Black Box is an intelligent and melancholy sci-fi film in which a man who loses his memory in a car crash takes extreme steps to get his life back, writes Simon Ings

It would still work today.

NASA's launch of the Mars Science Laboratory -- hampered by technical difficulties and cost overruns -- has been delayed until the fall of 2011, NASA officials said at a news conference Thursday in Washington.

NASA officials Sunday waved off the first opportunity for space shuttle Endeavour to return to Earth, citing poor weather conditions.

From a remote valley in Northern California, Jill Tarter is listening to the universe.

Scientists have switched off several on-board instruments to halt rising temperatures inside India's first unmanned lunar spacecraft.

The brain detects 3D shape fragments (bumps, hollows, shafts, spheres) in the beginning stages of object vision - a newly discovered strategy of natural intelligence that researchers also found in artificial intelligence networks trained to recognize visual objects.

Researchers have developed a wrist-worn device for 3D hand pose estimation. The system consists of a camera that captures images of the back of the hand, and is supported by a neural network called DorsalNet which can accurately recognize dynamic gestures.

The development of a new method to make non-volatile computer memory may have unlocked a problem that has been holding back machine learning and has the potential to revolutionize technologies like voice recognition, image processing and autonomous driving.

A rectangular robot as tiny as a few human hairs can travel throughout a colon by doing back flips, engineers have demonstrated in live animal models.

Using a brain-inspired approach, scientists have developed a way for robots to have the artificial intelligence (AI) to recognize pain and to self-repair when damaged.

The range of AI technologies available for dealing with brain disease is growing fast, and exciting new methods are being applied to brain problems as computer scientists gain a deeper understanding of the capabilities of advanced algorithms. Researchers conducted a systematic literature review to understand the state of the art in the use of AI […]

Scientist challenge scientific journals to hold computational researchers to higher standards of transparency, and call for their colleagues to share their code, models and computational environments in publications.

An international research team has developed a new artificial intelligence system based on the brains of tiny animals, such as threadworms. This novel AI-system can control a vehicle with just a few artificial neurons. It copes much better with noisy input, and, because of its simplicity, its mode of operation can be explained in detail

Scientists have made a breakthrough in their work to develop semi-autonomous colonoscopy, using a robot to guide a medical device into the body. The milestone brings closer the prospect of an intelligent robotic system being able to guide instruments to precise locations in the body to take biopsies or allow internal tissues to be examined.

Engineers have built a squid-like robot that can swim untethered, propelling itself by generating jets of water. The robot carries its own power source inside its body. It can also carry a sensor, such as a camera, for underwater exploration.

Robots exploring deep bodies of water can only go so far before needing to recharge and upload data. Purdue University engineers have designed a mobile docking station system that would help them go farther.

Researchers have developed a tool that flags potential biases in sets of images used to train artificial intelligence (AI) systems. The work is part of a larger effort to remedy and prevent the biases that have crept into AI systems that influence everything from credit services to courtroom sentencing programs.

New research shows that artificial intelligence can be nearly as accurate as a physician in diagnosing COVID-19 in the lungs. The study also shows the new technique can also overcome some of the challenges of current testing.

Researchers have now developed a new model that describes driving behavior on the basis of one underlying 'human' principle: managing the risk below a threshold level. This model can accurately predict human behavior during a wide range of driving tasks. In time, the model could be used in intelligent cars, to make them feel less […]

Engineers have developed a new machine-learning method that paves the way for artificial intelligence to be used in applications that until now have been deemed too sensitive. The method, which has been tested by running simulations on a climate-control system for a 100-room building, is poised to deliver energy savings of around 20%.

A research team has developed a new theory that can predict the movement of an animal's sensory organs -- such as eyes, ears and nose -- while searching for something vital to its life.

Researchers have developed a technique in which a computer models visual perception by monitoring human brain signals. In a way, it is as if the computer tries to imagine what a human is thinking about. As a result of this imagining, the computer is able to produce entirely new information, such as fictional images that […]

Artificial intelligence (AI) experts report that they have successfully addressed what they call a 'major, long-standing obstacle to increasing AI capabilities' by drawing inspiration from a human brain memory mechanism known as 'replay.'

