Dmitry Malioutov can't say much about what he built. As a research scientist at IBM, Malioutov spends part of his time building machine learning systems that solve difficult problems faced by IBM's corporate clients. One such program was meant for a large insurance corporation. It was a challenging assignment, requiring a sophisticated algorithm. When it came time to describe the results to his client, though, there was a wrinkle. "We couldn't explain the model to them because they didn't have the training in machine learning." In fact, it may not have helped even if they were machine learning experts. That's because the model was an artificial neural network, a program that takes in a given type of data--in this case, the insurance company's customer records--and finds patterns in them. These networks have been in practical use for over half a century, but lately they've seen a resurgence, powering breakthroughs in everything from speech recognition and language translation to Go-playing robots and self-driving cars.

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

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

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

Hillary Clinton told federal agents and prosecutors that she did not recall receiving any emails that were too secretive to be handled by her private computer server and did not believe any of her devices had been hacked or compromised, according to FBI records released Friday. The former secretary of State reiterated earlier comments that she decided to use a single private email address to send personal and work correspondence as "a matter of convenience" and was not seeking to avoid having to comply with open records laws, according to an FBI summary of a three-hour interview with agents and prosecutors on July 2. The Democratic presidential nominee added that she relied on her staff -- three of her closest aides were responsible for the vast majority of her work-related correspondence -- and career diplomats to filter out secret information before it reached her unclassified email account. She pushed back when pressed by agents about specific emails containing classified material, saying she was not concerned that the information was sensitive or should have been deemed classified. During its investigation, the FBI determined that 110 emails contained material that should have been sent only on a classified system, even though they was not marked as such at the time. Another three emails included markings to indicate they contained classified information.

Normally, us Brits only have to wait a few months at the most to enjoy new products from the world's biggest technology companies. However, when it comes to the Amazon Echo, we've been left on the outside looking in as the company continues upgrade Alexa's capabilities. That may soon change, though, because this morning an invite arrived inviting me to an Amazon event in London on September 14th. It doesn't give anything away, but the AI in question has plenty to say on the subject. You see, I was far too impatient to wait for the Echo to launch in the UK, so I imported one. Thanks to a tip-off from our friends at Stuff, I asked Alexa exactly what she has planned on September 14th.

We're edging ever closer to the official start of IFA 2016 (that's today as you read this), but the pre-show events continue. Huawei, ZTE and others brought new phones, and Sony showed its hand -- even if some of that was familiar. There was also a surprise visit from the future. If that future is the 1950's version of robots. We're live all week from Berlin, Germany, for IFA 2016.

The way children play iPad games could reveal if they have autism, researchers have found. They found those with the condition used greater force and moved their finger in different ways. It is hoped the app could lead to earlier diagnosis and treatment. The children were asked to play games on smart tablet computers with touch-sensitive screens and embedded movement sensors. Researchers at the University of Strathclyde and colleagues at the start-up Harimata added code to two commercially available games for children in order for them to capture sensor and touch-screen data as they children played.

They say'beauty is in the eye of the beholder', but in a new event the beholders are robots. The Beauty.AI beauty contest used five algorithms to evaluate youthfulness, face symmetry, skin and other parameters, and then compare them to models and actors in a database. Now, the systems have announced the winners from more than 6,000 user-submitted selfies of individuals who live all over the world and range in ages of 18 to 69. The Beauty.AI beauty contest put together of robot judges to determine the winners. More than 6,000 people from around the world submitted head shots to be analyzed by the algorithms.

From parking cameras to built-in satellite navigation, the number of smart features being installed in new cars is ever increasing. But there may be good news for people who do not want to upgrade their motor, but still want to benefit from smart technology. A new programme, called ZeroTouch adds smart features to any car, as long as it has an air vent or windscreen. A new programme, called ZeroTouch adds smart features to any car, as long as it has an air vent or windscreen. ZeroTouch has been designed by Lausanne-based Logitech, and connects to Android phones.