Nasa's Perseverance rover, due to launch to Mars this summer, will search an ancient crater lake for signs of past life. But if biology ever emerged on the Red Planet, how will scientists recognise it? Here, mission scientist Ken Williford explains what they're looking for. Today, Mars is hostile to life. It's too cold for water to stay liquid on the surface, and the thin atmosphere lets through high levels of radiation, potentially sterilising the upper part of the soil. Some 3.5 billion years ago or more, water with a near-neutral pH was present on the surface.

ACM athena award recipient Elisa Bertino, a professor at Purdue University and research director of the Cyber Space Security Lab of Purdue's Department of Computer Science, has spent her career trying to ensure the security and integrity of the information that is stored in databases and transmitted over mobile, social, cloud, Internet of Things (IoT), and sensor networks. Here, she talks about how her research interests have evolved and why she's not pessimistic about the future of cybersecurity. You began your research career in the field of databases, first at the Italian National Research Council, and later as a post-doc at IBM's San Jose Research Laboratory. What drew you to security? My original interest in security began at IBM, where I was looking into how to protect the data stored in databases.

Former U.S. President Obama put forth the initiative'CSForAll' in order to prepare all students to learn computer science (CS) skills and be prepared for the digital economy. The'ForAll' portion of the title emphasizes the importance of inclusion in computing via the participation and creation of tools by and for diverse populations in order to "avoid the consequences of narrowly focused AI (computing and other) applications, including the risk of biases in developing algorithms, by taking advantage of a broader spectrum of experience, backgrounds, and opinions."10 Throughout this report, the Obama administration highlighted the number one priority, and challenge, of the field of CS: to equip the next generation with CS knowledge and skills equitably in preparation for the currency of the digital economy. An increase in government funding is part of the initiative for CSForAll. Of the $4 billion pledged in state funding, only $100 million is sent directly to the K–12 school system.17 The rest of the funding is set aside for research and initiatives involving policymakers to help expand CS opportunities. In just one year, the National Science Foundation (NSF) and Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) were called to make $135 million in CS funding available.17 The initiative also called for "expanding access to prior NSF supported programs and professional learning communities through their CS10k that led to the creation of more inclusive and accessible CS education curriculum including "Exploring CS and Advanced Placement (AP) CS Principles."

Observations of the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe (May 8, 1945) included remembrances of such searing events as the struggle on Omaha Beach on D-Day, the Battle of the Bulge, and at least some recognition of the enormous contribution made by the Russian people to the defeat of Fascism. Yet in all this, I suspect the role of the first "high-performance computing" capabilities of the Allies--known as Ultra in Britain, Magic in the U.S.--will receive too little attention. The truth of the matter is that the ability to hack into Axis communications made possible many Allied successes in the field, at sea, and in the air. Alan Turing and other "boffins" at Britain's Bletchley Park facility built the machine--a much-improved version of a prototype developed by the Poles in the interwar period--that had sufficient computing power to break the German Enigma encoding system developed by Arthur Scherbius. The Enigma machine was a typewriter-like device with three rotors, each with an alphabet of its own, so each keystroke could create 17,576 possible meanings (26 x 26 x 26).

Artificial Intelligence is an umbrella term used to describe a rapidly evolving, highly competitive technological field. It is often used erroneously and has come to define so many different approaches that even some experts are not able to define, in plain terms, exactly what artificial intelligence is. This makes the rapidly growing field of AI tricky to navigate and even more difficult to regulate properly. The point of regulation should be to protect people from physical, mental, environmental, social, or financial harm caused by the actions or negligence of others. For this article, let's stick to the general point described above).

Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com. U.S. Army leaders are quite vocal and clear about the service's six major modernization priorities, however, a close look across the spectrum of current major programs raises a pertinent question: Could the Army now be building ten new platforms? The 1980s-era "Big Five" weapons platforms are well known and often discussed as defining elements of the modern Army. These five systems are all combat tested and were massively upgraded over the years with new sensors, networking, weapons and computer systems.

The New York Legislature has passed a two-year moratorium on the use of facial recognition in schools. The ban approved by the House and Senate on Wednesday follows an upstate district's adoption of the technology as part of its security plans and a lawsuit from civil rights advocates challenging that move. The legislation would prohibit the use of biometric identifying technology in schools until at least July 1, 2022, and direct the state's education commissioner to issue a report examining its potential impact on student and staff privacy and recommending guidelines. The Lockport Central School District activated its system in January after meeting conditions set by state education officials, including that no students be entered into the database of potential threats. Schools have been closed since mid-March because of the coronavirus pandemic.

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. intelligence community released artificial intelligence principles and an ethics framework on Thursday to ensure that intel …

An online app called Amica is now using artificial intelligence to help separating couples make parenting arrangements and divide their assets. For many people, the coronavirus pandemic has put even the strongest of relationships to the test. A May survey conducted by Relationships Australia found 42% of 739 respondents experienced a negative change in their relationship with their partner under lockdown restrictions. There has also been a surge in the number of couples seeking separation advice. The Australian government has backed the use of Amica for those in such circumstances.

Transparency and integrity are two key principles headlining the list of artificial intelligence (AI) ethics released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). This list, released in combination with an AI ethics framework for the community, represents the first strike by the ODNI to apply guidance to the development and use of AI in the intelligence community. The Principles of Artificial Intelligence Ethics for the Intelligence Community is brief and lists six core principles. In addition to respecting the law and acting with integrity while being transparent and accountable, AI use is to be objective and equitable; secure and resistant; informed by science and technology; and have human-centered development and use. These principles will guide AI use and development activities with the private sector, the public, the legal system and the intelligence community at large, according to the publication.