activistpost--2019-04-30--To Prevent a Robot Apocalypse We Must Study Machine Behavior

To Prevent a Robot Apocalypse, We Must Study “Machine Behavior”

Experts have been warning us about potential dangers associated with artificial intelligence for quite some time. But is it too late to do anything about the impending rise of the machines?  Once the stuff of far-fetched dystopian science fiction, the idea of robot overlords taking over the world at some point now seems inevitable.  The late Dr. Stephen Hawking issued some harsh and terrifying words of caution back in 2014:  Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX and Tesla Motors, warned that we could see some terrifying issues within the next few years:  The risk of something seriously dangerous happening is in the five year timeframe. 10 years at most. Please note that I am normally super pro technology and have never raised this issue until recent months. This is not a case of crying wolf about something I don’t understand. The pace of progress in artificial intelligence (I’m not referring to narrow AI) is incredibly fast. Unless you have direct exposure to groups like Deepmind, you have no idea how fast — it is growing at a pace close to exponential. I am not alone in thinking we should be worried. The leading AI companies have taken great steps to ensure safety. They recognize the danger, but believe that they can shape and control the digital superintelligences and prevent bad ones from escaping into the Internet. That remains to be seen… (source)  Last week, a team of researchers made a case for a wide-ranging scientific research agenda aimed at understanding the behavior of artificial intelligence systems. The group, led by researchers at the MIT Media Lab, published a paper in Nature in which they called for a new field of research called “machine behavior.” The new field would take the study of artificial intelligence “well beyond computer science and engineering into biology, economics, psychology, and other behavioral and social sciences,” according to an MIT Media Lab press release.  Scientists have studied human behavior for decades, and now it is time to apply that kind of research to intelligent machines, the group explained. Because artificial intelligence is doing more collective ‘thinking,’ the same interdisciplinary approach needs to be applied to understanding machine behavior, the authors say.  “We need more open, trustworthy, reliable investigation into the impact intelligent machines are having on society, and so research needs to incorporate expertise and knowledge from beyond the fields that have traditionally studied it,” said Iyad Rahwan, who leads the Scalable Cooperation group at the Media Lab.  This is particularly concerning, especially considering we already know that AI can hate without human input and that robots have no sense of humor and might kill us over a joke.  “We’re seeing an emergence of machines as agents in human society; these are social machines that are making decisions that have real value implications in society,” says David Lazer, who is one of the authors of the paper, as well as University Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Computer and Information Sciences at Northeastern.  We interact numerous times each day with thinking machines, as the press release explains:  We may ask Siri to find the dry cleaner nearest to our home, tell Alexa to order dish soap, or get a medical diagnosis generated by an algorithm. Many such tools that make life easier are in fact “thinking” on their own, acquiring knowledge and building on it and even communicating with other thinking machines to make ever more complex judgments and decisions—and in ways that not even the programmers who wrote their code can fully explain. Imagine, for instance, a news feed run by a deep neural net recommends an article to you from a gardening magazine, even though you’re not a gardener. “If I asked the engineer who designed the algorithm, that engineer would not be able to state in a comprehensive and causal way why that algorithm decided to recommend that article to you,” said Nick Obradovich, a research scientist in the Scalable Cooperation group and one of the lead authors of the Nature paper. Parents often think of their children’s interaction with the family personal assistant as charming or funny. But what happens when the assistant, rich with cutting-edge AI, responds to a child’s fourth or fifth question about T. Rex by suggesting, “Wouldn’t it be nice if you had this dinosaur as a toy?” “What’s driving that recommendation?” Rahwan said. “Is the device trying to do something to enrich the child’s experience—or to enrich the company selling the toy dinosaur? It’s very hard to answer that question.” (source)  What hasn’t been examined as closely is how these algorithms work. How do they evolve with use? How do machines develop a specific behavior? How do algorithms function within a specific social or cultural environment? These issues need to be studied, the group says.  There is a significant barrier to the type of research the group is proposing, however:  But even if big tech companies decided to share information about their algorithms and otherwise allow researchers more access to them, there is an even bigger barrier to research and investigation, which is that AI agents can acquire novel behaviors as they interact with the world around them and with other agents. The behaviors learned from such interactions are virtually impossible to predict, and even when solutions can be described mathematically, they can be “so lengthy and complex as to be indecipherable,” according to the paper. (source)  And, there are ethical concerns surrounding how AI makes decisions: Say, for instance, a hypothetical self-driving car is sold as being the safest on the market. One of the factors that makes it safer is that it “knows” when a big truck pulls up along its left side and automatically moves itself three inches to the right while still remaining in its own lane. But what if a cyclist or motorcycle happens to be pulling up on the right at the same time and is thus killed because of this safety feature? “If you were able to look at the statistics and look at the behavior of the car in the aggregate, it might be killing three times the number of cyclists over a million rides than another model,” Rahwan said. “As a computer scientist, how are you going to program the choice between the safety of the occupants of the car and the safety of those outside the car? You can’t just engineer the car to be ‘safe’—safe for whom?” (source) The researchers explain that it will take experts from a host of scientific disciplines to study the way machines behave in the real world, as a press release from Northeastern University states. “The process of understanding how online dating algorithms are changing the societal institution of marriage, or determining whether our interaction with artificial intelligence affects our human development, will require more than just the mathematicians and engineers who built those algorithms.” What do you think? Do you think artificial intelligence will eventually make humans obsolete? What do you think that will be like? How and when will it happen? Please share your thoughts in the comments. Dagny Taggart is the pseudonym of an experienced journalist who needs to maintain anonymity to keep her job in the public eye. Dagny is non-partisan and aims to expose the half-truths, misrepresentations, and blatant lies of the MSM. This article was sourced from The Organic Prepper. Provide, protect and profit from what is coming! Get a free issue of Counter Markets today.


