The spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban says the son of their chief, Mullah Fazlullah, was among 21 "holy warriors" killed this week when missiles fired by a U.S. drone struck a seminary in Afghanistan.

Japanese farmers are using terrifying robotic wolves with beaming red LED eyes to scare off wild boars, deer and other pests from grazing on the country's rice and chestnut crops. The "Super Monster Wolf" stands at 50cm tall, is 65cm long and runs on rechargeable solar-batteries, using motion-sensors to detect when other mammals approach and letting out an alarming primal howl in response. The robo-wolf can cover distances of up to half a mile and has been used in trials to patrol fields near Kisarazu City, Chiba, as a deterrent to pests, effectively acting as a moving scarecrow. In addition to its satanic stare, the creature features a realistic fur hide and snarling rubber jaws. Chikao Umezawa of the Japan Agricultural Cooperative, the man who commissioned it, said he has seen a significant drop in the number of crops devoured by animals since the beast was unleashed.

Russian laws should not impede the development of big data, e-commerce and a distributed register in the country, President Vladimir Putin believes. He said this, speaking with a message to the Federal Assembly, the broadcast was conducted on the website of the First Channel. "We need to create our own digital platforms that are naturally compatible with the global information space. This will allow to organize production processes and financial and biological services in a new way. Including using distributed registry technology, which is very important for financial transactions" "In the near future, we need to create an advanced legislative framework, remove all barriers from the development and widespread use of robotics, artificial intelligence, and unmanned transport," the head of state said.

Nintendo is finally bringing Super Smash Bros to the Switch. The classic game is just the latest one of the company's classic franchises to arrive on its newest console. It follows updated Mario, Zelda and Splatoon games – and characters from all of those series appeared in the launch trailer. Nintendo said only that the game would come out in 2018, not even giving details on what part of the year it would be released. The I.F.O. is fuelled by eight electric engines, which is able to push the flying object to an estimated top speed of about 120mph.

One of the world's biggest cryptocurrency trading platforms was hacked this week - but the would-be thieves got away with nothing and actually lost money themselves in the attempt. "All funds are safe", Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said on Twitter, moving to reassure customers unnerved by feverish speculation. Rumours of a raid on the China-based exchange had spread on Reddit on Wednesday morning when panicked traders reported seeing their balances drained and their holdings sold at market rates after being converted to viacoin, a type of altcoin with low liquidity 25 times faster to transact with than bitcoin. There were irregularities in trading activity, automatic alarms triggered. Some accounts may have been compromised by phishing from before.

Apple has filed a patent application for the world's first entirely crumb-resistant keyboard, hoping to solve a simple problem that has plagued computing from day one. The new MacBook innovation hopes to finally resolve the issue of contaminants like dirt and dust falling into the gaps between shallow keys and causing electrical faults and loss of functionality. Apple in particular has faced criticism over the extreme delicacy of its keyboards in recent years, with MacBook keys held in place by sensitive butterfly switches that can leave the entire board needing to be replaced at considerable expense if they begin to malfunction. The filing suggests a number of ways in which the problem might be eradicated, discussing the application of gaskets, brushes, wipers and flaps to block gaps, the installation of a membrane beneath each key and even a "bellows" effect in which each key stroke forces air through the board, pushing irksome crumbs out. "Keyboard assembly [could include] a substrate, a key cap, and a guard structure extending from the key cap that funnels contaminants away from the movement mechanism," the application reads.

MANILA – English school chain ECC Co. will launch a Japanese course in the Philippines in June in partnership with a local college amid growing interest in the language among Filipinos. The Osaka-based firm and the University of Perpetual Help plan to provide a 6-month e-learning program, including a weekly supplementary lecture, for 35,000 pesos (¥72,000), targeting employees of Japanese affiliates and those planning to study and work in Japan, the company said. ECC's first Japanese-language course overseas aims to cater to an increasing number of Filipinos taking the Japanese Language Proficiency Test, a widely used exam for evaluating and certifying the language proficiency of nonnative speakers, it said. In 2017, a record 14,062 Filipinos took the exam, up 21 percent from the previous year, while the tally for all examinees topped 1 million for the first time, according to the Japan Foundation, which administers the test. The private university, founded in 1975, has three campuses in the south of Manila with about 2,000 employees and some 18,000 students, according to ECC.

Lawmakers worry declining federal research and development dollars could stunt the development of new artificial intelligence tools and set the country back in the race for global dominance in the emerging technology. "The future of U.S. innovation is at stake--this should be a cause of concern for everyone," said Rep. Robin Kelly, D-Ill. "This administration's science, immigration and education policies are all working together to reduce the U.S. lead in AI technologies." Kelly and other lawmakers voiced their concerns about shrinking government R&D funds Wednesday in the second of three House Oversight IT subcommittee hearings on government's role in developing and implementing artificial intelligence. In addition to supporting basic R&D, the government must also work to strengthen America's STEM workforce and demystify the public perception of artificial intelligence, federal technology experts told the panel.

We've compiled a list of the hottest events and conferences from the world of Data Science, Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence happening in 2018. Below are all the links you need to get yourself to these great events! Please get in touch if there are any great events or conferences you think should be added!

Microsoft today said it will expand its footprint in India's healthcare sector by bringing in artificial intelligence for cardiology. "One of the things you immediately find out is that there's tremendous possibilities in extracting insights from how health data lead to better outcomes in what doctors do," Dr. Peter Lee, corporate vice president, AI & Research, at Microsoft told PTI after he announced the initiative in Las Vegas on the sidelines of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) annual conference and exhibition. Microsoft has partnered with Apollo Hospital to create an AI-focused network in cardiology. It has also announced the expansion of the Microsoft Intelligent Network for eyecare. The Apollo partnership, he said, will work to develop and deploy new machine learning models to predict patient risk for heart disease and assists doctors on treatment plans.