Harvard University researchers have developed a soft, non-toxic wearable sensor that unobtrusively attaches to the hand and measures the force of a grasp and the motion of the hand and fingers. The research was published in Advanced Functional Materials and is a collaboration between the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, The Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Boston Children's Hospital. One novel element of the sensor is a non-toxic, highly conductive liquid solution. "We have developed a new type of conductive liquid that is no more dangerous than a small drop of salt water," said Siyi Xu, a graduate student at SEAS and first author of the paper. "It is four times more conductive than previous biocompatible solutions, leading to cleaner, less noisy data."

It's part of a field of work that is building machines that can provide real-time help using only limited data as input. Standard machine-learning algorithms often need to process thousands of possibilities before deciding on a solution, which may be impractical in pressurised scenarios where fast adaptation is critical. After Japan's Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011, for example, robots were sent into the power plant to clear up radioactive debris in conditions far too dangerous for humans. The problem, says robotics researcher Professor Jean-Baptiste Mouret is that the robots kept breaking down or came across hazards that stopped them in their tracks. As part of the ResiBots initiative, he is designing a lower-cost robot that can last long periods without needing constant human maintenance for breakages and are better at overcoming unexpected obstacles.

Shattered remains of once majestic works of art can now be digitally recreated and restored to their former glory thanks to a team of archaeologists. Researchers have built an AI-powered algorithm that predicts what should surround a surviving archaeological fragment and locates its neighbouring piece. A virtual image is then produced which aids in the meticulous physical reconstruction of the item. Fragile remnants of the past often resurface in scattered pieces and full restoration is a time consuming and arduous process. They are often not'clean' and'nicely behaved'; rather they are broken, eroded, noisy and ultimately extremely challenging Archaeologists at Technion and the University of Haifa in Israel say this programme could save endless hours in the restoration of historical items.

Russia has launched a civil case against Facebook and Twitter for failing to provide details about how they will comply with the country's data laws, according to local media reports. Communication watchdog Roskomnadzor said the social media firms had failed to explain exactly how local laws would be adhered to considering the companies both store data in centres outside of Russia. The Interfax news agency quoted the watchdog as saying that Twitter and Facebook had not explained how and when they would comply with legislation that requires all servers used to store Russians' personal data to be located in Russia. The agency's head, Alexander Zharov, was quoted as saying the companies have a month to provide information or else action would be taken against them. Russia has introduced tougher internet laws in the last five years, requiring search engines to delete some search results, messaging services to share encryption keys with security services and social networks to store Russian users' personal data on servers within the country.

Owners of Samsung's next flagship smartphone will not be able to be able to make use of its most exciting feature if they use a screen protector, according to the latest leak. The forthcoming phone – expected to be called the Galaxy S10 – is still a month away from being officially revealed, but a slew of leaks and rumours mean many of the key features are already known. One of the most highly-anticipated features is an in-screen fingerprint sensor, which will allow Samsung to make a full-screen device by not having to place the scanner separately at the bottom of the display or on the rear of the devive. The latest leak claims that placing a screen protector over the display will make this feature unusable. It was revealed in a tweet by Armadillotek, a US-based firm that manufactures "military grade" screen protectors for high-end Samsung smartphones.

Artificial intelligence promises to have a dramatic--and yes, disruptive--effect on U.S. education and jobs in the next decade. But that technology won't be entirely homegrown: Chinese companies, particularly those building products or services laced with the machine learning algorithms, are increasingly playing a role in the tools that we call "AI." There are few that understand what these forces mean for the world--and for education and learning--better than Kai-Fu Lee. Lee has been an enormously influential researcher, driving forward work on AI. Originally from Taiwan, he came the U.S. at age 11 and went on to earn degrees from Columbia University and Carnegie Mellon University. He then went on to work at Apple, Microsoft and Google, where he served as president of Google China.

WITH cross-border communications soaring and digital transactions becoming more rampant, fighting money laundering has become more complicated than it previously was. As a result, financial institutions are experimenting with all kinds of technology to safeguard their customers and block out bad actors. Increasingly, in the fight against money laundering, artificial intelligence (AI) and more specifically, machine learning (ML), seems to be providing a strong defense. Whether you look at international giants such as HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank or regional banks such as Maybank and DBS, everyone is collaborating with fintechs or developing their own in-house AI/ML solution to fight financial crime. Banks, due to their very nature, have access to tremendous volumes of data.

And it's no Lee Israel--she'd balk at all the fast- flying verbal inanities. I speak of Smart Reply, Google's answer, in the form of a triad of autogenerated responses, to the problem of email. Just the other day, it saw fit to butt-reply to a frenemy of mine, "I'll be there!" This in response to an invitation I had planned to ignore. Not only do I now have to attend; I must be excited!

The world's largest drone-maker, DJI, has reported that it will take a loss of up to a billion yuan ($150 million) due to employee fraud, according to Bloomberg and other sources. The company said that it fired multiple employees who apparently inflated parts costs to pad their own pockets. DJI discovered the "extensive" corruption during an internal probe and has contacted law enforcement. The corruption probe is one of the largest ever in the recent history of Chinese tech, according to Bloomberg. "DJI condemns any form of corruption strongly and has set up a high-level anti-corruption task force to investigate further and strengthen anti-corruption measures," the company said.

In the middle of the historic city of Bristol in England, about 150 engineers are currently designing the most sophisticated computer AI chip in the world. The "Colossus" has 1216 processors fitted on a chip characterized by the size of a postage stamp. Designed specifically for artificial intelligence (AI) applications, the AI chip draws its name from the computer that was used by cryptographers at Bletchley Park during World War II. "[Colossus] was all top-secret for decades after the war, so the Americans thought they invented everything first. Now it is clear to the world that they didn't," claimed Simon Knowles, the inventor of the novel AI chip.