ageofautism--2019-09-09--Transplanting Human Autism Microbiome In Mice Causes Autism

All of those studies you see above, have families and researchers hopeful and motivated to continue more studies, with the ultimate goal of treatments, medications and cures, to help so many ill people.  Yet, AUTISM, the youngest hit group affected by microbiome dysfunction, with all of its subsequent medical and behavioral issues, constantly has to deal with controversy.  Now, it’s about this study above, and Spectrum , a site funded by the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative (SFARI) , where it appears that the focus is solely on genetics , had this to say: “ Study of microbiome’s importance in autism triggers swift backlash ” :  The impressive list of researchers is outstanding  .  Many have researched autism and all of them seem to be well acquainted with the microbiome.  Their expertise in Biology, Biological Engineering, Microbiology, Environmental Biotechnology, Neurology, Biomedical Science, Genome Sciences, Neurobehavioral Genetics, and Microbiome Innovation shows the encompassing knowledge that powered this research.  What is more astounding is that this study can now be added into the increasing list diagnoses. If you transplant gut microbiota from human donors with or TD controls into germ-free mice that colonization with microbiota is sufficient to induce.  That list thus far:  Some were not happy with that conclusion.  It may be that as we find more concrete evidence that it is the microbiome and NOT genes as the epicenter of autism, ---money, causation, and reputations--- may be challenged.  Because my daughter has been so affected, my perseveration of the microbiome for these many years has indeed, been the right path.  Searching for answers to improve the health and well-being of increasing numbers of children on the spectrum, is a huge motivator for many of us.  Let’s take a look at what this all means.  “We transplanted gut microbiota from human donors with ASD or TD controls into germ-free mice and reveal that colonization with ASD microbiota is sufficient to induce hallmark autistic behaviors.”  By Teresa Conrick In late Spring, this study came out, Human Gut Microbiota from Autism Spectrum Disorder Promote Behavioral Symptoms in Mice .  The importance of the results should jolt even the most skeptic:  Many scientists have pointed out possible errors of analysis and interpretation in a high-profile study that suggested microbes can ease autism-like behaviors in mice….Minutes after the study was published, independent experts began raising concerns on Twitter about three graphs included in the paper.  Given the very high number of variables being probed, it's not surprising some differences are found. No replication samples are tested, so my prior expectation would be that these are spurious, until proven otherwise  Wiring the Brain is all about -- “how the brain wires itself up during development, how the end result can vary in different people and what happens when it goes wrong “ -- and there are 0 articles on the microbiome and the focus on autism is pretty much about genes.  Other examples:  “The data didn’t pass what I call the eyeball test,” one of the tweeters, Kevin Mitchell, associate professor of genetics at Trinity College Dublin in Ireland, told Spectrum…….“ and a tweet from another genes-only lab, “The Sebat laboratory is interested in understanding the molecular basis of neuropsychiatric disorders including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and autism. We are interested  in the role of copy number variants (CNVs) in disease…...  Don't even get me started on the N of 3 controls and 5 cases that were used for most analyses. The variability between donors was huge.  The researchers stand by their original results: “As we sit here today, we’ve found no errors with the statistics we’ve done,” Mazmanian, professor of microbiology at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, told Spectrum.  This additionally significant part of their study could be seen as another nail in the coffin of those doing exclusive gene research as the cause of autism:  The brains of mice colonized with ASD microbiota display alternative splicing of ASD-relevant genes. Microbiome and metabolome profiles of mice harboring human microbiota predict that specific bacterial taxa and their metabolites modulate ASD behaviors. Indeed, treatment of an ASD mouse model with candidate microbial metabolites improves behavioral abnormalities and modulates neuronal excitability in the brain. We propose that the gut microbiota regulates behaviors in mice via production of neuroactive metabolites, suggesting that gut-brain connections contribute to the pathophysiology of ASD.  This is not the first study about autism to be attacked.  Funding for autism research started with psychiatry back in the 1930’s until the study of genetics became more popular.  Millions of dollars have been spent and wasted on searching for autism genes, with absolutely no benefit to society or more importantly, the affected individuals and their families. Moving autism into it’s more appropriate medical domain, a gut-brain disease for many, with a spectrum of immune dysfunction and behavioral symptoms, has been no easy feat and again, I applaud those researchers who are doing it.  There are many fans of these gut-brain studies, including me.  Smithsonian had this recent, well-done article, discussing the details of this pertinent, research and hopeful treatments:  How the Gut Microbiome Could Provide a New Tool to Treat Autism  The microbiome—a collection of organisms including bacteria, archaea, fungi and viruses that live in the human gut—has been shown to play a significant role in brain function. ……."There is a very high correlation between [gastrointestinal] severity and autism severity—for language, for social interaction, for behavior, all of the core symptoms of autism,” says Jim Adams, a professor and autism researcher at Arizona State University…..  Mazmanian and a team of researchers demonstrated this gut-brain connection in a mouse model of autism in 2013. Three years later, the team did the same for Parkinson's disease. And recently they showed that transplanting feces from a person with autism into germ-free mice would produce many symptoms of ASD in the animals.  The article really accentuates their work and shows the benefits of the research for individuals.  It will take time and multiple studies to answer these questions, but Adams is optimistic that a licensed microbial treatment for ASD will become available in a few years...If medical researchers like the ASU team can continue to make progress developing a microbiome treatment for ASD, many more kids could benefit from the multifold value of a healthy gut.  Megan is 26, and grateful is the word that always comes to my mind when I read these studies and see the huge impact it has on the future of autism for so many.  We have been waiting too long.  Teresa Conrick is Science Editor for Age of Autism.


