With approximately 450,000 background investigations in inventory and an executive order shifting its operations under the Defense Department, the National Background Investigations Bureau is optimistic about its future. The agency this year has made significant progress in churning through its backlog, which reached 725,000 at its peak in April 2018, said NBIB Director and Acting Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency Director Charles Phalen in a roundtable interview. As Phalen assured progress would continue, he was quick to note that the agency operates in a steady state with thousands of cases in its working inventory. The backlog, in a sense, will never be eliminated. "When you think about what our goal here is, it is never to get to zero because that just will never work out. Our working inventory that allows us to stay timely is roughly 200,000," he said.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded a contract of up to $4.7 million to BAE Systems to integrate machine learning (ML) into platforms deciphering radio frequency signals. Officials said the Controllable Hardware Integration for Machine-learning Enabled Real-time Adaptivity (CHIMERA) program provides a reconfigurable hardware platform for ML algorithm developers to make sense of radio frequency (RF) signals in increasingly crowded electromagnetic spectrum environments. "CHIMERA brings the flexibility of a software solution to hardware," said Dave Logan, vice president and general manager of Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) Systems at BAE Systems. "Machine-learning is on the verge of revolutionizing signals intelligence technology, just as it has in other industries." CHIMERA will enable ML software development to adapt the hardware's Radio Frequency (RF) configuration in real-time to optimize mission performance, officials said, adding the capability has never before been available in a hardware solution, with the system providing multiple control surfaces for the user, enabling on-the-fly performance trade-offs maximizing sensitivity, selectivity and scalability depending on mission need.

With 340,000 trained volunteers in 189 countries and 140 languages, 7 Cups has an unparalleled reach in the behavioral health space.

Just like a ray of light, a wireless signal bounces off of certain objects and surfaces. Different materials affect the wireless signal in different ways. Human bodies, therefore, cause particular changes when reflecting wireless signals. Using this property, MIT researchers from the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) designed a wireless system that captures reflections off of humans and collects health and behavioral data. The system, dubbed Marko, broadcasts radio-frequency (RF) signals that bounce off people in motion and return with specific changes. Specially-designed algorithms then analyze the reflected signals and associate them with specific people.

The NHS has teamed up with Amazon to allow elderly people, blind people and other patients who cannot easily search for health advice on the internet to access the information through the AI-powered voice assistant Alexa. The health service hopes patients asking Alexa for health advice will ease pressure on the NHS, with Amazon's algorithm using information from the NHS website to provide answers to questions such as: "Alexa, how do I treat a migraine?"; 'Alexa, what are the symptoms of flu?'; and "Alexa what are the symptoms of chickenpox?" The Department of Health (DoH) said it would empower patients and hopefully reduce the pressure on the NHS by providing reliable information on common illnesses. The health secretary, Matt Hancock, said: "Technology like this is a great example of how people can access reliable, world-leading NHS advice from the comfort of their home, reducing the pressure on our hardworking GPs and pharmacists."

This illustration shows NASA's Cassini above Saturn's northern hemisphere before making one of its "Grand Finale" dives. This illustration shows NASA's Cassini above Saturn's northern hemisphere before making one of its "Grand Finale" dives. When Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon 50 years ago, it was an inspiring moment for people around the world. But another kind of explorer is responsible for much of the modern enthusiasm for space exploration. "Since the days of Apollo, the greatest adventures in space have been these robots that have gone all over the solar system," says Emily Lakdawalla, a self-described planetary evangelist at the Planetary Society.

In many cases, federal agents can request access to state DMV records by filling out a form. This is an example of a Homeland Security request that was made to the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles in 2017. In many cases, federal agents can request access to state DMV records by filling out a form. This is an example of a Homeland Security request that was made to the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles in 2017. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents mine millions of driver's license photos for possible facial recognition matches -- and some of those efforts target undocumented immigrants who have legally obtained driver's licenses, according to researchers at Georgetown University Law Center, which obtained documents related to the searches.

Now we're going to look more broadly at what's been revealed today about ICE turning to DMV offices for help with facial recognition - that is, using driver's license photographs and algorithms to identify people suspected of being in the country illegally. Now, this collaboration was unearthed by a team at Georgetown University, and here to brief us is NPR's Aarti Shahani. CORNISH: I understand that in the past, ICE has gone to DMV offices and just asked for records on immigrants. We just heard about the case in Vermont that alleges that much. What exactly is new here?

There is a logic behind a newly revealed use of data by federal immigration authorities. Many states welcome people who are in the U.S. without legal status to obtain a driver's license. Now researchers have found that Immigration and Customs Enforcement, along with the FBI, have been running databases filled with driver's license photos through facial recognition software, looking for immigrants of interest. Jake Laperruque is here to talk about this. He is senior counsel at the Project on Government Oversight, an independent group that focuses on corruption and abuse of power.

This week we learned that ICE has searched millions of American driver's license photos, using facial recognition tools; the aim - to look for immigrants who are in this country illegally. Now privacy rights supporters and immigration advocates are calling for more transparency and oversight. But as NPR's Joel Rose reports, some version of all this has happened once before. JOEL ROSE, BYLINE: Dozens of protesters gathered in Manhattan yesterday outside the office of a tech company that's growing but still unknown to many Americans. UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: You hear that, Palantir?