Artificial intelligence researchers have improved the performance of deep neural networks by combining feature normalization and feature attention modules into a single module that they call attentive normalization. The hybrid module improves the accuracy of the system significantly, while using negligible extra computational power.

Before autonomous vehicles participate in road traffic, they must demonstrate conclusively that they do not pose a danger to others. New software prevents accidents by predicting different variants of a traffic situation every millisecond.

Many decisions we make in life are based on the opinions of multiple other people. This includes choosing a book to read based on reviews, choosing a course of action based on the advice of multiple medical doctors, and determining guilt. Often, decision making by a group of individuals results in a better outcome than […]

Ensemble learning involves combining the predictions from multiple machine learning models. The effect can be both improved predictive performance and lower variance of the predictions made by the model. Ensemble methods are covered in most textbooks on machine learning; nevertheless, there are books dedicated to the topic. In this post, you will discover the top […]

Softmax is a mathematical function that converts a vector of numbers into a vector of probabilities, where the probabilities of each value are proportional to the relative scale of each value in the vector. The most common use of the softmax function in applied machine learning is in its use as an activation function in […]

Regression is a modeling task that involves predicting a numeric value given an input. Linear regression is the standard algorithm for regression that assumes a linear relationship between inputs and the target variable. An extension to linear regression involves adding penalties to the loss function during training that encourage simpler models that have smaller coefficient […]

Nearest Centroids is a linear classification machine learning algorithm. It involves predicting a class label for new examples based on which class-based centroid the example is closest to from the training dataset. The Nearest Shrunken Centroids algorithm is an extension that involves shifting class-based centroids toward the centroid of the entire training dataset and removing […]

Regression is a modeling task that involves predicting a numeric value given an input. Linear regression is the standard algorithm for regression that assumes a linear relationship between inputs and the target variable. An extension to linear regression invokes adding penalties to the loss function during training that encourages simpler models that have smaller coefficient […]

Regression is a modeling task that involves predicting a numeric value given an input. Linear regression is the standard algorithm for regression that assumes a linear relationship between inputs and the target variable. An extension to linear regression invokes adding penalties to the loss function during training that encourages simpler models that have smaller coefficient […]

Regression is a modeling task that involves predicting a numeric value given an input. Linear regression is the standard algorithm for regression that assumes a linear relationship between inputs and the target variable. An extension to linear regression involves adding penalties to the loss function during training that encourage simpler models that have smaller coefficient […]

Regression is a modeling task that involves predicting a numerical value given an input. Algorithms used for regression tasks are also referred to as “regression” algorithms, with the most widely known and perhaps most successful being linear regression. Linear regression fits a line or hyperplane that best describes the linear relationship between inputs and the […]

The Gaussian Processes Classifier is a classification machine learning algorithm. Gaussian Processes are a generalization of the Gaussian probability distribution and can be used as the basis for sophisticated non-parametric machine learning algorithms for classification and regression. They are a type of kernel model, like SVMs, and unlike SVMs, they are capable of predicting highly […]

Understanding and Advising on Cyber and Physical Risks to the Nation’s Critical Infrastructure  Brian R. Gattoni is the Chief Technology Officer for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) of the Department of Homeland Security. CISA is the nation’s risk advisor, working with partners to defend against today’s threats and collaborating to build a secure and resilient […]

By Lance Eliot, the AI Trends Insider   There is increasing awareness about the importance of AI Ethics, consisting of being mindful of the ethical ramifications of AI systems.    AI developers are being asked to carefully design and build their AI mechanizations by ensuring that ethical considerations are at the forefront of the AI systems development […]

By John P. Desmond, AI Trends Editor  The application of AI to IT service operations has the potential to automate many tasks and drive down the cost of operations.  The trend is exemplified by the recent agreement between IBM and ServiceNow to leverage IBM’s AI-powered cloud infrastructure with ServiceNow’s intelligent workflow systems, as reported in Forbes.  […]

By AI Trends Staff   A European safety assessment rated the Tesla sixth of ten driver assistance systems in its ability to keep drivers engaged, meaning actively engaged in the driving task as automation assists to some degree.    The Tesla Model 3’s Autopilot scored just 36 when assessed on its ability to maintain a driver’s focus on the […]

By AI Trends Staff  How one gets educated for AI continues to be an area worth exploring with many options available. Charting one’s career as a member of a newly-formed team working to leverage AI to help the business is best met with creativity and patience.   It’s as much a mission to find out how […]

