With the growing use of innovative technologies in the health care sector, global telemedicine market value is set to increase substantially. The concept of remote patient monitoring is gaining traction broadly among medical professionals and patients alike due to the convenience it offers for diagnosis and treatment. During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a significant uptake in the demand for telemedicine solutions caused by patient cancellations of in-person appointments during the rapid spread of the virus. Across the world, hospitals and clinics switched to videoconferencing for appointments to discuss diagnosis and treatment options with patients for non-critical cases. According to a report by the Department of Health and Human Services, the number of medical visits carried out via telehealth grew from 840,000 in 2019 to 52.7 million in 2020,1 which was a 63-fold increase.

AI-enabled smart toys come in an exponentially growing diversity and inhibit the most known social environments of children. The Market Research Future group, for instance, projects that the global market share of such toys will grow by 26% and reach 107.02 billion USD by 2030. Smart toys, as highlighted by the Generation AI Initiative of the World Economic Forum, can exhibit highly positive effects on children's development when designed responsibly. Complaints received by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) as well as an investigation of the Norwegian Consumer Organisation and rich scholarly research however also point to the severe impacts that smart toys can have on children's development. The non-transparent ways in which some smart toys exchange data for algorithmic analysis with other AI-enabled devices, e.g., through Bluetooth connection, demonstrate how weak cyber security features can violate children's privacy and jeopardize safety.

Congress passed the CHIPS and Science Act on Thursday, a $280 billion package that includes $52 billion in funding available to companies that manufacture semiconductor chips stateside. It's a bipartisan push to reestablish American leadership in a technology that's increasingly vital to the US economy and its strategic goals. Although chipmaking was pioneered in the US and Intel dominated the global market for advanced computer chips for decades, competition from Asian firms and Intel's own missteps have seen that influence wane considerably in recent years. The proportion of chips made in the US has fallen from 37 percent in 1990 to 12 percent today. But while industry leaders are hopeful that the new funds will help fuel a resurgence, regaining an edge in chipmaking will require not just money, but spending it the right way.

Millions of shipments of nuclear and other radiological materials are moved in the U.S. every year for good reasons, including health care, power generation, research and manufacturing. But there remains the threat that bad actors in possession of stolen or illegally produced nuclear materials or weapons will try to smuggle them across borders for nefarious purposes. Texas A&M University researchers are making it harder for them to succeed. If border agents intercept illicit nuclear materials, investigators need to know who produced them and where they came from. Fortunately, nuclear materials carry certain forensic markers that can reveal valuable information, much like fingerprints can identify criminals.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has proved to be a path-breaking experience in many fields in the contemporary world. AI is catching the attention of defense professionals, policymakers, entrepreneurs, and multinational corporations around the globe. The pioneer of AI, John McCarthy, defines it as "the science and engineering of making intelligent machines, brilliant computer programs." The capacity of AI generally refers to the ability of machines to outperform human actions in terms of intelligence, judgment, autonomy, and knowledge discovery. AI has the potential to develop software applications based on self-learning that replicates the qualities of the human mind, resembling decision-making, problem-solving, reasoning, planning, etc.

Ghosting can hurt, for sure. When someone suddenly cuts off contact, doesn't show up at a date or just unmatches on one of those many dating apps, it sucks. One Filipino lawmaker is trying to make it stop, which could be a tall order. Arnolfo Teves Jr., a member of the Philippine House of Representatives, said ghosting was "a form of emotional cruelty and should be punished as an emotional offense." The bill -- yes there's proposed legislation -- doesn't offer specific penalties, but Teves suggested in an interview that community service might work.

China's minister for industry and information technology is being investigated for alleged corruption, state media reported Thursday, the latest senior cadre to be snared by Beijing's sweeping crackdown. Xiao Yaqing is among the biggest names caught up in President Xi Jinping's anti-corruption drive, and the investigation into him comes ahead of a key leadership summit this autumn where the Chinese leader will seek to cement his grip on power. Ostensibly a crackdown on corruption, critics say the wide-ranging campaign launched just after Xi took power in 2012 has also served to remove those voicing criticism of the all-powerful leader, or seen as a threat. Xiao is facing charges of "violating discipline and law," and is "currently under review and investigation," state broadcaster CCTV said without giving more details. His fall from grace comes amid a widespread crackdown on Chinese tech companies, which Beijing fears wield too much power due to lax regulations.

Alan Tudyk is no stranger to the world of sci-fi. The actor made a name for himself in space-heavy projects like Firefly and Serenity before zooming into shows and movies like I, Robot and Transformers: Dark Of The Moon. He's made a web series about fan conventions, and he's even the voice of a Star Wars droid: K-2SO. In other words, Tudyk has sci-fi bonafides. He loves the genre wholeheartedly and is committed to its success--and not just because his currently airing Syfy fish-out-of water-comedy, Resident Alien, just got picked up for a third season.

Washington and Brussels are both preparing for a future dominated by artificial intelligence -- but first, they need to get out of each other's way. Tech regulators on both sides of the Atlantic hope to prevent a split on AI rules like one seen on data privacy, where regulators in Europe got out ahead of their U.S. counterparts and sparked all kinds of havoc that continue to threaten transatlantic data flows. "There is a lot of interest to avoid having segmented approaches," said Elham Tabassi, chief of staff in the Information Technology Laboratory at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. But regulators in the EU and U.S. are already taking different approaches to the multi-trillion-dollar transatlantic tech economy. The EU is plowing ahead with mandatory AI rules meant to safeguard privacy and civil rights while the U.S. focuses on voluntary guidelines. And there's another fundamental divide -- the U.S. wants to promote ethical research and use of the technology while Europe focuses on potentially banning, restricting or auditing specific lines of code.

Artificial Intelligence Technology Solutions, Inc. along with its wholly owned subsidiary Robotic Assistance Devices, Inc. (RAD) announced revisions to its plans and positioning for a robotic dog for the security services, logistics, utilities, and property management industries. "We're seeing a larger and more cost-conscious market emerge for a RAD dog," said Steve Reinharz, CEO of AITX and RAD. "These market conditions have prompted our team to revise plans and develop a new dog, one that we are naming'CASSIE'. We are now going to bring an entry-level priced'junkyard dog' to market, loaded with all the AI power that RAD has developed over the years." CASSIE (Crawling Autonomous Safety Security Inspection Equipment) is the latest officially announced addition to the RAD family of robotic security and safety solutions and marks the Company's second mobile robot.