"I'd like to buy a new boomerang please. Also, can you tell me how to throw the old one away?" Never mind whether you think that joke is funny. Do you think your best friend would like it? You might think you know the answer; after all, people like each other partly because they make each other laugh.

Humans think in stories rather than in facts, numbers, or tables, and the simpler the story, the better. The story that has ruled our world in the past few decades is what we might call the Liberal Story. It was a simple and attractive tale, but it is now collapsing, and so far no new story has emerged to fill the vacuum. Instead, we get Donald Trump. The Liberal Story says that if we only liberalize and globalize our political and economic systems, we will produce paradise on earth, or at least peace and prosperity for all.

Nasa has announced that it has found evidence of flowing water on Mars. Scientists have long speculated that Recurring Slope Lineae -- or dark patches -- on Mars were made up of briny water but the new findings prove that those patches are caused by liquid water, which it has established by finding hydrated salts. Several hundred camped outside the London store in Covent Garden. The 6s will have new features like a vastly improved camera and a pressure-sensitive "3D Touch" display

"Soft language" in a new agreement governing international armed drone exports could give foreign companies an advantage over U.S. industry, according to analysts. The administration on Wednesday announced that 44 nations had signed a joint declaration overseeing the sale and use of armed unmanned aerial vehicles. The new document requires the countries to commit to the "responsible export" of armed UAVs and continue conversations about standards for drone use and sales, the use of drone strikes in accordance with "international law" and the effort to increase transparency. Rachel Stohl, a senior associate at the Stimson Center, said U.S. companies are often subject to higher standards than their international competitors with respect to drone exports. "This declaration could continue [to] result in other countries and foreign companies having an edge over U.S. companies for drone exports," Stohl said via email.

The Bank of England is looking into the'flash crash' which sent the pound plunging more than 6 per cent against the US dollar overnight, while experts think computers are to blame. The value of sterling dived during the Asian trading session to 1.18, hitting fresh 31-year lows before recovering to 1.238. Experts are blaming algorithmic trading, systems of computers designed to follow a set of instructions for placing a trade. The Bank of England is'looking into' the'flash crash' (graph pictured) which sent the pound plunging more than 6 per cent against the US dollar overnight, but experts think computers are to blame With old school trading floors ancient history these days, investors - particularly big institutional players with millions or billions to invest - often depend on computers to pick winners. Automated trading systems can be set up to keep an eye on news headlines and react to potentially market-moving information.

Yahoo's idea is for the billboard's ad content to be based on real-time information about a crowd of people, who could be commuters on a train platform. Hacked web giant Yahoo has filed a patent application for the ultimate ad-targeting system: a billboard that uses sensors to watch, listen and capture biometric data from the passing public. Yahoo, still in damage control from this week's claims that it helped the government spy on its email users, has filed a patent for smart technology that brings online ad-targeting capabilities to public billboards. The billboards would have cameras, microphones, motion-proximity sensors, and biometric sensors, such as fingerprint or retinal scanning, or facial recognition, according to the patent, which was filed last year but published on Thursday. The sensors would be used to measure engagement of passers-by. "For example, image data or motion-proximity sensor data may be processed to determine whether any members of the audience paused or slowed down near the advertising content, from which it may be inferred that the pause or slowing was in response to the advertising content (eg, a measurement of'dwell time')," Yahoo writes.

The pound plummeted in Asian trading early on Friday. And no-one really seems to know why. Did a trader make a mistake? Did the computers go haywire? And where will the pound go next?

Healthcare is a numbers game and the figures are running wild. Every indicator shows the creaking NHS cannot cope with rising demand and dwindling resources. But the relentless gloom over hospital waiting lists, budgetary shortfalls and demographic time bombs is being challenged by a fresh approach that could revolutionise personal and national health. A wave of innovation driven by artificial intelligence (AI) is being hailed as both a saviour of traditional healthcare and the dawn of a new era in the public's engagement with their own health. "Healthcare is one of the highest cost areas for all modern economies, which makes it ripe for AI as providers look for efficiency to care for patients," says Dan Housman, chief technology officer at ConvergeHEALTH by Deloitte. "Healthcare is complex as an industry and is generating vast volumes of data from imaging, genomics, sensors, daily care and scientific research.

Canadian legal AI company Kira Systems has announced deals with two more law firms following the news this week it had forged the first European law firm deal for an AI-driven cognitive system. Kira's AI software will also now be used by US firm, Fenwick & West, and Canada's Osler. The two new clients build on what would appear to be a first for the European legal market, in the shape of McCann FitzGerald adopting Kira's AI, making it the first non-UK European law firm to adopt a cognitive engine AI system. Fenwick is based in Mountain View, California and has a strong pedigree in advising technology companies. Ralph Pais, technology transactions partner, said of the deal: '[We] have invested heavily in tools and processes that make our M&A practice as fast and efficient as possible.

It is the strongest storm since 2004, and Hurricane Matthew looks set to continue wreaking havoc on the southeast coast of the US. The storm hit Florida in the earlier hours of this morning, and forecasters say that it isn't done yet. They suggest that Hurricane Matthew could even loop back around on itself, hitting Florida for a second time - although forecasts are continually changing. Experts have explained to MailOnline the science behind Hurricane Matthew's strange behaviour. Gurricanes that hit the East Coast tend to move northwest.