The Stanford research who made headlines in 2017 for designing an AI that uses'facial landmarks' to determine a person's sexual preference is back with what may be another controversial system. Dr. Michal Kosinski claims to have a facial recognition algorithm capable of identifying if a person is a liberal or conservative based on a single photo – and with over 70 percent accuracy. The technology, which builds on the 2017 AI, was trained with more than a million images from dating websites and Facebook and programmed to focus in on expressions and posture. Although Kosinski and his team were unable to pin down exact characteristics the algorithm associated with a political preference, but they did find some trends like head orientation and emotional expression in pictures. Some examples include people who looked directly at the camera were labeled as liberal and those showing disgust were judged as more conservative.

A school of robotic fish that are able to coordinate their movements underwater - just like real fish - have been created by a team of engineers. Harvard University experts created the fish-inspired bots to work without any external control, mimicking the collective behaviours groups of fish demonstrate. Schools of fish exhibit complex, synchronised behaviours that help them find food, migrate and evade predators with no one fish coordinating the movements. The robotic fish can synchronise their movements like a real school of fish, without any external control - the first time this complex behaviour has been show in robots. The team say in future a similar swarm of robotic fish could be deployed to perform environmental monitoring and search in fragile environments like coral reefs.

The idea of an artificial intelligence (AI) uprising may sound like the plot of a science-fiction film, but the notion is a topic of a new study that finds it is possible and we would not be able to stop it. A team of international scientists designed a theoretical containment algorithm that ensures a super-intelligent system could not harm people under any circumstance, by simulating the AI and blocking it from wrecking havoc on humanity. However, the analysis shows current algorithms do not have the ability to halt AI, because commanding the system to not destroy the world would inadvertently halt the algorithm's own operations. Iyad Rahwan, Director of the Center for Humans and Machines, said: 'If this happened, you would not know whether the containment algorithm is still analyzing the threat, or whether it has stopped to contain the harmful AI.' 'In effect, this makes the containment algorithm unusable.' AI has been fascinating humans for years, as we are in awe by machines that control cars, compose symphonies or beat the world's best chess player at their own game.

Samsung has unveiled its latest range of flagship smartphones, with three models ranging in price from £769 ($799) to £1,149 ($1,199). The S21 range from the South Korean tech giant features an entry-level model, the mid-range Plus, and the Ultra – which is the first S Series phone to be compatible with the Samsung's S-Pen stylus. The stand-out feature on all three devices is the upgraded rear camera system, which was heavily leaked ahead of today's announcement and features night and portrait mode as well as its 100x'space zoom'. Pre-orders of the handsets open today, and the phones will be available as of January 29. The Ultra also comes with S-pen compatibility, the first Galaxy device to do so.

O2 has rolled out its 5G network in 53 new towns and cities across the UK, pulling ahead of its rival EE to become the nation's biggest provider of ultra-fast mobile internet. The new locations include Birmingham, Durham and Portsmouth, bringing O2's total number of locations with 5G to 150. The network also allows for larger amounts of data to be transferred at once, which could one day help power technologies such as fully autonomous cars. O2 has rolled out its 5G network in 53 new towns and cities across the UK, taking it ahead of its rival EE to become the nation's biggest provider of the ultra-fast internet The network also allow for larger amounts of data to be transferred at once, which could one day help power technologies such as fully autonomous cars. For most consumers, 5G will allow you to carry out tasks on your smartphone more quickly and efficiently.

Thermal screening to spot people infected with coronavirus is more reliable when scanning the eyeball and fingertip than taking body or forehead measurements. Experts in human physiology published a scientific article on the usefulness of thermometers which scan a person's skin to detect a fever. They say the current process is fundamentally flawed and produces a large number of false negatives, as well as some false positives, and also because not all people infected with the coronavirus develop a fever. A fever is defined as a temperature of greater than or equal to 100.4F (38 C) if spotted outside of a healthcare environment. In healthcare settings, such as a hospital, a fever is technically defined as anything greater than or equal to 100.0F (37.8 C).

Say the word Apple today and we think of Steve Jobs' multi-billion-dollar technology company that spawned the iPhone and the Mac computer. But a decade before the California-based firm was even founded, Apple Electronics, a subsidiary of the Beatles' record label Apple, was working on several pioneering inventions – some of which were precursors of commonly available products today. Apple Electronics was led by Alexis Mardas, a young electronics engineer and inventor originally from Athens in Greece, known to the Beatles as Magic Alex. He died on this day in 2017, aged 74, and was one of the most colourful and mysterious characters in the Beatles' story. Dressed in a white lab coat in his London workshop, Mardas created prototypes of inventions that were set to be marketed and sold. These included the'composing typewriter' – powered by an early example of sound recognition – and a phone with advanced memory capacity.

General Motors (GM) is taking its business to new heights by unveiling a flying self-driving taxi under its Cadillac brand at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). The American carmaker shared a concept video showcasing a single-seater electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft that tops speeds of 56mph. Not only is GM's future taking to the skies, but the video also showed it is heading down the road with a new luxury autonomous shuttle that seats two passengers. The concept vehicles were revealed during the firm's morning remarks at the tech conference that is being held virtually for the first time due to the lingering coronavirus pandemic. General Motors (GM) shared a concept video of two futuristic vehicles under the Cadillac brand.

From smartphones to TVs, Sony is known for its impressive range of electronic products. Now, the tech giant is turning its attention to drones, launching a new spin-off brand called Airpeak. Airpeak is said to be the industry's smallest class of drone that can be equipped with Sony's Alpha mirrorless camera system. Sony hopes its new drones will support the creativity of video creators, and is even seeking collaborators to participate in the Airpeak project. Airpeak is said to be the industry's smallest class of drone equipped with Sony's Alpha mirrorless camera system The Airpeak model shown off at CES features a quadcopter design, with two landing gear extensions that retract upwards during flight.

Cheating on your diet could lead to weight gain, but if you follow the Mediterranean diet and switch to unhealthy foods you may also make your brain age faster. A team from Rush University Medical Center found that adding in foods from the Western diet, such as pizza, sweets and processed meats, reverse cognitive benefits from the Mediterranean diet. The study examined more than 5,000 individuals over the age of 65 from 1993 to 2021 and over the course of three years participants were asked to complete cognitive tests and report on how often the ate certain foods. Researcher recently compiled the data and found those who stuck to the Mediterranean diet had brains that were nearly six years younger than their peers on the Western diet. The Mediterranean diet is inspired by the eating habits of Spain, Italy and Greece, and focuses on consuming more fruit and fish and limiting sugar, dairy and processed foods.