'Tis the season for the public relations exercise known as "here's what we think (or hope) will happen in the tech sector next year," flooding my inbox with predictions for 2017. No one knows what will happen tomorrow, let alone over the next 12 months, but the exercise yields interesting insights into what's hot (and what's not) in technology today. Artificial intelligence (and machine/deep learning) is the hottest trend, eclipsing, but building on, the accumulated hype for the previous "new big thing," big data. The new catalyst for the data explosion is the Internet of Things, bringing with it new cybersecurity vulnerabilities. The rapid fluctuations in the relative temperature of these trends also create new dislocations and opportunities in the tech job market. The hottest segment of the hottest trend--artificial intelligence--is the market for chatbots.

NASA's Robonaut 2x was built to help astronauts with physical tasks while they're at the International Space Station. Soon, it'll be able to listen to them, too. "We're working on that this year," said Julie Badger, the Robonaut project manager for NASA on Thursday. The goal, she said, is to speak to the robot and receive stats back from it. The newest version of Robonaut, which was built in partnership with General Motors, is capable of speeds more than four times faster than the first version. Its hands, which come with ambidextrous grip, can lift up to 20 pounds -- the requirement for any NASA astronaut.

Human drivers are imperfect pilots, placed in command of a couple thousand pounds of fast-moving metal. We're just not equipped for the task: The eyes that evolved pointing forward (to better navigate our ancestral home in the trees) mean a smaller field of vision. Even with well-positioned mirrors, a human driving a car in three-dimensional space is bound to have blindspots. What if cars could sense where they were, and then communicate that information to other cars? Suddenly, a dense road of imperfectly piloted vehicles would become a smart, safe network, with the cars themselves constantly pinpointing one another in space and time.

Business as we know it is changing. But some business leaders aren't convinced that it will affect them or their business. But the truth is, business is changing at a fundamental level. Some of the key leadership challenges of today include the advent of big data, data becoming a major business asset, AI taking over, platform businesses challenge traditional suppliers, the sharing economy, 3 D printing, robots becoming more intelligent, and more. These eye-opening facts show the importance of all the things I continue to write about here, capturing the key tech trends and business challenges every leader should reflect on...

Under normal circumstances, this tweet wouldn't be so surprising: Lamar Smith, the chair of the committee since 2013, is a well-known climate-change denier. But these are not normal times. The tweet is best interpreted as something new: a warning shot. It's a sign of things to come--a declaration of the Trump Administration's intent to sideline science. In a 1946 essay, George Orwell wrote that "to see what is in front of one's nose needs a constant struggle."

Earth is NOT prepared for a surprise asteroid strike: Nasa warns'there's not a lot we can do about it at the moment' Experts have warned that humans are not prepared for an asteroid impact, and should one head for Earth, there's not much we can do about it (stock image) Back from the dead: Haunting reconstruction lets you look... Can'antacids' tackle climate change? Scientists say... Nasa and Stephen Hawking to launch a'self-healing' starship... The mystery of the'brightest supernova ever seen':... Back from the dead: Haunting reconstruction lets you look... Can'antacids' tackle climate change? Scientists say... Nasa and Stephen Hawking to launch a'self-healing' starship... The mystery of the'brightest supernova ever seen':... Nasa is planning an ambitious mission that will see a robotic spaceship visit an asteroid to create an orbiting base for astronauts.

How does Santa get around the world? Research says Einstein'stheory of relativity means Santa would shrinks in size Also calculated that Father Christmas's cruising speed is 10million KM per hour Santa's speed means he could appear as a green flash as his sleigh flies by Research says Einstein'stheory of relativity means Santa would shrinks in size Also calculated that Father Christmas's cruising speed is 10million KM per hour Santa's speed means he could appear as a green flash as his sleigh flies by Two Secret Santas pay off more than $166,000 in layaway... Santa's little helpers! Two Secret Santas pay off more than $166,000 in layaway... Santa's little helpers! Dr Katy Sheen, from Exeter University, explains that Einstein's theory of relativity could be used to explain Santa Claus's trip to the home of every child on Christmas Eve According to Einstein's theory (E MC2), pictured here, objects travelling at high speed become compressed in size Watch woman get dragged off jet by police in Detroit'Scumbag unions': Chants outside Brighton rail station'We talked about life': Trump and Kanye discuss surprise meet Impressive fireball lights up Spain's Costa del Sol night sky Drag race ends in Lamborghini crashing into other cars Feliks Zemdegs breaks Rubik's cube speed-solving world record Trash is dumped on woman's door step after she fails to pay Brave 12-year-old punches armed robber in the stomach Syria: Footage emerges of Russian special forces'fighting ISIS' Horrifying moment woman is kicked down the stairs by stranger Documentary director attacked by gang of immigrants in Stockholm Hunters forced to shoot a wild bear dead as it charges towards them'We talked about life': Trump and Kanye discuss surprise meet Trash is dumped on woman's door step after she fails to pay Syria: Footage emerges of Russian special forces'fighting ISIS' Kanye 2024: Rapper makes VIP trip to Trump Tower to meet... Growing Pains star Alan Thicke, 69, dies suddenly after... Shocking moment a woman was physically dragged off a Delta... 'I can't feel anything Meg. I love you so much': Groom is... Prince Harry and Meghan Markle buy £60 Christmas tree in... Mother-of-two who let her paralyzed husband get eaten alive... Bill Cosby's lawyer gets in a screaming match with the DA...

On the heels of a mostly positive jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) (4.6% unemployment is the lowest it's been in nine years), the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) released a more sobering snapshot of the world of work. A briefing by MGI director James Manyika, compiled from the company's extensive research, took a deeper dive into employment numbers. In the United States and the 15 core European Union countries (E.U.-15), there are 285 million adults who are not in the labor force--and at least 100 million of them would like to work more. Some 30% to 45% of the working-age population around the world is underutilized--that is, unemployed, inactive, or underemployed. Manyika says that unemployment figures typically get the most attention at the expense of those who are underemployed.

One of the most pressing questions Silicon Valley leaders will want answered at their Wednesday meeting with President-elect Donald Trump is whether his administration will clamp down on the immigration policies that technology companies have come to rely on. You only have to look at the executive boards of some of the world's fastest growing companies to see the contribution immigrants have made. According to a study by the National Foundation for American Policy, immigrants founded more than half (51%) of the current crop of US-based startups valued at more than $1bn. All of this could be under threat if we are to take some of the comments the Trump campaign made in the run-up to the election at face value. The outspoken candidate claimed that Mark Zuckerberg's push for specialist H1B visas (the main visa used to hire foreign talent to tech companies) was a threat to jobs for American women and minorities.

Britain is "languishing in the digital slow lane" with 4G connectivity lagging behind the networks of countries like Romania, Albania, Panama and Peru, according to the Government's official infrastructure advisers. Market provision of mobile services has left too many "digital deserts" and "not spots" where users cannot get 4G signals, even within major city centres, the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) found. It called on the Government to step in to ensure that basic talk, text and data services are available to all Britons, wherever they live, work and travel, and to make the country ready for next-generation 5G communications. The NIC was asked in March to advise ministers on how the UK can become a "world leader" in the deployment of 5G, which potentially offers ultra-fast, ultra-reliable, ultra-high capacity seamless connectivity to support future technologies like augmented reality, connected vehicles and the "Internet of things". London has UK's best 4G coverage, but slowest speeds But the Commission found that there was still much work to be done to haul the UK out of its 54th position in global rankings for 4G, with typical users able to access the service only 53% of the time.