What if police departments in cities and towns across the United States could use the cloud to get a real-time view of crimes that were occurring? And what if they could leverage data to better predict when and where certain kinds of crimes might happen? That's the vision Microsoft thinks could be just around the corner. The software giant, which has been ramping up its Azure cloud services business as more applications flow into the cloud, is hoping that cloud tools can help transform the way city governments tackle public safety. The City of Chicago is already experimenting with the technology.

Taylor Vinters has invested an undisclosed amount in ThoughtRiver, which will be co-located at the firm's offices in Cambridge, London and Singapore, as well as providing testing and other support services. Tim Pullan, Chief Executive of ThoughtRiver, was formerly Taylor Vinters' Head of Technology & Outsourcing in Asia when he founded the company in 2011 and has subsequently been developing the technology business with support from Taylor Vinters. This marks the second such Legal Tech equity investment by Taylor Vinters, as part of its strategy to develop innovative solutions that streamline how legal businesses operate. Four months ago, Taylor Vinters announced its first equity investment into Legal Tech start-up, Pekama - thought to be the first of its kind in the industry – which is a cloud-based lawyer collaboration software. ThoughtRiver's Contract Intelligence software uses artificial intelligence (AI) to scan and interpret information from written contracts used in commercial risk assessments, and produces visualisations of the potential risks and other issues.

My secretary, Amy Ingram (AI – geddit?), is designed to help people organise their diaries and set up meetings. That's all she can do. But she goes about it in a freakishly human-like way. In fact, after using her for a couple of weeks, various contacts of mine – after communicating with her over email – said they had no idea she was not a real person. For her to do her job, you need to give her access to your electronic diary, set a few preferences (your three favourite coffee shops to meet in, for example), and copy her into any emails about meetings you want to set up.

Facebook's annual F8 Conference is happening in San Francisco this week. The developer convention has wrapped up its first of two days, and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other presenters had a bunch to share about how the social platform is about to transform itself. Some of this news has us more excited than the others but if you're one of the 1.44 billion users worldwide (thanks, Siri), you're about to see some changes. Here's what's coming to your feed in the future, where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives. This 360-degree, 3-D camera looks like a UFO disguised as a top.

Sensitive details held by police and prosecutors in England are being lost because evidence is still being shared on computer discs, watchdogs say. Police and prosecution watchdogs looked at criminal justice computer systems and found the testimonies of underage and vulnerable victims and witnesses had been kept on portable discs. In one case a DVD interview of a 12-year-old sex offence victim was lost. The CPS said it and the police were reviewing their handling of such data. The joint report from HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate and HM Inspectorate of Constabulary said there was a "widespread issue" involving the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) "misplacing discs containing sensitive evidence and information".

The lidar grid is visible using night vision during the test of the Ford Fusion Hybrid autonomous car. Ford researchers took a Fusion Hybrid autonomous test vehicle to its proving grounds in Arizona to put its lidar sensors through their paces – in pitch black darkness. It was so dark the researchers who were monitoring the test wore night vision goggles. The test was important not just for the cool factor of driving without lights in the darkness like a sci-fi spy. Many autonomous car systems use several types of sensors, including cameras and radar in addition to lidar.

A new research initiative could provide the building blocks for a program that would send robots trillions of miles into space to better understand our neighboring star system. Billionaire investor Yuri Milner announced the Breakthrough Starshot project, the latest in Mr. Milner's Breakthrough Initiatives started in 2015. Breakthrough Starshot aims to send data-seeking nanocraft to Alpha Centauri, the nearest star system to the solar system, using laser propulsion. While the Breakthrough board of Milner, physicist Stephen Hawking, and entrepreneur Mark Zuckerberg just announced Starshot on Tuesday, they say it may not launch for 20 years, conservatively – and wouldn't reach Alpha Centauri for another 20 after that, despite traveling at one-fifth the speed of light. "We came to the conclusion it can be done: interstellar travel," Milner told The New York Times.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg attacked Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's extreme stance on refugees and immigrants during a speech on Tuesday, criticizing "fearful voices for building walls and distancing people they view as others." The founder of the social network spoke about Facebook's goal of sharing ideas during his company's annual F8 developer conference in San Francisco, when he said "instead of building walls, we can help build bridges," by welcoming refugees and immigrants. "It takes courage to choose hope over fear," he said. "Whether we are welcoming a refugee fleeing war or an immigrant seeking opportunity." Facebook launched the FWD.us immigration reform lobbying group in 2013, which advocates for legislation that supports a more open worker visa process.

Facebook plans to unveil two projects on Wednesday that promise to improve Internet connectivity for users in cities and urban areas. The two, called Aries and Terragraph, will be detailed at its F8 conference in San Francisco, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on Tuesday. Together, they represent an extension of Facebook's connectivity efforts that so far have been most closely identified with Aquila, a high-flying drone designed by the company to beam down an Internet signal to remote areas. Getting people online and keeping them connected is key to Facebook's expansion plans. After all, it won't be able to persuade new users to come to its services if the Internet connection isn't reliable.

Facebook's F8 developer conference has only been going for a few hours, and already there's been some huge announcements. Gone are the days when F8 was just for announcing newsfeed redesigns - in the opening keynote speeches, we've heard about a brand new Messenger chatbot platform, a solar-powered WiFi plane, and all kinds of live video innovations. Here's some of the main things we learned at the F8 opening event. Zuckerberg straight away took a thinly-veiled swipe at the Republican presidential candidate while talking about Facebook's plan to'connect the world'. Speaking to the assembled crowd of developers, Zuckerberg said: "As I look around the world, I'm starting to see people and nations turning inwards, against the idea of a connected world and global community."