It's 1am on the west coast of America, but the Emerald Cloud Lab, just south of San Francisco, is still busy. I'm "visiting" via the camera on a chest-high telepresence robot, being driven round the 1,400 sq metre (15,000 sq ft) lab by Emerald's CEO, Brian Frezza, who is also sitting at home. There are no actual scientists anywhere, just a few staff in blue coats quietly following instructions from screens on their trolleys, ensuring the instruments are loaded with reagents and samples. Cloud labs mean anybody, anywhere can conduct experiments by remote control, using nothing more than their web browser. Experiments are programmed through a subscription-based online interface – software then coordinates robots and automated scientific instruments to perform the experiment and process the data.

As a chemistry PhD student, Dmytro Kolodieznyi was used to running experiments. But in early 2018, his research advisers asked him to take part in one run by robots instead. They wanted Kolodieznyi, who was developing intracellular fluorescent probes at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to spend a month attempting to recreate his research at Emerald Cloud Lab (ECL). The biotechnology company in South San Francisco, California, enables scientists to perform wet-laboratory experiments remotely in an automated research environment known as a cloud lab. If the trial went well, it would help pave the way to the wider use of cloud labs at the university.

As a chemistry PhD student, Dmytro Kolodieznyi was used to running experiments. But in early 2018, his research advisers asked him to take part in one run by robots instead. They wanted Kolodieznyi, who was developing intracellular fluorescent probes at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to spend a month attempting to recreate his research at Emerald Cloud Lab (ECL). The biotechnology company in South San Francisco, California, enables scientists to perform wet-laboratory experiments remotely in an automated research environment known as a cloud lab. If the trial went well, it would help pave the way to the wider use of cloud labs at the university.

Microsoft launched on Tuesday, February 18, the first artificial intelligence laboratory at the Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies (ASE), one of the largest economic higher education institutes in Romania. In the new lab, which required an investment of EUR 50,000, the students can find more about machine learning, create and test AI algorithms, store and manage huge volumes of data, or develop applications and platforms themselves, local Republica.ro As of March 3, 11 cloud engineers from Microsoft Romania will hold courses aimed at helping students develop both technical and business innovation skills. The first course to be held in the new cloud lab will focus on the latest innovations in information technology using Azure, Microsoft's cloud computing platform. The next courses will focus on artificial intelligence, and the ASE students will be encouraged to develop their own projects.