A groundbreaking study to investigate how dog brains process speech has revealed canines care about both what we say and how we say it. It discovered that dogs, like people, use the left hemisphere to process words, and the right hemisphere brain region to process intonation. It found praise activates dog's reward centre only when both words and intonation match, according to the new study in Science. Trained dogs around the fMRI scanner used in the study: Dogs, like people, use the left hemisphere to process words, and the right hemisphere brain region to process intonation, according to the new study in Science. The brain activation images showed that dogs prefer to use their left hemisphere to process meaningful but not meaningless words.

English novelist Emily Brontë may have suffered from a form of autism formerly known as Asperger syndrome, according to her biographer. During an event at the Edinburgh International Book Festival on Sunday in the U.K., Claire Harman -- author of recent biography "Charlotte Brontë: A Life" -- discussed many of Brontë's traits, some of which she said resembled symptoms related to Asperger's, the Guardian reported. Brontë's personality characteristics and behaviors -- like her genius, her dislike of leaving home, social discomfort and sudden bursts of anger and frustrations -- could have brought about a prognosis of the disorder if she was alive in more modern-day times, Harman added. Harman recounted one of the "Wuthering Heights" author's temperamental instances that was documented by biographer Elizabeth Gaskell, who wrote in an 1857 biography on Charlotte Brontë about a time her younger sister left the family dog "half blind and stupefied" after punching the dog in the face for dirtying the laundry. Harman said the incident was "just a sign of Emily's strength and character."

It seems we are all part of a big experiment. We're testing our data-driven consciousness and determining how much information we can digest and at what speed. And if we continue at our current pace, we will soon see sensors and ambient computing infuse our personal and professional lives with a myriad of interactive things. Even items such as coffee mugs may be connected. In such a digital-driven, hyperconnected world, our perceptions will heavily depend on virtual experiences and our biological view.

Scott graduated from Cardiff University with a degree in English Literature and a diploma in Magazine Journalism. He has a keen interest in disruptive tech, sport and the media. It's official, 2016 has been the year of the AI startup acquisition. Tech giants Apple, Intel, Twitter and Microsoft have all spent large sums to bring artificial intelligence startups, and their expertise, inhouse. Four of the biggest AI startup acquisitions of the last five years have come from the UK, starting with Google's purchase of Deep Mind in 2014 for a reported 400 million.

Today, Facebook is announcing new recipients to the GPU Partnership Program announced earlier this year. This program, fashioned with the goal of helping others make faster progress in the field of AI, is intended to overcome a large challenge, ensuring the world's top researchers have the infrastructure, tools and techniques to solve some of the largest technical problems. To help accomplish this, we are distributing 22 high-powered GPU servers to 15 world-class research groups across 9 European countries. The Facebook AI Research (FAIR) team will also work with recipients to ensure they have the software required to run the servers as well as directly collaborate with them in their ongoing research efforts. FAIR is well known for its open research efforts, and the insights from the GPU program are intended to be shared with the global scientific community.

A US software firm which chose Singapore for the world's first public trial of driverless taxis hopes to be operating in 10 Asian and US cities by 2020, an executive said Monday. Doug Parker, nuTonomy's chief operating officer, said the firm is eyeing tests by early next year in three other Asian countries which he declined to name. He said an announcement of the test venues would be made within the next month or so. The company last week kicked off the world's first driverless taxi service in a limited trial for invited people in a Singapore research campus. Parker, 41, said nuTonomy was also considering trials in the Middle East, the United States and Britain.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK, with one in eight women receiving the terrifying diagnosis in their lifetime. But researchers have now developed artificial intelligence software that can accurately predict breast cancer risk, which would enable doctors to closely monitor those most at risk of developing the potentially life-threatening disease. The AI program reliably interprets mammograms and translates patient data into diagnostic information 30 times faster than a human doctor, with 99 per cent accuracy. It was developed by researchers at Houston Methodist Research Institute in Texas. "This software intelligently reviews millions of records in a short amount of time, enabling us to determine breast cancer risk more efficiently using a patient's mammogram," said Stephen T Wong, chair of the Department of Systems Medicine and Bioengineering at the institute.

As the world's foremost event covering the practical implications of AI for enterprise organizations and solutions, more than 600 business CxOs are attending alongside AI start-up innovators, media and acclaimed researchers. The AI Summit's elite content program offers exclusive insights into the future world of AI-empowered businesses. Inbenta Chief Operating Officer and previous CTO, Ferran Saurina, will join a leading panel session highlighting customer engagement solutions that serve as entry points for any business. "AI is happening in most, if not all industries; and the number one consumer applications is through chatbots. Savvy companies aren't asking if their business needs a bot, but how they should be integrated. September 28th at 5:25 pm - 6:10 pm Panel Debate: What does a business leader need to know when choosing a partner for AI? A number of leading organizations spanning finance, law, healthcare, manufacturing, transport, energy, education and many more are looking to implement the technologies or have already started. The conference programs include exclusive announcements on AI Projects from American Airlines, Capital One, UBER, General Electric, Wells Fargo, Navistar, BMS, Johnson & Johnson and many more. "AI is being implemented by leading organizations in a broad range of industries and we are very excited to host Inbenta, alongside key industry names that include Amazon, Facebook, Google, IBM Watson, Microsoft, Tata and Accenture,'' underlines Daniel Pitchford, Commercial Director, The AI Summit.

Every now and then I get asked for some help or for some pointers on a machine learning/data science topic. I tend respond with links to resources by folks that I consider to be experts in the topic area. Over time my list has gotten a little larger so I decided to put it all together in a blog post. Since it is based mostly on the questions I have received, it is by no means complete, or even close to a complete list, but hopefully it will be of some use. Perhaps I will keep it updated, or even better yet, feel free to comment with anything you think might be of help.

Human-robot strike teams, autonomous land mines, and covert swarms of minuscule robotic spies: the US Department of Defense's idea of the future of war seems like a sci-fi movie. According to Engadget, it took a while for the U.S. military to perfect its defense strategies against cyberattacks and it seems that when it comes to artificial intelligence (AI), U.S. military faces a similar deficit. Other countries, especially U.S. rivals such as China and Russia, implement less restrictive policies that deal with killer robots and other lethal AI autonomous weapons. This is one of the reasons U.S. cannot afford to be left behind. The nation's military may need deadly AI technology before it's too late.