By Scott Lundstrom, Analyst, Supply Chain Futures  Over the last several months, the supply chain planning community has been faced with the question of how to deal with increased uncertainty as we enter the fall. While we are adjusting to COVID-19, we are not overcoming it. Pandemic forces will continue to impact our business as we […]

By AI Trends Staff Looking inside and outside, AI is being applied to the self-diagnosis of automobiles and to the connection of vehicles to traffic infrastructure. A data scientist at BMW Group in Munich, while working on his PhD, created a system for self-diagnosis called the Automated Damage Assessment Service, according to an account in  […]

By AI Trends Staff Data governance in data-driven organizations is a set of practices and guidelines that define where responsibility for data quality lives. The guidelines support the operation’s business model, especially if AI and machine learning applications are at work.  Data governance is an operations issue, existing between strategy and the daily management of […]

By AI Trends Staff The ability to add automation to an existing marine vessel to make it autonomous is here today and is being proven by a Boston company. Sea Machines builds autonomous vessel software and systems for the marine industry. Founded in 2015, the company recently raised $15 million in a Series B round, […]

By John P. Desmond, AI Trends Editor Web applications are the primary focus of many cybercrime gangs engaged in data breaches, a primary security concern to retailers, according to the 2020 Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR) recently released by Verizon, in its 13th edition of the report. Verizon analyzed a total of 157,525 incidents; 3,950 […]

Normally, the 'birthplace of ice' freezes by late October. For the first time in recorded history, it hasn't. That could have knock-on effects across the Arctic.

Catch up on the most important updates from this week.

The carnivorous plant is believed to have something akin to a short-term "memory." A team of scientists has uncovered new details on how it works.

If the US brought back the Great Depression’s massive worker program, it could put millions of Americans back to work—and help stave off disasters like wildfires.

People tend to focus on whether an experience ends on an up note or a sour one, even if it leads us to make bad decisions. A new study examines why.

The puny insect can withstand forces 39,000 times its body weight. Scientists just discovered its super-strength secret—which could inspire new materials.

You might think of it as the force that slows things down, but you literally couldn't get anywhere without it.

Researchers showed that a saline spray “treatment” reduced people’s emotional distress, even though the study subjects knew the spray wouldn’t do anything.

In the early days, we furiously scrubbed, afraid we could get sick from the virus lingering on objects and surfaces. What do we know now?

Scientists discover that baby bottles shed up to 16 million bits of plastic per liter of fluid. What that means for infants’ health, no one can yet say.

On this week's Get WIRED podcast, writer Dan Duane dives into the inevitability of fires in the west and how better models would help combat them.

After years of studying Bennu, the spacecraft will make its first attempt at a sample collection on Tuesday.

Finally, there’s a better way to find approximate solutions to the notorious optimization problem, often used to test the limits of efficient computation.

Nagging, giving unsolicited advice, and “ecopiety” are out. But there are better ways to get people to adopt green habits.

Catch up on the most important updates from this week.

An enormous new data set peers into the health of the world’s population before 2020—and how the coronavirus turned that into a global disaster.

The CDC put out a central playbook for how to distribute the shots. But how states will address these guidelines is anything but uniform.

WIRED paid a visit to NASA's first probe designed to protect Earth from killer asteroids. It launches next year.

Finnish researchers just published the first big test of the “biodiversity hypothesis”—that exposure to the microbes in dirt is good for young immune systems.

A new study shows that some big carnivores are getting up to half their diet from sources like trash, crops, or small mammals that live near people.

If you ignore new releases or your massive backlog to return to that one comfort game after a long day, don't feel bad about it. You're not alone.

Directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead wanted to make a movie that didn't romanticize the past.

This week, for no legitimate reason, the internet decided to bring up the Hemsworth, Pratt, Evans, and Pine debate once again.

The sequel to the 10-year-old horror classic is a psychological journey to hell and back.

"Permission to jump in an X-wing and blow something up?" "Permission granted."

Jon Bois' new work of online fiction, 20020, is a utopian meditation on endless time. With sports!

HBO Max’s new movie evokes a very un-Dahlian mood.

Groups like Tok the Vote believe viral clips are the best way to get young people to cast their ballots.

