One of the hottest races going on in the tech world right now is the race to get self-driving cars out to the public first. To try and beat out the competition, Waymo has reached an agreement with Lyft, the startup ride-hailing company, to get its street legal autonomous cars out first. Lyft And Waymo Team Up The New York Times reported that the two companies reached […]
Food trends often centre around a single ingredient or innovative cooking technique. However, it seems the latest global food craze is not so much about the food but how it is served. Food bowls have grown in popularity in the United States and United Kingdom, and are now rolling into many of the UAE’s trendiest restaurants and cafes. Over the past five years, data collected by Technomic […]
Facebook users in the Middle East will spend an extra 57 million hours on the social media platform during Ramadan, according to new research. New data released by Facebook IQ research shows usage during the Holy Month is expected to increase by five percent. Millions of people in the Middle East will spend more time on Facebook during Ramadan than usual, with research showing the a […]
Researchers have demonstrated that molecular dynamics simulations and machine learning techniques could be integrated to create more accurate computer prediction models. These ‘hyper-predictive’ models could be used to quickly predict which new chemical compounds could be promising drug candidates. (via WSJ)
Credit: Steffen Thoma/Public Domain The research, led by the International Council on Clean Transportation and Environmental Health Analytics, LLC., in collaboration with scientists at the University of York’s Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI); University of Colorado; and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, examined 11 major vehicle markets representing more than 80% of new diesel vehicle sales in 2015.’ Of these markets, they found vehicles emitted 13.2 […]
Dubai, 15 May, 2017 SAMENA Telecommunications Council today announced global technology leader Nokia as the newest addition to its membership. Nokia, the leading provider of state-of-the-art end-to-end telecom infrastructure solutions, has unparalleled credentials in enabling infrastructure for next generation mobile as well as fixed broadband networks including 5G and the Internet of Things. Nokia is focused on developing solutions that expands the human possibilities of the connected […]
By Guy Faulconbridge and Dustin Volz | LONDON/WASHINGTON LONDON/WASHINGTON The global WannaCry “ransomware” cyber attack spread more slowly on Monday with no major infections reported, as attention shifted to investment and government policy implications of lax cyber security. There were 213,000 infected machines in 112 countries as of 1000 GMT on Monday, according to Czech security firm Avast, making it one of the largest coordinated attacks to […]
A newly developed printable elastic conductor retains high conductivity even when stretched to as much as five times its original length, says a Japanese team of scientists. The new material, produced in paste-like ink form, can be printed in various patterns on textiles and rubber surfaces as stretchable wiring for wearable devices incorporating sensors, as well as give human skin-like functions to robot exteriors. The development of […]
By Angus McDowall and Ayat Basma | BEIRUT BEIRUT The Middle East’s protracted conflicts have caused a region-wide health crisis that goes beyond war wounds to heightened resistance to antibiotics and a collapse in vaccination drives, leading to a resurgence of diseases tamed in peacetime. Health threats are so varied that one of the Middle East’s main teaching hospitals, the American University of Beirut Medical Center, has […]
When you look at the popular, artificially intelligent “assistants” on the market today, they’re really just voice-recognition engines, coupled with pattern- and image-recognition and search engines. But those capabilities, when allowed to ‘learn’ over time, start to form the basis of cognition, inference, and then reasoning. Add attitude, subjective opinion, and feelings, and we get close to the human-brain benchmarks that all machine-learning scientists are pursuing. 25 […]
DUBAI // Schools need to strike a better balance between preparing pupils to pass exams and providing a holistic education, a new report by Dubai’s education regulator says. The Future of Education report published by the Knowledge and Human Development Authority said the best schools prepared pupils for the future, not just tests. The research was conducted in partnership with the Education Development Trust, a non-profit education […]
Hours before Germany formally declared war on France in WWI, Marcel Proust penned a letter to his financial advisor that anticipated the horrors to come. “In the terrible days we are going through, you have other things to do besides writing letters and bothering with my petty interests, which I assure you seem wholly unimportant when I think that millions of men are going to be massacred […]
