Facebook built its fortune on the internet, that non-physical space where people share updates and digital videos with friends. But deep inside its Silicon Valley headquarters, Facebook engineers have stocked a new lab with computerized lathes, industrial mills and tools for making physical goods. Model maker Spencer Burns, looks over a globe under construction inside a 5 axis vertical milling machine during a tour of Area 404, the hardware R&D lab, at Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park. Facebook engineers have stocked a new lab with computerized lathes, industrial mills and tools for making physical goods. The lab is dubbed Area 404, an inside joke playing off the'error 404' message that internet users see when they try to visit a web page that can't be found.

SAN FRANCISCO August 13 COWAROBOT, a robotics company bringing proprietary robotics technology to consumer products, announced today the launch of its flagship product, COWAROBOT R1, via the crowdfunding platform Indiegogo. R1 is the first-ever robotic suitcase, incorporating robotics technology to its smart suitcase shell.. Cowarobot R1 comes with a bracelet that the owner has to wear. The bag'senses' the bracelet electronically and walks along with the owner. If the owner is separated by more than 164 feet from the bag, the bracelet vibrates to notify the owner that contact with the bag has been lost. The suitcase also has an app which lets you track the bag if it is lost.

The terminally ill man who is set to become the world's first head transplant recipient says more details about his extraordinary surgery will be revealed next month. Valery Spiridonov, a computer scientist from Russia, is set to undergo the risky procedure next year. Today, the 31-year-old is wheelchair reliant due to a muscle-wasting disease, announced his neurosurgeon would explain how the plan was progressing in September. Mr Spiridonov says he is ready to put his trust in controversial surgeon Dr Sergio Canavero who claims he can cut off his head and attach it to a healthy body. Neither the exact date or location have been chosen yet, but the world first procedure is aimed to take place in December 2017.

In May, a Tesla S car in Autopilot mode tragically crashed, killing the car's driver, after it failed to recognise a white trailer in its path. The devastating event led people to question the safety of autonomous feature, and whether someone could sabotage a self-driving vehicle. Researchers have now used off-the-shelf materials to trick a Tesla car's Autopilot sensors, showing just how easy it is to hack the technology into missing objects in its path. By infiltrating all three, the researchers found that only the radar attacks have the potential to cause a high-speed collision. The researchers jammed the radio signals used by the Tesla car's radar sensor, which is located under the front grill, and showed that this caused a car in its path to'disappear'.

TOKYO--The 1980s movie "Back to the Future Part II" transports viewers to a 2015 where people pay for cab rides with the swipe of a finger. In the real 2016, fingerprints have entered the mainstream as a way to log on to smart devices, but it's still difficult to pay for rides or at the cash register with just a finger. To be successful, a payment system would have to match the print against a database that may contain thousands or millions of other prints, and--to keep impatient customers happy--do it within seconds. That's the challenge Yasuhiro Kuda says his Tokyo-based startup, Liquid Inc., has addressed. Backed by the Japanese government and some of the nation's biggest names in finance and technology--including the venture-capital arms of banking giant Mizuho Financial Group Inc. MFG -0.31 % and cellphone provider NTT DoCoMo Inc.--Liquid is rolling out a fingerprint-payment system at retailers in Japan and elsewhere in Asia, including Sri Lanka and the Philippines.

Technology companies are hurriedly snapping up startups in the field of artificial intelligence, and Intel Corp. INTC -0.32 % is the latest to join a buying spree fueled by one of the hottest trends in the tech sector. The chip maker on Tuesday announced plans to pay an undisclosed amount for Nervana Systems, a 48-employee company working on semiconductors, software and services to exploit a popular AI technique called deep learning. Intel's move follows a deal disclosed Friday by Apple Inc. AAPL 0.23 % to purchase Turi Inc., a Seattle-based specialist in the field. The two acquisitions add to a string of 31 purchases since 2011 of AI startups by large companies, according to venture-capital research firm CB Insights. Factoring in smaller acquirers, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP counts 29 related acquisitions so far this year, suggesting the total deal count for 2016 will top the 37 deals announced last year.

Since its creation by Michael Jackson in 1967, the'robot' move has been a dance floor staple. Now robots themselves are taking to the dance floor to show off their moves. Last week, 1,007 robots performed a synchronised routine earning them the Guinness World Record for'most robots dancing simultaneously.' More than 1,000 robots performed a synchronised routine earning them the Guinness World Record for'most robots dancing simultaneously' Fastest robot to solve a Rubik's cube - the Sub1 robot completed the puzzle in just 0.887 seconds in January 2016 The sea of robots took to the stage at the Qingdao Beer Festival in Shandong, China. Measuring just 43.8 centimetres (19 inches) tall, each robot was controlled from just one mobile phone.

Three of my movie recommendations this time around are about thinking: There's an aging detective trying to recover the memory of his last case, a wife who discovers the true nature of her relationship after repeatedly lying to him, and a group of smart people who sit around drinking coffee, smoking cigarettes, and talking about life. Since we're in the midst of the Olympic Games, I'd also encourage you to catch T-Rex, a documentary that's not about a terrible lizard, but a terrific female middleweight boxer named Claressa Shields. Other new and notable movies this week involve physical activities of their characters and subjects, whether it's making punk music or folk music, shooting an erotic movie, exploring a terrifying underworld, or defending yourself with a machete. Sometimes the act of escaping can be physical, with the fear of getting caught increasing the adrenaline flow. Characters this week escape from a tyrannical dystopian future and with a stolen baby.

Being propelled in capsules along a pneumatic tube at speeds of up to 740mph (1,200km/h) might seem like something out of science fiction. But the concept of a super-fast Hyperloop train may be a reality soon as more and more cities are joining the race to build quicker transport. The latest city is Dubai, which will be hosting a competition looking for designs of a radical new mass transit system, able to carry passengers at speeds faster than some airliners. Being propelled in capsules along a pneumatic tube at speeds of up to 740mph (1,200km/h) might seem like something out of science fiction. But the concept of a super-fast Hyperloop train might be a reality sooner than you think.

A Tesla vehicle crashed in China on Wednesday after the driver mistook'autopilot mode' for a'self-driving' function. The driver is now pointing fingers at Tesla sales staff for overplaying the car's actual capabilities, claiming they implied that the system should take control of steering and braking under certain conditions. Tesla says Luo Zhen, the driver of the car, was responsible for maintaining control of the vehicle, but their investigation revealed his hands were not detected on the wheel. A Tesla vehicle crashed in China Wednesday (pictured), after the driver mistook'autopilot mode' for a'self-driving' function. The driver is now pointing fingers at the car maker's sales staff for overplaying the car's actual capabilities, in that the system should take control of steering and braking under certain conditions While driving to work, Lou Zhen set his Tesla Model S sedan in autopilot and took his hands off the wheel.