Flocks of robotic birds are taking to the skies of China equipped with high-tech surveillance technology, according to a report. The so-called "spy bird" programme, first reported by the South China Morning Post, is already in operation in at least five provinces and provides another tendril in the country's already advanced surveillance network. The dove-like drones are being developed by researchers at Northwestern Polytechnical University in the Shaanxi province, who have previously worked on stealth fighter jets used by China's airforce. One of the researchers involved said the roll out of the technology was still in its early stages. "The scale is still small," said Yang Wenqing, an associate professor at the university's School of Aeronautics who worked on the programme.

Yet like a handful of local dating apps in this traditionally conservative country, Tinder's biggest challenge appears to be getting enough women to sign on. In many parts of India, arranged marriages--as opposed to what Indians call "love marriages"--remain the norm, and dating in any form still carries a stigma, particularly for women. Indian women who have dabbled with dating apps complain they get overwhelmed by all the attention that comes with the surplus of men. "The barrage of messages that hits your inbox is like a swarm of locusts," said Anushree Majumdar, age 33, in Mumbai. She uses dating apps only occasionally, she said, and can understand why women are intimidated by them.

This new core has been specifically designed to enhance the performance of deep learning by 10X and enable more neural network processing per square millimeter. Many companies are using FPGA to implement AI and more specifically machine learning, deep learning and neural networks as approaches to achieve AI. The key function needed for AI are matrix multipliers, which consist of arrays of MACs (multiplier accumulators). In existing FPGA and eFPGAs, the MACs are optimized for DSPs with larger multipliers, pre-adders and other logic which are overkill for AI. For AI applications, smaller multipliers such as 16 bits or 8 bits, with the ability to support both modes with accumulators, allow more neural network processing per square millimeter.

According to China Daily, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the country's main foundation for basic scientific research, will undergo reforms to further support innovative talents and ground breaking scientific work. On 19 June, Director of the National Natural Science Foundation of China Mr Li Jinghai said that the Foundation will put in place new procedures to promoting academic evaluation and honesty, as well as strengthening interdisciplinary and international collaboration. He also shared that these initiatives are in the pipeline and will be tested in selected projects and institutions in 2019. "Right now, we are on the verge of major breakthroughs for the next technological revolution and industrial change, and we cannot afford to miss these opportunities like we did previously," said Mr Li. Chinese Minister of Science and Technology Mr Wang Zhigang stated that the Foundation should focus on supporting projects that can solve major and key challenges regarding China's socioeconomic development and national security.

So a machine can now not only demolish you at chess or devastate you in Jeopardy, it can also outwit you on Question Time. Last week, in a public debate in San Francisco, IBM pitted its Project Debater software program against human opponents, including Noa Ovadia, Israel's national debating champion in 2016. Each participant had four minutes in which to make an opening statement, followed by a four-minute rebuttal and a two-minute conclusion. Drawing on a library of hundreds of millions of newspaper articles and academic papers, and some pre-installed arguments, the machine held its own. "I can't say it makes my blood boil, because I have no blood," it quipped, "but it seems some people naturally suspect technology because it's new." Project Debater is a remarkable achievement.

Scott Belsky is Adobe's chief product officer and executive vice president for Creative Cloud, which means, among other things, that he's front and centre when it comes to Project Aero, the new tool that brings graphics into the world of augmented reality. Augmented reality (AR) is, of course, a technology that allows data from the web to be overlaid on a view of the physical world. Project Aero – first announced at Apple's World Wide Developers' Conference on June 4 – can help virtual butterflies appear, fluttering on a gleaming metal perch, all nestling in your living room. Or so it appears on your iPad screen. Developers can take graphics they've created in Photoshop, export them to Aero, and then from there embed them into apps.

China is stepping-up its mass surveillance, with a flock of camera-equipped drones designed to look like doves. The surveillance drones are fitted with flapping wings, allowing them to swoop, dive and glide just like the real thing. The robotic spies are almost indistinguishable from real doves and have even been spotted flying in flocks of real birds – helping them to avoid detection from radar. The machines are fitted with all the technology of a top-end spy drone, including a high-definition camera for photographs and video clips, GPS antenna, flight control system, and satellite data link. More than 30 military and government agencies have already deployed the birdlike drones to spy on the population, sources claim.

Fall Armyworm first appeared in Africa in 2016, in West Africa, and then rapidly spread across all countries in sub-Saharan Africa in 2017, infecting millions of hectares of maize, and threatening the food security of more than 300 million people. Many African farmers might have heard about Fall Armyworm but are seeing it for the first time, and are often unable to recognize it or unsure of what they are facing. With the new application, they can hold the phone next to an infested plant, and Nuru can immediately confirm if Fall Armyworm has caused the damage. Nuru is an app that uses cutting-edge technologies involving machine learning and artificial intelligence. It runs inside a standard Android phone and can work also offline.

If you're getting thumb strain from trying to swipe your way to the perfect partner on Tinder, the latest update to the dating app could be the solution for you. Tinder is piloting a new feature, dubbed'Picks', that ditches the need to constantly swipe left or right to trawl through users' profiles on the dating service. Instead, Tinder Picks highlights a handful of fellow lonely hearts that it believes will be a good match, based on similar career, hobbies and interests. Although any Tinder user can see the profiles picked-out for them by the app, only those who subscribe to the Los Angeles-based dating company's £7.49 Tinder Picks will highlight a handful of dating app users who share similar interests, hobbies, and jobs.

Westworld is a series of complex plots, which requires concentration. It's not until end of your seasons when you understand certain things. That's how it's thought, not that y've done it wrong. It is a story that progresses slowly and in which are emerging riddles that feed of ories social networks. "We have answers for almost all unknowns," says Jonathan Nolan, creator of HBO's fiction with Lisa Joy.