'encompassing both the euphrates and tigris rivers, the area gave birth to the first cities, states, bureaucracy and written communication in history,' explains ferdi slici, director and founder of ouchhh. 'in other words, civilization originated in the fertile crescent. 'göbeklitepe is, in many ways, the epicenter of history. 'the temples, adorned with animist figurines reflecting the religious faith of prehistoric people, have made göbeklitepe one of the most significant archaeological discoveries of recent times. 'until recently, it was thought that monumental structures of this size were only possible given more advanced stages of human settlement.

Loneliness has become an epidemic, and among ways to cope, perhaps self-driving cars might be part of the cure. We are in the midst of a loneliness epidemic. And, unfortunately, it is predicted to worsen. According to stats by the U.S. Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA), one in five Americans indicates that they are lonely and feel socially isolated. Approximately 25% of Americans live alone.

A new self-driving car service is hitting the streets of Frisco, Texas this week. But, unlike its competitors – many of whom are working to blend in – it seems Drive.ai is doing just about everything it can to stand out. The firm rolled out a fleet of bright orange cars today, each of which is adorned with a blue and white banner that says'Self Driving Vehicle' and four external LED screens to let pedestrians know what it's doing at any given moment. A new self-driving car service is hitting the streets of Frisco, Texas this week. But, unlike its competitors – many of whom are working to blend in – it seems Drive.ai is doing just about everything it can to stand out.

Facial recognition technology is really starting to become a big deal in China. It wasn't that long ago when Chinese traffic police began using facial recognition to nab those who were violating traffic laws. Now they've taken things one step further with artificial intelligence (AI): When the facial recognition cameras catch someone jaywalking, not only will they be identified, named, and publicly shamed, they will also be sent text messages telling them what their violation is and how much the fine they have to pay will be. Based on online reports, a Shenzhen-based AI company called Intellifusion will be in charge of rolling out this "feature" of the new Shenzhen traffic system. That is, in addition to simply displaying the faces of jaywalkers on giant LED screens located at intersections, they will be working with local mobile phone carriers and social media companies in order to work out a system that will send out the jaywalking-related text messages to jaywalkers as soon as they get caught. And things can only get worse for traffic violators.

Cisco announced plans Thursday to bring voice control to its Cisco Spark Room series hardware, the first step in a larger plan to make an AI-powered meeting assistant available across all Cisco hardware. The Cisco Spark Assistant uses natural language processing and machine learning to understand what a person wants by harnessing technology from MindMeld, the AI startup Cisco acquired in May for $125 million. The assistant will be available in early 2018, first packaged with the Cisco Spark Room 70. With a 70-inch LED screen, the single Room 70 costs $55,900 without a monthly subscription, while a dual Room 70 can be had for $79,900. The Room 70 follows the release earlier this year of the Spark Room 55, a whiteboard with a 55-inch LED screen that goes for about $5,000.