Google has been given access to huge swatches of confidential patient information in the UK, raising fears yet again over how NHS managers view and handle data under their control. In an agreement uncovered by the New Scientist, Google and its DeepMind artificial intelligence wing have been granted access to current and historic patient data at three London hospitals run by the Royal Free NHS Trust, covering 1.6 million individuals. That would include any chronic illness people may be suffering from and the circumstances over why they were admitted – for example, if they have suffered a drug overdose. The agreement provides Google with access to data going back five years and is far more expansive than expected. Google and DeepMind previously said they were working with the NHS on a product called "Streams" that would "present timely information that helps nurses and doctors detect cases of acute kidney injury." The agreement however provides access to all patient data, covering issues far beyond just kidney functioning.

Nasa has announced that it has found evidence of flowing water on Mars. Scientists have long speculated that Recurring Slope Lineae -- or dark patches -- on Mars were made up of briny water but the new findings prove that those patches are caused by liquid water, which it has established by finding hydrated salts. Several hundred camped outside the London store in Covent Garden. The 6s will have new features like a vastly improved camera and a pressure-sensitive "3D Touch" display

Nasa has announced that it has found evidence of flowing water on Mars. Scientists have long speculated that Recurring Slope Lineae -- or dark patches -- on Mars were made up of briny water but the new findings prove that those patches are caused by liquid water, which it has established by finding hydrated salts. Several hundred camped outside the London store in Covent Garden. The 6s will have new features like a vastly improved camera and a pressure-sensitive "3D Touch" display

Taking a break from the tradition where Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin shared the company's progress and vision every year, this time it was Indian-origin CEO Sundar Pichai who updated the world with some of Google's achievements and key highlights. In a letter posted on official Google blog on Friday, Pichai reiterated "to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful". Touching upon artificial intelligence (AI), powerful computing platforms and cloud, he stressed that mobile phone has become the remote control for daily lives and people are communicating, consuming, educating and entertaining themselves on smartphones "in ways unimaginable just a few years ago". "Search -- the very core of Google, comes from mobile and an increasing number of them via voice. The company made this easy and via Google Now, user can get information like the weather in your upcoming vacation spot," he posted.

Each quarter, the editors of SearchFinancialApplications recognize new software for innovation or market impact. This quarter, that product is Performance for Performance. Enterprises can use Kanjoya performance review software to obtain a synopsis of an employee's strengths, consensus on areas for improvement and a summary of all the feedback provided by people who review the employee. Elaine Chang, director of products at Kanjoya, based in San Francisco, said Kanjoya's natural language processing and machine learning algorithms continually analyze performance reviews as they are submitted inside the software. The cloud-based tool provides a simple dashboard that displays an employee's "opportunity areas," or items for improvement, and strengths.

Did you know there is a 25% chance your cause of death will be due to environmental pollution? According the World Health Organization, some 12.6 million people--or nearly 1 in 4 worldwide--died in 2012 due to living or working in unhealthy conditions. In addition, environmental degradation seriously affects overall quality of life and the balance of Earth's ecosystems through loss of forests, open spaces, marine environments and biodiversity. While technological growth and industrialization historically contributed to such problems, the latest technologies--from robotics to artificial intelligence to biotechnology--will also help create healthier and greener industries benefiting both people and planet. While affordable electric and hybrid cars will help reduce pollution and use of fossil fuels, self-driving cars will make our whole transportation and logistics systems more efficient. Cars, trucks, ships, drones and jets that drive or pilot themselves and wirelessly communicate with each other can coordinate and optimize delivery of people and goods in ways requiring less energy.

The American-led U.N. command on Saturday dismissed as unsubstantiated accusations from North Korea that U.S. troops at a border village tried to provoke its frontline troops with "disgusting acts." A North Korean military statement Friday warned U.S. soldiers to stop what it called "hooliganism" at the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom or they'll meet a "dog's death any time and any place." It said U.S. troops pointed their fingers at North Korean soldiers and made strange noises and unspecified "disgusting" facial expressions. It also said that American troops encouraged South Korean soldiers to aim their guns at the North. A statement from Christopher Bush, a spokesman for the U.N. command, said they looked into the allegations and determined they were unsubstantiated.

A workaholic moderate, who set aside dreams of a storybook inauguration to pursue a diplomatic career, meets a hopelessly single-issue candidate chasing his last shot at relevance. Throw in a wacky, albeit divided, party and an amorous ex-President who dredges up all kinds of unpleasant memories, and you have the sleeper hit of the season! Thematically, this film is underscored by decades of entrenched sexism and anti-socialism, though the talking points are the same as the 2008 original. "The Best (No, Seriously) the Greatest-Ever Exotic Marigold Hotel--I Mean It, It's Classy" A group of disenfranchised retirees book a stay at a destination resort built by a famed real-estate developer. But they soon discover that he didn't actually build it himself but licensed his name to the project.

Twelve years ago, Robert McEliece, a mathematician and engineer at Caltech, won the Claude E. Shannon Award, the highest honor in the field of information theory. During his acceptance lecture, at an international symposium in Chicago, he discussed the prize's namesake, who died in 2001. Claude Shannon: Born on the planet Earth (Sol III) in the year 1916 A.D. Generally regarded as the father of the information age, he formulated the notion of channel capacity in 1948 A.D. Within several decades, mathematicians and engineers had devised practical ways to communicate reliably at data rates within one per cent of the Shannon limit. As is sometimes the case with encyclopedias, the crisply worded entry didn't quite do justice to its subject's legacy. That humdrum phrase--"channel capacity"--refers to the maximum rate at which data can travel through a given medium without losing integrity.

Microsoft has declared that its Azure ML service for predictive analytics with machine learning has achieved certification for security and privacy standards including ISO 27001 and the EU Model Clauses, a move designed to reassure potential enterprise users that their data will be safe. Machine learning is a growing tool of interest for analysing large datasets and gleaning useful insights, and Microsoft launched its cloud-based Azure ML service a couple of years ago to take advantage of this. However, concerns over moving sensitive data to public cloud services could prove a barrier to adoption of services such as Azure ML, and Microsoft aims to address this by gaining certification under several security and privacy standards, comprising the US HIPAA, ISO 27001, ISO 27018 and the EU Model Clauses relating to transfer of personal data to countries outside Europe. "Enterprise customers often require that cloud services comply with specific security certifications. Compliance certifications provide assurance to customers that the security of these services has been verified by independent auditors," said Microsoft's principal programme manager for Azure, Krishna Anumalasetty.