Ford outlined a few of the ways it's aiming to ship driverless cars by 2021, and part of the plan involves acquisitions. CEO Mark Fields revealed at a press event in Palo Alto today that the automaker acquired SAIPS, an Israeli company focusing on machine learning and computer vision. It's also partnering exclusively with Nirenberg Neuroscience, to bring more "humanlike intelligence" to machine learning components of driverless car systems. SAIPS' technology brings image and video processing algorithms, as well as deep learning tech focused on processing and classifying input signals, all key ingredients in the special sauce that makes up autonomous vehicle tech. This company's expertise should help with on-board interpretation of data captured by sensors on Ford's self-driving cars, and turning that data into usable info for the car's virtual driver system.

Imagine the endless possibilities of learning from 2.5 quintillion bytes of data generated every day. Artificial intelligence (AI), which began its journey 60 years ago is well on its course to make this implausible scenario a reality. Artificial Intelligence, is slowly taking over our lives. From personal assistants like Siri in Apple products to stock trading to medical diagnosis, AI is able to learn from seemingly unstructured data, take decisions and perform actions in a way previously unimagined. Businesses too are undergoing digitization rapidly.

One of the most fascinating developments in computer user interfaces in recent years is the rise of "bots". Some people hail it as the "new command line", but it is much more than that. It is an Artificial Intelligence "robot" in messaging applications. You can message it as if it is a human user, and ask it to do things for you or have a conversation with you. With the rising popularity of messaging apps, users are increasingly interested in this mode of communication -- some see this as the next step of the continuous user interface evolution from text command line to GUI to web apps to mobile apps and then to "bots". There are already many innovative uses of bots, and people are coming up with new ways every day!

During the last two years, Microsoft has upped the ante on Machine Learning and Analytics. From hiring top notch data scientists to acquiring niche startups, Redmond has made the all the right moves to transform Azure into one of the best analytics platforms. These investments have started to pay off for the company. It has been successful in articulating and demonstrating the value of data-driven insights to governments, medical institutions, and public sector organizations. Emerging markets that are turning technology savvy are becoming the hotbed for evaluating the upcoming trends such as Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence.

As machines become more intelligent, they become embedded in countless facets of life. In some ways, they can act almost as full-fledged members in human-machine teams. In such cases, as with any team, trust is a necessary ingredient for good performance. But the dynamics of trust between people and machines are not yet well-understood. With a two-year project funded through the SUTD-MIT Postdoctoral Fellows Program, a collaboration between MIT and the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), postdoc Xi Jessie Yang, MIT Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics Assistant Professor Julie Shah, and SUTD Engineering Product Development Professor Katja Hölttä-Otto aim to develop greater knowledge in this area.

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

Ford Motor Co. and the Chinese search engine company Baidu will each invest 75 million in Velodyne LiDAR Inc., a company that makes laser sensors that help guide self-driving cars. Velodyne, based in said it will use the 150-million investment to expand design and production and reduce the cost of its sensors. The laser sensors are called Lidar, which is short for "light detection and ranging." They also can be used in conventional vehicles as part of driver-assist systems such as automatic emergency braking. Velodyne said lower costs will enable the sensors to be used in all vehicles to make roads safer.

Hiroshige Seko, the new head of the Minister of Economy, Trade And Industry, says the government needs to implement policies that will help the Japanese automotive industry keep its lead in the global arena by developing advanced autonomous driving technologies ahead of overseas competitors. "The internet of things, artificial intelligence and self-driving technologies are very important for Japan," Seko said in a recent interview. Asked if the government can achieve its targets for nuclear power and renewable energy included in the country's best energy mix for fiscal 2030, which was adopted by METI in July 2015, Seko offered assurances that nuclear plant safety measures tightened under the new standards introduced in July 2013 are sufficient, and that the Nuclear Regulation Authority conducts rigorous safety screenings regardless of government policy. It is important for the government to fully explain that detailed disaster management and evacuation plans have been laid out, said Seko, who took up his ministerial post in the Aug. 3 Cabinet reshuffle by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The energy mix sets Japan's reliance on nuclear power in the year to March 2031 at 20 to 22 percent and that on solar, wind and other renewable energy at 22 to 24 percent. The nuclear safety standards were drawn up based on lessons from the March 2011 crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.