Your trip to the beach could someday be a lot safer, thanks to artificial intelligence. Researchers at the University of California Santa Cruz, led by Professor Alex Pang, are developing potentially life-saving A.I. algorithms geared toward detecting and monitoring potential dangers along the shoreline, according to the Santa Cruz Sentinel. The life-saving technology could also alert lifeguards of potential hazards and detect rip currents or riptides, which, according to water rescues and safety expert Gerry Dworkin, account for 80% of ocean lifeguard interventions. WHAT IS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)? Flags warn that the beach is closed to swimmers at Rockaway Beach in New York as high surf from Hurricane Franklin delivers strong rip tides and large waves to most of the eastern seaboard on August 31, 2023 in New York City.

Lifeguards in Flagler Beach, Florida, formed a human chain to rescue a boogie boarder who appeared to have drifted far from shore. A team of lifeguards in Florida were captured on drone video over the weekend forming a human chain to rescue a boogie boarder from a rip current that was pulling him out into the ocean. Joe Osborne was on break from his job at a tattoo parlor in Flagler Beach when he decided to fly his drone over the ocean and captured the lifeguards in action. "I was actually kind of impressed," Osborne told FOX35 Orlando. "It was definitely a rehearsed thing ... with their buoys and their lines, and they use them in unison. I thought it was very neat."

Early July is the cue for Japanese surfers and sun seekers to descend on beaches across the country – and one beach on the Pacific coast is turning to artificial intelligence to ensure that their time in the water is without incident. Officials in Kanagawa prefecture, south of Tokyo, have introduced an AI system to identify rip currents – which cause 60% of drowning deaths – and send a warning to bathers and lifeguards, according to the Mainichi Shimbun. The beach at Yuigahama, a popular beach in the town Kamakura, which reopened on 1 July after two years of closures due to the coronavirus pandemic, is a well-known surfing spot and is expected to attract huge numbers of people during what the meteorological agency predicts will be an unusually hot summer. Experts at the Japan Lifesaving Association and Chuo University in Tokyo collected rip current data over six months in the winter of 2021 to ensure the system worked, the Mainichi reported. According to the lifesaving association, a web camera mounted on a pole identifies a rip current and anyone swimming its vicinity, and then immediately notifies a lifeguard via a smart watch.

The programme, developed by a company called SightBit, uses information collected from surveillance cameras to determine who is in the water -- an adult or child, for example -- if they are moving or limp, and the current's movement at that location. If a threat is determined, the programme sends an alert to a tablet held by the user -- a lifeguard, in this case -- with urgent instructions to act. SightBit's chief executive Netanel Eliav told AFP that he developed the technology after identifying a shortfall in how closed-circuit footage was being applied to boost safety in the water. The programme has been in use for more than a year in Ashdod, a city on Israel's Mediterranean coast that chose to deploy SightBit technology in an area at a distance from the nearest lifeguard. "We chose to locate the technology in areas away from the lifeguard towers, so the additional'eyes' there help the lifeguards very much," said Arie Turjeman, director of Ashdod's coast division.

A new artificial intelligence-based (AI) lifeguard system aims to prevent drowning and monitor waterfront and coastal areas. Sightbit has been developed by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) alumni in Israel and aims to help lifeguards monitor thousands of swimmers and identify risky situations and other water hazards. The system is already being used by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority along five miles of coastline in Palmachim National Park, creating what the developers claim is the first smart beach. According to the World Health Organisation, there are an estimated 320,000 annual drowning deaths worldwide. Drowning is the third leading cause of unintentional injury death worldwide, accounting for seven per cent of all injury-related deaths.

A teenager in New South Wales recently died after a fatal shark bite, adding to four other unprovoked shark-related deaths this year. These tragic events send shockwaves through the community and re-ignite our fear of sharks. They also fuel the debate around the best way to keep people safe in the water while minimising impacts on marine wildlife. This was the aim of a five-year trial of shark-mitigation technology--the Shark Management Strategy – which finished recently. The NSW government created this initiative in response to an unprecedented spike in shark bites in 2015, particularly on the north coast of NSW.

Drowning is the third leading cause of accidental death, according to World Health Organization (WHO) data, with an estimated 320,000 fatalities each year globally. While lifeguards play a crucial role in helping safeguard beaches and pools, the human eye struggles to spot swimmers in distress in large crowds or at a distance -- with or without the help of binoculars. Sightbit is harnessing AI to alert lifeguards to potential drowning incidents, as well as flagging other hazardous situations, such as unattended children and rip currents. Founded in 2019, Israel-based Sightbit is a spinout from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU). The public research university invests in alumni via its Cactus Capital VC fund and has provided pre-seed funding to Sightbit, which is currently raising additional funds as part of a seed round.

An extended 5km (3.1 miles) no-fly zone for drones has come into force around airports in the UK after reported sightings at Gatwick, Heathrow and Dublin airports in recent months grounded hundreds of flights and left thousands stranded. Previously, only a 1km (0.6 mile) exclusion zone was in place. But despite the negative reputation they have received, the use of drones isn't all bad. From finding missing people to delivering takeaways, here are some of the ways the unmanned aircraft can be beneficial. A Norfolk man who went missing in June last year was only found when a police drone spotted him stuck on a marsh.

Here are all the leaked skins and cosmetics coming to Fortnite.Credit: Epic Games / Erik Kain Another batch of Fortnite skins and cosmetics has leaked online. These cosmetics are all part of the v5.10 patch that comes out tomorrow and also marks the beginning of the 1-year Fortnite birthday celebration. While we've seen some historically-themed skins like Vikings show up so far this season, the next couple of weeks look devoted to a much lighter concept: Summer fun. From lifeguards to scuba divers, here are the latest leaked items coming to Fortnite: Battle Royale. While I'm not sure if this is what this set will actually be called, this is most definitely a totally radical lifeguard set.

There's a scene in Black Panther where Shuri, Letiticia Wright's character, hops into a car seat and remotely drives a sleek Lexus Sedan through the streets of Busan, Korea. While not quite a driverless car experience, remote driving offers a tantalizing imagining of the future of transportation. These are, after all, heady times for the transportation industry. Google and Uber are testing self-driving cars at this very moment. Drone deliveries from Amazon will happen sooner rather later.