In January 2014, Stanford University professors Trevor Hastie and Rob Tibshirani (authors of the legendary Elements of Statistical Learning textbook) taught an online course based on their newest textbook, An Introduction to Statistical Learning with Applications in R (ISLR). I found it to be an excellent course in statistical learning (also known as "machine learning"), largely due to the high quality of both the textbook and the video lectures. And as an R user, it was extremely helpful that they included R code to demonstrate most of the techniques described in the book. If you are new to machine learning (and even if you are not an R user), I highly recommend reading ISLR from cover-to-cover to gain both a theoretical and practical understanding of many important methods for regression and classification. It is available as a free PDF download from the authors' website.

Expedia is the most recognisable brand in the world of online travel and owns several others, including Hotels.com and Trivago. Its companies operate more than 100 branded points of sale in over 60 countries. As a parent company, Expedia has made a steady flow of acquisitions over the past 15 years, and last year stepped up its M&A strategy with the takeovers of online travel agencies Travelocity and Orbitz, and holiday rental website HomeAway. A major goal in this M&A activity is to control and maintain Expedia's market-leading position in an increasingly competitive market for online travel booking, and is reflective of a general industry trend towards consolidation. Expedia was the first online travel giant and has been at the forefront of the transition in the way people book holidays, but that counts for little in the disruptive world of digital.

Scientists have created the world's tiniest practical engines, and these light-powered machines could one day power microscopic robots small enough to enter living cells, the researchers say. As technological innovations make devices smaller and smaller, scientists are developing machines that are only the size of complex molecules -- nanometers, or billionths of a meter, in scale. In comparison, the average human hair is about 100,000 nanometers wide. One of the main reasons "nanobots" remain in the realm of science fiction is that figuring out a way to make them move has been challenging. Researchers have tried using a variety of power sources and propulsion systems for nanotechnology, but these typically lack speed, strength and control.

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

Today, eBay announced it has agreed to acquire Sweden-based Expertmaker, which specializes in providing intelligent solutions powered by artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and big data analytics. Expertmaker has been a partner of eBay's since 2010, most recently helping with eBay's structured data initiative. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Upon the close of the transaction, Expertmaker's employees will join eBay's structured data product and technology team. Expertmaker's Founder and CEO, Lars Hard, will join as Director, Data Science reporting into Amit Menipaz's organization.

Last year, he told Wall Street analysts that eBay looks at the world through listings, which unlike the catalog approach (used by Amazon, for example), are transient. They come and go and don't have "link equity," he said, "and they're hard to attach content to." One eBay executive referred to the initiative as "make or break" for eBay. Expertmaker founder and CEO Lars Hard will join as Director of Data Science and will report to Menipaz. Prior to founding Expertmaker, Hard was involved in founding a variety of startups with a focus in advanced AI, machine learning, math and big data, including Lytics.ai and Dragonfire Research.

Last week I wrote about using AWS's Machine Learning tool to built your models from an open dataset. Since then, feeling I needed more control over what happens under the hood – in particular as far as which kind of models are trained and evaluated – I decided to give Microsoft's Azure Machine Learning a try. In case you're not yet familiar with Microsoft Azure, we are talking about a Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) solution created by Microsoft back in 2010. Cloud Academy has some excellent courses introducing you to the platform. Azure Machine Learning was launched in February this year, and was immediately recognized as a game changer in applying the power of the cloud to solve the problem of big data processing.

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Sticking to one task at a time is an increasing rarity, as things such as checking social media while watching TV, or online shopping while on the phone become the norm. But if you have ever talked to a friend or family member while tapping out emoji on WhatsApp, only to realise you've missed half the conversation, you'll know how juggling tasks can cause you to lose focus. Now, a new poll has found that constant multitasking may actually be hindering our performance, reducing focus for parents and children. Research from the US suggests that constant multitasking may actually be hindering our performance, reducing focus for parents and children alike. While tech has an increasingly important role in modern life, a poll of 1,200 parents and teens in the US found the constant multitasking and omnipresence of tech is leading to an'always on' mentality.

When a proud parent coos, or pokes out their tongue it warms their heart to see their baby following suit and many believe their little darling is copying them as they peer over the cot. But new research has found that babies up to the age of two months are incapable of copying facial expressions, gestures or speech. Instead, any exaggerated movements the newborns make are simply because they are responding to excitement to the interaction. When a proud parent coos, or pokes out their tongue, it warms their heart to see their baby following suit and many believe their little darling is copying them as they peer over the cot. While it may look like they are imitating the example of their elders, they are making gestures they would have made anyway.