The concept of artificial intelligence has been around for decades; Alan Turing first speculated that machines could one day think like humans back in the 1950s. But it's the combination of research breakthroughs, the wider availability of big data, and advances in graphics processing unit (GPU) technology that has ignited the AI explosion taking place today. When Google DeepMind's AlphaGo system beat South Korean champion Lee Se-dol at the ancient Chinese game Go in March 2016, it marked a turning point in AI's place in the public consciousness. Given that there are more possible Go positions than there are atoms in the universe, researchers had predicted it would be years before AI could become sophisticated enough to beat a human. AlphaGo used a form of AI called "deep learning" to master Go.

They gather data about Web pages, they correct vandalism on Wikipedia, they generate spam and even emulate humans. And their impact is growing. By some measures, bots account for 49 percent of visits to Web pages and are responsible for over 50 percent of clicks on ads. This impact is set to increase as the number of bots rises exponentially. "An increasing number of decisions, options, choices, and services depend now on bots working properly, efficaciously, and successfully," say Taha Yasseri and pals at the University of Oxford in the U.K. "Yet, we know very little about the life and evolution of our digital minions."

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

Ancient Roman ruins that lie hidden below the surface at the Apennine Mountains of Italy have largely escaped discovery because the rugged terrain makes them difficult to spot by foot and dangerous to find by airplane. Now, using small airborne drones, archaeologists have found that an ancient settlement in the Apennines was much more dense and organized than previously thought, a new study reveals. The study offered evidence that drones could help uncover more unknown sites in mountains worldwide. Scientists investigated the area of Le Pianelle in the Tappino Valley in the mountainous southern Italian region of Molise. This area was known as Samnium in antiquity.

The animals of neuroscience research are an eclectic bunch, and for good reason. Different model organisms--like zebra fish larvae, C. elegans worms, fruit flies, and mice--give researchers the opportunity to answer specific questions. The first two, for example, have transparent bodies, which let scientists easily peer into their brains; the last two have eminently tweakable genomes, which allow scientists to isolate the effects of specific genes. For cognition studies, researchers have relied largely on primates and, more recently, rats, which I use in my own work. But the time is ripe for this exclusive club of research animals to accept a new, avian member: the corvid family.

When Jon was born prematurely at 26 weeks, he weighed around two pounds and had trouble breathing on his own. For two months he lived in an incubator and eventually grew into a healthy baby and toddler. At age four, he had two epileptic seizures. About a year later his parents began to notice that Jon couldn't remember things that happened in his daily life. He didn't recall watching TV or what happened at school or what book he read. Jon's IQ was normal, he could read and write, and did well at school.

Intelligence is shaped by the survival requirements that an animal must face during its everyday life, according to cognitive ecology. Some birds can remember where they buried tens of thousands of nuts and seeds, which allows them to find them during the long winter months; a burrowing rodent can learn a complex underground maze with hundreds of tunnels in just two days; and a crocodile can have the presence of mind to carry sticks on her head and float them just below an area where herons are nesting, then pounce when an unwary bird swoops down to collect nesting material. Notwithstanding the liberties taken by filmmakers in popular movies like The Little Mermaid, Finding Nemo, and its sequel, Finding Dory, can fishes really think? When the tide goes out, frillfins like to stay near shore, nestled in warm, isolated tide pools where they may find lots of tasty tidbits. But tide pools are not always safe havens from danger. Predators such as octopuses or herons may come foraging, and it pays to make a hasty exit. But where is a little fish to go? Frillfin gobies deploy an improbable maneuver: They leap to a neighboring pool. How do they do it without ending up on the rocks, doomed to die in the sun? With prominent eyes, slightly puffy cheeks looking down on a pouting mouth, a rounded tail, and tan-gray-brown blotchy markings along a 3-inch, torpedo-shaped body, the frillfin goby hardly looks like a candidate for the Animal Einstein Olympics.

The current crisis of refugees has divided European countries and societies into those who welcome refugees and those who oppose taking them. In this Viewpoint, we reflect on the role of universities and of computer science in such situations. As a case study, we describe an activity taken at the TU Wien (Vienna University of Technology): when the crisis of refugees culminated in summer 2015, a group of professors and students of the Faculty of Informatics initiated computer courses for unaccompanied young refugees. This project allowed the refugees to gain computer-related knowledge, and, equally important, to make contacts with local students. Another major goal of the project was to give a clear message that refugees are welcome.

For trend-conscious corporate executives in Japan, a connected world is not a distant future in the making but a reality. A growing number of Japanese companies are waking up to the need to sharpen their business strategies and boost investment as the hunt for the next big thing intensifies. The prospect of an aging Japan and a shrinking domestic market is also giving them the opportunity of pondering how they can help solve social and business issues as the country gravitates toward connecting everything from home appliances to cars and factories to the internet. The government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, for its part, is pinning hopes on the benefits of the so-called internet of things and artificial intelligence, hoping that they will become a growth driver rather than a stumbling block at a time when the world's third-largest economy continues to struggle. "I've wanted to do something that will make an industrial change, now that we have IoT, big data, and AI," said Yosuke Okada, the 27-year-old chief executive officer of startup ABEJA Inc. "Japan has many researchers in the field of AI … but there seems to be little interest in solving the kinds of challenges we face in society by monetizing AI-based businesses," Okada said in a recent interview.

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