aljazeera--2019-01-07--Criticism after claims ancient Hindus invented stem cell research

The organisers of a major Indian science conference have distanced themselves from speakers who made some unusual claims during the five-day event held in the northern city of Jalandhar.  The speakers, one of whom was the vice chancellor of a South Indian university, claimed Hindus invented stem cell research thousands of years ago and said Einstein's general theory of relativity was wrong.  "We had 100 Kauravas from one mother because of stem cell and test tube technology," Andhra University Vice Chancellor G Nageshwar Rao said, referring to a story from the Hindu epic Mahabharata.  Rao also told the group of schoolchildren and scientists he was addressing that a demon king from another centuries-old Hindu epic had two dozen aircraft and a network of landing strips in modern-day Sri Lanka.  "Hindu Lord Vishnu used guided missiles known as 'Vishnu Chakra' and chased moving targets," Rao, a professor of inorganic chemistry, told the crowd.  Rao was not the only scientist who made outlandish remarks.  A scientist from a university in southern Tamil Nadu state questioned both the general theory of relativity by Albert Einstein and the theory of gravity by Isaac Newton.  Following the comments, the organisers of the event, the Indian Scientific Congress Association, expressed "serious concern" and distanced themselves from the speakers.  "We don't subscribe to their views and distance ourselves from their comments. This is unfortunate," General Secretary of the Indian Scientific Congress Association Premendu P Mathur, told AFP news agency.     "There is a serious concern about such kind of utterances by responsible people."  It is not the first time controversial remarks have been made during the annual congress.  In 2015, a paper was presented which said Hindus discovered the Pythagorean theorem but that Greek scientist Pythagoras had taken the credit for it.  A speaker at that year's event also said aircraft were invented by Hindus in ancient times and that they had discovered the technology behind interplanetary travel.  A year earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that Hindus in ancient times already possessed the capabilities of genetic engineering and cosmetic surgery.  "We all read about Karna in the Mahabharata," Modi said.  "If we think a little more, we realise that the Mahabharata says Karna was not born from his mother's womb. This means that genetic science was present at that time," he had said.  "That is why Karna could be born outside his mother's womb."  Modi also said cosmetic surgery must have been possible, as shown by the Hindu deity Ganesha.  "We worship Lord Ganesha. There must have been some plastic surgeon at that time who got an elephant’s head on the body of a human being and began the practice of plastic surgery."  In 2016, former chief minister of the state of Uttarakhand and member of parliament Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank called "astrology the biggest science" and that it "should be promoted".  Nishank also said Hindus in ancient times had knowledge of nuclear science.  "We speak about nuclear science today. But Sage Kanad conducted nuclear test one lakh (100,000) years ago," Nishank said during an interview with local media.  Those comments were all heavily criticised by scientists.  In 2017, thousands of scientists and their supporters marched across India to promote their work and demand that the government invest more in the field.  Not only did those marching call for more funding, but they also called for the end to "propagation of unscientific, obscurantist ideas and religious intolerance", as well as better adherence to Article 51A of the Constitution, which states that it is the duty of every citizen to "develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform".


