After a delayed launch and one aborted delivery attempt, SpaceX's caution paid off Thursday when its Dragon capsule stuffed full of food, equipment, and experiments successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS). Now on its 10th re-supply mission, the private space company has become an essential part of the supply lines supporting an increasingly intricate space operation. After a GPS error scuttled its first docking attempt Wednesday, the Dragon capsule smoothly slipped close enough to the ISS for the space station's robotic arm to snag the craft early Thursday morning, along with the 5,500 pounds of goodies on board. "Looks like we've got a great capture," radioed space station commander Shane Kimbrough. In addition to a much needed food refresh, the capsule also contains more than 250 science experiments.

Lowe's Home Improvement recently announced layoffs as a part of an effort to "overhaul its staffing model." The cuts, which will constitute less than one percent of the total staff, come in the context of a reshuffling of responsibilities, which a source told the Charlotte Observer is meant to provide an increase in "face time with customers." Some of the additional changes include reassigning job responsibilities and the elimination of the department manager title, a later Observer article reported. But Lowe's is also eyeing expansion. Lowe's plans to open 15 to 20 stores annually over the next three years, which the chain said will create 4,000 new store-level jobs. And despite the cutbacks, Lowe's continues to add staff as necessary to meet seasonal demands.

Key Western markets are adopting protectionist trade policies, but the rise of Asia, automation, digital technologies and AI could make that difficult. The world is going through a turbulent time. The policies of the new US presidential administration, potential trade wars and the rise of Asia are together going to have a fundamental influence on the world's development, yet they are underpinned by longer-term changes in the world's power dynamics. When examining paradigm changes, it's important to separate the long and short term, since both may have different winners and losers. Maybe the most pressing question regarding global policies is whether the aim is to find win-win solutions or return to zero-sum policies.

A new study suggests the answer is ... kind of. Researchers from the University of Oregon in Eugene have replicated some of the same brain patterns exhibited by human meditators in the brains of mice -- no tiny meditation cushions or squeaky "oms" required. Still, experiments show that the "meditating mice" were more relaxed and less stressed than those with no rodent meditation training. The authors say the work, published Monday in PNAS, provides a proof of concept that will allow them to learn more about how meditation affects the brain. Previous research has shown that just one month of mindful meditation can have a significant impact on humans both physically and psychologically.

The Pacific Ocean might be hiding a whole other continent, Bill Gates wants to tax the robots, and some other robots crash in the midst of a road race. A pretty thrilling Monday morning, we'd say. Funds could help humans find new work when automation takes over. How would you deal with the likelihood that robots and automation will lead to many people losing their jobs? For Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, the answer is straightforward: tax the robots.

Over the past few months, B2B marketing and sales professionals have been bombarded with a wide variety of content on artificial intelligence (AI) and account-based marketing (ABM). There are obvious reasons why both these concepts are gaining traction. One of which is primarily because lead generation professionals often find themselves lost in Big Data, and ABM and AI with their commonalities, have emerged with relevant solutions to help them get a grip on this. Last year witnessed a massive growth in the adoption and acceleration of ABM, which went on to influence the ways in which marketers are structuring their martech stacks. It has indeed become an integral solution for B2B marketers and organizations.

Ford will pour $1 billion over the next five years into an artificial intelligence company tasked with developing the technology that will one day drive its autonomous vehicles. The technology could also be licensed to other automakers in the future, executives said. Pittsburgh-based Argo AI was founded late last year by Bryan Salesky and Peter Rander, who previously worked on self-driving car initiatives at Google and Uber, respectively. The company will include the staff inside Ford that has been developing its virtual driver system for the past several years. In a phone call last week, CEO Mark Fields said the investment will help Ford bring its self-driving cars to market by its previously stated goal of 2021.

Microsoft Corp. is trying again in health care, betting its prowess in cloud services and artificial-intelligence can help it expand in a market that's been notoriously hard for technology companies. A new initiative called Healthcare NExT will combine work from existing industry players and Microsoft's Research and AI units to help doctors reduce data entry tasks, triage sick patients more efficiently and ease outpatient care. "I want to bring our research capabilities and our hyper-scale cloud to bear so our partners can have huge success in the health-care world," said Peter Lee, a Microsoft Research vice president who heads Healthcare NExT. Microsoft has tried to expand in health care before, with mixed results. It had a Health Solutions Group for many years, but combined that into a joint venture with General Electric Co.

Soaring over the world's highest buildings and racing a solar-powered car across the desert may not be on your vacation itinerary this summer, but you can still see what such experiences might be like, thanks to the spectacular new IMAX film, "Dream Big: Engineering Our World." The movie takes audiences from Dubai to Australia, while sharing stirring stories about the impact engineers have on society. Narrated by Academy Award winner Jeff Bridges, it celebrates the inspiring work and people behind these engineering feats. Featured footage includes the Great Wall of China and the Golden Gate Bridge, not to mention an underwater robot developed by a team of students from an underprivileged high school in Phoenix. Made up primarily of Mexican immigrants, the robotics team entered its creation in a competition and succeeded against all odds.

Microsoft Corp. is trying again in health care, betting its prowess in cloud services and artificial-intelligence can help it expand in a market that's been notoriously hard for technology companies. A new initiative called Healthcare NExT will combine work from existing industry players and Microsoft's Research and AI units to help doctors reduce data entry tasks, triage sick patients more efficiently and ease outpatient care. "I want to bring our research capabilities and our hyper-scale cloud to bear so our partners can have huge success in the health-care world," said Peter Lee, a Microsoft Research vice president who heads Healthcare NExT. Microsoft has tried to expand in health care before, with mixed results. It had a Health Solutions Group for many years, but combined that into a joint venture with General Electric Co.