Goto

Collaborating Authors

 Europe


Self-driving Tesla crashes into a bus, raising questions about 'autopilot' feature

The Independent - Tech

Nasa has announced that it has found evidence of flowing water on Mars. Scientists have long speculated that Recurring Slope Lineae -- or dark patches -- on Mars were made up of briny water but the new findings prove that those patches are caused by liquid water, which it has established by finding hydrated salts. Several hundred camped outside the London store in Covent Garden. The 6s will have new features like a vastly improved camera and a pressure-sensitive "3D Touch" display


Flipboard on Flipboard

#artificialintelligence

A few weeks ago we suggested you follow 5 topics that cover the more basic aspects of the business of blogging. Today let's focus on something equally important: the life of a blogger. This week I attended MMA SM2 Innovation Summit in New York, which took place during Advertising Week. The lineup of speakers did not disappoint and I gained many new insights. Here are the four that most stuck with me.


Rosetta probe advanced our knowledge of solar system, now will spend eternity with comet

The Japan Times

DARMSTADT, GERMANY – Europe's Rosetta spacecraft, due to switch off Friday after a 12-year odyssey, carried 11 scientific instruments to sniff and photograph a comet from all angles. After arriving in orbit around comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, it launched Philae, a separate lander, which itself had 10 high-tech gadgets, including cameras, X-ray scans, radio wave probes and a drill that never deployed. Together, the robot explorers have advanced our understanding of comets -- of which there are billions -- believed to be leftovers from the birth of our solar system some 4.6 billion years ago. "Nobody had any idea comets can be so weird until Rosetta got there," said Fabio Favata of the European Space Agency's (ESA) robotic exploration directorate. Expecting to encounter something roughly the shape of an American football, scientists were flabbergasted to observe through Rosetta's cameras that 67P resembled a rubber bath duck with a distinct "body" and "head," and a crack through its "neck."


Artificial intelligence will boost US productivity, says report

#artificialintelligence

Tech companies are investing heavily in artificial intelligence, and touting the financial benefits of AI-powered technologies like robots, virtual assistants and augmented reality, Now, a new study reports that artificial intelligence could dramatically boost economic growth and productivity. The Accenture report looked at 12 countries and found that AI -- or technology that senses the environment, comprehends what's happening and takes action -- could increase productivity by up to 40 percent in 2035. The report also forecasts economic growth in the U.S. could increase from 2.6 percent to 4.6 percent over the same period with the adoption of AI technologies. Among the countries that stand to make the largest gains in productivity from AI in 2035 are Sweden, Finland, the U.S. and Japan. "The impact this has is that it automates a lot of the low-level tasks and gets them done with higher satisfaction," says Accenture's chief technology officer, Paul Daugherty.


Tesla driver injured as car on autopilot crashes into tourist bus in Germany

Daily Mail - Science & tech

A Tesla electric car crashed into a tourist bus on a motorway in northern Germany with the driver claiming he had activated the car's autopilot system. The driver of the Tesla car was injured, while the 29 people on board the Danish bus were unhurt in the incident on Wednesday, police in Ratzeburg in Schleswig-Holstein state said. The 50-year-old driver's car hit the bus as it changed lanes outside the northern town of Gudow. Available for Tesla's Model S electric cars since October 2015, the driverless autopilot system has come under global scrutiny following fatal crashes in northern China in January and in the US state of Florida in May (file photo) 'We will now have to look into why the autopilot didn't work to prevent the crash,' police said in a statement. Available for Tesla's Model S electric cars since October 2015, the driverless autopilot system has come under global scrutiny following fatal crashes in northern China in January and in the US state of Florida in May.


Tesla car being driven on Autopilot collides with bus on German expressway

The Japan Times

Berlin – Police in northern Germany say a Tesla being driven with its Autopilot system engaged collided with a bus on a highway. Ratzeburg police say that the crash happened Wednesday afternoon on a stretch of autobahn about 50 km (30 miles) east of Hamburg. The Tesla driver was slightly injured. Police said in a statement Thursday that the 50-year-old Tesla driver told officers he had used the Autopilot. It wasn't immediately clear whether police had themselves confirmed the Autopilot's use, and calls to the Ratzeburg police precinct were not answered late Thursday. A Tesla spokeswoman in Palo Alto, California, said Thursday the Autopilot system was on and functioned properly in the incident, based on conversations the company had with the driver and authorities.


Artificial intelligence will boost US productivity, says report

#artificialintelligence

Tech companies are investing heavily in artificial intelligence, and touting the financial benefits of AI-powered technologies like robots, virtual assistants and augmented reality, Now, a new study reports that artificial intelligence could dramatically boost economic growth and productivity. The Accenture report looked at 12 countries and found that AI -- or technology that senses the environment, comprehends what's happening and takes action -- could increase productivity by up to 40 percent in 2035. The report also forecasts economic growth in the U.S. could increase from 2.6 percent to 4.6 percent over the same period with the adoption of AI technologies. Among the countries that stand to make the largest gains in productivity from AI in 2035 are Sweden, Finland, the U.S. and Japan. "The impact this has is that it automates a lot of the low-level tasks and gets them done with higher satisfaction," says Accenture's chief technology officer, Paul Daugherty.


Driver blames Autopilot as Tesla rear-ends bus in Germany

The Japan Times

BERLIN – Police in northern Germany say that a Tesla driver is blaming the car's Autopilot after crashing into the rear of a bus on a highway. Ratzeburg police say that the crash happened Wednesday afternoon on a stretch of autobahn about 50 km (30 miles) east of Hamburg. The Tesla driver was slightly injured. Police said in a statement Thursday that the 50-year-old Tesla driver told officers he had used the Autopilot. It wasn't immediately clear whether police had themselves confirmed the Autopilot's use, and calls to the Ratzeburg police precinct weren't answered late Thursday. A Tesla spokeswoman in Palo Alto, California, said Thursday the Autopilot system was on and functioned properly in the incident, based on conversations the company had with the driver and authorities.


Does Facebook speak your language?

USATODAY - Tech Top Stories

Facebook CEO and cofounder Mark Zuckerberg at an event at Facebook's Menlo Park, Calif., headquarters to celebrate Facebook Friends Day with users from around the world. SAN FRANCISCO -- Facebook has been translated into three new languages -- and it has its users to thank. Be it "what's on your mind?" or the "like" or "share" buttons, a dedicated community of Facebook users want to make sure all the words and phrases on the social networking service are accurately translated into their native tongues. In all, Facebook is now available in 101 languages with the addition on Friday of Maltese (the official language of Malta that has more than 400,000 native speakers), Pulaar (a dialect of Fula spoken by more than 7 million across West and Central Africa), and Corsican (spoken by some 200,000 people and listed on UNESCO's Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger.) Human-powered translation is critical to Facebook's growth.


Prowler.io raises 2M to help AI systems make smarter choices

#artificialintelligence

As we inch closer to a time when we may rely on truly autonomous devices to move us or do things on our behalf, the need for software that's able to think on its feet (or mid-air) will be essential. Now, an artificial intelligence startup working on this emerging area of machine learning has raised a seed round of funding to try to do just that. Cambridge, UK-based Prowler.io, which is building a platform that can be used by makers of autonomous systems to help those machines think and learn to make better decisions, has raised 1.5 million ( 2 million). The company is still largely in stealth with little information available online. But CEO Vishal Chatrath tells me that the funding -- which comes from Passion Capital, Amadeus Capital and Singapore's Infocomm Investments -- will be used to continue research and development of its platform, as well as hiring more talent to build it.