A team of scientists from the University of Maryland recently came up with a take on the hyperdimensional computing theory that could give robots memories and reflexes. This could break the stalemate we seem to be at with autonomous vehicles and other real-world robots, and lead to more human-like AI models. The solution The Maryland…

You'll be able to build structures and worlds on your table with friends... ...and then deploy them full-size in the real world. You can also find and collect monsters to use in your builds. Microsoft may believe it has made augmented reality's killer app: the just-announced Minecraft Earth for iOS and Android. AR on mobile devices may…

Lenovo's smartphone division has once again been caught misleading the press on its future plans. This time, the company held a press event for Chinese media and showed off what it said was a render of the mythical Moto Razr phone reboot with a foldable display. The only problem is that "Lenovo's" Razr render was a fanmade…

In the Chinese science fiction film The Wandering Earth, recently released on Netflix, humanity attempts to change the Earth’s orbit using enormous thrusters in order to escape the expanding sun – and prevent a collision with Jupiter. The scenario may one day come true. In five billion years, the sun will run out of fuel…

Facebook’s biggest money-spinner is its News Feed, and the company has announced yet another key change to the algorithm. In a fresh announcement, the social network said that it’s leveraging new signals such as user surveys to prioritize posts from close friends and content you might find worthwhile. The shift marks Facebook’s continued evolution from a public…

For several years, executives of tech and automobile companies have been promising that fully autonomous vehicles will soon become a common sights in streets and roads. But we’re well into 2019, and self-driving cars are still making stupid mistakes. In many ways, the short history of self-driving cars is reminiscent of the early decades of artificial…

Enlarge / Cryptolocker was one of the ransomware pioneers, bringing together file encryption and bitcoin payment. This story was originally published by ProPublica. It appears here under a Creative Commons license. From 2015 to 2018, a strain of ransomware known as SamSam paralyzed computer networks across North America and the UK It caused more than…

Enlarge / Google's Pixelbook. Just under a year ago, there were signs that Google was modifying the firmware of its Pixelbook laptop to enable dual booting into Windows 10. The firmware was updated to give the Pixelbook the ability to boot into an "Alternative OS" ("AltOS" mode). The work included references to the Windows Hardware…

When whisky is made in Scotland it’s called scotch. When it’s made in Kentucky it’s called whiskey – the Irish also add the “E”. But when it’s made in Sweden, based on a recipe created by Microsoft‘s AI, we just call it amazing. Swedish distillery Mackmyra Whisky, technology company Fourkind, and Microsoft recently teamed up…

Enlarge / The Eiffel Tower. Search engines today are more than just the dumb keyword matchers they used to be. You can ask a question—say, "How tall is the tower in Paris?"—and they'll tell you that the Eiffel Tower is 324 meters (1,063 feet) tall, about the same as an 81-story building. They can do…