With construction costs that could reach $21 billion, President Donald Trump's "big beautiful wall" along the U.S.-Mexico border has enticed scores of construction firms and contractors to file proposals to get a piece of that business. Quanergy, a Silicon Valley startup that makes laser LiDAR sensors and a rising star in the world of automated car technology is one of the more curious applicants. Its interest in the Customs and Border Protection project was reported first by Axios. The Sunnyvale, California-based company registered an "other border wall" proposal, but the long vendors list doesn't detail Quanergy's idea. That "other" category is for any wall proposal that doesn't use concrete and that can be shown to be an effective option, a CPB spokesman explained to Forbes.

More and more companies are putting drones to work, including tech giants, manufacturers, utilities, and news organizations. With a broad range of practical applications and rapidly evolving technology, drones offer huge untapped potential, but not every market offers equal opportunities for growth. Here are seven facts and forecasts to know before investing. The demand for drones in the U.S. is projected to rise 10% annually to $4.4 billion in 2020, and the number of vehicles sold will more than double to 5.5 million. Drones sold to commercial and consumer users can cost less than $100 on the low end for toy drones to $10,000 or more on the high end for professional drones with sophisticated sensors and controls. Civilian markets are in the early stages of development, and over the next decade sales are expected to grow at explosive rates, similar to those posted by smartphones following the introduction of the iPhone in 2007.

NASA's highly experimental Earth Observing-1 satellite mission was supposed to last just a year. It did that, and then survived 16 more--all the while testing NASA's riskiest, oddball ideas. It's been a proving ground for everything from multi- and hyperspectral imagers, to a self-piloting AI. But EO-1 is finally out of fuel, and at the end of the month the craft's operating team will close up shop. Already out of fuel, EO-1 itself will continue to slowly shuffle off its orbital coil until it burns up in Earth's atmosphere.

March 23, 2017 --If some NASA researchers have their way, Mars exploration technology of the future may rely on an art form from the past. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has developed a Pop-Up Flat Folding Explorer Robot (PUFFER) prototype that could change how we explore Mars. The rugged yet portable machine takes its inspiration from the art of origami, which, despite Americans' association with grade-school arts and crafts, is proving to be a cutting-edge design philosophy. Recent developments in the field have led to an explosion of uses ranging from solar panels to bulletproof barriers. What sets PUFFER apart from other rovers is that it folds flat, making its mini-profile even slimmer.

After decades of unfulfilled promises artificial intelligence (AI) has started to deliver. Not hindered by rules and regulations intelligent machines are now exceeding humans in areas such as image recognition. With some of us this raises worries about killer robots. Consciously or subconsciously the tech industry is feeding these apocalyptic visions in order to divert attention from real issues surrounding AI. Prominent science and technology luminaries such as Bill Gates and Elon Musk have warned several times that self-aware, super intelligent artificial systems will advance to a point at which they could become a threat to human existence.

It's the most cunning robocall scam I've encountered -- and the fact that I've fallen for it more than once tells you how successful it can be. You pick it up and say "hello." There's a brief silence and then a woman's voice says, "Oh, hi there!" She offers an embarrassed laugh. "I'm sorry, I was having a little trouble with my headset!"

Up to 30 per cent of UK jobs are at risk of being taken over by robots and Artificial Intelligence by the early 2030s, a new report warns. The study, published by professional services firm PwC, claims that the likelihood of automation is highest in sectors including transport, manufacturing, wholesale and retail. Education, health and social work are less at risk and-- as a result of that-- male workers are more likely to see their jobs taken over by robots than their female counterparts. Despite the threat, though, PwC says that the rise of automation is actually likely to boost productivity and generate additional jobs elsewhere in the economy in the long run. "Automating more manual and repetitive tasks will eliminate some existing jobs, but could also enable some workers to focus on higher value, more rewarding and creative work, removing the monotony from our day jobs," said John Hawksworth, chief economist at PwC. "By boosting productivity - a key UK weakness over the past decade - and so generating wealth, advances in robotics and AI should also create additional jobs in less automatable parts of the economy as this extra wealth is spent or invested," he added.

The recent eruption of Erta Ale volcano in northeastern Ethiopia highlights the speed and impact of space artificial intelligence (A.I.). One of our planet's few exposed lava lakes is changing, and artificial intelligence is helping NASA understand how. On January 21, a fissure opened at the top of Ethiopia's Erta Ale volcano --one of the few in the world with an active lava lake in its caldera. Volcanologists sent out requests for NASA's Earth Observing 1 (EO-1) spacecraft to image the eruption, which was large enough to begin reshaping the volcano's summit. As it turned out, that spacecraft was already busy collecting data of the lava lake.

In an effort to push Canada to the forefront of digital innovation, the federal government committed $125 million in Wednesday's budget to create a Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy. "Canada can be a world leader in digital innovation … we can't afford not to be," Finance Minister Bill Morneau said in prepared remarks for his address in the House of Commons. The financial commitment and strategy, which is to be overseen by the Canadian Institute for Advanced research, is intended to attract and retain top academic talent to Canada, and increase the number of researchers studying artificial intelligence and deep machine learning. The government said its strategy would "drive investment and job creation across the country" by bringing together Canada's main centres of artificial intelligence expertise. In the budget document, the government also pledged to support financial technology (fintech) companies that, along with banks, insurers and credit unions, are innovating to make financial services more accessible, useful and affordable. The federal government, through its innovation and skills plan, "will help fintech entrepreneurs realize their full potential by bringing together high-skilled talent, financing solutions, business and advisory services and export support," the document says.

Reuters news agency reported on 16th February 2017 that "European lawmakers called...for EU-wide legislation to regulate the rise of robots, including an ethical framework for their development and deployment and the establishment of liability for the actions of robots including self-driving cars." The question of determining'liability' for decision making achieved by robots or artificial intelligence is an interesting and important subject as the implementation of this technology increases in industry, and starts to more directly impact our day to day lives. Indeed, as application of Artificial Intelligence and machine learning technology grows, we are likely to witness how it changes the nature of work, businesses, industries and society. And yet, although it has the power to disrupt and drive greater efficiencies, AI has its obstacles: the issue of'who is liable when something goes awry' being one of them. Like many protagonists in industry, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are trying to tackle this liability question.