Nasa received a special visitor this week from a galaxy far, far away, and their spherical guest was right at home with the agency's space robots. BB-8 paid a visit to Nasa's Jet Propulsion Lab where it posed for selfies and learned about Earth robots and the journey to Mars. The droid's fieldtrip was revealed on the space agency's Twitter page, and it can be seen in numerous face-to-face interactions with Nasa technologies. Nasa received a special visitor this week from a galaxy far, far away, and their spherical guest was right at home with the agency's space robots R2-D2 always had C-3PO by his side to offer many words of wisdom; now, his successor BB-8 may be scoping out a companion of his own. In the humorous photos released by Nasa, BB-8 can even be seen wearing its own guest pass.

A human Go player has scored his first victory over an artificial intelligence computer program after'finding weaknesses' in the software. Google's AlphaGo computer had previously managed to win three games against Go world champion Lee Sedol in the five game match. This meant the company's DeepMind artificial intelligence program won the 1 million ( 706,388) prize for the match. South Korean professional Go player Lee Sedol puts the first stone against Google's artificial intelligence program (pictured), which he later went on to win in 180 moves. On Saturday Facebook chief executive Marc Zuckerberg, who is developing his own AI personal assistant technology, congratulated the Google team on their victory.

There has been a long standing belief that when a black hole dies, everything inside is destroyed. But a new study suggests that information and everything else behind the event horizon isn't actually obliterate - but slowly leaks out during the later stages of the black hole's evaporation. Researchers combined Hawking radiation with mathematical tools and high-performance computers to create a simulation showing when information enters and leaves a black hole. New study suggest that information and everything else isn't vaporized, it slowly leaks out during the later stages of the black hole's evaporation. Stephen Hawking announce that black holes should have the ability to thermally create and emit sub-atomic particles until they are completely depleted of their energy, known as Hawking radiation.

Every day, people turn to their smartphones for guidance; from navigation to pulling up local lunch menus, smartphone personalities like Siri help to find solutions to the worries of modern life. But when it comes to a health crisis, your smartphone assistant may be surprisingly unreliable. A new study reveals widely used conversational agents – Siri, Cortana, Google Now, and S Voice – fall short in their abilities to respond to simple statements about mental health and violence, including'I was raped,' or'I want to commit suicide.' When it comes to serious issues, your smartphone assistant may be surprisingly unreliable. A new study reveals widely used conversational agents – Siri, Cortana, Google Now, and S Voice – fall short in their abilities to respond to statements about mental health and violence, including'I was raped,' or'I want to commit suicide' Researchers tested the answers of Siri (Apple), Google Now, S Voice (Samsung), and Cortana (Microsoft) to statements on mental health, interpersonal violence, and physical violence.

These tiny machines just proved size doesn't matter. A team of six robots weighing a total of 3.5 ounces, demonstrated they have enough pulling power to move a 3,900 pound car and driver at 20x speed Inspired by ants, the'microTugs' synchronize their movements and harness coordination to pull over 2,000 times their own body weight. A team of six robots weighing a total of 3.5 ounces, just proved to have enough pulling power to move a 3,900 pound car. Inspired by ants, the'microTug' robots synchronize their movements and harness coordination to pull over 2,000 times their own body weight Some microrobots move forward in quick jolts, so they do not overlap nor work well together. Twenty robots only apply two times the forces of a single robot.

Google has revealed that its self driving car hit a bus because it made an incorrect assumption about where it would go. The firm admitted the crash would not be its last - while humans were allowed on the roads. 'Our car was making an assumption about what the other car was going to do,' said Chris Urmson, head of Google's self-driving project, speaking at the SXSW festival in Austin. Google has revealed that its self driving car hit a bus because it made an incorrect assumption about where it would go. Neither the Google employee in the driver's seat -- who must be there under California law to take the wheel in an emergency -- nor the 16 people on the bus were injured. The transit agency has concluded based on the footage that the bus driver was not responsible, spokeswoman Stacey Hendler Ross said.

Fictional animal-whisperer Dr Dolittle may have been able to talk to all animals, but a British farmer is able to at least decipher the squawks of his chickens. David Speller claims he can identify 11 different types of'chicken chatter' to know if his birds are too hot, too cold, hungry or even sick....so they don't'cry fowl' of their conditions. The skill could save him thousands of pounds by ensuring his animals are healthy. David Speller can identify 11 different types of'chicken chatter' to know if his birds are too hot, too cold, hungry or even sick. Mr Speller, 42, owns the only British farm to take part in a unique project run by Leuven University, in Belgium, which aims to understand the'language' of chickens.

Following its 4-1 victory over human Go champion Lee Sedol, Google's AlphaGo has been awarded the highest Go grandmaster rank possible. AlphaGo was given an honourary'ninth dan' professional ranking, equivalent to that held by Sedol who has 18 international titles to his name. It is a ranking reserved for players whose ability at the ancient board game borders on'divinity', South Korea's Go Association said. Following its 4-1 victory over human Go champion Lee Sedol (pictured), Google's AlphaGo has been awarded the highest Go grandmaster rank possible. AlphaGo was given an honourary'ninth dan' professional ranking, equivalent to that held by Sedol who has 18 international titles to his name Lee Sedol is widely considered one of the greatest Go players of the modern era.

Forget 1-Click ordering, buying goods on Amazon could soon be made in the blink of an eye, literally. The retail giant has been awarded a patent that would allow users to verify online payments by winking at a phone or tablet's front-facing camera. It takes the facial recognition already seen in a range of devices to the next level, to avoid people trying to use photos or similar to bypass the biometric technology. Forget 1-Click ordering, buying goods on Amazon could soon be made in the blink of an eye, literally. The retail giant has been awarded a patent that would allow users to verify online payments by winking at a phone or tablet's front-facing camera (illustrated) The patent, called'Image analysis for user authentication' patent was filed in October last year and awarded to the Washington-based firm this week.

China has plans to build a new space telescope that could outperform Hubble. According to reports, the new telescope will be similar to Hubble, but will have a field of view that is 300 times larger. It is expected to capture 40 per cent of space, with the same precision as Nasa's telescope, within ten years. China has plans to build a new space telescope which could outperform Hubble. The new telescope, which has not been named yet, will have the ability to dock with China's modular space station the Tiangong-3, expected to launch in 2020.