Minecraft. Now, one of the capital's most disastrous events – the Great Fire of London – is about to be put on the pixelated map. The historic blaze of 1666, which gutted the medieval part of the city 350 years ago, will be portrayed using three different maps within the video game. The historic blaze of 1666, which gutted the medieval part of the city 350 years ago, will be portrayed using three different maps within the video game, Minecraft. Minecraft was created in 2009.

Uber arch-rival Careem, which operates in Pakistan and across the Middle East and North Africa, has inked a deal to use self-driving electric pods, reports Gulf Business. The pods, made by Italy-based Next Future Transportation, are modular, allowing them to drive individually or by clamping to other units to form a bus. One pod, 8.8 feet (2.7 m) in length, can hold up to 10 people. The deal, described as a strategic partnership between the two firms, is a long way from bringing the actual autonomous pods into service since the Italian company has not yet started testing on a working prototype. "We are ready to power it and start the testings [sic], however we are still looking for a lead investor," said Next in a post on LinkedIn.