Reaction mechanism search tools have demonstrated the ability to provide insights into likely products and rate-limiting steps of reacting systems. However, reactions involving several concerted bond changes - as can be found in many key steps of natural product synthesis - can complicate the search process. To mitigate these complications, we present a mechanism search strategy particularly suited to help expedite exploration of an exemplary family of such complex reactions, cyclizations. We provide a cost-effective strategy for identifying relevant elementary reaction steps by combining graph-based enumeration schemes and machine learning techniques for intermediate filtering. Key to this approach is our use of a neural network potential (NNP), AIMNet2-rxn, for computational evaluation of each candidate reaction pathway. In this article, we evaluate the NNP's ability to estimate activation energies, demonstrate the correct anticipation of stereoselectivity, and recapitulate complex enabling steps in natural product synthesis.

The table is set for Alexa's big AI reveal, with Amazon holding a long-delayed "devices and services" event in New York City this Wednesday, February 26. For its part, Amazon has offered a few hints, noting that Wednesday's unveiling with be "Alexa-focused." Meanwhile, tech sleuths have discovered that if you assemble the various press invites Amazon sent out for the gathering, you can spell out the "Alexa" logo. Of course, what we're all waiting to see is whether Amazon's long-promised AI revamp for Alexa is ready for prime time. The last time we saw the new AI Alexa was way back in fall 2023, and since then, there's been a great deal of chatter about false starts, delays, and reversals in Amazon's AI strategy for Alexa.

Last month, Apple's tablets got a major revamp with the arrival of the M4 chip, two size options for the iPad Air, updates to the Magic Keyboard and a new iPad Pro packing a fancy Tandem OLED display. And now at WWDC 2024, Apple is looking to flesh out the iPad's software with a number of fresh features heading to iPadOS 18, which is due out sometime later this year. To start, iPadOS is getting new customization options for your home screen including the ability to put app icons wherever you want. Control Center has also been expanded with support for creating multiple lists and views, resizing and rearranging icons and more. There's also a new floating tab bar that makes it easy to navigate between apps, which can be further tuned to remember your favorite software.

Deep Learning models, such as those used in an autonomous vehicle are vulnerable to adversarial attacks where an attacker could place an adversarial object in the environment, leading to mis-classification. Generating these adversarial objects in the digital space has been extensively studied, however successfully transferring these attacks from the digital realm to the physical realm has proven challenging when controlling for real-world environmental factors. In response to these limitations, we introduce REVAMP, an easy-to-use Python library that is the first-of-its-kind tool for creating attack scenarios with arbitrary objects and simulating realistic environmental factors, lighting, reflection, and refraction. REVAMP enables researchers and practitioners to swiftly explore various scenarios within the digital realm by offering a wide range of configurable options for designing experiments and using differentiable rendering to reproduce physically plausible adversarial objects. We will demonstrate and invite the audience to try REVAMP to produce an adversarial texture on a chosen object while having control over various scene parameters. The audience will choose a scene, an object to attack, the desired attack class, and the number of camera positions to use. Then, in real time, we show how this altered texture causes the chosen object to be mis-classified, showcasing the potential of REVAMP in real-world scenarios. REVAMP is open-source and available at https://github.com/poloclub/revamp.

Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference regularly sets the tone for the company's future, and that may be truer than ever for 2023. Many expect the company to introduce its first mixed reality headset at the event, with a new platform to match. However, the wearable is far from the only major announcement believed to be coming at WWDC this year. Rumors have included a larger MacBook Air, a major watchOS update and even app sideloading on iOS. Here's what you're likely to see when executives take to the digital stage on June 5th.

Spotify has bigger plans for the technology behind its new AI DJ feature after seeing positive consumer reaction to the new feature. Launched just ahead of the company's Stream On event in L.A. last week, the AI DJ curates a personalized selection of music combined with spoken commentary delivered in a realistic-sounding, AI-generated voice. But under the hood, the feature leverages the latest in AI technologies and large language models, as well as generative voice -- all of which are layered on top of Spotify's existing investments in personalization and machine learning. These new tools don't necessarily have to be limited to a single feature, Spotify believes, which is why it's now experimenting with other applications of the technology. Though the highlight from Spotify's Stream On event was the mobile app's revamp, which now focuses on TikTok-like discovery feeds for music, podcasts, and audiobooks, the AI DJ is now a prominent part of the streaming service's new experience.

When movies made the leap from silent to sound, production companies had their eyes on the next sensory frontier in entertainment. So in 1939, they attempted to bring smell into the cinematic experience. The Smell-O-Vision, a system that piped prepackaged scents from under movie theater seats, made its debut at the 1939 World's Fair in New York City. It didn't go as planned. Audiences complained that the scents were out-of-sync with the movie, overpowering, or simply unpleasant.

Welcome to Pushing Buttons, the Guardian's gaming newsletter. If you'd like to receive it in your inbox every week, just pop your email in below – and check your inbox (and spam) for the confirmation email. It is now becoming a running joke that massive games-industry news keeps dropping in the hours after this newsletter gets sent out on a Tuesday. A few months back it was Microsoft buying Activision Blizzard; then the New York Times bought Wordle. Last week it was Sony's rumoured revamp of the PlayStation Plus subscription service, and then the not entirely unexpected news that E3 – the annual games industry showcase in LA – has been completely cancelled, having previously shifted to a digital-only event.

Carbon Robotics, a Seattle-based firm led by Isilon Systems, Co-Founded by Paul Mikesell, has unveiled its self-driving robot, which employs a combination of robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), and laser technology to effectively and safely ride through farmlands to detect, target, and eradicate weeds. The farming robot has the appearance of a huge cube on wheels. Its 12 cameras scan the field as it drives down rows of crops. Weeds are identified by an AI-powered onboard computer, and the robot's carbon dioxide lasers zap and destroy the plants without damaging the soil. The fully automated system runs on diesel and can cover 15 to 20 acres (6 to 8 ha) every day, with its lasers leaving the surrounding soil uninterrupted to protect its microbiology.

Intelligent process automation in banking brings in a scalable, seamless & secure solution that redefines banking across all processes, experiences & customers. Are you ready to scale up? It would not be a wrong assertion to say that banks all over the world are facing the heat to ensure a profitable bottom line consistently. Increasing regulations, compliance & reporting requirements, competitive business landscape, and rapid technological advancements have pressed net revenues for banks and have impelled them to look inwards to boost operational productivity. What makes the situation considerably more unwieldy is the point at which a few banks neglect to modernize, depending on outdated technologies and archaic systems that should be supplanted. All these factors lead to inefficient resource utilization, poor cash flow, brand reputation loss, and the failure to acquire key business insights in real-time.