Ever wanted to see your holiday snaps in the style of Van Gogh, or have your portrait painted by Picasso? Researchers have revealed an artificial intelligence algorithm that can learn to paint in the style of any artist - and repaint any snap you feed it. Researchers fed their system a series of old masters - and it turned a modern day snap into perfect pictures in the style of some of the world's best known paintings. The team say it can learn the style of any artist simply by analysing a single picture. The original image the team fed the algorithm this image of houses to be'reimagined' in the style of different artists'In fine art, especially painting, humans have mastered the skill to create unique visual experiences through composing a complex interplay between the content and style of an image,' the researchers from the University of Tubingen wrote in the journal Arxiv.

It has been dubbed the Robo-Olympics, and will see the world's most advanced robots go head to series in a series of ever more challenging events. Twenty five of the top robotics organizations in the world are competing for $3.5 million in prizes, and will take on a gruelling simulated disaster-response course during the two day contest. Robots will try to complete a series of challenge tasks selected by DARPA for their relevance to disaster response. The robots will start in a vehicle, drive to a simulated disaster building, and then they'll have to open doors, walk on rubble, and use tools. There will be a surprise task waiting for the robots at the end - which turned out to be turning a valve.

SGAI, the British Computer Society Specialist Group on Artificial Intelligence, was founded in June 1980. It is one of Europe's longest established groups working to support the community of artificial intelligence developers and users. SGAI has organised an annual international conference since 1981, as well as colloquia, evening lectures and other events of many kinds. SGAI is a Specialist Group of The British Computer Society and has been a member of EurAi, the European Association for Artificial Intelligence (formerly known as ECCAI), since 1992. To foster achievement, capability and awareness in both business and research in Artificial Intelligence, and to promote the interests of the related community.

When Pyotr Stolyarsky died in 1944, he was considered Russia' s greatest violin teacher. He counted among his pupils a coterie of stars, including David Oistrakh and Nathan Milstein, and a school for gifted musicians in his native Odessa was named after him in 1933. But Stolyarsky couldn't play the violin anywhere near as well as his best students. What he could do was whisper metaphors into their ears. He might lean over and explain how his mother cooked Sabbath dinner.

Let's get the basics over with," W said to M when they met on a 4-minute speed date. I am fresh from the shower, wrapped in just a towel and smelling of mild herbal soaps (both shower and soaps are required), standing at the door to the tank. It resembles a shower door--knee-high, sliding--and opens to reveal a...READ MORE They talked about where they were from (she hailed from Iowa, he from New Jersey), life in a small town, and the transition to college. An eavesdropper would have been hard-pressed to detect a romantic spark in this banal back-and-forth. Yet when researchers, who had recorded the exchange, ran it through a language-analysis program, it revealed what W and M confirmed to be true: They were hitting it off. The researchers weren't interested in what the daters discussed, or even whether they seemed to share personality traits, backgrounds, or interests.

Walter Pitts was used to being bullied. He'd been born into a tough family in Prohibition-era Detroit, where his father, a boiler-maker, had no trouble raising his fists to get his way. One afternoon in 1935, they chased him through the streets until he ducked into the local library to hide. The library was familiar ground, where he had taught himself Greek, Latin, logic, and mathematics--better than home, where his father insisted he drop out of school and go to work. Outside, the world was messy. Inside, it all made sense. Not wanting to risk another run-in that night, Pitts stayed hidden until the library closed for the evening. Alone, he wandered through the stacks of books until he came across Principia Mathematica, a three-volume tome written by Bertrand Russell and Alfred Whitehead between 1910 and 1913, which attempted to reduce all of mathematics to pure logic. Pitts sat down and began to read. For three days he remained in the library until he had read each volume cover to cover--nearly 2,000 pages in all--and had identified several mistakes. Deciding that Bertrand Russell himself needed to know about these, the boy drafted a letter to Russell detailing the errors.

A 45 year old man from the Pontypool area has been arrested on suspicion of production of a controlled drug after cannabis plants were found in a house in Abersychan. According to Gwent Police, officers made the discovery in Snatchwood Road at about 9.30pm on Saturday. The man has been released on police bail pending further enquiries.

AIED is an interdisciplinary community at the frontiers of the fields of computer science, education and psychology. It promotes rigorous research and development of interactive and adaptive learning environments for learners of all ages, across all domains. The society brings together a community of members in the field through the organization of Conferences, a Journal, and other activities of interest. The International AIED Society is governed by an Executive Committee according to the IAIED Constitution, which seeks to support AI in Education developments throughout the international community. Membership statistics show that over 1000 members from 40 countries have joined since the Society's launch on January 1 1997.

Artificial Life Researcher; Creator of Lucy, a Robot Babay Orangutan; Author, Creation: Life and How to Make It. Physicist, Universite' de la Mediterrane' (Marseille, France); Author: What is time?

People are being urged to look up common phrases used in messages received from potential matches online, along with the term "dating scam", to avoid becoming a victim of criminals. A new UK campaign, starting on Sunday, aims to raise awareness about the growing problem of online dating fraud. Date Safe suggests checking the phrases, which could flag whether they are commonly used by scammers. A new report claims the average victim of a scheme is aged 49. It also reveals that money is transferred within 30 days of initial contact with the perpetrator.