Apple has been granted a patent for a technology that would allow for "synthetic group selfies". The feature would let people stitch together various images so that it looks like people were all together, even if they were actually apart. The patent was filed long before the new coronavirus was ever discovered. But it was not granted to Apple until last week, when it looked very prescient. The feature would allow people to stitch together an image of a group even if they could not stand close to each other or even in the same place because of social distancing rules, for instance.

Researchers from Université de Sherbrooke in Canada have created a robot arm that can be used by humans which has the dexterity to pick fruit. The type of arm developed is called a supernumerary robotic arm, in that it does not supplement any existing human limb but adds an extra one to the body. The arm has three degrees of freedom and is controlled by a hydraulic system connected to the user through a tether and controlled by another human being. According to IEEE Spectrum, the arm weighs little over four kilograms, approximately the same as a human arm, although most of that weight comes from its external power source which has to be attached to the arm at all times. In terms of power, the arm can lift a five kilogram weight, meaning that it could be used for a number of tasks including painting walls, washing windows, handing tools to a human worker, or even playing badminton.

IBM will no longer develop technology for facial recognition following protests against racial inequality in the US and UK. In a letter to congress, IBM CEO Arvind Krishna said that the company "no longer offers general purpose IBM facial recognition or analysis software." "IBM firmly opposes and will not condone uses of any technology, including facial recognition technology offered by other vendors, for mass surveillance, racial profiling, violations of basic human rights and freedoms, or any purpose which is not consistent with our values and Principles of Trust and Transparency." "We believe now is the time to begin a national dialogue on whether and how facial recognition technology should be employed by domestic law enforcement agencies," the letter states. Mr Krishna also recommended that police should be more accountable for their misconduct, and expanding opportunities in communities of colour for "new collar" jobs – those which require specialised skills but do not require the traditional university degree, such as cybersecurity and cloud computing, both of which IBM develops.

Apple is set to announce a change to its Mac line-up that will fundamentally alter the nature of the platform, according to a new report. The company will change the chips that power its Macs from Intel to ARM in a decision that will likely be one of the most significant ever to hit the company's products. The new chips will initially come to Apple's laptops in a change that could be announced as soon as this month, Bloomberg reported. The change would allow the computers to drastically improve their speed, battery life and other key parts of their performance, numerous reports have suggested, as well as bringing the computers more in line with Apple's iPhones and iPads, for which it has long made its own chips. The announcement is set to be made at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference or WWDC event, which begins on 22 June, according to the same report.

Law enforcement has used surveillance technology to monitor participants of the ongoing Black Lives Matter protests, as it has with many other protests in US history. License plate readers, facial recognition, and wireless text message interception are just some of the tools at its disposal. While none of this is new, the exposure that domestic surveillance is getting in this moment is further exposing a great fallacy among policymakers. All too often, there is a tendency among the policy community, particularly for those whose work involves national security, to discuss democratic tech regulation purely in terms of geopolitical competition. There are arguments that regulating big tech is vital to national security.

Mira Robotics' Ugo is a pair of height-adjustable robotic arms mounted on wheels, operated remotely through a wireless connection with a laptop and game controller. A range-measuring laser mounted on the base helps it navigate, while a panel at the top displays eyes to give it a friendlier appearance.

In every crisis since the fifties at least one article emerges to ask: where are the robots to save us? No robots are seen en masse collecting garbage, administering Covid-19 tests, or farming the fields. What we want is a warehouse full of useful tools and devices to pull out when the going gets tough. What we have are endless grant applications for studying theoretical situations and university halls filled with dithering professors. What do they even do, but teach the 2 hours per week?

Climate change is seen as the biggest challenge to the future of human life on Earth, and understanding the scientific language used to describe it can sometimes feel just as difficult. But help is at hand. Use our translator tool to find out what some of the words and phrases relating to climate change mean. Keeping the rise in global average temperature below 1.5 degrees Celsius will avoid the worst impacts of climate change, scientists say.

Artificial Intelligence is a technology that has the potential to greatly improve our public services by reducing costs, enhancing quality, and freeing up valuable time of frontline staff. Recognising this, the UK Government published the Data Ethics Framework and A Guide to using AI in the Public Sector to enable public bodies to adopt AI systems in a way that works for everyone in society. These new procurement guidelines will help inform and empower buyers in the public sector, helping them to evaluate suppliers, then confidently and responsibly procure AI technologies for the benefit of citizens.

While AI and data analytics has seen rapid adoption in agriculture, a bulk of these have been tangential and are relegated to supply chain management and not necessarily in-field farming techniques. This is because the age-old practice of agriculture has typically been governed by intuition rather than cold hard facts, but this is beginning to change. Farmers are increasingly offered the opportunity to employ intelligent farming practices with the help of these emerging technologies. These digital transformations are not only improving farm management but also other measures to enhance profitability and stability on the field. For instance, while IBM has been computing actionable agronomic insights for farmers including pest-risk forecast and critical weather-related information, Microsoft has also enabled unique data-enabled farming techniques using Azure FarmBeats.