aljazeera--2019-08-23--Russia launches floating nuclear power plant Akademik Lomonosov

A huge vessel, the world's only floating nuclear power plant, has left its dock in the Russian port of Murmansk and is on its way to the arctic town of Pevek despite opposition from environmental groups.  The 144 metres long and 30 metres wide vessel, named the Akademik Lomonosov after the 18th-century Russian scientist, houses two nuclear reactors. It will be towed 6,000 kilometres to the remote Siberian region of Chukotka, about 86 kilometres from the US state of Alaska, after leaving the port on Friday.  Once docked, the 21,000-tonne barge will replace a coal-burning power plant and an ageing land-based nuclear plant and will supply 50,000 people in the area with electricity, according to Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom.  The floating vessel will be the northernmost nuclear plant in the world, and will also power the extraction of natural resources in the region when it starts operations next year.  Russia's state corporation has described the vessel as a "pilot project", with plans for widespread development and use of similar designs.  Russia, the United States and several other countries have long used nuclear reactors to power sea vessels, including ice breakers and submarines, but the Russian vessel is set to be the only floating nuclear power plant of its kind when it begins operations next year.  Scientists in China and researchers at the US-based Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are also working on sea-based nuclear power plants, and France has explored the possibility.  The environmental group Greenpeace has called the plan "Chernobyl on Ice", referring to the 1986 nuclear power plant meltdown, which released large levels of radiation into the atmosphere, forced thousands to flee their homes and sparked long-term fears of health and environmental repercussions.  An explosion on August 8 in Archangelsk has further heightened concerns of Russian nuclear negligence, with the government initially denying, and then admitting that radioactive material had been involved in the blast, which killed five scientists and caused radiation levels to spike in a nearby town.  The launch is part of a wider ambition of Russian President Vladimir Putin to develop the Northern Arctic region. That desire has become more realistic in recent years with global warming and melting ice caps making some areas more accessible.  Rosatom said the Akademik Lomonosov is part of a larger plan to provide energy to remote regions in Russia and around the world.  It said that floating nuclear units could be particularly beneficial to island nations and can be used to power desalination plants for countries with a shortage of fresh water.  The company has also said that, because many remote areas rely on coal-burning plants, the portable nuclear plants will help to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change.  On board the Akademik Lomonosov are two KLT-40C reactor systems, each with a capacity of 35 megawatts. It has an overall "life cycle" of 40 years, which may be extended to 50 years, according to Rosatom.  The corporation's Director General Alexei Likhachev, in May, described the vessel as an "unparalleled piece of engineering".  Rostom is currently working on a smaller, more powerful version of the floating plant, which it plans to roll out as part of the initiative's second generation.  Greenpeace has continually criticised the decade-long project, accusing the Russian corporation of not being transparent and saying that any problem with the reactor in the remote region would be difficult to properly contain before it turned catastrophic.  Rosatom has said the risks will be minimised, with spent fuel taken to special storage facilities in mainland Russia.  In 2017, Greenpeace protested at the St Petersburg Baltic shipyard, where the Akademik Lomonosov was being constructed and where tests were meant to take place. Those tests were moved to the smaller city of Murmansk in May, where the floating plant was loaded with nuclear fuel before its final departure.  In May, Jan Haverkamp, the nuclear expert with Greenpeace Central and Eastern Europe, said in a statement that installing the floating power plant in "the harsh environment of the Russian Arctic will pose a constant threat to people of the North and the pristine Arctic nature".  That month, Greenpeace, along with two Russian environmental organisations, sent a letter to Rosatom and other authorities that called for a peer-review of the vessel by nuclear regulators from other Arctic countries, as well as an Arctic Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).  In June, the Russian regulator Rostechnadzor issued a 10-year licence for the Akademik Lomonosov.  Critics have pointed to past incidents involving nuclear sea vessels, including the sinking of the gargantuan Kursk Submarine in 2000 and the leaking of radiation by a Russian icebreaker off the coast of Siberia in 2011.  Several fires onboard nuclear-powered vessels in recent years, including one in July that killed 14 crew members on the Losharik deep-sea vessel, have also stoked concerns.  "The incident-ridden history of Russian nuclear icebreakers and submarines shows the need for strict, independent oversight with international peer review. This must start now, before the reactors are loaded, and span the plant's entire risky operation - including transport, decommissioning and waste management," said Haverkamp.  Michael Golay, a professor in the Nuclear Science and Engineering Department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), told Al Jazeera there is a great potential for innovation when it comes to nuclear plants based on water.  In some instances, the right designs could make these power plants safer than those on land, he said, noting that recent nuclear catastrophes had been caused not by the nuclear chain reaction, but by failures in cooling the nuclear reactor afterwards.  "What we've seen is, we can control the chain reaction pretty reliably," Golay said. "But the problem of reactor cooling has been important in the Fukushima accident and the Three Mile Island accident."  An innovative design that uses gravity and ocean water could make that cooling more foolproof, he added.  Golay said that the Akademik Lomonosov appears to use technology more akin to that used in land-based nuclear plants or nuclear-powered sea vessels.  This means its safety will rely more on the hardware, culture, training and execution by the crew.  The plant is also very small relative to commercial land-based nuclear plants. It would have to be scaled up to seriously affect the way nuclear power is delivered around the world.  "The [Akademik Lomonosov] is the first step in a long journey," Golay said. "But if it goes successfully, it could open the way to other possibilities."