From X-rated Twitter feeds to ErectionSeason.com, sex workers are using their talents to get fans to the polls.

More than 400,000 people tuned into AOC's stream of a marathon Among Us session with representative Ilhan Omar and Twitch luminaries.

Veterans with PTSD, anxiety, and other mental health challenges often find solace in gaming. Research shows it's helpful—and could be used more broadly.

Don't buy into the myth: If you consider your options carefully, upgrading your desktop doesn't have to empty your wallet.

Far-right factions say they're willing to take action to keep President Trump in the White House. The question is whether those actions are viable—or dangerous.

Attention Disney and Netflix: Leave Maleficent and Carmen Sandiego alone. My soul needs villains, those perpetrators of change.

Each month we publish a six-word story—and it could be written by you.

If the former veep wins, it won’t be because he had an online meme army behind him. That’s a good sign for American politics.

I picked up the controller to keep tabs on my fifth-grader. What I got was a window into her world—and a lesson in 21st-century fatherhood.

James Hibberd's Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon draws on more than 50 new interviews with the cast and crew.

This week, the Mouse House laid out a reorganization plan that puts a bigger focus on streaming. Don't look for other studios to make similar moves.

It's not blowing your mind. It's bludgeoning you with shock.

Microscopy breakthrough reveals how proteins behave in 3D, enabling new insights into cell behavior and disease progression.

Active particle suspensions are a class of materials with tunable properties. This new research provides insight into fundamental aspects of the dynamics of such systems that act collectively.

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is one of the newer techniques available for virus research. AFM is a cantilever-based technique that utilizes a sharp tip to interrogate surfaces at resolutions well below the optical diffraction limit. Beyond imaging, AFM is also a powerful tool for nano-mechanical probing and nano-manipulation. One of the primary advantages of AFM […]

Scientists have shown that short-lived topological states can be tracked with equally short light flashes spiraling like a corkscrew.

By expanding on existing designs for electrodes of ultra-thin solar panels, researchers have developed a new architecture for OLED - organic light-emitting diode - displays that could enable televisions, smartphones and virtual or augmented reality devices with resolutions of up to 10,000 pixels per inch (PPI).

Scientists have discovered a way to control the growth of twisting, microscopic spirals of materials just one atom thick.

Researchers have developed a first-of-its-kind catalyst that is able to process polyolefin plastics such as polyethylene and polypropylene, types of polymers widely used in things like plastic grocery bags, milk jugs, shampoo bottles, toys, and food containers.

Effects at the interface between magnetic and non-magnetic layers have been exploited for data storage for three decades. This has led to a steady increase in hard drive storage capacity and is one reason why researchers see potential for ushering data processing into a new era.

A multidisciplinary group that studies the physical and chemical properties of insect wings has demonstrated the ability to reproduce the nanostructures that help cicada wings repel water and prevent bacteria from establishing on the surface.

A new study comprehensively reviews the magnetic structure of the multiferroic material bismuth ferrite.

Researchers have developed a nanofiber membrane that can be sandwiched between the cloth pieces in a homemade mask. These nanofibers make regular cloth masks as strong as N95 masks.

Being able to replicate the extraordinary mechanical properties of nacre and other biological structures could lead to synthetic materials that possess the exceptional mechanical properties required to perform under extreme conditions. In this context, ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene is a high-performance specialty polymer with a unique set of properties and applications. It shows remarkable strength-to-weight […]

Novel technique visualizes individual atoms in a protein with cryo electron microscopy for the first time.

A new review summarizes the developments in the emerging field of loose nanofiltration, and provides guidance to improve the fabrication of loose nanofiltration membranes and facilitate their applications in resource recovery.

Researchers succeeded in developing a material that works like a luminescent solar concentrator and can even be applied to textiles. This opens up numerous possibilities for producing energy directly where it is needed, i.e. in the use of everyday electronics.

Researchers have identified how oxygen affects the synthesis of a novel MOF.

Researchers have developed a flexible film that changes color in response to stretching, pressure or humidity.

Researchers reveal the material components - and their nano- and microscale blueprints - that make the diabolical ironclad beetle so indestructible, while also demonstrating how engineers can benefit from these designs.

Researchers have invented a new way to deposit thin layers of atoms as a coating onto a substrate material at near room temperatures.

