In June of 1956, A few dozen scientists and mathematicians from all around the country gathered for a meeting on the campus of Dartmouth College. Most of them settled into the red-bricked Hanover Inn, then strolled through the famously beautiful campus to the top floor of the math department, where groups of white-shirted men were already engaged in discussions of a "strange new discipline"--so new, in fact, that it didn't even have a name. "People didn't agree on what it was, how to do it or even what to call it," Grace Solomonoff, the widow of one of the scientists, recalled later. The talks--on everything from cybernetics to logic theory--went on for weeks, in an atmosphere of growing excitement. What the scientists were talking about in their sylvan hideaway was how to build a machine that could think. The "Dartmouth workshop" kicked off the decades-long quest for artificial intelligence. In the following years, the pursuit faltered, enduring several "winters" where it seemed doomed to dead ends and baffling disappointments. But today nations and corporations are pouring billions into AI, whose recent advancements have startled even scientists working in the field. What was once a plot device in sci-fi flicks is in the process of being born. Hedge funds are using AI to beat the stock market, Google is utilizing it to diagnose heart disease more quickly and accurately, and American Express is deploying AI bots to serve its customers online.

Award winners in robot competitions held by the were named on 14 March 2018, during this year's European Robotics Forum (ERF), held in Tampere, Finland on 13–15 March. Awards for the ERL's 2017-18 season were presented at a Gala Dinner to winning teams that took part in all ERL competitions: Service Robots (ERL-SR), Industry Robots (ERL-IR) and Emergency Robots (ERL-ER). ERL-SR is for robots that could provide assistance in homes, particularly for people with reduced mobility. ERL-ER is for robots in simulated emergency situations and ERL-IR tackles automation in industry. Dozens of teams from around Europe took part in the 2017–18 ERL competitions, which stimulate innovation by and collaboration among robotics researchers by setting tasks in simulated real-life conditions, for completion against the clock.

SPOILER ALERT: Humans are the new horses. Welcome to the robot revolution. This riveting 15-minute film really brings home what's happening on the tech front right now. An important point: a lot of it has already happened. That's the part not everyone absorbs.

IBM Corp.'s reinvention for the digital transformation era has included a near total overhaul of operations and strategy, as well as a strong pivot into productizing artificial intelligence tools. Working against the challenges posed by competitors like Amazon Web Services Inc. and criticisms of its Watson project, will IBM continue to innovate and maintain its position as a tech leader as the industry evolves? Looking to answer these and other questions, SiliconANGLE is at IBM Think 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada, with exclusive commentary and interviews from our roving news desk, theCUBE. At IBM Think 2018, theCUBE will explore the future of IBM's cognitive computing efforts and how the company is combining established methodologies with new tools to customize its offerings for a rapidly changing tech economy. With expanded initiatives still rooted in the company's infrastructure origins, Dave Vellante, an analyst with Wikibon (owned by the same company as SiliconANGLE), predicts IBM Cloud, artificial intelligence project Watson, and the integration of AI tools with cloud platforms will be important themes at IBM Think.

Kunio Shimada, a professor of fluid mechanics and energy engineering at Fukushima University, has developed a special rubber that can generate electricity from solar and kinetic energy and save the power generated. The 53-year-old professor, who is from the city of Fukushima, says the rubber is the first of its kind in the world and is trying to patent it in Japan. His discovery could be used to develop artificial skin for robots or shock-resistant solar batteries. Robotics experts have already shown interest in Shimada's technology, which could become part of the prefecture's new initiative aimed at promoting robotics. Shimada has a track record in the field of conductive rubber.

The late Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time is one of history's least likely best-sellers. Yet the book was a pop-cultural phenomenon, selling more than 10 million copies and popularizing everything from advanced cosmological theories to the phrase "turtles all the way down." It was also adapted into a documentary of the same name by Errol Morris. A Brief History of Time (which is currently streamable on FilmStruck) was Morris' first major documentary after The Thin Blue Line and the first of his portrait films. Combining interviews with Hawking, his family, his friends, and his colleagues with clips from Disney's bizarre live-action sci-fi film The Black Hole, archival images, and, of course, a Philip Glass score, A Brief History of Time is the kind of film that only Morris could make. After Hawking's death on Wednesday, I called up Morris to talk about making the film, why Hawking was his generation's celebrity scientist, and their friendship, which continued for decades. Isaac Butler: What drew you to the book--or to Hawking--as a subject?

How would you describe Buzzoole in a few words? Buzzoole is an end-to-end platform able to connect brands and Content Creators for mutual benefit. It uses a proprietary algorithm to identify suitable content creators to help brands take their message beyond traditional marketing channels. The resulting social amplification helps generate word of mouth, engagement, footfall, and purchase. What inspired you to create the platform?

Introverts are uniquely suited to disruption because they're comfortable playing where other people aren't

Stephen William Hawking CH CBE FRS FRSA (8 January 1942 – 14 March 2018)[14][15] was an English theoretical physicist, cosmologist, author and Director of Research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology within the University of Cambridge.[16][17] His scientific works included a collaboration with Roger Penrose on gravitational singularity theorems in the framework of general relativity and the theoretical prediction that black holes emit radiation, often called Hawking radiation. Hawking was the first to set out a theory of cosmology explained by a union of the general theory of relativity and quantum mechanics. He was a vigorous supporter of the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics.[18][19] Hawking was an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA), a lifetime member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, and a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States. In 2002, Hawking was ranked number 25 in the BBC's poll of the 100 Greatest Britons. He was the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge between 1979 and 2009 and achieved commercial success with works of popular science in which he discusses his own theories and cosmology in general. His book, A Brief History of Time, appeared on the British Sunday Times best-seller list for a record-breaking 237 weeks. Hawking had a rare early-onset slow-progressing form of motor neurone disease (also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Lou Gehrig's disease), that gradually paralysed him over the decades.[20][21] Even after the loss of his speech, he was still able to communicate through a speech-generating device, initially through use of a hand-held switch, and eventually by using a single cheek muscle. Hawking was born on 8 January 1942[22] in Oxford to Frank (1905–1986) and Isobel Hawking (née Walker; 1915–2013).[23][24] Despite their families' financial constraints, both parents attended the University of Oxford, where Frank read medicine and Isobel read Philosophy, Politics and Economics.[24] The two met shortly after the beginning of the Second World War at a medical research institute where Isobel was working as a secretary and Frank was working as a medical researcher.[24][26] They lived in Highgate; but, as London was being bombed in those years, Isobel went to Oxford to give birth in greater safety.[27] Hawking had two younger sisters, Philippa and Mary, and an adopted brother, Edward.[28] In 1950, when Hawking's father became head of the division of parasitology at the National Institute for Medical Research, Hawking and his family moved to St Albans, Hertfordshire.[29][30]

The University of Cambridge professor was an iconic figure in both the scientific community and in popular culture, known for his keen mind and humor, as well as his striking physical challenges. Dr. Hawking had long battled with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which left him wheelchair-bound for most of his life. Commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease or motor neuron disease, the condition damages the nerves that control movement and results in paralysis. Patients with ALS typically die within five years of diagnosis. Dr. Hawking, who was diagnosed in 1963 at the age of 21, is believed to have been the longest-living survivor, a fact that still perplexes neurologists.