Researchers are using artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to calibrate some of NASA's images of the Sun. Launched in 2010, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) has provided high-definition images of the Sun for over a decade. The Atmospheric Imagery Assembly, or AIA, is one of two imaging instruments on SDO and looks constantly at the Sun, taking images across 10 wavelengths of ultraviolet light every 12 seconds. This creates a wealth of information of the Sun like no other, but like all Sun-staring instruments--AIA degrades over time, and the data needs to be frequently calibrated, NASA said in a statement. To overcome this challenge, scientists decided to look at other options to calibrate the instrument, with an eye towards constant calibration.

But if you were being very precise--if you were a team of Massachusetts of Technology researchers who study human-machine interactions--you wouldn't say that all those Americans are "driving," exactly. The new driver assistance systems on the market--like Tesla's's Autopilot, Volvo's's Pilot Assist, and Jaguar Land Rover's InControl Driver Assistance--mean that some of those travelers are doing an entirely new thing, participating in a novel, fluid dance. The human handles the wheel in some situations, and the machine handles it in others: changing lanes, parking, monitoring blind spots, warning when the car is about to crash. We might need a new word. Fully autonomous cars won't swarm the roads en masse for decades, and in the meantime, we'll have these semiautonomous systems.

By the year 2030, artificial intelligence (A.I.) will have changed the way we travel to work and to parties, how we take care of our health and how our kids are educated. Focused on trying to foresee the advances coming to A.I., as well as the ethical challenges they'll bring, the panel yesterday released its first study. The 28,000-word report, "Artificial Intelligence and Life in 2030," looks at eight categories -- from employment to healthcare, security, entertainment, education, service robots, transportation and poor communities -- and tries to predict how smart technologies will affect urban life. "We believe specialized A.I. applications will become both increasingly common and more useful by 2030, improving our economy and quality of life," Peter Stone, a computer scientist at the University of Texas at Austin and chair of the 17-member panel of international experts, said in a written statement. "But this technology will also create profound challenges, affecting jobs and incomes and other issues that we should begin addressing now to ensure that the benefits of A.I. are broadly shared."

By the year 2030, artificial intelligence (A.I.) will have changed the way we travel to work and to parties, how we take care of our health and how our kids are educated. Focused on trying to foresee the advances coming to A.I., as well as the ethical challenges they'll bring, the panel yesterday released its first study. The 28,000-word report, "Artificial Intelligence and Life in 2030," looks at eight categories -- from employment to healthcare, security, entertainment, education, service robots, transportation and poor communities -- and tries to predict how smart technologies will affect urban life. "We believe specialized A.I. applications will become both increasingly common and more useful by 2030, improving our economy and quality of life," Peter Stone, a computer scientist at the University of Texas at Austin and chair of the 17-member panel of international experts, said in a written statement. "But this technology will also create profound challenges, affecting jobs and incomes and other issues that we should begin addressing now to ensure that the benefits of A.I. are broadly shared."