Around the corner from the famous Diamond District in New York City, David Weinstein sorts through some envelopes on his cluttered desk. All of them are full of diamonds.
Continue reading… “Are these lab-grown diamonds better than the real thing?”
The future of employee monitoring
In the wake of Edward Snowden’s revelations about the National Security Administration, the installation of mass surveillance equipment in cities across Europe, and disclosure of multiple massive user data leaks, people have been forced to confront the dystopian reality that big government has stepped into the role of Big Brother. What has been less discussed is the proliferation of little brothers, corporations that closely monitor their workers as a matter of course, using a variety of new technologies.
Continue reading… “The future of employee monitoring”
Minority Report-style AI learns to predict if people are criminals
Researchers have created a machine that they claim can tell if a person is a convicted criminal simply from their facial features. The artificial intelligence, created at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, was able to correctly identify criminals from a selection of 186 photos nine out of 10 times by assessing their eyes, nose and mouth.
Continue reading… “Minority Report-style AI learns to predict if people are criminals”
Scientists can remove fears from your brain
Can’t stand the sight of anything with eight legs? New technology could cure arachnophobes as scientists have worked out how to remove specific fears from the human brain.
Continue reading… “Scientists can remove fears from your brain”
Electrodes let you taste and chew in virtual reality
You’re having dinner in a virtual reality game. The banquet scene in front of you looks so real that your mouth is watering. Normally, you would be disappointed, but not this time. You approach the food, stick out your tongue – and taste the flavours on display. You move your jaw to chew – and feel the food’s texture between your teeth.
Continue reading… “Electrodes let you taste and chew in virtual reality”
The state of equity crowdfunding post-JOBS Act
From savings to banking to investing… finance is moving online. With this, we’re seeing the disruption of venture capital brought about by new laws that may change the game for how entrepreneurs can raise funding and who can invest.
Continue reading… “The state of equity crowdfunding post-JOBS Act”
London doctors have printed the world’s first 3D heart model
London doctors have made the headlines this week as they become the first medical staff ever to use a 3D printed heart model to improve surgical procedures and predict any dangers such as serious changes to a person’s heartbeat. It works by taking images from a CMR (cardiovascular magnetic resonance) scan and creating an exact replica of the subject’s heart, muscles, valves, and chambers.
Continue reading… “London doctors have printed the world’s first 3D heart model”
Facial recog defeated by paper glasses
Researchers armed with some nifty algorithms and a set of paper glasses frames have found a way to trick facial recognition systems. Users can either evade being recognized – or more interestingly, impersonate another individual – with up to at least 80 per cent success rate, the researchers from Carnegie Mellon University and the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill boasted.
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Driverless cars could save the UK around £14.3 billion annually
It goes without saying that preservation of life is the reason to invest in road and car safety technology, but the financial implications which fatal and non-fatal accidents have on the economy are another factor which cannot be ignored.
According to Reported Road Casualties Great Britain Annual Report 2014 the total cost of prevention of reported road accidents in 2014 was estimated to be £16.3 billion – this includes an estimate of the cost of damage only accidents but does not allow for unreported injury accidents.
Continue reading… “Driverless cars could save the UK around £14.3 billion annually”
The three biggest problems facing AI today
Speaking to attendees at a deep learning conference in London last month, there was one particularly noteworthy recurring theme: humility, or at least, the need for it.
While companies like Google are confidently pronouncing that we live in an “AI-first age,” with machine learning breaking new ground in areas like speech and image recognition, those at the front lines of AI research are keen to point out that there’s still a lot of work to be done. Just because we have digital assistants that sound like the talking computers in movies doesn’t mean we’re much closer to creating true artificial intelligence.
Continue reading… “The three biggest problems facing AI today”
The Pot-Belly of Ignorance
What you eat makes a huge difference in how optimally your body operates. And what you spend time reading and learning equally affects how effectively your mind operates.
Increasingly, we’re filling our heads with soundbites, the mental equivalent of junk. Over a day or even a week, the changes, like those to our belly, are barely noticeable. However, if we extend the timeline to months and years, we face a worrying reality and may find ourselves looking down at the pot-belly of ignorance.
Machine Learning: What Companies Get Wrong
People want it—but don’t understand it.
If you had to pick a tech industry buzzword for 2016, “machine learning” would be a good choice. Every other company, it seems, is packing the phrase into their pitches, and it’s having an effect.
Continue reading… “Machine Learning: What Companies Get Wrong”
