AI
Preparing for the Future of Artificial Intelligence whitehouse.gov
...the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy is excited to announce that we will be co-hosting four public workshops over the coming months on topics in AI to spur public dialogue on artificial intelligence and machine learning and identify challenges and opportunities related to this emerging technology.
Augmented Reality
U California Davis Brings Augmented Reality to Middle School campustechnology
"This sandbox will allow our students to literally play in the sand while learning," said Kathryn Procope, head of school at Howard University Middle School, in a prepared statement. "What could be more perfect? It brings the subjects of topography and geography to life for our students who are digital natives. By using their hands and technology, they will have the ability to terraform, see watershed effects on the physical earth, and understand the importance of stewardship of our natural resources. We are so excited and grateful to be selected for this project."
There are no videos on this article, and I just HAD to see this in action and, sure enough, watching people demonstrate this is as addicting as watching a lava lamp. Check out the videos on UCDavis' website. v
Google may be thinking about putting Android in your eyeball androidauthority
For those of you who A) think that Google is a bit too invasive already and B) suffer from “Eye Scream” squeamishness, this article is probably going to be a tough read. A patent filed in 2014 has just been made public that reveals that Google wants to create a device that would be installed literally inside your eyeball.
Normally I don't post patent announcements just because they don't mean that the device will ever be created. But this was was just so...invasive, that I just had to :)
Tech
IBM Just Put A Quantum Computer On The Cloud For Anyone To Use forbes
At a new site called the IBM Quantum Experience, researchers and quantum fans will now be able to run their own experiments on one of the research lab’s actual quantum processors hooked up to the cloud. IBM is offering tutorials on quantum mechanics and an interface for easily dragging and dropping operations to create an algorithm to run on the quantum processor.
Cyborg
Researchers build a better bionic hand phys.org v
Letain adds: "With this new system, it feels like I'm opening and closing my hand. The most exciting moment for me was feeling my left index finger and the little finger for the first time since my accident. With the hook you don't use those muscles at all. This system puts my mind to work in a whole new way."
Abortion
Yes, hospitals do abortions. This Washington doctor says her hospital forces her to keep it quiet. washingtonpost
About 4 percent of the nation’s pregnancy terminations take place in hospitals, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive rights think tank, and hospitals comprise more than a third of the nation’s abortion providers. Most do this work quietly, compared to the more visible standalone clinics such as Planned Parenthood.
Embryo
Scientists break record for keeping lab-grown human embryos alive theguardian
The feat has been hailed as a milestone in the field, but the work by two teams of researchers in the US and the UK puts scientists into direct conflict with a decades-old law that prohibits donated embryos from being grown in the lab for more than 14 days.
Genetics
Pondering ‘what it means to be human’ on the frontier of gene editing washingtonpost
People in pain write to Jennifer Doudna. They have a congenital illness. Or they have a sick child. Or they carry the gene for Huntington’s disease or some other dreadful time bomb wired through every cell in their body. They know that Doudna helped invent an extraordinary new gene-editing technology, known as CRISPR.
Doudna found herself increasingly troubled. She had a particularly awful dream (first recounted in the New Yorker) in which a colleague wanted her to explain CRISPR to a man with a funny little mustache — a man she suddenly realized was Adolf Hitler.
At one point the article wanders off into femenisim and glass ceilings for a bit, but the beginning and end are good as even one of the developers of this technology talks about being wary of its potential.
Society
Graduating from marriage in Japan edition.cnn v
When Yuriko Nishi's three grown-up sons left home, she asked her husband of 36 years an unusual question: Was there any dream married life had prevented him from fulfilling?
Sotsukon is for couples still in love, who decide to "live apart together" in their sunset years to achieve their separate dreams.
War
Russia to boost troops along borders to counter Nato telegraph.co.uk
Two new divisions will be deployed to Russia’s western border and one to the south the end of the year, Sergei Shoigu said in Moscow on Wednesday.
Russia
Russia offers free land to all citizens willing to move to the Far East washingtonpost
Those interested in the venture can hold their hectare (about 2.5 acres) free of payment or tax for five years. After that, they would receive titles to their plot provided they have put it to use in the prior years.
Israel
US-Israel aid talks stumble over missile defense timesofisrael
Negotiations over a new US security aid package to Israel have hit a snag, and the two sides are in disagreement not only over the size of the annual increase but also over a request from the Jewish state that a separate sub-package for missile defense be enshrined in the deal, Reuters reported Tuesday.
ISIS
Isil manufacturing its own chemical weapons, warns watchdog chief telegraph.co.uk
"The suspicions are that (Isil) may have produced [homemade sulphur mustard] themselves, which is extremely worrying," Ahmet Uzumcu, the head of OPCW, said yesterday. "It proves that they have the technology, know-how and also access to the materials which might be used for the production of chemical weapons."
Iran
IRANIAN COMMANDER THREATENS TO CLOSE STRAIT OF HORMUZ TO US apnewsarchive
The remarks by the acting commander of the Guard also follow those of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who on Monday criticized U.S. activities in the Persian Gulf. It's unclear whether that signals any new Iranian concern over the strait or possible confrontation with the U.S. following its nuclear deal with world powers.
Migrants
EU plans penalties for refusing asylum seekers bbc
The bloc's executive body is planning a sanction of €250,000 (£200,000; $290,000) per person.
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