Singapore will on Thursday host the world's first self-driving taxis to offer rides to the public. Select passengers will be able to hail the free taxi rides using their smartphones in Sinagpore's 2.5 square-mile One-North district, only picking up and dropping off passengers at specified points. Each cab will have a driver prepared to take the wheel in the event of an emergency. A researcher will also be sat in the back to track the car's computers. The taxis are operated by nuTonomy, an automonous vehicle software startup based in Singapore and Massachusetts.

Domino's and Flirtey have launched the first commercial drone delivery service, aiming to soon deliver pizza via remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) straight to a customer's front door. Although headquartered in Brisbane, Australia, Domino's has chosen to kick off the DRU Drone initiative in Auckland, New Zealand, as the country's current regulations allow businesses to utilise unmanned aircraft. The demonstration was conducted under Civil Aviation Rules Part 101 and marks a final step in Flirtey's approval process. Domino's said it then expects to be able to trial store-to-door drone deliveries from a selected Domino's New Zealand stores with flights to customer homes tabled for later this year. "We are planning a phased trial approach which is based on the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) granting approval, as both Domino's and Flirtey are learning what is possible with the drone delivery for our products, but this isn't a pie in the sky idea. It's about working with the regulators and Flirtey to make this a reality for our customers," Domino's Group CEO and managing director Don Meij, said.

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

New bots are constantly being launched and we have covered a fair few, from this chatbot chef which plans meals for users via emoji, to a messenger bot that helps out in emergency situations. New innovation, Wonder, is designed to help users store and recall the information they need from their gym locker password, their insurance provider, right through to the type of ink cartridges their printer uses. Customers first enter their phone number on Wonder's website. They then text Wonder the information they want to remember at a later date. The app stores that information, and when the customer is trying to recall the details, they can ask Wonder directly via text message: "When's the next company meeting?"

When it comes to artificial intelligence (AI), UK senior business decision-makers overwhelmingly agree that can help improve customer experiences by providing new data. Nearly 50% also pointed to AI allowing for automation of tasks, freeing humans to focus on more valuable work. About one in four of those surveyed in July 2016 by Morar Consulting for digital agency Squiz say that AI will reduce human error, and some think AI will help them deliver services better. But there are plenty of AI concerns as well. Over one-third of those surveyed said their primary concern is with the very concept of AI itself: 36% said they took issue with the lack of human control or oversight in AI. For another 30%, the primary cause for concern was the expense of AI, and one in four cited errors made by the AI as their leading concern.

American space agency NASA has built an Artificial Intelligence (AI) platform capable of aiding firefighters when they enter a burning building. The platform, called Audrey, is the product of a partnership between the agency's Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) and the Department for Homeland Security (DHS). This project forms part of the Next Generation First Responder program, which aims to identify ways firefighters, police and paramedics can stay safe while in the field. Audrey collects data about heat, gases and other signs of danger to help first responders get through the flames safely and quickly, letting them save victims. To make the AI platform possible, the designers used several technologies developed by NASA and the Department of Defence.

A new remotely controlled war machine for the Iraqi Security Forces. Mosul wasn't supposed to fall again. The city in Northern Iraq saw intense fighting between American forces and Saddam Hussein's sons in 2003, and in 2008 saw major campaign by American troops against insurgent forces. When ISIS attacked Mosul in summer 2014, two divisions of the Iraqi Security Forces were supposed to hold the city, but the 30,000 defenders crumbled and fled from the onslaught of under 2,000 enemies. Mosul remains in ISIS' hands today.

For NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) shareholders, the past year has been fantastic. The stock has soared 190%, with all of the company's segments firing on all cylinders. The core graphics card business is booming, with PC gaming proving to be a bright spot in an otherwise dismal PC market. Enterprise use of NVIDIA's products is growing fast, with cloud computing companies turning to NVIDIA's Tesla GPUs to enable deep learning and artificial intelligence applications. Sales to the automotive industry are rising as well, with NVIDIA's automotive platforms gaining momentum.

Microsoft Corp.'s acquisition of the smart scheduling app Genee reflects a drive to add artificial intelligence to all of its digital experiences. The deal, announced Monday, could let Microsoft enhance its virtual assistant Cortana, to better compete with Alphabet Inc.'s Google Now and Apple Inc.'s Siri, as CIO Journal's Angus Loten reports. With Genee, Cortana could automatically set up business meetings by interpreting keywords in email. Though AI gets much attention these days, many CIOs don't have a clear idea about how to use the technology or maximize its value. Microsoft is expanding its AI expertise partly through acquisition, recently buying Wand Labs, a smart messaging app, and SwiftKey, a tool that predicts what users want to type next.

A fascinating new simulation finds that self-driving cars will terraform cities: 90% of cars will be eliminated, acres of land will open up, and commute times will drop 10%. A team of transportation scientists at the Organization for Cooperation and Development took data on actual trips in Lisbon, Portugal and looked at how a fleet of self-driving, shared "taxibots" would change city landscape [PDF]. These "taxibots", the researchers imagine, are a marriage of mass carpooling and UPS delivery intelligence: they constantly roam throughout cities and match carpool routes with mathematical elegance. Ultimately, they estimate, 9 out of 10 cars would be completely unnecessary -- as would public transit. "Nearly the same mobility can be delivered with 10% of the cars TaxiBots combined with high-capacity public transport could remove 9 out of every 10 cars in a mid-sized European city," the paper concludes.