bbc--2019-01-18--Elon Musks Tesla to cut about 3000 jobs as cars too expensive

Elon Musk's Tesla to cut about 3,000 jobs as cars 'too expensive'

Electric carmaker Tesla has said it will cut its workforce by 7% after the "most challenging" year in its history.  In an email to staff on the firm's website, founder Elon Musk said that growth had been strong.  But he added it was difficult to make Teslas with their new and developing technology as cheaply as conventional cars, and the firm's cars were still "too expensive for most people".  Tesla employs more than 45,000 people, indicating it will cut about 3,000.  Shares in the car manufacturer opened more than 6% lower as trading began in the US on Friday.  Mr Musk said 2018 was Tesla's "most successful" yet, in which it delivered almost as many cars as it had in all the previous years of its existence combined.  However, while it ramped up production of its mid-market Model 3 car, Mr Musk said its products were too pricey for the average driver and its profits too low.  "This quarter will hopefully allow us, with great difficulty, effort and some luck, to target a tiny profit," he wrote.  "However, starting around May, we will need to deliver at least the mid-range Model 3 variant in all markets, as we need to reach more customers who can afford our vehicles.  "Moreover, we need to continue making progress towards lower priced variants of Model 3."  He said Tesla had "no choice" but to reduce full-time employee headcount and retain "only the most critical temps and contractors".  He added the firm would need to make these cuts while "increasing the Model 3 production rate" and making many "manufacturing engineering improvements in the coming months".  It's been a tough few years for the electric carmaker and its high-profile founder.  The firm has repeatedly failed to meet its own production targets, leading many investors to bet against it.  Tesla is in a race against time.  It's already well established as a niche producer of upmarket electric vehicles. But that isn't where the company sees its future.  Electric cars at the moment are in many ways a lifestyle choice. But in future, ever tighter emissions regulations and restrictions on "regular" cars are expected to drive them into the mainstream.  It's potentially a huge market - and Tesla is targeting a significant share. That's the rationale behind its brand new Model 3, billed as an "affordable" electric car.  But the Model 3 isn't actually that affordable yet - the cheapest versions have yet to go on sale. And it needs to make a lot more of them, in order to benefit from economies of scale.  Meanwhile established manufacturers will soon be flooding the market with brand new EVs of their own.  Last year the priority for Tesla was simply to boost production as quickly as possible, to meet ambitious targets. It took on a lot of new employees to make that happen.  Now, it needs to make even more cars, more cheaply - and it will have to do so with fewer staff. That certainly won't be easy, but according to Elon Musk, "there isn't any other way".  Mr Musk was also caught up in a number of scandals, including being sued by the US Securities and Exchange Commission after tweeting that he planned to take Tesla private.  Some analysts have speculated that Tesla will turn the ship around this year, but earlier this month it fell short on quarterly deliveries of the Model 3.  It also had to cut prices in the US to offset lower green tax credits.  In his email, Mr Musk noted the firm was cutting the jobs after expanding its headcount by almost a third in 2018.  "Tesla has only been producing cars for about a decade and we're up against massive, entrenched competitors," he said.  "The net effect is that Tesla must work much harder than other manufacturers to survive while building affordable, sustainable products."


