Today on In Case You Missed It: Roboticists from China created an artificial skin for robots that simulate hair with glass-shrouded microwires. A gripper hand with the'hair' on it's skin was able to feel when an object was slipping because of the hair, then adjust its grip. Lets just hope they keep the full Teenwolf under control. The helium-filled balloon bot designed for search and inspection jobs is here. Meanwhile NASA is spending its final days of 2016 by releasing data visualizations of carbon dioxide pollution around the globe, and how extra heat is stored in the world's oceans.

Baidu, often called the "Google of China," is rarely mentioned outside of technology circles in the US, but it's a search-engine giant with 2015 revenues of $10.2 billion. The Beijing, China-based company was founded in 2000 by Robin Li, currently Baidu's chairman and CEO. Baidu stepped up its research and development investment in 2015 to $1.6 billion, a 46 percent increase from 2014, with an increased focus on artificial intelligence. "AI is very much baked into the DNA of the company. Recent advances of AI have accelerated our progress and the impact that AI can have," said Andrew Ng, vice president and chief scientist at Baidu.

Artificial intelligence and smartphones are being trialled to stamp out malaria in remote parts of the Philippines. Technology originally developed for marketers to find Nike ticks and Adidas three-stripes on Instagram has been repurposed to detect the disease in blood samples. A person with no medical training could take a picture of a blood sample with their smartphone, and immediately know whether malaria is present or not. 'If this works, it could be trailblazing, said Marvi Rebueno Trudeau, head of the public-private partnership, including the Shell Foundation and the Global Fund, that is testing the technology. 'The way we're doing it right now, the microscopers collect the blood, make a slide, put it in the microscope.

Jerry Kaplan is widely known as an Artificial Intelligence expert, technical innovator, serial entrepreneur, and bestselling author. He is currently a Fellow at The Center for Legal Informatics at Stanford University and a visiting lecturer in the computer science department, where he teaches social and economic impact of Artificial Intelligence. Kaplan founded several technology companies over his 35-year career, two of which became public companies. As an inventor and entrepreneur, he was a key contributor to the creation of numerous familiar technologies including tablet computers, smart phones, online auctions, and social computer games. Kaplan is the author of three books: the best-selling classic Startup: A Silicon Valley Adventure; Humans Need Not Apply: A Guide to Wealth and Work in the Age of Artificial Intelligence (2015); and Artificial Intelligence: What Everyone Needs to Know (2016). In 1998, Kaplan received the Ernst & Young Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year Award, Northern California. He has been profiled in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Forbes, among others. He received a BA degree from the University of Chicago and a PhD in Computer and Information Science from the University of Pennsylvania. Jerry will be speaking at the Gigaom AI Now in San Francisco, February 15-16th.

WIRE)--Conversica, the leader in artificial intelligence (AI) powered business conversations and the only provider of AI-based lead engagement software for sales and marketing, today announced that it has secured $34 million in an oversubscribed Series B funding round. The round was led by Providence Strategic Growth Capital Partners L.L.C. (PSG), an affiliate of Providence Equity Partners L.L.C., with participation from Toba Capital, Wellington Financial LP and Recruit Holdings Co., Ltd., as well as additional funding from existing investor Kennet Partners and founder Ben Brigham. Conversica's board of directors has been expanded to include PSG Managing Director Gopi Vaddi and Toba Capital Partner Wilder Ramsey. "The Conversica team has developed a unique and powerful way to solve a ubiquitous business problem, enabling sales and marketing organizations to automatically engage, qualify and follow up with their leads to more effectively turn them into customers," said Alex Terry, CEO of Conversica. "Sales and marketing professionals at over 1,000 organizations have already achieved tremendous productivity enhancements by deploying our service. We are confident that our unique AI technology will be deployed across a broad spectrum of customer engagement functions to automate and improve many important business conversations."

