Microsoft has vowed to “solve the problem of cancer” within a decade by using ground-breaking computer science to crack the code of diseased cells so they can be reprogrammed back to a healthy state.
1.5 Million Connected Cameras Hijacked to Make an Unprecedented Botnet
Last week, hackers forced a well-known security journalist to take down his site after hitting him for more than two days with an unprecedented flood of traffic.
That cyberattack was powered by something the internet had never seen before: an army made of more than one million hacked Internet of Things devices.
The hackers, whose identity is still unknown at this point, used not one, but two networks—commonly referred to as “botnets” in hacking lingo—made of around 980,000 and 500,000 hacked devices, mostly internet-connected cameras, according to Level 3 Communications, one of the world’s largest internet backbone providers. The attackers used all those cameras and other unsecured online devices to connect to the journalists’ website, pummeling the site with requests in an attempt to make it collapse.
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3D printing can revolutionize the medical profession
Groundbreaking 3D printing and scanning techniques are improving access to fully customisable artificial limbs
Before the vehicle that she was travelling in flipped over and trapped her right leg, Leakhena Laing was a happy teenager who enjoyed climbing trees and playing football with friends. After her limb was amputated, she could only sit and watch.
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Cash is on the verge of extinction in these countries
My dad, a former Wall Street trader always advised me “cash is king” and to “hold on to it” when the economy gets tough.
But in the Netherlands, cash is definitely not getting the royal treatment. In so many places, it has simply ceased to be recognised as legal tender. More and more Dutch stores, from upscale health-food store Marqt to my local baker and bagel shop, take pin — or debit — cards exclusively. Some retailers even describe going cash-free as “cleaner” or “safer”.
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Construction Expert Says Robots Will Cause Thousands of Builders to Lose Their Jobs
Skyscrapers in the City of London could soon be built by robots rather than by people, according to the boss of one of the UK’s biggest construction firms. The result would be huge productivity gains as more work could be done by fewer people – but also mass layoffs as traditionally labour-intensive construction projects hire fewer and fewer staff.
Three-parent baby technique produces world’s first baby
The world’s first three-parent baby has been born.
Scientists revealed the birth of a baby boy, now five months old, usingDNA from three parents.
Fertility experts hailed the breakthrough as “great news and a huge deal” for the future of reproduction.
But they expressed concern that it was only achieved because US scientists crossed the border to Mexico to take advantage of lax regulation.
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Google’s New Translator Works Almost as Well as Humans
A jump in the fluency of Google’s language software will help efforts to make chatbots less lame.
Google’s latest advance in machine learning could make the world a little smaller.
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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.
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Nanotech bandage: Healing wounds in days
Egyptian researchers have developed a bandage embedded with nanoparticles for the treatment of wounds using the anti-epilepsy drug Phenytoin, known for its capacity to treat skin injuries.
The bandage can heal wounds in a few days, after just one application to soft tissue. Wounds normally take several days to a few weeks to heal completely, and some may only heal after several months or up to two years.
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Uber plans self-flying drone taxis
If you summon an Uber in 10 years’ time, you will probably get a car that drives itself. But then again, you may not be travelling in a car at all.
The taxi-hailing app is working on technology that would allow airborne passenger drones to fly its users short distances around cities, it has emerged, raising the prospect of a future in which skylines are dotted with Uber aircraft shuttling commuters back and forth.
Fuel cells about to power the drone industry
Just as their commercial use begins to spread, fuel-cell technology is improving the way drones are powered
Canadian companies are placing big bets on a better way of powering drones.
So far these stealthy units — long used by military forces for intelligence-gathering, surveillance and striking targets — have been powered by internal combustion engines or lithium polymer batteries.
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The first pop song ever written by AI is actually pretty good
We already know that artificial intelligence systems can work in law firms and beat the world champion at a game of Go. Now it turns out that AI can write some pretty good pop songs, too.
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