He and his colleagues have built a device, about the size of a thin laptop, that emits sound at frequencies 10 times higher than the shrillest note a piccolo can sustain. The pitches it produces are inaudible to the human ear. When Guo's team aims the device at a person and fires an ultrasonic pitch, the gadget listens for the echo using its hundreds of embedded microphones. Then, employing artificial intelligence techniques, his team tries to decipher what the person is doing from the reflected sound alone. The technology is still in its infancy, but they've achieved some promising initial results.

Last-mile delivery is notoriously inefficient. In addition to the burden large volumes of parcels place on delivery chains, customizing drop-off routes between homes, apartment blocks, retail stores and offices can result in lost time, lower energy efficiency and more traffic congestion on busy streets. As package volumes and the popularity of two-day (or faster) shipping have skyrocketed over the last decade, shippers and 3PLs are looking for ways to increase the speed and efficiency of at-home deliveries. In recent years, drones, robots and autonomous vehicles have been hailed as potential solutions because they can be programmed to navigate environments that would otherwise be difficult or time consuming for an average delivery truck driver to reach. To make this pilot more feasible, Digit is designed to fold itself up for easy storage while in the back of a self-driving delivery vehicle.

The Walklake robot assists a schoolchild's morning health scan. More than 2,000 preschools in China are using a robot to check the health status of their students. Before children enter the classrooms each day, they stand in front of the robot--called Walklake--for a quick checkup by showing it their eyes, throats, and hands. Walklake is equipped with an infrared thermometer on its forehead, as well as cameras on its eyes, mouth, and chest. The system is designed to scan for disease symptoms, such as fever, hand blisters, throat sores, and red eyes.

The Diet passed into law Tuesday a bill allowing drivers to use their smartphones while their cars are traveling autonomously under certain circumstances and if they are able to shift to manual driving immediately during an emergency. The bill to amend the road traffic law, which includes rules on so-called Level 3 self-driving of vehicles under certain circumstances, passed the House of Representatives. The amended law will come into effect by May next year. In Level 3 situations, automated driving is permitted under conditions that have to do with the type of road, the vehicle speed and other factors. A Level 3 situation includes a traffic jam on an expressway.

Scientists have discovered a compound which can destroy antibiotic-resistant bacteria and hailed their work as a'breakthrough'. They found a type of chemical called a dinuclear Ru(II) complex which may be able to destroy bacteria too strong for treatment with normal medicines. Success in lab tests has given hope for a new way to tackle superbugs, which are becoming more common, more dangerous, and more difficult to stop. Pneumonia, urinary tract infections and gonorrhoea are all caused by the gram-negative type of bacteria used in the tests. And figures estimate that, by 2050, 10million people a year will die because of infections which have evolved to be untreatable.

A DJI Technology drone flies during a demonstration in Shenzhen, China, in 2014. DJI sells the majority of Chinese-made drones bought in the United States. A DJI Technology drone flies during a demonstration in Shenzhen, China, in 2014. DJI sells the majority of Chinese-made drones bought in the United States. Drones have become an increasingly popular tool for industry and government.

Similar to the growth in the number of vehicles in an urban area, the number of aircraft and the passengers they ferry, are in a phase of constant growth. Globally, the number of aircraft is expected to double from the base year of 2015 up to 2035. Since there are only limited number of airports and limited amount of space in each airport, this implies that each aircraft movement on the ground needs to be efficiently handled for faster turnaround. Faced with the pressure of managing multiple cost heads, airlines are now outsourcing their airport ground handling and cargo management services to specialist companies, and focusing on their core competence. While growth trends in passenger volumes tend to follow macroeconomic fundamentals, the growth in aircraft turnarounds are more immune to such highs and lows.

The ongoing battle for consumer dollars and attention sees brands embracing new technologies. In the world of fashion, it has led to a new trend in deploying virtual models. One such model is Lil Miquela, the virtual Instagram influencer who started it all. She was first created by Trevor McFedries and Sara Decou as a "digital art project" in April 2016. She currently has 1.5 million Instagram followers and has already collaborated with brands like Prada.

Imagine you're meeting with your bank manager. The chances are, you'll'dress up' to give a certain impression, to look like the kind of person that meets their expectations. Perhaps you put on a suit or business attire, to make sure you appear serious, as appearance could be a factor in taking your banking request into account. You fit into a mould to try to get the best response: credit, an advantageous rate, a repayment rate. You adopt a serious look on your face and perhaps even speak differently.

Eight Microsoft interns have developed a new language learning tool that uses the smartphone camera to help adults improve their English literacy by learning the words for the things around them. The app, Read My World, lets you take a picture with your phone to learn from a library of more than 1,500 words. The photo can be of a real-world object or text found in a document, Microsoft says. The app is meant to either supplement formal classroom training or offer a way to learn some words for those who didn't have the time or funds to participate in a language learning class. Instead of lessons, users are encouraged to snap photos of the things they encounter in their everyday lives.