The president-elect seems to favor a strong human spaceflight program--but monitoring our own planet from space is likely not on his agenda. Trump and his team seem to favor plans to move humans deeper into space and perhaps to Mars. Recently, it seemed as though support for space exploration, both human and robotic, was reaching a crescendo. Last year's Pluto flyby, a new mission to Jupiter, and a planned mission to the icy moon Europa showcased NASA's commitment to exploring deep space, while major announcements from President Obama and Elon Musk made it sound like efforts to send humans to Mars might finally escape the realm of science fiction. All this activity fueled an optimistic view that exploring space may once again be a national priority.

The U.S. has many rituals that define the progress of the year, some quite traditional like Christmas and Thanksgiving, and some with an air of shared ridiculousness like Black Friday. It is now a deep-seated American tradition to revel in the shared gluttony and community of Thanksgiving and then exercise those calories off the next day in the way we Americans know best - shopping! The term Black Friday comes from 1950's Philadelphia to describe the barely controlled chaos of thousands who poured into the city for the Army-Navy game the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Since the 80's, the world has changed, particularly in the world of retail, in which the shopper has changed as much as the shopping center, with technology playing a massive role in those changes. For example, in I the past couple of years, Big Data and Machine Learning have gone from being fringe technologies to must-haves.

How AI will take over the world: Researchers reveal the'four ages of smart software' that will take tech from game playing to self awareness A recent White House report on artificial intelligence says the next 20 years likely won't see machines'exhibit broadly-applicable intelligence comparable to or exceeding that of humans,' but one researcher has revealed what it will take to make that happen. The app that lets the colorblind see the world in a new... The AI that could tell you how long your flight is REALLY... The curse of the competitive male: Being flashy helps wins... The app that lets the colorblind see the world in a new...

Artificial intelligence could cause the biggest affliction to the entire human civilization, with the potential to outstrip all the advantages it comes with if left unmanaged. This was the powerful statement made by renowned scientist Stephen Hawking on Wednesday at a new AI research center at Cambridge University in London, as reported by US News & World Report. Companies are now purely focused on developing artificial-based intelligence systems that can imitate human behavior. The potential benefits of AI are huge, and no one can predict what humans might achieve when their minds get amplified by AI, said Hawking. The tools can definitely help to undo some of the damages that have already occurred besides eradicating poverty and disease, he added.

In October 2016, President Obama started a public dialogue around the future of artificial intelligence. At the White House Frontiers Conference, hosted in partnership with University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University, he shared his vision for AI research. There was also a first-of-its-kind report--Preparing for the Future of Artificial Intelligence--which outlined how the government can be involved in researching, developing, and regulating future technologies. And for Wired magazine, President Obama wrote a guest piece and was interviewed about the future of artificial intelligence. While some experts voiced concern over President Obama's optimism that jobs will not be displaced, and his grasp of the potential dangers of artificial general intelligence, his efforts were largely praised by the AI community.

Legal-minded chat bots are useful for more than just fighting parking tickets -- they might just start your life in a new land. Visabot has launched a namesake Facebook Messenger chat AI that helps you complete US visa applications. After you answer a slew of questions, the bot fills out the relevant forms and gives you instructions on how to send those documents to immigration officials. And it should learn over time -- if you voluntarily report officials' decisions on those forms, you can improve the bot's approach for future applications. The assistance is limited to two visas right now (B-2 extensions for business and travel, O-1 for exceptional individuals), but the plan is to extend it to H-1B and L-1 skilled worker visas.

A computer system put in place at the Department of Finance just ahead of the 2014-15 federal budget will soon be replaced, with the department citing "usability issues". Expressions of interest (EOI) for the new "pre-budget system" are already in circulation, with the closing date less than four days away. It is expected after the EOI closes that a tender will surface early next year, with the full rollout of the winning system pencilled in for early 2018. Documents produced for potential tenderers as part of the EOI said that the existing system, which is only a few years old, "has some usability issues which are reducing the efficiency for staff interacting with the system". The new pre-budget system will be expected to handle documents and other information, from the initial step of costing a new policy proposal and assessing its impact on the budget bottom line, through to the finalised budget papers.

While the US military has enjoyed several decades of aerial dominance with few enemy fighter planes to shoot down, the emergence of ISIS drones presents a new threat to American ground troops. To combat swarms of these cheap, small dangers, the US Army is testing a new anti-air device that is designed to blow multiple UAVs out of the sky in a single shot. They call it the Phaser. The Raytheon-built "Phaser" is a microwave-emitting dish that sits atop a shipping container containing its diesel generator power source. It relies on external radar systems to track targets, then fires a burst of radiation powerful enough to fry control systems, enough to knock drones out of the air.

Weighing in at over 100 pages, the report is full of guidelines and recommendations that experts believe require funding and attention from Congress moving forward, as well as providing policymakers enough information to more accurately determine optimal allocation of resources. Since the first report (and a 2013 revision) drones, driverless cars, and all sorts of assistive robots have taken centre stage due to their accelerating development. Integrating these systems into daily life is seen as one of the primary goals, and to that end, the importance of STEM education is highlighted. Both safety and liability feature in the section on the legal and ethical context, recommending the collaboration of people with specialised trading to oversee the use of robotics systems in difficult and dangerous jobs, while the issue of insurance is raised for when those accidents do happen. The impact of robotics on labour is of prime concern to people, not only in the US, but around the world, as the reality of automation approaches.

Google has updated the app for users in 62 countries around the world The app now uses machine learning to suggest songs and playlists Subscribers will be able to listen to music offline, and the app will automatically create an offline playlist based on what you've listened to Subscribers will be able to listen to music offline, and the app will automatically create an offline playlist based on what you've listened to The latest feature to receive the'smart' treatment, is Google Play Music, which has been updated to be more assistive. Sex with robots will be'mind blowing': Expert says androids... Instagram wants to make'Stories' more sociable: App adds... You can finally send GIFs on WhatsApp for iOS: App... Were YOU killed off by Facebook? Sex with robots will be'mind blowing': Expert says androids... Instagram wants to make'Stories' more sociable: App adds... You can finally send GIFs on WhatsApp for iOS: App... Were YOU killed off by Facebook?