BEIJING Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that intelligence services should beware of creating software that can later be used for malicious means – a reference to global ‘ransomware’ attacks that researchers say exploited a hacking tool built by the U.S. National Security Agency. Speaking to reporters in Beijing, where he is taking part in a conference, Putin said that there was no significant damage to […]
The cyberattack crippled IT systems and forced doctors and nurses to work with pen and paper notes. Image: iStock NHS hospitals are still struggling in the fight against a global ransomware attack, with computer systems in several hospitals locked three days after the initial outbreak and previously unaffected hospitals revealed to have fallen to WannaCrypt ransomware. During the weekend more than 200,000 victims in over 150 countries […]
By Jack Kim and Ju-min Park | SEOUL SEOUL North Korea’s successful missile test-launch signals major advances in developing an intercontinental ballistic missile, such as mastery of re-entry technology and better engine performance key to targeting the United States, experts say. The isolated country has been developing a long-range missile capable of striking the mainland United States mounted with a nuclear warhead. That would require a flight […]
A new level of optical isolation necessary to advance on-chip optical signal processing has now been demonstrated by researchers. The technique involving light-sound interaction can be implemented in nearly any photonic foundry process and can significantly impact optical computing and communication systems. (via WSJ)
Lattice Data Apple has acquired Lattice Data, a data mining company which could give Apple a stronger talent pool in the artificial intelligence and analytics fields. Over the weekend, TechCrunch reported that Lattice Data, born out of the statistical inference Stanford research project DeepDive in 2015, had been quietly purchased by Apple. The company’s mission is to “unlock the value in dark data for critical real-world problems,” […]
A team of researchers has developed a way to print a nanoscale imaging probe onto the tip of a glass fiber as thin as a human hair, accelerating the production of the promising new device from several per month to several per day. The high-throughput fabrication technique opens the door for the widespread adoption of this and other nano-optical structures, which squeeze and manipulate light in ways […]
Oil prices jumped after the energy ministers from Saudi Arabia and Russia said they backed extending an Opec-led agreement to cut output until March 2018. Saudi energy minister Khalid al-Falih and his Russian counterpart Alexander Novak met on Monday in Beijing and discussed oil output policy. Russia is the world’s biggest oil producer, while Saudi Arabia is the biggest exporter. The two ministers said in a joint […]
By Jeremy Wagstaff and Dustin Volz | SINGAPORE/WASHINGTON SINGAPORE/WASHINGTON Asian governments and businesses reported some disruptions from the WannaCry ransomware worm on Monday but cybersecurity experts warned of a wider impact as more employees turned on their computers and checked e-mails. The ransomware that has locked up more than 200,000 computers in more than 150 countries has been mainly spread by e-mail, hitting factories, hospitals, shops and […]
A report from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) has revealed that only 53 percent of people it surveyed were able to nominate an organisation to report the misuse of their information to. The OAIC said that when asked, only 47 percent admitted awareness of a Privacy Commissioner — either federal or state level — but a mere 7 percent said they would report misuse […]
A group of researchers believes that contrary to a common model sunspots form near the Sun’s surface. (via WSJ)
15 May 2017 The legal departments at Pepsi-Cola International, Total Marketing Middle East and Qatar Financial Centre Authority were among the big winners at the Middle East Legal Awards, which took place at The Ritz-Carlton, Dubai, on Thursday (11 May). The trio were named Legal Department of the Year in the large team, small team and government, department, agency or public body categories respectively. The award for […]
When a group of researchers realized they were spending days combing through databases searching for information regarding gene variants, they decided to do something about it. By creating MARRVEL (Model organism Aggregated Resources for Rare Variant ExpLoration) they are now able to help not only their own lab but also researchers everywhere search databases all at once and in a matter of minutes. (via WSJ)
