We're on the precipice of choosing the next President of the United States, and if you're still an undecided voter, let our 2016 Election Guide help inform your selection. While Trump or Hillary is the question most are trying to answer, Devindra Hardawar's interview this week sheds light on third-party, transhumanist candidate Zoltan Istvan and what he learned from the 2016 campaign. What I learned: while the idea that technology and man will merge to make us immortal is an enticing one, it's not an idea most of us feel is worth investing in politically... not yet, anyway. As the nation ponders the US election's outcome and the implications of its result, a city of the future is being built in Singapore -- a place where a far more restrictive political system has enabled the creation of the most technologically advanced metropolis on the planet. The question remains, however, whether the loss of privacy and the opportunity for governmental abuse is worth a more efficient municipal power grid and public transport system.

Useful quantum computers are closer to becoming a reality as some of the world's biggest corporations try to bring the technology from the lab into the practical world. A quantum computer utilizes subatomic particles called qubits to speed up the solving of complex computations. Near-term expectations for quantum computers range from solving optimization problems to quantum-encrypted communications, and more. With the help of CB Insights' investment, acquisition, and partnership data, we identified 18 corporate groups involved in the development of commercialized quantum computing hardware and software. They are a diverse group of players, ranging from tech industry behemoths to defense contractors to national telecommunications companies.

Original article As Halloween approaches, the usual spate of horror movies will intrigue audiences across the US, replete with slashers named Jason or Freddie running amuck in the corridors of all-too-easily accessible hospitals. They grab a hospital gown and the zombies fit right in. While this is just a movie you can turn off, the real horror of patient data theft can follow you. Unfortunately, this scenario is similar to how data thefts often occur at medical facilities. In 2015, the healthcare industry was one of the top three industries hit with serious data breaches and major attacks, along with government and manufacturers.

The US has confirmed the death of a senior al-Qaeda leader targeted by a US drone strike in north eastern Afghanistan last month. Farouq al-Qahtani, the group's leader in the area, was killed two weeks ago in what the Pentagon described as a precision strike. Saudi-born al-Qahtani was placed on a US list of most wanted terrorists in February. He was said to be one of al-Qaeda's senior plotters against the US. Saudi-born al-Qahtani, a Qatari national, was also accused of involvement in plots targeting Europe.

Back in 2014, a laser gun (the Laser Weapon System, or LaWS), went into service on the warship USS Ponce. Created as a defense system against drones, more laser weapons are making their way to the battlefield. But there's a problem: Their flying targets have begun to defend themselves. It was back in 1973 that an Air Force experimental laser first shot down a drone. Ever since, drone targets have been used to prove that laser weapons can effectively take down airborne objects.

The Obama administration may be headed for the exits, but it continues to focus on the impact of artificial intelligence on the economy and the nation at large. Artificial intelligence (AI) is an umbrella term for a group of technologies--including machine learning--that enable computers to learn new skills and capabilities based on the data they are exposed to, among other factors. The just-released report, titled "Preparing for the Future of Artificial Intelligence," does not downplay potential job lossdue to the advent of ever-smarter computers, but still posits that the technology will open up new career opportunities for those versed in it or who have higher-level skills. It also holds that public policy, especially re-training programs, can mitigate the negative impact of increasing automation by preparing displaced workers for other jobs. Prepared for the White House by the National Science and Technology Council's Subcommittee on Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence, the report reiterates the conventional wisdom that AI-fueled automation will take over more jobs that could not be automated in the past.

Just before the launch of Football Manager 2017 [official site], with the beta already released to the many people who preordered the game, I spoke to Sports Interactive director Miles Jacobson about the changes his team have made in this latest game in the series. We talked about AI improvements, Brexit, and whether Leicester winning the Premier League was a happy day or a sad day at Sports Interactive. With updates to the beta arriving regularly as the people playing provided feedback, commentary and complaints, Sports Interactive is a busy place around this time of year. The fortnight before launch day is an enormous playtest, in which more eyes are on the new version of the game than have been at any point during development. Jacobson seems happy to take time away from assessment of new release candidate builds to talk though.

The possibility of a catastrophic asteroid on course to slam into Earth is extremely rare – but, experts say it's just a matter of time before this threat becomes a reality. To prepare for such an event, NASA has teamed up with the Federal Emergency Management Agency for a series of exercises intended to simulate an asteroid emergency. In the most recent exercise, the experts prepared for a hypothetical object 300-800 feet wide approaching far too quickly to be redirected, necessitating a mass evacuation of the metropolitan Los Angeles area with 100 percent chance of impact. The possibility of a catastrophic asteroid on course to slam into Earth is extremely rare, but experts say it's just a matter of time before the threat becomes a reality. To prepare for such an event, NASA teamed up with the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

We've all heard of amphibious cars, but what about amphibious drones? Researchers at Rutgers University took on the challenge of building an unmanned vehicle that can soar through the air and seamlessly transition to swim through the water. They call it the Naviator. In fact, inventors have been playing with the idea since the 1930s, when Boris Ushakov, a student engineer at a Soviet military academy, proposed a three-engine floatplane that could flood its fuselage to sink beneath the water and torpedo its enemies when they got close. The project was scrapped before it was ever built.

Fraud is a big problem in the cellular networking market, and machine learning is one potential solution to the problem. Mathematics-based cyberdefence firm claims Antigena can teach itself to fight off new malicious intrusions -- without human involvement. Fraudulent usage of cellular networks costs the industry an estimated $38 billion a year, according to the 2015 Global Fraud Loss Survey by the Communications Fraud Control Association (CFCA), an international organization that promotes revenue assurance, loss prevention, and fraud control in the industry. The CFCA says fraudsters use methods including PBX hacking, subscription fraud, dealer fraud, service abuse, and account takeover to steal from service providers. Current fraud detection approaches in the industry rely on static rules with pre-set volume or frequency thresholds, said Ole J. Mengshoel, associate research professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and director of the Intelligent and High-Performing Systems Lab at Carnegie Mellon University.