A researcher is testing new ways to spin liquid crystals into fibers that could be used in camouflage clothing or to create cleaning wipes that can detect the presence of bacteria.

Plus: Facebook’s attempt at a search engine, China’s handling of Covid-19, and a slippery situation for the president.

A report finds 50,000 cases where law enforcement agencies turned to outside firms to bypass the encryption on a mobile device.

Tesla has the Cybertruck, GM a $113,000 Hummer, and Ford an electric F-150. And then there are the startups.

Neither President Trump nor Joe Biden is talking much about broadband access, retraining workers, or US spending on research.

A study analyzing patterns in online comments found that liberals and conservatives use different words to express similar ideas.

The justice department's case against Microsoft in the 1990s was much stronger than the one it's concocted against the Mountain View tech giant.

In an antitrust suit, the Justice Department claims the company uses exclusive deals with device makers and browser makers to prop up its near-monopoly on search.

A ballot measure would create a new classification for people who have been contractors. Uber and Lyft threaten to leave the state if it fails.

A study finds that only 11 percent of firms that have deployed artificial intelligence are reaping a “sizable” return on their investments.

Hang on to your stomach: In two thunderous dashes, supercar maker SSC set multiple production-car speed records.

Entrepreneurs are building tools that create emails or marketing copy using GPT-3, text-generation technology released earlier this year.

Plus: Auction theory at Google, a stalking cougar, and a proposal for breaking up big tech.

The GM subsidiary wins approval from California to offer driverless passenger service.

Chipmaker Qualcomm and startup Truepic are testing a feature for Android phones that automatically tags the time and location when an image was captured.

Boom Supersonic's sleek prototype craft rolled out this week; the final production model will be quieter than previous supersonics, and a novel fly-by-wire system will keep it stable at low speeds.

The faster wireless standard uses different chunks of the radio spectrum—but the technology remains nascent.

The Labor Department last week questioned Microsoft’s stated goal to double the number of Black leaders in the company.

Political strategists say they combine information from multiple databases to identify the people they want to vote—and not vote.

Algorithms for detecting eye diseases are mostly trained on patients in the US, Europe, and China. This can make the tools ineffective for other racial groups and countries.

Some employers are relying on rapid tests to reopen. The outbreak around President Trump shows the shortcomings of that approach.

Social distancing hasn't led to an increase in suicide rates, despite the president’s claims. But a prolonged pandemic might.

Dictators are gleefully filling the leadership vacuum the administration has created and choking the open web around the globe.

You'd think that have a reading delivered via machine algorithm would make it feel less useful or relevant. You'd think wrong.

The notion that a split between science and politics must exist is largely a fiction—and one of relatively recent vintage.

Welcome back! Among the many courses offered this semester, students may elect to study essential climate-mitigation skills like underwater basket weaving.

Universities are digitally spying on students to make sure they don’t cheat on online tests. A whole generation could be learning to tolerate surveillance.

To my robovac, hitting a doorjamb and cleaning with dispatch are one and the same. There is no success or failure—these concepts have merged.

Here’s how to prepare yourself for the disaster online.

The features get a little hotter every year! It's a self-perpetuating cycle that can't ever be reversed.

If an elite cyclist can use performance-enhancing algorithms to cheat at a virtual race, who's to say a doctor couldn't cheat on a remote exam?

A data detective makes a surprising discovery.

While some technologies are tearing us apart, the Tech Spotlight finalists, selected from over 200 submissions worldwide, are helping shape a better future.

We need public spaces, built in the spirit of Walt Whitman, that allow us to gather, communicate, and share in something bigger than ourselves.

Demand for bikes has soared in the pandemic. To spur production, the US should adopt the industrial policies from the Asian countries it relies on.

If the drug is authorized, who will be eligible for the treatment? Where will it be administered? How much will it cost?

The more of them we encounter, the more we begin to interpret the world according to their logic.

Twitter has announced new changes to combat misinformation. It should go further by checking and flagging the president's tweets—before they wreak havoc.

Federal scientists want to study how the virus interacts with wildlife—but they say a Trump appointee is stopping them.

A performative post-election ban won’t solve anything. But cutting off the platform’s data-driven rage machine will.

Regeneron’s new Covid drug looks good in early trials, and Trump has called it a miracle. That doesn't mean it’s going to work.