Crude contraptions using mirrors to see round corners have been used for centuries as spying devices, as well as at war. But now scientists have developed a camera system that lets users see round corners using laser light. By tracking diffusely reflected light, the invention reconstructs the shape of objects outside of the field of view. Computer scientists have developed a camera system (pictured) that that lets users see round corners without using a mirror. Researchers at the University of Bonn and the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, came up with the array of devices.

By day, Dr John Elliott is a professor in Computing and Creative Technologies at Leeds Metropolitan University. But by night, his work takes on a more out-of-this-world nature – he's devising the methods we'll need to talk to aliens. Making first contact with extraterrestrial life by detecting a signal would be one of the defining moments in the history of humanity, but what if we don't know what they're saying? That's where Dr John Elliott comes in - he's been devising methods to decode an alien language for the day he believes we'll receive a message Dr Elliot has been working on decoding languages for two decades. In 1959, Cornell physicists Gieuseppi Cocconi and Philip Morrison published an article discussing the potential to use microwave radio to communicate between stars.

Researchers have revealed exactly what mobile phone users type most - and say that'I love you' is the most popular three word sentence. The team at SwiftKey analysed web data along with anonymous data from their hugely popular alternative keyboard, which has been downloaded to more than 100 million devices, and also found phone users are extremely polite. The single most commonly used one word sentence in English is'thanks' and the most popular two word phrase is'thank you'. What we REALLY type: The single most commonly used one word sentence in English is'thanks' and the most popular two word phrase is'thank you', according to mobile keyboard firm SwiftKey The firm has created alternative keyboard which are among the most download android apps, and recently released a version for Apple handsets. They use a machine learning algorithm to predict what a user will type, constantly refining its ability as it learns how users type.

Scientists claim to have discovered how and where human imagination comes from. Researchers in the US say the ability to create art, invent tools and think scientifically comes from a neural network which spreads across a large area of the brain. The team, from Dartmouth College, describe the network as'the brain's "mental workspace"' where a person is able to manipulate images, ideas or theories which allows them to come up with new ideas. The researchers have published their report, 'Network structure and dynamics of the mental workspace' in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The research could also lead scientists to reproduce a similar creative process in artificial intelligence.

China has built the world's fastest supercomputer - almost twice as fast as the previous U.S. record holder - with speeds equivalent to more than 338 million normal PCs. The Tianhe-2, which means Milky Way 2, was developed by the National University of Defense Technology in China's Changsha city and is capable of sustained computing of 33.86 petaflops per second. That's the equivalent of 33,860 trillion calculations per second, with the average everyday computer performing around 100 million per second (although some are faster and others may be slower). China's supercomputer Tianhe-2 has been declared the Top500 fastest supercomputer title. It was developed by the country's National University of Defense Technology and is capable of operating at the equivalent of 33,860 trillion calculations per second China's Tianhe-2 supercomputer, which means Milky Way 2, knocked the U.S. Department of Energy's Titan machine off the number one spot.

Scientists have created a revolutionary technology that could save countless lives by preventing car crashes, and it is inspired by locusts. The insects have an early warning system which helps them avoid colliding with each other when flying in swarms at high speed. Researchers have adopted key features of the locusts' system to develop a computer system which could become a blueprint for highly-accurate collision sensors in cars. Scientists at the University of Lincoln created a collision sensor for cars (pictured) after being inspired by locusts' anti-collision systems Professor Shigang Yue and Dr Claire Rind of the University of Lincoln were inspired by the unique way locusts process electrical and chemical signals in their brain. Professor Yue said: 'We created a system inspired by the locusts' motion sensitive interneuron - the lobula giant movement detector.

A two-foot high robot with flashing eyes could be the key to helping children cope with autism. Researchers at Vanderbilt University have tested their creation, called Nao, on Aiden, a three year old diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder - and say it could help treat thousands with the condition. The robot is able to speak, move and interact using a series on sensors - and can even tell where Aiden is looking that's to a specially developed cap. Aiden, three and a half, with Nao, his robotic'buddy' that is programmed to help him deal with some of the social problems associated with autism A team of mechanical engineers and autism experts at Vanderbilt University have developed the system and used it to demonstrate that robotic systems may be powerful tools for enhancing the basic social learning skills of children with ASD. Writing in the March issue of the IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering, the researchers report that children with ASD paid more attention to the robot and followed its instructions almost as well as they did those of a human therapist in standard exercises used to develop joint attention skill.

Driverless cars engender some strongly held opinions but experts say there is one thing beyond argument - we don't have much choice in the matter, they're coming. However, we could be waiting some time: all UK cars predicted to be'highly autonomous' by 2040, but the nation's vehicles won't be fully driverless until 10 years later. And when this does happen in 34 years time, 95 per cent of today's traffic collisions won't take place, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers has suggested. Driverless delay: If you're worried about being driven by your car in the near future you can relax - experts have said vehicles won't be fully autonomous for another 34 years IMechE said fully autonomous cars are further away than many people may have expected as part of its latest driverless vehicle report released on Thursday. While testing is well underway in the US, Tesla has already launched a part-autonomous system and the UK Government has a dedicated fund to speed-up the development of driverless vehicles, the institute said there will be no'Big Bang' for the technology, rather a process of increasing levels of automation over a number of years.

Robotic surgery sounds like the ultimate in safe, efficient and effective 21st-century health care. Instead of a surgeon's potentially fallible human hand, you have a robot with its precision-built mechanical arms able to perform micro-accurate procedures on tissues deep within the body. With robot-assisted surgery, the surgeon sits at a nearby console with a 3D view of the surgical site. If the surgeon's hand develops a tremor, the computer system knows to ignore it. The technology also means surgeons can use finer instruments that cause less damage to the body. In turn, this should reduce blood loss and the need for blood transfusions - and mean that patients recover more quickly.

Tay wasn't meant to be racist, sexist, or otherwise offensive. But as an artificial intelligence program that Microsoft designed to chat like a teenage girl, it was quick to learn from whatever it was told. So it came as little surprise when Tay started to make sympathetic references to Hitler – and created a firestorm on social media – soon after its release on Wednesday. The uproar led Microsoft to suspend the chatbot in just a few hours. "Unfortunately, within the first 24 hours of coming online, we became aware of a coordinated effort by some users to abuse Tay's commenting skills to have Tay respond in inappropriate ways," the company said in a statement.