In many real-world planning problems, action's impact differs with a place, time and the context in which the action is applied. The same action with the same effects in a different context or states can cause a different change. In actions with incomplete precondition list, that applicable in several states and circumstances, ambiguity regarding the impact of the action is challenging even in small domains. To estimate the real impact of actions, an evaluation of the effect list will not be enough; a relative estimation is more informative and suitable for estimation of action's real impact. Recent work on Over-subscription Planning (OSP) defined the net utility of action as the net change in the state's value caused by the action. The notion of net utility of action allows for a broader perspective on value action impact and use for a more accurate evaluation of achievements of the action, considering inter-state and intra-state dependencies. To achieve value-rational decisions in complex reality often requires strategic, high level, planning with a global perspective and values, while many local tactical decisions require real-time information to estimate the impact of actions. This paper proposes an offline action-value structure analysis to exploit the compactly represented informativeness of net utility of actions to extend the scope of planning to value uncertainty scenarios and to provide a real-time value-rational decision planning tool. The result of the offline pre-processing phase is a compact decision planning model representation for flexible, local reasoning of net utility of actions with (offline) value ambiguity. The obtained flexibility is beneficial for the online planning phase and real-time execution of actions with value ambiguity. Our empirical evaluation shows the effectiveness of this approach in domains with value ambiguity in their action-value-structure.

Designing channel codes under low latency constraints is one of the most demanding requirements in 5G standards. However, sharp characterizations of the performances of traditional codes are only available in the large block-length limit. Code designs are guided by those asymptotic analyses and require large block lengths and long latency to achieve the desired error rate. Furthermore, when the codes designed for one channel (e.g. Additive White Gaussian Noise (AWGN) channel) are used for another (e.g. non-AWGN channels), heuristics are necessary to achieve any nontrivial performance -thereby severely lacking in robustness as well as adaptivity. Obtained by jointly designing Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) based encoder and decoder, we propose an end-to-end learned neural code which outperforms canonical convolutional code under block settings. With this gained experience of designing a novel neural block code, we propose a new class of codes under low latency constraint - Low-latency Efficient Adaptive Robust Neural (LEARN) codes, which outperforms the state-of-the-art low latency codes as well as exhibits robustness and adaptivity properties. LEARN codes show the potential of designing new versatile and universal codes for future communications via tools of modern deep learning coupled with communication engineering insights.

Dell has changed every single one of its user passwords on its store, after a major cyber attack. The company said that it had found and stopped hackers who were trying to break into its systems. But it would change the passwords to ensure that all data was safe, it said. The company has been criticised for being slow in informing users of the change and the potential breach. The reset happened on 14 November, five days after the hackers were discovered, and users were only informed this week.

Virtual assistants such as Amazon's Alexa and Google Home have the capacity to analyse how happy and healthy a couple's relationship is, research has found. In-home listening devices will soon be able to judge how functional relationships are as well as interrupt an argument with an idea for how to resolve it, the study said. The research, by Imperial College Business School, stated that within the next two to three years, digital assistants could predict with 75 per cent accuracy the likelihood of a relationship or marriage being a success. The technology would reach a verdict through acoustic analysis of communication between couples – examining everything from everyday encounters to arguments. The virtual assistants would then be able to provide relationship advice and what researchers refer to as democratising counselling.

'My lens cover isn't off yet, but I just had to show you a first look at my new home.' While NASA has numerous Mars landings under its belt, similar attempts have proved a difficult hurdle for many missions. The Soviet Union never managed to land on Mars, and both attempts by the European Space Agency flopped. By contrast, just one of Nasa's previous eight attempts have failed. The new InSight lander has landed in a region known as Elysium Planitia.

Thank you so much to my incredible team who got me safely to #Mars. Hear from some of them on how my #MarsLanding went.

Global car makers are feeding real-time location information and dozens of other data points from electric vehicles to Chinese government monitoring centres, as President Xi Jinping steps up the use of technology to track Chinese citizens. The data-gathering generally happens without car owners' knowledge, the Associated Press found. More than 200 car makers selling electric vehicles in China -- including Tesla, Volkswagen, BMW, Daimler, Ford, General Motors, Nissan and Mitsubishi -- send at least 61 data points to government-backed monitoring platforms, under rules published in 2016. The firms say they are complying with local laws, which apply only to alternative energy vehicles. Chinese officials say the data is used for analytics to improve public safety, facilitate industrial development and infrastructure planning, and to prevent fraud in subsidy programmes.

Getting through airport security is now as simple as scanning your face. Delta Air Lines today launched what it's calling the first'biometric terminal' in the US at the international terminal in Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson airport. Customers use facial recognition to verify their identity as they check in at self-service kiosks, move through security and board their flight. Getting through airport security is now as simple as scanning your face. Delta Air Lines today launched the first'biometric terminal' in the US at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson airport Users enter their passport information on Delta's website during online check-in.

The U.S. Army has awarded Microsoft Corp a $479.2 million contract to supply prototypes for the Army's augmented reality systems helping soldiers in training and combat missions. It follow a major revolt from some employees who do want the the firm to work on military technology. 'Augmented reality technology will provide troops with more and better information to make decisions,' a Microsoft spokesperson said. The U.S. Army has awarded Microsoft Corp a $479.2 million contract to supply prototypes for the Army's augmented reality systems helping soldiers in training and combat missions. 'This new work extends our longstanding, trusted relationship with the DoD to this new area.'

NASA has revealed plans to take America back to the moon - but will rely on private firms to run the missions. The space agency plans to work with nine private firms, ranging from small startups to giants like Lockheed Martin, to develop robotic landers and systems to mine the natural resources on the moon. This will help develop the technology need for eventual manned missions, and NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine pledged to have a manned lunar base within a decade. The first new lunar missions could blast off as early next year. The new missions will see the US return to the lunar surface for the first time since Apollo 17 in December 1972, the final mission of the crewed lunar exploration program (pictured, Gene Cernan, the last man to walk on the moon).