LONDON – Scientists are getting closer to building life from scratch and technology pioneers are taking notice, with record sums moving into a field that could deliver novel drugs, materials, chemicals and even perfumes. Despite ethical and safety concerns, investors are attracted by synthetic biology's wide market potential and the plummeting cost of DNA synthesis, which is industrializing the writing of the genetic code that determines how organisms function. While existing biotechnology is already used to make medicines like insulin and genetically modified crops, synthesizing whole genes or genomes gives an opportunity for far more extensive changes. Matt Ocko, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist whose past investments include Facebook, Uber and Zynga, believes the emerging industry has passed the "epiphany" moment needed to prove it can deliver economic value. "Synthetic biology companies are now becoming more like the disruptive, industrial-scale value propositions that define any technology business," he said.

Renesas Electronics Corp. has unveiled a prototype autonomous vehicle that has the ability to protect itself from cyberattacks. The prototype, announced Thursday and equipped with Renesas semiconductor products, can run safely even if it is hit by vehicle malfunctions or cyberattacks. The company is working toward the future commercialization of self-driving vehicles so that it can better serve the needs of automakers and other clients. After developing main semiconductors for autonomous driving, Renesas finished the development of the prototype in collaboration with a software company. With multiple semiconductors monitoring the vehicle's movements, the prototype can continue running safely even if one part fails.

In the last few years, artificial intelligence has quickly broken beyond the realm of science fiction. In fact, IBM -- the creator of the AI powerhouse Watson -- predicts that the AI market will catapult to $2 trillion in the next decade. Nearly every industry on the planet stands to benefit from AI's increased use. But make no mistake, few will see a larger boost than the business of corporate accounting. Senior analyst Jonathan Rodriguez explains why below.

A lot of the projects at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab are considered "moonshots," but some ideas developing in the lab are so far-flung that the brains behind them don't want to involve the agency's top brass at all. To conjure up ideas outside of the space agency's regular mission cycle, top minds from JPL's artificial intelligence research teams have formed an informal group to talk about the big questions, like how autonomous robots could help space exploration around distant stars and methods for leveraging huge celestial bodies to carry our AI around the solar system. "We have a little skunkworks project here at JPL that we call'AI moonshots,' which has nothing to with the moon," JPL AI head Steve Chien tells Quartz. "It has to do with a bunch of AI people thinking about'What are ways we can have tremendous impact on NASA's mission?'" Chien says they've discussed concepts like robots that can convert near-Earth objects like asteroids into antennas; robots that self-replicate by using found materials to 3D-print new robots; autonomous exploration of still-undiscovered Planet 9; and even hitchhiking on passing comets. NASA spacecraft already work with some autonomy, Chien says, and building fully-autonomous models isn't necessarily a technical limitation--being able manually control the spacecraft's movement ensures good science.

Over 8,000 drivers for Uber and Lyft are now not allowed to drive in Massachusetts. Aaron Dickens has the story. SAN FRANCISCO -- Anyone reading the tea leaves on how the Trump administration may treat ride-hailing and self-driving car companies was just handed a bit more tea. Lyft general manager Derek Kan may soon be nominated to join the Department of Transportation as under secretary of transportation for policy, according to Reuters report Thursday. Between 2006 and 2010, Kan worked as an adviser to Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, the husband of Trump administration transportation secretary, Elaine Chao.

Scientists are getting closer to building life from scratch and technology pioneers are taking notice, with record sums moving into a field that could deliver novel drugs, materials, chemicals and even perfumes. Despite ethical and safety concerns, investors are attracted by synthetic biology's wide market potential and the plummeting cost of DNA synthesis, which is industrialising the writing of the genetic code that determines how organisms function. While existing biotechnology is already used to make medicines like insulin and genetically modified crops, synthesising whole genes or genomes gives an opportunity for far more extensive changes. Alexander the friendly robot visits the Indoor Park in London (file pic). Technology pioneers are investing huge sums of money in all manner of innovative ideas.

Fears that automation will kill more jobs continues to grow. An estimated 5 million U.S. factory jobs have evaporated since 2000 and most of those (88%) were lost to increased productivity due to automation, according to a study by Ball State University. But opinions about what, if anything, can be done to reverse the trend differ greatly. Real estate billionaire Jeff Greene, who hosted his second Managing the Disruption conference on the topic of job destruction and what to do about it in Palm Beach, Fla., this week, has some ideas. Last year, he raised a ruckus by saying that robotics and artificial intelligence would kill not just blue-collar factory jobs but also many white-collar careers.

"Almost one-third of UK jobs could be done by robots in 10 years' time." Warnings of this kind are often softened by the suggestion that new and better occupations will replace defunct jobs. But such is the pace of technological advancement, this is no longer guaranteed. This email address is already registered. By submitting my Email address I confirm that I have read and accepted the Terms of Use and Declaration of Consent.

The emergence of terrorist drones flown by ISIS in Iraq has fueled interest in drone-defense technology – while raising questions about whether the U.S. is ready for potential drone terrorist attacks on the homeland. Over the last six months, ISIS has increased its use of weaponized and surveillance drones against Iraqi and U.S. forces. U.S. Central Command told Fox News coalition troops have as many as 30 encounters a week with unmanned aerial vehicles. These drones are inexpensive ones modified to drop grenades or to surveil troop movements. Underscoring the accessibility and affordability of these drones: During the last two months, the U.S. military has destroyed at least five ISIS drone facilities, including one factory and four storage facilities.

Artificial intelligence is one of the heralds of a smarter tech world -- but could it help us be a more compassionate one, as well? The University of Southern California thinks so. Last fall, it christened its Center on Artificial Intelligence in Society, dedicated to deploying AI toward humanitarian ends. In particular, it's aiming toward two social entrepreneurship challenges: the Grand Challenges for Social Work initiative from the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare and the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. How can AI help these noble projects?