Robot bees are no replacement for our vital pollinators here on Earth. Up on the International Space Station, however, robots bearing the bee name could help spacefaring humans save precious time. On Friday, NASA astronaut Anne McClain took one of the trio of Astrobees out for a spin. Bumble and its companion Honey both arrived on the ISS a month ago, and are currently going through a series of checks. Bumble passed the first hurdle when McClain manually flew it around the Japanese Experiment Module.

San Francisco (CNN)Researchers have come up with a method for creating realistic-looking -- but fake -- videos of anyone by using just a single image of them with a trained artificial intelligence system. It's a potentially worrisome capability in the runup to the 2020 United States presidential election, as falsified videos of candidates are expected to spread. Researchers at the Samsung AI Center in Moscow and the Moscow-based Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology explained the feat in a paper published this week to the arXiv, an online academic pre-print service. They said they were able to animate one or several photos of people by first training an AI system on a dataset of videos including many celebrities, so it could learn about key points on the face. After that, the AI system was able to combine that familiarity with one or more images of a person to come up with a convincing "talking head"-style video of them.

The swells in the middle of the North Pacific were reaching nine feet when one of two engines on the diesel-powered U.S. naval ship called Sea Hunter shut down. About 1,500 nautical miles from its home base in San Diego, the 132-foot-long craft, which had been cruising at 10 knots, couldn't send a member of its crew to check out the problem--because it didn't have a crew. Sea Hunter's sleek, spiderlike silhouette, with a narrow hull and two outriggers, is a prototype of what could be a new class of autonomous warships for the U.S. Navy. Its artificial intelligence–based controls and navigation system, designed by Leidos Holdings, a defense contractor based in Reston, Va., were seven years in the making. And this maiden voyage--a more than 4,000-mile roundtrip to the giant Pearl Harbor naval station--was its first major proof of concept. Nothing like this had ever been attempted before.

Professor Toby Walsh is a top artificial intelligence (AI) researcher and a vocal advocate for a national and international ban on autonomous weapons, or killer robots. As the technology becomes a more important part of our lives, engineers also need to discuss the issues and impacts introduced by "more mundane" applications such as facial recognition and news algorithms, Walsh told create. "There are some important ethical dimensions to the way [the technology] is being used and how it will impact our lives," he said. To this end, CSIRO is seeking input on a discussion paper titled Artificial Intelligence: Australia's Ethics Framework. The paper, which Walsh helped review, identifies ways to "achieve the best possible results from AI, while keeping the well-being of Australians as the top priority".

NASA is plowing ahead with its plans to send humans back to the moon, selecting its first commercial partner for developing the lunar'Gateway.' In a statement NASA announced that Maxar Technologies -- formerly SSL -- has been awarded $375 million to build power and propulsion systems for the lunar'Gateway,' a small spaceship that will orbit the moon and act as a layover for astronauts on lunar missions. From the'Gateway' astronauts will board landers and make the descent to the moon's service. A power and propulsion element of the Gateway is a 50-kilowatt solar spacecraft. An artist's impression is shown As reported by Ars Technica, Maxar will be joined by Jeff Bezo's aerospace company, Blue Origin, and Draper, who will help build, design, and operate the craft.

Jordan French is a multi-media journalist on the editorial staff at TheStreet.com He is also the Founder and Executive Editor at Grit Daily News. Formerly an engineer and attorney he represented the "People of the United States" in energy market manipulation cases as an enforcement attorney at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. As an engineer he worked on the Mars Gravity Biosatellite Program and later co-founded BeeHex, Inc., the personalized nutrition and robotics company that popularized 3D-printed pizza. The author of forthcoming book, The Gritty Entrepreneur, he is a frequent public speaker, technology evangelist and media moderator.

One of the two task forces announced to be formed by the US House Committee on financial services will be investigating the use of artificial intelligence technologies (AI) for FinTech. The focus of the task force will be to examine digital identification technologies using AI to reduce fraud. It will also look into issues such as regulating ML in the financial services industry, risks associated with algorithms & big data, and the impact of automation on jobs and the economy in the US. AI has been one of the hottest technologies used by emerging FinTech players. It is used in automation, social media analytics & intelligence tools, cybersecurity, fraud prevention, and other areas.

Deepfakes are video manipulations that can make people say seemingly strange things. Barack Obama and Nicolas Cage have been featured in these videos. We all know about Mona Lisa's smile. Now, you can watch her talk. A research paper from experts at Samsung's AI Center in Moscow and the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology shows how fake videos can be created with a single image, including the classic artwork.

A new contract with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) will bring airmen from across Air Force career fields to work with researchers on artificial intelligence technology. The project will focus on research in AI projects including decision support, maintenance and logistics, talent management, medical readiness, situational awareness, business operations and disaster relief, according to a news release. The effort is part of the service's science and technology strategy. Similar partnerships around the U.S. focus on other innovations.

Astrobees may sound like cyborg killer insects that invade Earth to make honey from our flesh, but they actually have an Earthly origin. They are robots created by humans to help astronauts in space. Astrobees are flying robots who will help astronauts with their missions. They're designed to float inside the ISS, using fans to direct their course. NASA will send three of them, named Honey, Queen, and Bumble, to the International Space Station where they will be helping scientists and other researchers achieve tasks.