Mona Lisa guest on TV? Researchers work out talking heads from photos, art

A paper discussing an artificial intelligence feat now up on arXiv is giving tech watchers yet another reason to feel this is the Age of Enfrightenment.

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A quicker eye for robotics to help in our cluttered, human environments

In a step toward home-helper robots that can quickly navigate unpredictable and disordered spaces, University of Michigan researchers have developed an algorithm that lets machines perceive their environments orders of magnitude faster than similar previous approaches.

* This article was originally published here

Over 600 people test HIV positive in Pakistan city

Pakistan said on Sunday over 600 people, most of them children, had tested HIV positive in a city in the southern Sindh province.

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Threat or promise? E-auto boom could cost industry jobs

Over 115 years the auto industry in the east German town of Zwickau has lived through wrenching upheavals including World War II and the collapse of communism. Now the city's 90,000 people are plunging headlong into another era of change: top employer Volkswagen's total shift into electric cars at the local plant.

* This article was originally published here

PixelGreen: A hybrid, green media wall for existing high-rise buildings

Researchers at Deakin University and the University of Hong Kong have recently designed a hybrid green architectural wall system for high-rise buildings that integrates a vertical micro-farm and a media screen. They presented this wall, called PixelGreen, in a paper published on Research Gate. PIXEL GREEN is designed for integration into the wall surfaces of existing buildings, turning them into analogue media screens.

* This article was originally published here

Italy team cheers robot pulling a passenger plane

This four-legged robot has pull—3 tons of it—and its engineers were proud to show it off on May 23 as rugged and powerful as it is.

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Vision loss may up cognitive decline-related functional limitations

(HealthDay)—Vision impairment is associated with increased subjective cognitive decline (SCD)-related functional limitations for adults aged 45 years and older, according to research published in the May 24 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

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Study suggests infants with autism risk may be less able to distinguish between familiar and unfamiliar speech patterns

A new study by Columbia University researchers found that infants at high risk for autism were less attuned to differences in speech patterns than low-risk infants. The findings suggest that interventions to improve language skills should begin during infancy for those at high risk for autism.

* This article was originally published here

FDA approves $2M medicine, most expensive ever

U.S. regulators have approved the most expensive medicine ever, for a rare disorder that destroys a baby's muscle control and kills nearly all of those with the most common type of the disease within a couple of years.

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World celebrates centenary of confirmation of relativity

Celebrations are underway across the globe to commemorate 100 years since a UK-led expedition confirmed Einstein's general theory of relativity. The theory fundamentally changed our understanding of physics and astronomy, and underpins critical modern technologies such as the satellite-based Global Positioning System (GPS). A series of public events in the UK and around the world will mark this seminal anniversary.

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Bringing human-like reasoning to driverless car navigation

With aims of bringing more human-like reasoning to autonomous vehicles, MIT researchers have created a system that uses only simple maps and visual data to enable driverless cars to navigate routes in new, complex environments.

* This article was originally published here

Mobile phone app designed to boost physical activity in women shows promise in trial

Activity trackers and mobile phone apps are all the rage, but do they really help users increase and maintain physical activity? A new study has found that one mobile phone app designed for inactive women did help when combined with an activity tracker and personal counseling.

* This article was originally published here

Driverless cars working together can speed up traffic by 35%

A fleet of driverless cars working together to keep traffic moving smoothly can improve overall traffic flow by at least 35 percent, researchers have shown.

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NASA's first-of-kind tests look to manage drones in cities

NASA has launched the final stage of a four-year effort to develop a national traffic management system for drones, testing them in cities for the first time beyond the operator's line of sight as businesses look in the future to unleash the unmanned devices in droves above busy streets and buildings.

* This article was originally published here

United Airlines extends cancellation of Boeing Max flights

United Airlines is canceling another month's worth of flights with Boeing 737 Max planes that were grounded after two deadly accidents.

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Private, stable and landed: Meet Tor Browser 8.5

A Tor browser has arrived as a stable release for Android. Ultraprivate. And some Tor wish-listers will say, finally. "Until recently, it was only available on desktop devices. Now, the stable version is available for Android, too," said George Burduli, XDA Developers.

* This article was originally published here

CEOs get $800,000 pay raise, leaving workers further behind

Did you get a 7% raise last year? Congratulations, yours was in line with what CEOs at the biggest companies got. But for chief executives, that 7% was roughly $800,000.

* This article was originally published here