The new game will play in the classic Mario format, in which players sprint from left to right, collecting coins, jumping over obstacles and squashing enemies. Now you can go LIVE on Twitter: New Facebook-style video... Beer tailored to your DNA: London brewery creates the... Transform your selfie into a 3D avatar: Startup uses... The robotic arm you can control with your MIND: Researchers... Now you can go LIVE on Twitter: New Facebook-style video... Beer tailored to your DNA: London brewery creates the... Transform your selfie into a 3D avatar: Startup uses... The robotic arm you can control with your MIND: Researchers... Nintendo will soon make a big push into mobile gaming with the launch of the popular Super Mario Bros franchise on the iPhone. But weak sales for the company's Wii U console and declining demand for its Nintendo DS handheld have forced the gaming firm to test new avenues. Caught on camera: Checkout line fight erupts over couponing Amir Khan's wife Faryal Makhdoom snapchats an'apology' Amir Khan's wife Faryal was called'Michael Jackson' by family Couponing mom attacked inside store for holding up the line Motorist screams after being caught red-handed taking selfie Real-life Amazon Drone delivery begin trials with no human pilot Dangerous Porsche driver cuts up fellow motorists in Liverpool Angry motorist challenges traffic warden over'illegal parking' Huge 7 stone dog has adorable bark that sounds like hiccup Poor cat has it's head pushed into the snow by cheeky dog! Trump meets with tech giants: 'I'm here to help you folks do well' Man violently punches another on the Metro platform in Hollywood Amir Khan's wife Faryal was called'Michael Jackson' by family Poor cat has it's head pushed into the snow by cheeky dog! Trump meets with tech giants: 'I'm here to help you folks do well' EXCLUSIVE: Ex-British ambassador who is now a WikiLeaks... 'Take a shot kiddo': Alan Thicke's last words as he was... Moment an extreme couponer is attacked by a furious customer... Female German minister REFUSES to wear a hijab during visit... 'I really don't give a s*** about what happens to Huma':... 'What are you gonna do?' One of five teens accused of... Shocking bodycam video shows car theft suspect shooting two... Muslim parents force daughter, 18, to shave her head for... IBM to hire 25,000 more workers in the US in the next four... Growing Pains star Alan Thicke, 69, dies suddenly after...

Here are some story lines I don't want you to miss today. Donald Trump has chosen one of the most consistently conservative presidential cabinets in recent history -- one whose presumed members' views don't always align with what Trump promised on the campaign trail. In Washington circles, the biggest guessing game is how it will all play out. Somehow, you have to think tweeting is involved. We don't want to jinx it, but … all of California should be in for some rain today.

The problem with trends is that they are like a freight train gaining speed; everyone can see the train, but at what point do you say the train is really moving at speed? With that in mind, here are the trends I'm following, the predictions I am making, or if not a prediction, the inflection points I am paying attention to. Donald Trump and the'Made in America' Supply Chain – There was a quote in the Atlantic I liked, "The press takes him literally, but not seriously; his supporters take him seriously, but not literally." But when it comes to trade with China and Mexico, I take him both seriously and literally. I think it likely that by the end of 2017 we will have seen a decrease in trade with China and to a lesser extent Mexico.

Google's search results currently tell people that the Holocaust didn't happen, and aren't going to be changed. Searching for "did the holocaust happen" on Google brings up a first result from Stormfront, the neo-Nazi website. The title of the piece is "Top 10 reasons why the holocaust didn't happen", and anyone clicking through sees a list of Those proclaimed reasons include a suggestion that since "there were survivors", nobody can have been killed in the supposedly fictional mass execution of Jews during the Second World War. In its facilities, JAXA develop satellites and analyse their observation data, train astronauts for utilization in the Japanese Experiment Module'Kibo' of the International Space Station (ISS) and develop launch vehicles 32/39 The robot developed by Seed Solutions sings and dances to the music during the Japan Robot Week 2016 at Tokyo Big Sight. At this biennial event, the participating companies exhibit their latest service robotic technologies and components 33/39 The robot developed by Seed Solutions sings and dances to music during the Japan Robot Week 2016 at Tokyo Big Sight 34/39 Government and industry are working together on a robot-like autopilot system that could eliminate the need for a second human pilot in the cockpit 35/39 Aurora Flight Sciences' technicians work on an Aircrew Labor In-Cockpit Automantion System (ALIAS) device in the firm's Centaur aircraft at Manassas Airport in Manassas, Va.

The Jevons Paradox suggests that when technological advances increase efficiency of a resource, it results in an overall increase in consumption. Writing on the increased use of coal as a result of technological improvements, 19th-century economist William Stanley Jevons found that these improvements led to the development of new ways to utilize coal. In his session at 19th Cloud Expo, Mark Thiele, Chief Strategy Officer for Apcera, compared the Jevons Paradox to modern-day enterprise IT, examining how the Internet and the cloud has allowed for the democratization of IT, resulting in an increased demand for the cloud and the drive to develop new ways to utilize it. Speaker Bio Mark Thiele's successful career in IT spans 25 years and has focused on both operating roles and on driving cloud adoption across enterprises of all sizes. He has deep industry experience and extensive knowledge of the requirements of policy-driven cloud computing and drives cross-functional strategic initiatives as Chief Strategy Officer for Apcera.