Do you love nothing more than to backtrack through a part of a video game you've already been through? I surely do--I love to confidently revisit an area I struggled through once I've powered up and am now able to take it on with ease. Backtracking can be divisive (my very own editor can't stand it), but if you, too, find it satisfying, you need to get yourself Metroid Dread--the first original Metroid story in nearly two decades, now on Nintendo Switch. It's a game that finds innovative ways to deliver the surprising pleasures of returning to an area again and again, reaffirming my love for this conceit that others may still scoff at.. What exactly are those pleasures, for those who can't fathom traveling to the same place multiple times? I'm glad you asked--because I'm not at all alone in loving this practice.

Wagering giant Tabcorp is preparing to install artificial intelligence-powered video surveillance in its 400 TAB agencies in what it says is a world-first bid to prevent underage gambling. The $9.5 billion group recently completed an eight-week trial in three Melbourne TAB agencies to test software that identifies when someone potentially under the age of 18 enters a betting shop. The AI software alerts staff if a potential underage punter has entered the venue. Tabcorp's executive general manager of wagering Andy Wright said the company was satisfied with the trial and would start rolling out the new technology in agencies across Australia from the middle of 2020. "In retail, you have the anonymity of cash and there's a heightened level of risk around that," Mr Wright said.

Our technology comes in the form of the HyperDiver - a device that is physically guided by a diver to scan a seafloor area. The HyperDiver contains a sophisticated hyperspectral camera, which is linked to a machine learning algorithm, so that an entire seafloor can be automatically identified and monitored - with new eyes. For example, on a coral reef it can detect coral species, notorious algae, sponges, etc., but the HyperDiver can also identify whether corals are diseased, bleached or if there are any coral-killing starfishes present (i.e., crown-of-thorns starfish). Some examples of hyperspectral scans obtained with the HyperDiver can be seen below. They show two different reefs: the top reef is a healthy, coral dominated reef, while the bottom reef is dominated by macroalgae and turf algae, with very little coral cover.