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Oct 8, 2019

Meet America’s newest military giant: Amazon

Posted by in categories: computing, military

The Pentagon’s controversial $10bn JEDI cloud computing deal is one of the most lucrative defense contracts ever. Amazon’s in pole position to win—and its move into the military has been a long time coming.

Oct 8, 2019

The US just blacklisted 8 Chinese AI firms. It could be what China’s AI industry needs

Posted by in categories: business, government, policy, robotics/AI

The US Commerce Department has said it is adding 28 Chinese government organizations and private businesses, including eight tech giants, to its so-called Entity List for acting against American foreign policy interests.

What does that mean? The move effectively bars any US companies from selling technology to the blacklisted firms and organizations without US government approval.

Why? The US says they have been involved in human rights violations against Uighurs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang region.

Oct 8, 2019

An AI Pioneer Wants His Algorithms to Understand the ‘Why’

Posted by in categories: information science, robotics/AI

Deep learning is good at finding patterns in reams of data, but can’t explain how they’re connected. Turing Award winner Yoshua Bengio wants to change that.

Oct 8, 2019

Blue Origin is outpacing SpaceX in hiring as NASA contracts roll in, but not for long

Posted by in categories: Elon Musk, government, space travel

When Elon Musk announced the launch of SpaceX ($SPACEX) in 2002, comparisons to Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin ($BLUEORIGIN) surfaced seemingly within seconds, and a private space war was born. As both companies engage in their own space race, and compete for private and government launch contracts, they’ve both been on hiring sprees virtually since the day they were born.

Blue Origin’s head start remains intact, and is manifested in its hiring patterns that have shown the company adding more people at any one time than SpaceX. But that lead, at least according to trends we’re now seeing with enough data, may end in the next year or two.

Oct 8, 2019

This robot racing drone could beat human pilots by 2023

Posted by in categories: drones, robotics/AI

Teams start competing Tuesday in the Drone Racing League’s new battle of autonomous drones. Here’s an exclusive first look at the AI-powered flying machine.

Oct 8, 2019

Take To The Skies Aboard Kitty Hawk’s 8-Motor All-Electric Nearly-Silent VTOL

Posted by in category: futurism

Bird of prey.

Oct 8, 2019

Scientists start mapping universe’s hidden web

Posted by in categories: cosmology, mapping

Maps of the long filaments of gas that hold the universe together might one day help trace and unveil dark matter.

Oct 8, 2019

How to Solve Any Math Problem With an App

Posted by in categories: mathematics, robotics/AI

iOS/Android/Desktop: Default calculator apps suck. They work like a traditional handheld calculator, which only displays one value at a time and can only do basic math. If you want to do anything more than calculate a tip, you’re better off with these free and cheap calculator apps.

These apps help you do typical “real life math” or solve basic textbook math problems.

Oct 8, 2019

Circus in Germany Uses Holograms Instead of Animals to Stop Mistreatment

Posted by in categories: holograms, internet

In the past, a trip to the circus was nothing without seeing some exotic animals doing impressive tricks. But as we become more aware of human impact on the world, and more inclined to be careful about how we interact with other species on earth, the simple pleasure no longer seems so pure. In fact, using other animals for our enjoyment seems deeply unethical, and, for many, precludes any circus-related enjoyment.

But one innovative circus has come up with a solution to this problem. Wanting to enchant visitors with traditional shows of the past without having to make shady ethical calls, they’ve gone for a different approach. Instead of performing these tricks with living beings, they’ve used technical advancements to achieve beautiful effects — and the internet is loving it.

Oct 8, 2019

Researchers Found a Way to Levitate Objects Using Only Light

Posted by in category: futurism

The researchers say their light manipulation theoretically could work with any object of any shape, from micrometers to even meters.