Situation
Avatar breakthrough as AI that can create a perfect 3D face from a single picture is revealed (and they've tried it out on Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and even Muhammad Ali)
The stunning maps made from three million satellite images... The'golden cigar' UFO: Strange object flashes red and blue... The future of flying: NASA tests radical new embedded jet... Would YOU grow cannabis in your kitchen? The stunning maps made from three million satellite images... The'golden cigar' UFO: Strange object flashes red and blue...
IBM's Watson Now Fights Cybercrime in the Real World
You may know Watson as IBM's Jeopardy-winning, cookbook-writing, dress-designing, weather-predicting supercomputer-of-all trades. Starting today, 40 organizations will rely upon the clever computers cognitive power to help spot cybercrime. The Watson for Cybersecurity beta program helps IBM too, because Watson's real-world experience will help it hone its skills and work within specific industries. After all, the threats that keep security experts at Sun Life Financial up at night differ from those that spook the cybersleuths at University of New Brunswick. IBM researchers started training Watson in the fundamentals of cybersecurity last spring so the computer could begin to analysize and prevent threats.
Microsoft to turn PCs and tablets into smart 'home hubs' to take on Amazon's Echo
Microsoft to turn millions of PCs and tablets into smart'home hubs' to take on Amazon's Echo and Google's Home Google's $130 Home speaker went on sale earlier this month Amazon's Alexa has been a huge hit with 5.1m sold Both can do everything from control lights to answer questions Microsoft plans to take them on with a new Home Hub app for Windows PCs Google's $130 Home speaker went on sale earlier this month Amazon's Alexa has been a huge hit with 5.1m sold The app will turn the millions of Windows PCs, laptops and tablets already in homes into a'home hub' that can do everything from control lights to answer questions. Has YOUR Google account been hacked? Researchers say... Apple goes Red for World AIDS day as firm is revealed to... Britain traded with the Middle East 1,300 years ago: Bitumen... The original human ancestor'Lucy' was a tree climbing... Has YOUR Google account been hacked? Researchers say... Apple goes Red for World AIDS day as firm is revealed to... Britain traded with the Middle East 1,300 years ago: Bitumen...
With a big donation for a new neuroscience institute, Caltech dives deeper into brain research
Sometimes the biggest gifts arrive in the most surprising ways. A couple in Singapore, Tianqiao Chen and Chrissy Luo, were watching the news and saw a Caltech scientist help a quadriplegic use his thoughts to control a robotic arm so that -- for the first time in more than 10 years -- he could sip a drink unaided. Inspired, Chen and Luo flew to Pasadena to meet the scientist, Richard Andersen, in person. Now they've given Caltech $115 million to shake up the way scientists study the brain in a new research complex. Construction of the Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Institute for Neuroscience at Caltech will begin as early as 2018 and bring together biology, engineering, chemistry, physics, computer science and the social sciences to tackle brain function in an integrated, comprehensive way, university officials announced Tuesday.
Robots won't kill the workforce. They'll save the global economy.
The United Nations forecasts that the global population will rise from 7.3 billion to nearly 10 billion by 2050, a big number that often prompts warnings about overpopulation. Some have come from neo-Malthusians, who fear that population growth will outstrip the food supply, leaving a hungry planet. Others appear in the tirades of anti-immigrant populists, invoking the specter of a rising tide of humanity as cause to slam borders shut. Still others inspire a chorus of neo-Luddites, who fear that the "rise of the robots" is rapidly making human workers obsolete, a threat all the more alarming if the human population is exploding. They may be the one thing that can protect the global economy from the dangers that lie ahead.
Uber creates an AI lab to help fuel its self-driving dreams
If Uber is going to make its dreams of self-driving ridesharing cars a reality, it's going to need a lot of expertise in artificial intelligence... and it's taking big steps to make that happen. The company has created Uber AI Labs to fuel its research, and it's getting the team started by acquiring AI startup Geometric Intelligence. It's a small 15-person outfit, but the newly purchased company stands out by resisting the urge to train AI by feeding it large data sets. As the New York Times notes, Geometric Intelligence prefers to have systems create their own rules from just a handful of examples -- while Uber ride data will help, the AI won't need a wealth of knowledge to make informed decisions. Autonomous driving will be the star of the show at the new labs, but Uber is promising that its AI work will shape a lot of its day-to-day business. It could improve the accuracy of predicted arrival times for your rides and UberEats deliveries, tackle fraud and improve the chances of UberPool matching your car with other travelers.
'Life is not going to be the same': Slaying of beloved USC professor leaves colleagues and friends crestfallen
When students enrolled in USC's daunting neuroscience graduate program needed help cracking a tough project, they all went to Bosco Tjan. It didn't hurt that his advice often came with a free cappuccino. Mara Mather, a professor of gerontology and psychology at USC, described Tjan as an affable, caring presence on campus. He always found time to aid students and professors despite a breathless schedule. In many ways, she said, Tjan was the center's heartbeat.
AI is coming, and will take some jobs, but no need to worry
The capabilities of artificial intelligence and machine learning are accelerating, and many cybersecurity tasks currently performed by humans will be automated. There will still be plenty of work to go around so job prospects should remain good, especially for those who keep up with technology, broaden their skill sets, and get a better understanding of their company's business needs. Cybersecurity jobs won't go the way of telephone operators. Take, for example, Spain-based antivirus company Panda Security. When the company first started, there were a number of people reverse-engineering malicious code and writing signatures.