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The Complete Guide to Google's Knowledge Graph

#artificialintelligence

SEO is a constant source of anxiety among business owners and marketers; especially in recent years, as Google has introduced and increased its focus on "contextual" search. The Knowledge Graph is one of the best examples, because it presents a tremendous opportunity for quicker and more detailed viewer engagement--but only if you know how it works and how to get yourself listed. With the above in mind, in this article we'll go over what the Knowledge Graph is, why it should matter to you, and how to best optimize your website for inclusion. The Knowledge Graph is a knowledge base used by Google. It was created in 2012 by Google so that it could better understand the world the way people do by using entity-based searches.


Ray Kurzweil looks boldly into the future at 2016 Tech Leadership Conference

#artificialintelligence

Futurist, author and inventor Ray Kurzweil delivered a keynote speech to 800 attendees at 2016 Tech Leadership Conference in Waterloo, Canada. Ray Kurzweil envisions the future -- by year 2020, 3D printing will transform manufacturing. People will print their own clothing, he predicts. In Asia, builders are making small office buildings using modules made by 3D printers. Inventors created jet engines and cars out of printed parts, Kurzweil says. Impact on a declining manufacturing industry could be catastrophic. Jobs will be lost, manufacturing will turn into an information industry, but there's a silver lining behind industry disruption, he says. The fashion industry will explode with new ideas as people design, make and share clothes using 3D printers. Kurzweil sees manufacturing moving into open source design and production.


Lockheed Martin is building orbiting base camp for Mars explorers

Christian Science Monitor | Science

Defense and aerospace contractor Lockheed Martin today announced a proposal to establish a science laboratory that will orbit Mars starting in 2028. It will house six astronauts who will spend 10 to 11 months onboard, remotely driving robots, flying drones, and studying samples from the Red Planet in real time in anticipation of landing humans on its surface in the following decade. "We will be able to accomplish more science in just a few months from Mars's orbit than we have in the previous 40 years," Tony Antonelli, former astronaut and now Lockheed's chief technologist for civil space exploration, told The Christian Science Monitor in a phone interview. Though the company hasn't released technical details about its Mars Base Camp, or an estimate of how much it would cost, Mr. Antonelli said most of it would be assembled in cislunar space โ€“ between the Earth and moon โ€“ over a series of missions in the 2020s. It will rely on technologies that Lockheed is developing with NASA now, which should keep the project affordable says Antonelli.


Federal Laws Sought for Driverless Cars

WSJ.com: WSJD - Technology

A group of business and former military leaders wants to limit states' ability to regulate driverless cars, calling for sweeping federal legislation to avoid a patchwork of rules they believe could hinder adoption of the technologically advanced vehicles. Executives including FedEx Corp. Chief Executive Fred Smith and retired U.S. generals associated with a Washington group that lobbies to reduce America's oil dependence plan to meet with politicians in the nation's capital on Thursday to discuss recommendations for speeding introduction of driverless cars. Others expected to be present include John Krafcik, head of the self-driving car division at Google parent Alphabet Inc. In addition to limiting states' regulatory efforts, the group wants a U.S. legal liability fund created to ease concerns over lawsuits that could arise in skirmishes over whether drivers or computers are at fault in crashes. The proposals aren't likely to gain immediate traction on Capitol Hill, where Republican lawmakers are at loggerheads with the Obama administration on a variety of fronts during a presidential election year.


Google Allo: new messaging app is latest to fight FBI over encryption

The Guardian

Google on Wednesday became the latest major technology company to join a standoff with the FBI over encryption. At its developer conference, the company announced that its new messaging app, Allo, would feature an "incognito mode" that offered end-to-end encryption. Such technology can make it difficult for law enforcement to recover messages during investigations even if they have a warrant. In Washington DC, the FBI director, James Comey, has lobbied the administration to put restrictions on such technology. Google isn't the first Silicon Valley giant to offer a messaging app with strong encryption. Apple's iMessage system uses it by default, and Facebook's WhatsApp turned end-to-end encryption on by default this spring.


NASA and the author of 'The Martian' tell us exactly how we'll get to Mars

Washington Post - Technology News

In "The Martian," Matt Damon plays a NASA astronaut who has been stranded on Mars and has to figure out how to survive until the space agency can devise a daring plan to rescue him. But Earth's first manned mission to Mars will share little resemblance to the hit film -- not to mention the book it's based on, according to author Andy Weir and top NASA officials. Despite winning plaudits for making "The Martian" as scientifically accurate as possible, Weir thinks the real thing is likely to involve a smaller role for NASA and a bigger role for robots, 3D printing and private spaceflight companies. "It won't look anything like it looked in the movie," he said at "Transformers," an event hosted by The Washington Post on Wednesday. It may surprise you to hear that NASA completely agrees. "Andy โ€ฆ he's absolutely right," said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden.


The FAA just tested an FBI drone-finding system at JFK

Engadget

Beginning May 2nd, the FAA deployed five different rotor and fixed-wing unmanned aircraft systems in about 40 trials to evaluate the FBI's detection technology. Academics and staff came from a host of agencies, including the FBI, Department of Justice, the Queens District Attorney's office, and Port Authorities of New York and New Jersey. The drone-detecting tests expanded on research done earlier this year at Atlantic City International Airport. The FAA must continue these evaluations as part of the FY 2016 Appropriations law. The agency hasn't nailed down a strategy to detect civilian drones and their operators, but least we can rest easy knowing we can knock them out of the sky with a net bazooka or trained hawk when the time comes.


Corbyn in 'driverless car' jibe at PM

BBC News

Jeremy Corbyn has likened the government to "a driverless car heading in the wrong direction", in his response to the Queen's Speech. The Labour leader said the raft of new policies would not make society more equal or create opportunities for all. He said the government failed to realise "cuts have consequences" as he attacked austerity as a "political choice not an economic necessity". Prison reform was the centrepiece of the government's plans. The government has also said it will publish details of a British Bill of Rights to replace the Human Rights Act.


The Queen's Speech: What it means for technology

Engadget

"Legislation to enable the future development of the UK's first commercial spaceports." The new law would form part of the Modern Transport Bill. The UK's desire to build a spaceport on British shores isn't new, however. In the summer of 2014, the government revealed eight locations that it was considering for the landmark project. Six of these were in Scotland, leaving Wales and England with one apiece.


A Global Arms Race to Create a Superintelligent AI is Looming

#artificialintelligence

Forget about superintelligent AIs being created by a company, university, or a rogue programmer with Einstein-like IQ. Hollywood and its AI-themed movies like Transcendence and Her have misled the public. The launch of the first truly autonomous, self-aware artificial intelligence--one that has the potential to become far smarter than human beings--is a matter of the highest national and global security. Its creation could change the landscape of international politics in a matter of weeks--maybe even days, depending on how fast the intelligence learns to upgrade itself, hack and rewrite the world's best codes, and utilize weaponry. In the last year, a chorus of leading technology exp erts, like Elon Musk, Stephen Hawking, and Bill Gates, have chimed in on the dangers regarding the creation of AI.