For proof, look no further than the year's most impactful innovations, offering solutions to some of the world's most pressing problems. From a futuristic bus that glides over traffic to a $1 cup saving countless babies' lives, inventors developed ingenious gadgets and ideas that tackle inequality and improve the world for millions of people. In no particular order -- and certainly not an exhaustive list -- these 21 social good innovations had a massive impact this year. The only thing cooler than a drone is an edible drone -- especially one that saves lives. An inexpensive drone prototype, called Pouncer, was designed to help deliver humanitarian aid to remote regions with impassible roads.

It speaks volumes about the plight of rabble-rousers in China today that Ai Weiwei, the country's most famous dissident artist, has decided that working there is too dangerous -- so he wants to go to Syria. Ai, who received his passport back from Chinese authorities last year, is turning his attention to Syrian refugees. For the artist, who spent 81 days in Chinese detention in 2011 and then was blocked from traveling for four years, it is a way of remaining relevant without landing in jail. Ai reflected on his situation during a trip to New York last month. He said he does not want his 7-year-old son to experience the same difficulties as he did as a child when his father, the acclaimed Chinese poet Ai Qing, was purged after he fell out with former leader Mao Tse-tung and was exiled.

Master everything you need to transform data into action with our Learning Path: Machine Learning, a curated collection of lessons to take you from the basics to coding your own machine learning algorithms. Subscribe to the O'Reilly Data Show Podcast to explore the opportunities and techniques driving big data, data science, and AI. Find us on Stitcher, TuneIn, iTunes, SoundCloud, RSS. In this special two-segment episode of the Data Show, I spoke with Dafna Shahaf, assistant professor at the School of Computer Science and Engineering at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Her area of research is focused on tools and techniques for overcoming information overload, an area of increasing importance in an attention economy.

The Japanese government plans to grant highly skilled foreign people permanent residency after they live in Japan for at least one year, informed sources said Saturday. Currently, people such as researchers and corporate managers can become permanent residents if they stay in the country for at least five years. The government is now working to shorten the required period to basically three years, the sources said. But specialists in artificial intelligence, researchers in regenerative medicine, big investors and other people who satisfy special conditions will only need to reside in Japan for one year to gain permanent residency, they added. Calling it important to take in highly developed human resources for Japan's survival amid intensifying global competition, the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe clarified in its growth strategy adopted in June a policy to make the immigration system attractive to highly skilled foreign professionals. As of the end of 2015, 3,840 such foreigners worked in Japan.

A robot testing facility, a robotics research center, a base for renewable energy and a memorial park -- these are some of the plans the irradiated town of Namie, Fukushima Prefecture, has in mind for rebuilding after the triple reactor meltdown at the nearby Fukushima No. 1 power plant in March 2011. But to pursue those plans, the town needs funds -- a gigantic amount. Namie is hoping to cover its funding needs with central government grants. But the two sides are still negotiating whether the municipality must shoulder a certain amount. Also, there is no guarantee that the grants will continue beyond fiscal 2020, when the central government-designated reconstruction and revitalization period ends.

Japan's solid-fuel rocket Epsilon blasted off on September 14, 2013 on its maiden voyage carrying a telescope for remote observation of planets in a launch coordinated from a laptop computer-based command centre. Epsilon is scheduled for a follow up launch at the end of 2016. Uncertainties about U.S. policy in Asia will affect the security postures of allies in the region. Japan, for one, is going to tilt even more toward its own national security space ventures. As the country's defense minister Tomomi Inada urged recently, the time is ripe for Japan to reevaluate how best to protect itself.

NASA has announced that a team of researchers from its Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) and other institutions recently visited Monterey Bay, California as part of ongoing research into developing artificial intelligence for submersible drones. In addition to benefitting our understanding of Earth's marine environments, the team hopes this artificial intelligence will someday be used to explore the oceans believed to exist on moons like Europa. If confirmed, these oceans are thought to be some of the most likely places to host life in the outer solar system. A fleet of six coordinated drones was used to study Monterey Bay. To plot their routes, forecasts of these ocean features were sent to the drones from shore. The drones also sensed how the ocean actively changed around them.

As we innovate ourselves away from conventional work and labor, an unlikely question begins to form: How do we feel about free money? First floated by 16th-century philosopher Thomas More as a "cure for theft," basic income is finding new life 500 years later amid concerns over technology edging humans out of the workforce. If advanced machines are taking all the jobs, goes the thinking, then how will people earn money to support themselves? A "universal basic income" in which all citizens receive free money from their government -- a figurative tax break just for being alive -- is a possible solution. With all members of a society guaranteed some degree of income regardless of employment status, the ideology aims to provide people with some kind of economic anchor if they are unable to earn on their own.

This article was written by Stephanie Kim. Stephanie has a professional experience with data mining and processing including natural language processing along with a small amount of machine learning and script automation. Do Twitter users who mention Donald Trump swear more than those who mention Hillary Clinton? Let's find out by taking a natural language processing approach (or, NLP for short) to analyzing tweets. This walkthrough will provide a basic introduction to help developers of all background and abilities get started with the NLP microservices available on Algorithmia.

Uber will continue operating its Volvo self-driving cars on San Francisco, California streets, despite repeated warning from state regulators the ride-hailing service doesn't have proper permits to do so. Uber launches Shanghai branch, plans to invest $1b in China China's taxi monopoly battle continues, Didi Kuaidi raise $3b Two years hard labour: Korea to move forward with Bill to ban Uber Government review calls for taxi regulation reform In a letter obtained by the Associated Press, California's Department of Justice said "the attorney general will seek injunctive and other appropriate relief," if Uber doesn't get the special permit to allow for self-driving vehicles. The permit would cost Uber $150. Uber believes its Volvo test cars, which hit the streets on Wednesday, are operating within California law -- not needing a permit. The California DoJ didn't offer a deadline for Uber to obtain the permit, but a spokeswoman told the AP it will take action "early next week" if Uber doesn't comply.