The cyborg armies of the future just got one step closer to total domination. Probably by taking a break from building giant fighting robots, scientists at the University of Tokyo have created the RatCar, a wheeled contraption controlled by a rat's brain. The researchers wanted to prove a simple idea right: that animals could use the parts of their brains that control limbs to control a vehicle. It looks like they can. The goal of the research was to see if it might eventually be feasible for paralyzed people to control wheelchairs using brain implants.

In an experiment that opens a new chapter in human-machine interaction, a French research team has demonstrated how a robot can control both its own arm and a person's arm to manipulate objects in a collaborative manner. The robot controls the human limb by sending small electrical currents to electrodes taped to the person's forearm and biceps, which allows it to command the elbow and hand to move. In the experiment, the person holds a ball, and the robot a hoop; the robot, a small humanoid, has to coordinate the movement of both arms to successfully drop the ball through the hoop. The researchers, from the Montpellier Laboratory of Informatics, Robotics, and Microelectronics (known by its French acronym LIRMM), say the approach is still in the proof-of-concept stage, but they are confident that performing more complex tasks is possible. Their goal is to develop robotic technologies that can help people suffering from paralysis and other disabilities to regain some of their motor skills.

The dawn of the 21st century has been called the decade of the drone. Unmanned aerial vehicles, remotely operated by pilots in the United States, rain Hellfire missiles on suspected insurgents in South Asia and the Middle East. Now a small group of scholars is grappling with what some believe could be the next generation of weaponry: lethal autonomous robots. At the center of the debate is Ronald C. Arkin, a Georgia Tech professor who has hypothesized lethal weapons systems that are ethically superior to human soldiers on the battlefield. A professor of robotics and ethics, he has devised algorithms for an "ethical governor" that he says could one day guide an aerial drone or ground robot to either shoot or hold its fire in accordance with internationally agreed-upon rules of war. But some scholars have dismissed Mr. Arkin's ethical governor as "vaporware," arguing that current technology is nowhere near the level of complexity that would be needed for a military robotic system to make life-and-death ethical judgments.

A list of transactions from a grocery store is shown in the figure above. Frequent items are a list of items that commonly appear together. One example is {wine, diapers, soy milk}. From the data set we can also find an association rule such as diapers - wine. This means that if someone buys diapers, there is a good chance they will buy wine. With the frequent item sets and association rules retailers have a much better understanding of their customers. Although common examples of association rulea are from the retail industry, it can be applied to a number of other categories, such as web site traffic, medicine, etc. How do we define these so called relationships? Who defines what is interesting? When we are looking for frequent item sets or association rules, we must look two parameters that defines its relevance. The support of an itemset, which is defined as the percentage of the data set which containts this itemset.

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our site. By continuing to use our site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. What are the pressures facing China's next generation? ASEAN is 50, and it's come a long way. Here's why you should care Women worldwide are missing out.

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our site. By continuing to use our site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. It's time to close the gap between what leaders say and what they do ASEAN is 50, and it's come a long way. Here's why you should care Four things you should know about, from one of the region's most successful entrepreneurs Women worldwide are missing out. What lessons can we learn from the first wave of AI? Read our reports on the broad range of global issues we're seeking to address

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our site. By continuing to use our site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. ASEAN is 50, and it's come a long way. Here's why you should care Four things you should know about, from one of the region's most successful entrepreneurs Women worldwide are missing out. What lessons can we learn from the first wave of AI? Read our reports on the broad range of global issues we're seeking to address

Google uses "deep learning" to generate captions for images, Facebook uses it to recognize faces and Tesla uses it to train self-driving cars. Now astronomers have caught on to deep learning, a form of machine learning in which a computer can be trained to identify or classify particular objects in images. The newest telescopes, such as the Dark Energy Survey, which uses a 4-meter telescope in northern Chile and covers about one quarter of the southern sky, take millions of images of a variety of celestial objects. These often include visual distortions, cosmic rays and satellite trails that make them difficult to interpret. Deep learning could help process this deluge of data quickly.

Donald Trump's US election victory and the UK's vote to leave the European Union will cast a long shadow over the global elite's annual gathering in the Swiss ski resort of Davos this week. This year, 3,000 politicians, business leaders, economists, entrepreneurs, charity leaders and celebrities will head to the World Economic Forum (WEF) to discuss the state of the world. As usual there'll be big speeches, ultra-tight security, and experts in every field under the wintry sun. There'll also be plenty of champagne and canapes for delegates gathering in expensive hotels to discuss issues such as inequality and the backlash against globalisation. Twelve months of seismic shocks have shaken Davos Man and Woman's world view, and left them struggling to understand and address the new reality.