Njideka Akunyili Crosby, a 2017 MacArthur Fellow, photographed in her studio in Los Angeles, CA on Wednesday September 13th, 2017.Photo courtesy of the MacArthur Foundation. The MacArthur Foundation announced today it has selected 24 individuals -- from photographers and historians, to computer scientists and psychologists -- for its annual "genius grant," given to those who have "extraordinary originality and dedication to their creative pursuits." How does someone become a so-called "genius"? We reached out to a few of them to ask about their "secret sauce." What are the quirks and habits that fuel their creativity and enhance their work?

It's a custom mixtape of 30 songs they've never listened to before but will probably love. It's called Discover Weekly, and it's pretty much magic. It makes me feel seen. It knows my musical tastes better than any person in my life ever has, and I am consistently delighted by how it satisfies me just right every week, with tracks I myself would never have found or known I would like. As it turns out, I'm not alone in my obsession with Discover Weekly--the user base went crazy for it, which has driven Spotify to completely rethink its focus, investing more resources into algorithm-based playlists.

Artificial intelligence, the major plot device in countless sci-fi films, is making it big in the entertainment industry. Recent breakthroughs in artificial intelligence and machine learning are helping Hollywood get even smarter about how it captures an audience, and the implications for your entertainment are staggering. Do you have an AI strategy -- or hoping to get one? Check out VB Summit on October 23-24 in Berkeley, a high-level, invite-only AI event for business leaders. You've probably seen the terms "artificial intelligence" and "machine learning" used interchangeably.

We prove near-tight concentration of measure for polynomial functions of the Ising model under high temperature. For any degree $d$, we show that a degree-$d$ polynomial of a $n$-spin Ising model exhibits exponential tails that scale as $\exp(-r^{2/d})$ at radius $r=\tilde{\Omega}_d(n^{d/2})$. Our concentration radius is optimal up to logarithmic factors for constant $d$, improving known results by polynomial factors in the number of spins. We demonstrate the efficacy of polynomial functions as statistics for testing the strength of interactions in social networks in both synthetic and real world data.

One of the most widely known practitioners of artificial intelligence never used a computer or built what we'd think of as a robot. Mary Shelley's Dr. Victor Frankenstein, the creator of a "modern Prometheus" capable of thinking and acting on his own, captivated readers from the moment the novel Frankenstein first appeared on shelves. But that success belies the fact that Shelley was still ahead of her time. What once seemed like a bizarre fantasy--the notion that man could create a being who could think as we do--is, today, a fascination. It helps that we've grown closer, in our world, to making Dr. Frankenstein's Promethean dream a reality.

Lockwood grew up in Brooklyn, gaming with his two brothers. The siblings also spent a lot of time watching movies--he insists they wore out no less than 20 Star Wars tapes from repeated viewings--and playing outside. In fact, as entry fee for running around in the open air, his mother made them write a page-long short story. Lockwood gives a lot of credit to these stories, and his mother. He thinks they were what got him thinking about storytelling in video games.

Microsoft announced it is rolling its Cortana digital assistant in the Skype app for iOS and Android devices for users in the United States. Cortana will be able to provide assistance by looking up information that's relevant to a user's Skype conversation. "With Cortana's in-context assistance, it's easier to keep your conversations going by having Cortana suggest useful information based on your chat, like restaurant options or movie reviews," The Skype Team said on their blog post. Cortana also suggests smart replies, allowing you to respond to any message quickly and easily--without typing a thing." To start using Cortana on Skype, users will only have to start a chat with one of their friends. They can have a regular conversation all they want and Cortana's suggestions will pop up automatically if it knows it can provide assistance. For example, a user could suggest to his friend that they could watch a movie together. Cortana's suggestion will pop up just beneath that message to provide that movie's IMDB page. Cortana can also provide smart replies along with suggestions, which is a really convenient way of replying to a message without actually typing. Another great thing that Cortana on Skype can do is that it can help users organize their schedule. If Cortana detects that the users are talking about scheduling, it will suggest that they should set up a reminder. When a user creates a reminder with Cortana on Skype, that reminder will also be received to their other devices that have Cortana enabled. This makes sure that users are able to receive their reminders even when they're not using Skype. Lastly, Skype users can actually have one-on-one conversations with Cortana herself. Users will be able to ask Cortana about weather information, sports scores, flight status or suggest the best restaurants that are nearby. The addition of Cortana on Skype is part of Microsoft way of making sure that conversations aren't interrupted. On the company's part, this is also an opportunity to expand the availability of Cortana. "Looking for information often requires interrupting the conversation, even if briefly, and switching apps to find what we're looking for and bring it back into the conversation," The Skype Team said. "But shouldn't technology make our lives easier and truly bring the answers we need to our fingertips?

"Break Free" is the first sone released in a new album by Taryn Southern. The song, indeed, the entire album, features an artist known as Amper--but what looks like a typical collaboration between artists is actually much more than that. Taryn is no stranger to the music and entertainment industry. She is a singer and digital storyteller who has amassed more than 500 million views on YouTube, and she has over 450 thousand subscribers. On the other hand, Amper is making his debut…except he's (it's?) not a person.

If you've lamented the lack of Star Wars-themed home cleaning appliances, then Samsung has just the robot vacuums for you. Today they announced limited editions of their POWERbot VR7000 vacuum cleaner inspired by the iconic sci-fi franchise. There are two different designs: Darth Vader retails for $799, while his Stormtrooper counterpart retails for $699. You can preorder both now at the Samsung website; the estimated ship date is November 5th at the time of writing. Both robot vacuums feature 10-Watt suction power, CycloneForce technology and the ability to clean close to walls and edges.

The new, interactive talking robot uses Human Centric AI Zinrai, which is the Fujitsu approach to artificial intelligence, to learn and analyze human emotions based on such factors as tone of voice, while using a camera to recognize emotions and faces. The resulting analysis allows it to generate suggestions based on specific interests. The robot will be used for consumer and industrial purposes such as at reception desks, care facilities and other service jobs. It has achieved a natural level of conversation thanks to cloud technology that stores data from conversations. In addition to its use in the robot, the Fujitsu Zinrai AI platform will also be demoed in a more general display at the booth to highlight its business innovation capabilities.