Microsoft launched two cloud-based security tools, Azure Sentinel and Threat Experts, which use artificial intelligence to help security professionals respond to immediate threats more quickly. Azure Sentinel is designed to pull in large amounts of data from other cloud-based services -- Microsoft is billing the platform as a "cloud-native Security Information and Event Management tool." Sentinel lets users connect to and collect data from all sources including applications, servers, and devices running on-premises or in the cloud. The platform can also integrate with existing tools, whether business applications, other security products, or home grown tools, and users can add their own machine-learning models, as well as tailored detections, machine learning models and threat intelligence, the company said. Microsoft touts the AI's abilities to reduce noise from legitimate events with built-in machine learning and knowledge based on analyzing trillions of signals daily.

SpaceX is preparing for its first test flight of the firm's Crew Dragon spacecraft which will travel to the International Space Station tomorrow on the company's Falcon 9 rocket. The unmanned flight will mark the first time a commercially-built American craft designed to carry astronauts will travel to the space station from US soil. There will be no astronauts aboard but in their place will be a mannequin called Ripley, named after the main character in the'Alien' science fiction franchise. Ripley is equipped with sensors designed to record details of the trip and provide data vital for future manned missions. SpaceX is preparing for its first test flight of its Crew Dragon spacecraft which will fly to the International Space Station tomorrow on the company's Falcon 9 rocket.

The Navy has taken several new steps in its development of several large underwater drones designed to conduct undersea reconnaissance, search for and destroy mines, and possibly launch attacks. The Navy has taken several new steps in its development of several large underwater drones designed to conduct undersea reconnaissance, share combat essential data with submarine "motherships," search for and destroy mines and - in some cases - launch attacks on enemy surface and undersea vessels The two new undersea drones, to be configured with advanced sensors and weapons, are called the Orca Extra Large Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (XLUUV) and the Large Diameter Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (LDUUV). "These will help consolidate Navy vision to bring UUVs (Unmanned Underwater Vehicles) and USVs (Unmanned Surface Vessels) to the fleet, and integrate them with surface vessels and submarines," Capt. Pete Small, Program Manager for Unmanned Systems, said recently at the Surface Navy Association. The construction strategy, according to developers, is to engineer a new "upgradeable," multi-mission drone able to quickly integrate new technology and payloads as they emerge.

Machine learning is something new under the sun: a technology that builds itself. Right now we have limited algorithms with limited potential, but, if it exists, the Master Algorithm could derive all knowledge in the world from data. Inventing it would be one of the greatest advances in the history of science, speeding up the progress of knowledge across the board and changing the world in ways we can barely even begin to imagine. So says Pedro Domingos, professor of computer science at the University of Washington and author of the book "The Master Algorithm: How the Quest for the Ultimate Learning Machine Will Remake Our World." He joined the podcast to discuss his book and the possible utopian and dystopian futures of AI. Below is a lightly-edited transcript of our conversation. You can also subscribe to my podcast on iTunes or Stitcher, or download the podcast here. JAMES PETHOKOUKIS: In the book you write, "Machine learning is something new under the sun, a technology that builds itself. And at its core, machine learning is about prediction: predicting what we want, the results of our actions, how to achieve our goals, how the world will change." Now, your book came out in 2015, and while it made the bookshelf of China's president in his New Year's address, I missed the book when it came out. The reason we are chatting today and I found out about the book was because Amazon recommended it to me. I had bought a previous book, called "Why Information Grows" by Cesar Hidalgo, who will also be a guest on an upcoming podcast, and when I bought that book it recommended your book as something I would also like. So, I bought it, and indeed I liked it very much. Now, for that recommendation I can thank machine learning, right? So machine learning tries to figure out what your tastes in books are, and clearly in this case it was a good call. So, for example, "Why Information Grows" -- by the way, I know Cesar well; he is a great guy -- is related to machine learning, so if you read that book you might like "The Master Algorithm" as well, and it seems that was a good call. Now, I suppose as a way of kind of explaining what machine learning is: How did that algorithm, Amazon, how did it do that?

Researchers, companies and countries around the world are racing to explore -- and exploit -- the possibilities of artificial intelligence technology. China is working on an extremely aggressive multi-billion-dollar plan for government investment into AI research and applications. The U.S. government has been slower to act. The Obama administration issued a report on AI near the end of its term. Since then, little has happened -- until a Feb. 11 executive order from President Donald Trump encouraging the country to do more with AI.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is all over him. The Air Force inspector general is auditing his launch certifications. And even NASA, one of his most ardent supporters, is reviewing the safety culture at SpaceX after Elon Musk smoked a joint on a podcast. If that wasn't enough pressure, the billionaire entrepreneur is facing one of the most crucial moments in SpaceX's history early Saturday, when the spacecraft designed to carry humans is scheduled to lift off from a storied launch site here. Although the Dragon spacecraft won't be carrying astronauts -- only a mannequin with sensors and about 400 pounds of cargo -- the flight will mark a significant step toward the restoration of human spaceflight from U.S. soil since the space shuttle was retired nearly eight years ago.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is all over him. The Air Force inspector general is auditing his launch certifications. And even NASA, one of his most ardent supporters, is reviewing the safety culture at SpaceX after Elon Musk smoked a joint on a podcast. If that wasn't enough pressure, the billionaire entrepreneur is facing one of the most crucial moments in SpaceX's history early Saturday, when the spacecraft designed to carry humans is scheduled to lift off from a storied launch site here. Although the Dragon spacecraft won't be carrying astronauts -- only a mannequin with sensors and about 400 pounds of cargo -- the flight will mark a significant step toward the restoration of human spaceflight from U.S. soil since the space shuttle was retired nearly eight years ago.

On Saturday, SpaceX is taking its most ambitious step yet toward launching people into space. It's not sending anyone with a pulse just yet, but this upcoming launch is still a high-consequence event. In the wee hours of the morning on March 2, SpaceX's shiny new astronaut taxi--dubbed Crew Dragon--will take to the skies, bound for the International Space Station. The flight, officially known as Demo Mission-1 (or DM-1), stars an upgraded version of SpaceX's Dragon cargo craft. SpaceX has always intended for its Dragon capsules to ferry humans, but every SpaceX Dragon capsule launched so far has only shuttled cargo to and from the ISS.

Toyota unveil a self-driving car in 2013. Image: David Berkowitz (CC BY 2.0) (CC BY 2.0) From the algorithms used by social media platforms to the machine-learning that powers home automation, artificial intelligence has quietly embedded itself into our lives. But as the technology involved grows more advanced and its reach widens, the question of how to regulate has become increasingly urgent. The pitfalls of AI are well-documented. Race and gender prejudices have been discovered in a number of systems built using machine learning – from facial recognition software to internet search engines. Last week, the UK's Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee released its long-awaited fake news report.

OTTAWA - Canada will join NASA's space mission to put an orbiter around the moon in a few years, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Thursday. "Canada is going to the moon," Trudeau told a press conference that included a live video link from the International Space Station with Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques. NASA plans to build a small space station, dubbed Gateway, in the moon's orbit by 2026. It will serve as a way-station for trips to and from the lunar surface, but will not be permanently crewed like the International Space Station (ISS), currently in Earth's orbit. According to the Canadian Space Agency, Gateway will provide living space for astronauts, a docking station for visiting spacecraft and research laboratories.