At the world's top computer-vision conference last June, Google and Apple sponsored an academic contest that challenged algorithms to make sense of images from twin cameras collected under varied conditions, such as sunny and poor weather. Artificial intelligence software proficient at that task could help the US tech giants with money-making projects such as autonomous cars or augmented reality. But the winner was an institution with very different interests and allegiances: China's National University of Defense Technology, a top military academy of the People's Liberation Army. That anecdote helps illustrate China's broad ambitions in AI and recent prominence on the field's frontiers. In 2017, the country's government announced a new artificial intelligence strategy that aimed to rival the US in the crucial technology by 2020.

The ethical landscape surrounding the use and widespread implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) is vast and complex. The forthcoming AI revolution will change the world, and our lives, in ways no other industrial revolution has done. Everyone should be forming opinions on the ethics of AI. Humans are capable of great acts of positive progress (e.g. AI will be no different.

Germany and France are two flourishing AI hubs, but the UK has been named the European AI "powerhouse" in a new report from London-based investment firm MMC Ventures. Published earlier this month, the analysis sheds light on the hype around the technology, but identifies healthcare as an area of increasing focus for AI entrepreneurs as systems start to embrace emerging technologies. Out of around 1,600 European early stage AI software companies, 21 percent are said to be focusing on health and wellbeing, with the UK dubbed the "heartland of European healthcare AI". This is due to a variety of factors, the research suggests, from the UK having universities that are world-renowned for medicine and teaching hospitals, to what is described as the "flywheel" effect of companies like DeepMind, Babylon or Benevolent AI, which are "simulating, attracting and recycling talent, capital and commercial engagement in the UK ecosystem". And although engaging with the NHS is still perceived to be "challenging", the analysis indicates that early stage companies can now benefit from a wider range of "accessible deployment opportunities". Health secretary Matt Hancock outlined today in a message to delegates at the Digital Health Technology Show in London his ambition to "make the UK the best place in the world to start and grow a health tech business".

Scientists have reversed the direction of time with a quantum computer. The breakthrough study seems to contradict basic laws of physics and could alter our understanding of the processes governing the universe. In a development that also represents a major advance in our understanding of quantum computers, by using electrons and the strange world of quantum mechanics, researchers were able to turn back time in an experiment that is the equivalent of causing a broken rack of pool balls to go back into place. We'll tell you what's true. You can form your own view.

Data-driven advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning are now set to reshape industries and regulatory frameworks around the world. Fusing the physical, digital and biological worlds, the Fourth Industrial Revolution is remaking the very notion of innovation as countries leverage data to compete for military and commercial advantage. As former BlackBerry Chairman and co-CEO Jim Balsillie suggests, this data-driven revolution is not just remaking the terms of global trade, it is transforming the nature and distribution of wealth. Today, it is now 90%. Intellectual property (IP) and the data it protects are the world's most important commercial and national security assets.

Last month, President Trump signed an executive order making the development and regulation of artificial intelligence a federal priority. But one area where artificial intelligence is already taking hold is health care. Doctors are already using A.I. to spot potentially lethal lesions on mammograms. Scientists are also developing A.I. systems that can diagnose common childhood conditions, predict whether a person will develop Alzheimer's disease and monitor people with conditions like multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's disease. Dr. Eric Topol, a cardiologist and the founder and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, has long heralded this convergence of technology and medicine. Now, in a new book called "Deep Medicine: How Artificial Intelligence Can Make Healthcare Human Again," Dr. Topol explores how A.I. is likely to transform almost everything that doctors do.

The U.S. Army is looking to advance its technology and put its focus on future conflicts, as it presents its colossal budget request to Congress. "This is a big day for the Army," U.S. Army Secretary Mark Esper told CNBC on Tuesday. The bold request allows the Defense Department to prepare for "high-intensity conflict" against countries like Russia and China, he said. "At the same time it also underscores this renaissance that the Army is in with regard to how we man, organize, and train and equip the force," he added. Esper expects the Army to look "much more robotic."

To assess the financial benefits of such a forward-thinking scheme, researchers at Aalto University's HEMA Institute (the Institute of Healthcare Engineering, Management and Architecture) in Helsinki, Finland, studied whether there is a link between the treatment costs of patients and the use of an AI-based healthcare system that directs patients to the correct care. The study examined the Klinik Pro service during its first five months of use at the Myyrmäki Health Center in Vantaa and the result was that the tool brought a 14% saving in the average service costs per patient, translating to a €31 cost reduction per patient during the period of study.

Decades before anyone had built a rocket, earthlings had already argued in science fiction about who is more suited for space travel: humans or machines. Today, the debate drags on as private players like SpaceX and government agencies like NASA vie to send people to the moon, Mars and beyond. But such missions are costly, and human bodies remain sensitive to space's harsh conditions. Maybe robots would simply prove better, cheaper, faster. In Science Smackdown, we let experts argue the evidence.

When it comes to artificial intelligence, the United States has a tradition of betting on crazy ideas. This week, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) showcased projects that are part of a new five-year, $2 billion plan to foster the next round of out-there concepts that will bring about new advances in AI. These include efforts to give machines common sense; to have them learn faster, using less data; and to create chips that reconfigure themselves to unlock new AI capabilities. Speaking at the event, Michael Kratsios, deputy assistant to the president for technology policy at the White House, said the agency's efforts are a key part of the government's plan to stay ahead in AI. "This administration supports DARPA's commitment, and shares its intense interest in developing and applying artificial intelligence," Kratsios said. President Trump signed an executive order last month to launch the US government's AI strategy, called the American AI Initiative.