Astronomers have trained Facebook's facial recognition software to spot'burping' black holes in deep space. The artificial intelligence (AI) tool is programmed to pick out radio galaxies out from scans taken by radio telescopes. These rare galaxies spew powerful radio jets from the supermassive black holes at their centres, and scientists believe they hold clues to the structure of the universe. Using the new programme, dubbed ClaRAN, experts at the University of Western Australia hope to make it easier to spot the elusive galaxies - using the radio signals fired from their black holes. Astronomers have trained Facebook's facial recognition software to spot'burping' black holes in deep space.

An artificial intelligence (AI) programme used to recognise faces on Facebook can also identify galaxies in deep space, scientists said on Wednesday. The AI bot named ClaRAN scans images taken by radio telescopes, said researchers from the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) in Australia. Its job is to spot radio galaxies -- galaxies that emit powerful radio jets from supermassive black holes at their centres, according to the research published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Black holes are found at the centre of most, if not all, galaxies. "These supermassive black holes occasionally burp out jets that can be seen with a radio telescope," said Ivy Wong from The University of Western Australia node of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR).

For island nations and countries without the infrastructure for reliable transportation, drones can do more than take photos or collect data: they can transport supplies to save lives. The Pacific island country of Vanuatu, for instance, has teamed up with UNICEF and two drone companies to deliver vaccines to rural areas. Vanuatu is composed of 83 islands spread over an area that covers 1,600 kilometers ( 1,000 miles). To deliver vaccines to its more rural communities, health workers often have to walk for hours -- sometimes, it can even take them days by cars and/or boats. Drones could ensure that local health facilities have quick access to lifesaving supplies when needed.

Cohda Wireless has demonstrated the ability of its driverless car technology to see around corners and locate other vehicles in an'urban canyon' as part of a world-first trial in South Australia. The trial, conducted in a two-block section in the centre of the Adelaide CBD, revealed how smart connected vehicles can detect and respond to risky situations more effectively than a human in a scenario thought to be commonplace in built-up city areas. During the trial, two vehicles approached a four-way intersection at right angles to each other. Tall buildings on each corner of the intersection obstructed the view of the other approaching car. Car 2, driven by a human, fails to adhere to the red-light signal and approaches the intersection at speed, intending to'run' the red light.

At 11:00pm on Halloween, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), is inviting you to control a real person through a game called BeeMe. BeeMe is the first augmented reality game that will allow the internet (read: anyone and everyone) to control the actions and movement of a real life person. The mission is simple: Users must work together to form a hive mind (get it?) That real person will actually be a trained actor, whose identity will not be revealed. If you're reminded of that Black Mirror episode where Jon Hamm's character Matt can speak and see through the eyes of men who need help successfully interacting with women, you'd be bang on the mark.

IMAGE: Fourteen radio galaxy predictions ClaRAN made during its scan of radio and infrared data. All predictions were made with a high'confidence' level, shown as the number above the detection... view more Researchers have taught an artificial intelligence program used to recognise faces on Facebook to identify galaxies in deep space. The result is an AI bot named ClaRAN that scans images taken by radio telescopes. Its job is to spot radio galaxies--galaxies that emit powerful radio jets from supermassive black holes at their centres. ClaRAN is the brainchild of big data specialist Dr Chen Wu and astronomer Dr Ivy Wong, both from The University of Western Australia node of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR).

Mining software solutions specialist Micromine is not only embracing the concept of automation but is taking it to new levels through research and pilot test trial studies focused on bringing machine learning/artificial intelligence to the fore, Pitram product strategy manager Gareth Dean tells Laura Cornish during an interview at the company's head office in Perth, Australia. This article first appeared in Mining Review Africa Issue 10 2018. It will be published online on the 21st November 2018.

Technological tools aiming to equalise sentencing and policing decisions are having the opposite effect. Just ask the 16-year-old kid stopped and searched 23 times in 10 months. Ensuring democracy in data, and technological governance is urgent, writes Georgia Reid. Technology will leave our democracy threadbare. In an era which gives primacy to Big Data, with Australian politicians touting data as a national resource, we should be sceptical of the democracy of technology.

Opie itself could be more sophisticated, says Wiles, but the available speech-to-text technology that could be used to dictate and store the language is not as advanced as people may believe when they hear the word "robot," she says. The main artificial intelligence-based transcription services provided by Google or IBM support around 100 languages and don't include indigenous dialects in Australia. Local researchers would need to develop a technology for transcribing an indigenous language, but such an approach is time consuming and expensive to implement.

"5G technology will underpin the communications that Australians rely on every day, from our health systems and the potential applications of remote surgery, to self-driving cars and through to the operation of our power and water supply," Mike Burgess, director-general of the Australian Signals Directorate, said in rare public comments late on Monday.