In this paper we look into the problem of planning over hybrid domains, where change can be both discrete and instantaneous, or continuous over time. In addition, it is required that each state on the trajectory induced by the execution of plans complies with a given set of global constraints. We approach the computation of plans for such domains as the problem of searching over a deterministic state model. In this model, some of the successor states are obtained by solving numerically the so-called initial value problem over a set of ordinary differential equations (ODE) given by the current plan prefix. These equations hold over time intervals whose duration is determined dynamically, according to whether zero crossing events take place for a set of invariant conditions. The resulting planner, FS+, incorporates these features together with effective heuristic guidance. FS+ does not impose any of the syntactic restrictions on process effects often found on the existing literature on Hybrid Planning. A key concept of our approach is that a clear separation is struck between planning and simulation time steps. The former is the time allowed to observe the evolution of a given dynamical system before committing to a future course of action, whilst the later is part of the model of the environment. FS+ is shown to be a robust planner over a diverse set of hybrid domains, taken from the existing literature on hybrid planning and systems.

We employ unsupervised machine learning techniques to learn latent parameters which best describe states of the two-dimensional Ising model and the three-dimensional XY model. These methods range from principal component analysis to artificial neural network based variational autoencoders. The states are sampled using a Monte-Carlo simulation above and below the critical temperature. We find that the predicted latent parameters correspond to the known order parameters. The latent representation of the states of the models in question are clustered, which makes it possible to identify phases without prior knowledge of their existence or the underlying Hamiltonian. Furthermore, we find that the reconstruction loss function can be used as a universal identifier for phase transitions.

Has a digital coup begun? Is big data being used, in the US and the UK, to create personalised political advertising, to bypass our rational minds and alter the way we vote? The short answer is probably not. A series of terrifying articles suggests that a company called Cambridge Analytica helped to swing both the US election and the EU referendum by mining data from Facebook and using it to predict people's personalities, then tailoring advertising to their psychological profiles. These reports, originating with the Swiss publication Das Magazin (published in translation by Vice), were clearly written in good faith, but apparently with insufficient diligence.

First of all, I will explain the reason for the post title. For those who have not seen the films, I summarize: "A group of four illusionists win year after year to the public with their incredible magic shows and even mocking the FBI. GSMA is a great illusionist and MWC is their principal magic show. We are invited year after year to visit an event with unique keynote speakers, an enormous list of exhibitors, amazing performances and a great LinkedInplace where we can meet in person some of our social media contacts. What else can we ask for? I know that it is very ruthless to compare the GSMA with illusionists and the MWC as their greatest magic show, but at least I see quite a few reasonable resemblances, you don t. If in 2015 I wrote " MWC 2015: Everything Connected, Tapas and Jamon", and I argued as one the reasons to attend MWC was the fact it was celebrated in Barcelona. In 2016, in my post "GSMA need to think how to reinvent MWC" I justify the reasons why the MWC needed to reinvent itself. One thing has become clear to me after many years attending MWCs, this is the world's biggest phone and mobile networks show, with manufacturers set to unveil a raft of new phone handsets and new technology. However, the GSMA had insisted on introducing more and more distractions like Internet of Things (IoT), Connected Living, Connected Car, AR/ VR, Robots. Maybe the reason is because Telecom operators do not have the DNA to change. Still, many telecom operators take a dim view of some of the aggressive moves being made by these peers, especially when it comes to business models based on commercializing customer data. "I expected to see less hype and a dose of common sense" Starting by the announcement of Spain's Telefonica to introduce a broad plan "4th Platform" to help both consumer and business customers keep greater control over their data rather than giving it away to web giants Google, Facebook and Amazon. "I expected to see more applications where IoT will become a lot less exciting, but more useful and profitable.

At the heart of AI systems are statistical models that have no concept of social inequality, fairness, or hardships. In Cathy O'Neil's book, Weapons of Math Destruction (WMD), she points out that big data is discriminating nearly at every juncture of our society and pummeling the poor at each opportunity. Her book points to many avenues of misuse of data, but most offensive is through the use of proxies. Data statistics that are designed for one purpose but are repurposed to be used for economic or convenience sake. There are a number of examples of this.

Why doesn't the United States have high-speed bullet trains like Europe and Asia? originally appeared on Quora: the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world. First, let me state that I am a huge fan of high-speed rail. My first experience with high-speed rail was on Taiwan's high-speed rail line in 2008 which shortened the time it took to traverse the island from five hours to two. My second was on my honeymoon when my wife and I traversed continental Europe on its clean and efficient high-speed rail network. It kills me to think that for the amount of money and resources we have spent on the second Iraq war, we could have built the backbone of a nationwide high-speed rail network and subsidized its use for a number of years while it ramped up to optimal capacity.

Philip Hammond says he wants the UK to become a "world leader" in 5G, the next-generation mobile technology that proponents say is the key to an internet-connected world of driverless cars, smart home appliances, delivery drones and lightning-fast video on the go. The government, which has published a 70-page tome on its future 5G strategy, said in the budget it would invest up to £16m to run trials and support the technology's development, to make sure the UK is at the crest of the "next wave of mobile technology services". However, 5G, which is set to be rolled out in the UK next decade, also has its critics. They argue consumers don't need the superfast speeds the upgrade from current 4G technology promises, and many in the industry believe that logistical issues mean that 5G may not be properly rolled out in the UK for decades. In the meantime, there are still basic infrastructure issues – including rural areas with little or no broadband coverage at all – that need sorting out.

March 11, 2017 --Dominating the night sky, Earth's natural satellite is often the first target to catch the eye of budding astronomers, and now the moon's siren call is pulling the world's leading space powers too. The five space agencies responsible for building the International Space Station (ISS) met last month in Tsukuba, home to the Japanese space agency JAXA, to decide what comes after the aging ISS. Discussions advanced an evolving plan to build a lunar space station, settling on a tentative orbit and paving the way for finalized plans that may come in late 2017 or early 2018. But friction remains around the ultimate goal of the station: Will the ISS successor be a truly lunar space station or a spaceport on the way to Mars? With the ISS's decommissioning tentatively scheduled for 2024, the International Spacecraft Working Group (ISWG), composed of the American, Russian, Japanese, European, and Canadian space agencies, is looking ahead to the next phase of human space exploration.

On this day in 1818, the novel "Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus", by 21-year-old author Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, was published. Frankenstein is often considered the world's first science fiction novel, as it mixes elements of Victorian ghost stories with elements of modern technology, chemistry and biology. She describes the weather at the time as a "wet, unpleasant summer, continuous rainfall kept us inside the house." Bored, the friends worked on creepy stories, reflecting the gloomy atmosphere surrounding them, but only Shelley completed hers. The year 1816 is today famous as the year without a summer.

Unless you've been hiding out in a doomsday bunker you'll have heard the news that the robots are coming for your job. They are already delivering takeaways in Washington, DC, flipping burgers in California, doing data entry in accounting firms worldwide, writing articles for the Associated Press, appealing parking tickets, correcting errors on Wikipedia, managing Amazon's warehouses, creating ads for Coca-Cola and helping in complex surgery. Soon "there will be fewer and fewer jobs that a robot cannot do better", according to the gloomy prediction of Elon Musk, the Tesla and SpaceX chief executive and notorious worrier about the robot apocalypse. Lest you think your role is safe, a recent report by the McKinsey Global Institute brings the cheery news that by 2055 robots will be doing more than half of what qualifies as work in today's world. McKinsey has provided a search tool where you can check how vulnerable your occupation is to partial or complete automation, but I'll save you the trouble: unless your job involves owning the corporation that builds the robots it's probably deemed at risk.