Put a tray of water in the freezer. And then--boom--the molecules stack into little hexagons, and you've got ice. Those drastic alterations in physical properties are called phase transitions, and physicists love them. It's as if they could spot the exact instant Dr. Jekyll morphs into Mr. Hyde. If they could just figure out exactly how the upstanding doctor's body metabolized the secret formula, maybe physicists could understand how it turns him evil.

From Google's self-driving cars to Amazon's purchase predictions, artificial intelligence (AI) is any program that does something we would normally consider an intelligent human act. But as AI technology continues to develop rapidly, prominent personalities including Stephen Hawking and Bill Gates have voiced their concern about the rise of super-intelligent machines. They question they ask is: "How dangerous could AI become?" We've all watched at least one science fiction movie where an intelligent robot goes rogue and tries to destroy all humanity. And while we certainly aren't ignoring the valid concerns raised about super-intelligent machines, it is possible that AI and humans can be complementary.

On a worldwide basis, companies are pausing efforts or taking a step back from globalization. In Europe, this is most evident in recent months with Brexit in the UK. In the United States, it is most evident in the proposals underway in Congress and the White House for H-1B visa reform, rising trade barriers, and potential changes to the tax that could change the tax implications of offshoring. Although the extent of changes is not currently known, it is reasonable and probable that they will make offshoring more difficult and more expensive (for customers and their service providers) as well as less socially acceptable. Is your organization one of the many that are now seeking alternatives to sending work offshore to achieve cost reduction?

Nasa might soon launch our best ever chance of meeting aliens. The space agency is putting together plans to send a lander to Europa, one of Jupiter's moons and perhaps the most likely place to harbour alien life anywhere near us. But first they will have to work out how they can actually land on a surface about which they know next to nothing. The agency started seriously exploring that possibility by commissioning a report on the value of sending a lander onto the icy surface of the moon. That report has now arrived and Nasa is looking to explore its findings with the scientific community.

It could be a game show bonus question: Who is more likely to call his bank contact center, a plugged-in millennial in Brooklyn or a retiree fresh off the tennis court at The Villages in Florida? Surprisingly, that young, bearded, plaid-shirted hipster is placing calls to his bank at 1.7 times the rate of the 70-something slice-meister. Millennials may be fluent in Siri, but they are still on the learning curve for paying bills, depositing checks, transferring money and generally resolving issues with their accounts. They also visit the bank branch fairly frequently―and not for free coffee. Can this really be happening today?

Countries are amassing cyberweaponry on an unprecedented scale and reconfiguring militaries to meet the threat of cyberwar. Autonomous weapons are being increasingly sought my militaries around the world, but experts fear the worst. AUTONOMOUS robots with the ability to make life or death decisions and snuff out the enemy could very soon be a common feature of warfare, as a new-age arms race between world powers heats up. Harnessing artificial intelligence -- and weaponising it for the battlefield and to gain advantage in cyber warfare -- has the US, Chinese, Russian and other governments furiously working away to gain the edge over their global counterparts. But researchers warn of the incredible dangers involved and the "terrifying future" we risk courting.

It's notoriously difficult to make sense of Quantum mechanics, and it's equally difficult to calculate the behavior of many quantum systems. That's due in part to the description of a quantum system called its wavefunction. The wavefunction for most single objects is pretty complicated on its own, and adding a second object makes predicting things even harder, since the wavefunction for the entire system becomes a mixture of the two individual ones. The more objects you add, the harder the calculations become. As a result, many-body calculations are usually done through methods that produce an approximation.

India's patent laws allow for reverse-engineering of certain technologies. A prime example of this reverse-engineering is in the pharmaceutical space, where Indian pharma companies are allowed to reverse-engineer drugs, especially life-saving ones. These drugs may have been developed by pharma majors in other parts of the world--and then introduced into western markets--after India-based outsourcing firms had helped them out with clinical trials, data gathering and reporting to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or its equivalent to get these drugs passed. Indian courts have continued to allow such reverse-engineering of drugs--famously prompting Bayer AG's then CEO Martin Dekkers to say at a conference a few years ago, "We did not develop this medicine for Indians. We developed it for western patients who can afford it."

Do you think you can tell a piece of music composed by artificial intelligence (AI) from one created by a human composer? Before you read any further, let's find out. The following audio consists of two fragments, one written by AI, the other by a human. Last year, Facebook's VP of Design thought the TNW Conference main stage was the best she'd ever been on. If you didn't get it right the first time, no worries--we'll have a couple more mini-quizzes like this below.

AI has become such a huge topic that late last year the White House released a report on the Future of Artificial Intelligence, which focused on the opportunities, considerations, and challenges of AI. As more and more industries, including healthcare and financial services, adopt AI technology, the technology's value will increase its impact on society as a whole. AI, machine learning and other technologies are already making a significant impact in several industries, including e-commerce, hospitality, and retail. While there has always been a slight tension among workers about robots taking over and claiming jobs, there is a lot to be said about how these types of technologies will, in fact, add more value, contribute to economic growth and augment the workplace so employees can work more effectively. It starts with the huge volumes of contracts that define business relationships, capture the rules of engagement and are the foundation of business transactions every day.