In today's world of big data and the internet of things, it is common for a business to find itself sitting atop a mountain of data. Possessing it is one thing, but leveraging it for data driven decision making is a much different ball game. Gut-feelings and institutionalized heuristics have traditionally been used to guide development of protocol and decision making, but the world of artificial intelligence and big disparate data is changing that. Everyone is trying to make sense of, and extract value from, their data. Those that are not will be left behind. This challenge (and opportunity) is not limited to certain industries.

Artificial intelligence is on the rise in the world of machine translation. A string of recent news about tech giants bolstering machine translation engines with deep learning underscores just how central integrating deep learning into machine translation products has become for companies like Google and Microsoft. Slator reached out to a representative of Beijing-based Baidu, who is authorized to speak for the company, to get an exclusive look at what the Chinese tech leader has in store for its translation technology. Baidu began R&D on Baidu Translate in 2010, launching the product in June 2011. The company felt that translation was in line with what their search users needed.

The Bank of Russia is using machine learning technology to identify unlicensed money lenders, and the websites hosting them. The technology, developed by Yandex Data Factory, has helped to reveal 2,500 suspicious organisations. The system uses algorithms to search out websites hosting illegal cash loan providers and unregulated financial activity by indexing web pages related to microfinance and consumer loans. Yandex uses keyword analysis across a search index of some seven million web pages related to finance topics. In order to help build the specialised search model, Bank of Russia experts sorted through and categorised 8,000 web pages.

When Tesla CEO, Elon Musk was asked about artificial intelligence, he said it was like'summoning a demon' who shouldn't be called unless you can control it. Yes, this is the founder of the same company whose cars are pushing new limits of technology every day. When Stephen Hawking was asked this same question by BBC, he cautioned the public by saying that any further advancement to artificial intelligence could be a fatal mistake. In another interview, he mentioned that AI has the power to re-design itself and take off on its own whereas humans have slow biological evolution, and they wouldn't be able to compete. Bill Gates, too, expressed his concern about this topic during a Reddit Ask me Anything session.

Earlier this month, we watched the defeat of world-renowned Go-mastermind Lee Sedol, who lost a Go tournament to Google's AlphaGo Artificial Intelligence. What's so incredible and unexpected about this event is that such a defeat--where an artificial intelligence takes down a human master in such a complex game--wasn't expected for another decade, at least. But the world watched in awe as Lee was defeated 4 times by Google's artificial intelligence (AI). The competition consisted of five matches that spanned over one week in mid-March. If Lee was to win the competition, he would have been awarded 1 million.

In The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams' comedic sci-fi series from the 1970s, the Haggunenons of Vicissitus Three are one of the most insecure and angry life forms in the galaxy. They have "impatient chromosomes" that instantly adapt to their surroundings. If they are sitting at a table, for instance, and are unable to reach a coffee spoon, "they are liable without a moment's consideration to mutate into something with far longer arms … but which is probably quite incapable of drinking the coffee." Susan M. Rosenberg, a molecular biologist at Baylor College of Medicine, quotes Adams' "(deliciously) askew" story in a research paper on mutations in evolution as an example of how, according to standard neo-Darwinian theory, evolution does not work. Organisms, all good students know, do not generate rapid genetic mutations in response to their environment. There are exceptions, such as mutations spurred by certain chemicals or radiation.

Russian combat engineers arrived in Syria on a mine-clearing mission in the ancient town of Palmyra after it was recaptured from Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) this week. On Thursday, the Defence Ministry said sapper units were airlifted to Syria with equipment including state-of-the art robotic devices to defuse mines at the 2,000-year-old archaeological site. Russian television stations showed Il-76 transport planes with the engineers landing before dawn at the Russian air base in Syria. Sunday's recapture of Palmyra by Syrian troops under the cover of Russian air strikes was an important victory over ISIL fighters, who controlled the area for 10 months. Lieutenant General Sergei Rudskoi of the military's General Staff said Russian advisers helped plan and direct the Syrian army's operation to recapture Palmyra.

Students who created a record-breaking remote-controlled multicopter drone say they hope to get permission to fly a person in its structure. The University of Oslo team built the large unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), dubbed the Megakopter, over an 18 month period. It contains 13 propellers and eight hexacopters powered by a total of 48 motors that reside on a frame built from aluminum and plywood. Students who created a record-breaking remote-controlled multicopter drone say they hope to get permission to fly a person in its structure. The drone cost more than 200,000 Norwegian kroners ( 21,600 or 15,000) to make and took two years.

Sports stars such as Sir Steve Redgrave and Muhammad Ali claim a positive mental attitude is the most important part of preparing for a big race or bout in the ring. Now scientists have uncovered the uncovered the physical circuits in the brain that determine whether a fight will be won or lost. Deep within the brain, in a structure called the habenula, two neural circuits work in a complex interplay to influence the outcome of a battle. Scientists have uncovered the uncovered the physical circuits in the brain that determine whether a fight will be won or lost. This image shows changes in nerve excitation from the habenula region in a winner and loser zebrafish.

Young scientists should be valued by their commitment to education, their dedication to fighting inequality in science, and their efforts to democratize science.