Twitter has acquired Magic Pony, a London-based firm that has developed technology to improve video shot on smartphones and shared online. The company specializes in machine learning, the ability of computers to use built-in artificial intelligence to improve output. In the case of Magic Leap, that involves improved processing of video so that clips and live feeds look better shared on Twitter. Magic Pony had developed "novel machine learning techniques for visual processing," said Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey in a Twitter blog post announcing the acquisition Monday. "Machine learning is increasingly at the core of everything we build at Twitter. It's powering much of the work we're doing to make it easier to create, share, and discover the very best content so that every time you open Twitter you're immersed in the most relevant news, stories, and events for you."

Can Artificial Intelligence Help Save eBay? By The Street For eBay (EBAY), artificial intelligence could prove to be its salvation. The San Jose, Calif.-based e-commerce giant, which has been working to transform itself after spinning off PayPal Holdings (PYPL) last year, could reap some huge benefits if it can find out a way to effectively use AI, according to analysts. At the Code Conference earlier this month, eBay CEO Devin Wenig revealed that the company started getting very serious about using artificial intelligence last year, noting that e-commerce is essentially a data business and that AI may be more important for eBay than its peers due to the "breadth of its inventory." Wenig further explained that eBay plans to formulate a strategy focused on using data to predict what consumers might want and offering a wide selection of products.

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

Computers could soon be helping to diagnose cancer in patients with the help of artificial intelligence that has been trained to spots the early signs of the disease. An AI machine capable of accurately diagnosing breast cancer 92 per cent of the time has been developed by researchers. While it is still not quite as good as human specialists – who are correct 96 per cent of the time – it suggests that AI could soon be used to speed up and improve cancer screening. Scientists have used machine learning to create an artificial intelligence system capable of diagnosing breast cancer from lymph node biopsies with 92 per cent accuracy (cancer cells in a lymph node pictured). When combined with a human pathologist this accuracy increased to 99.5 per cent The system was developed by computer scientists at Harvard Medical School gave a machine learning algorithm slides of lymph nodes from breast cancer patients.

Twenty years ago mobile phones had huge aerials and drones were little more than science fiction. Yet, in another 20 years, robots could outnumber human beings, drones will deliver pizzas to our doors and doctors' appointments could be conducted by virtual reality, according to a new survey. Our clothes could also be permanently connected to the internet, flights into space could be routine and spare organs will be printed on demand. The survey, which was conducted by YouGov and surveyed 2,000 people, marks the start of London Technology Week 2016 The results identify healthcare as one of the key industries for change. Respondents predicted that they will no longer visit the doctor when they get ill but will instead consult their GP from home using virtual reality technology.

Consumers want a more interesting relationship with the brands they use, and think highly of virtual techniques promised by evolving technologies – especially on the more personal mobile level – says a report from the DMA. According to the study, half (48%) of respondents expressed an interest in artificial intelligence (AI) approaches to engagement, such as chatbots or virtual assistants. But this increased dramatically for younger age groups, rising to 79% for 16-24 year olds, 76% for those aged 25-34 and 62% of those aged 35-44. More than half (54%) of Gen Y/Millennial age groups (28% of the total sample) are interested in a service that detected how they were feeling and sent them surprise offers/deals based on their mood. "Current engagement methods often seem clumsy, like'brand stalking', where items follow a consumer around on web banners. Instead, consumer data could be used in virtual or artificial intelligence systems. One example could be chatbots, giving brands a better way to use their data and consumers a more meaningful interaction," said Rachel Aldighieri, DMA MD.

What happened to the IBM Watson X Prize? The IBM Watson AI XPRIZE ... was announced on the TED Stage on Feb 17, 2016. It is a 5 million competition.... Complete rules and guidelines will be made available in May.

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

The researcher hired by Toyota Motor Corp. to spearhead its robotics and artificial intelligence efforts says the automaker's production principles can be applied to build affordable helper robots for rapidly aging societies. Robot makers are struggling with the same scale challenges that the auto industry overcame with the "miracle" that occurred when Henry Ford developed the assembly line, according to Gill Pratt, the chief executive officer of Toyota Research Institute. Toyota's vaunted production system later showed how to make cars both more cheaply and reliably, despite mistake-prone humans' role in manufacturing, he said. "My thought is, if the Toyota production system can be applied to cars, maybe it can also be applied to robots, because they're quite similar," Pratt told reporters Friday in Tokyo. He's particularly sanguine about the prospects for devices that would help the elderly age where they live.

Learning needs to be less like memorization, and more like… Angry Birds. Half of school dropouts name boredom as the No. 1 reason they left. The blog is about why the future of education will be about flipping our current model on its head and about how key exponential technologies like AI, VR and gamification are going to drive a revolution in education. In the traditional education system, you start at an "A." And every time you get something wrong, your score gets lower and lower.