bbc--2019-02-20--Samsung unveils foldable smartphone

Samsung unveils foldable smartphone

Samsung has unveiled a foldable smartphone - the Galaxy Fold - alongside a 5G Galaxy S10 handset and three other Galaxy S10 mobiles.  The Fold will go on sale in just over two months time, earlier than many expected.  The Galaxy S10 5G features the firm's biggest-ever non-folding phone display and promises faster data speeds when networks become available.  The S10 line-up also includes the introduction of a lower-cost model.  Samsung had previously acknowledged that the cost of its S9 range had contributed to "lower-than-expected sales".  Samsung said the Galaxy Fold would open up to create a 7.3in (18.5cm) tablet-like display and would be able to run up to three apps at once.  A demo showed off "app continuity" features by which the device transferred from one mode to another much more smoothly than had been the case with an earlier foldable phone - Royole's FlexPai.  One example involved a Google Maps screen appearing on the Fold's smaller front display and then expanding to a larger view when the handset was opened following a one-second pause.  Samsung added that Whatsapp, Facebook, YouTube and Microsoft Office would also be optimised to suit the new form-factor.  It said that it had designed a new type of hidden hinge system that would withstand hundreds of thousands of folds and unfolds, and contained a battery on each side to extend its runtime.  In addition, the South Korean firm said the phone contained six cameras - three on the back, two on the inside and one on the front - to ensure it could take photos however it is held.  A 4G version of the Galaxy Fold is set to go on sale on April 26 and will start at $1,980 (£1,515). A more expensive 5G edition was also promised.  Samsung described it as being a "luxury" item.  "Fold is an experience that gives people who want a phone but also a larger screen with no compromise on the phone experience," commented Carolina Milanesi from the consultancy Creative Strategies.  "There's a lot of tech packed in there. And it makes sense to have kept it under $2,000 even if only for the psychological effect that has."  But another market watcher still had doubts.  "In theory, foldables are hugely attractive: they pack a giant screen into a small design," commented Neil Mawston from the research firm Strategy Analytics.  "But in reality, consumers don't know exactly how they will work, and the applications for them are still fairly immature.  "You can look back at history at the dual-screen folder phones that ZTE and NEC and others release. They haven't sold particularly well mostly due to price and lack of distribution.  "So, there's good potential, but still a lot of uncertainty."  In the short demonstration we saw today, Samsung's use case of watching entertainment, playing games and app multi-tasking will make a lot of sense for a lot of people. This is a tremendously creative feat of engineering. Folding screens seem like a good idea.  What won't work, however, is the price. I've been at many launch events like this, and normally the worst case scenario for the firms putting on the show is a lack of applause when the price is announced. Today we saw something worse - loud grumbles, even some laughter. $1,980? Simply too much.  Also, I wonder about some other aspects of this phone we can't judge yet as we haven't had a chance to hold it. When Samsung's head of mobile placed it into his suit pocket on stage, it landed with all the grace of a cartoon anvil.  So: possibly heavy, with two likely-hot batteries, and a huge price tag.  Creative, sure? Practical? For me, Samsung has fallen short - but the effort should excite gadget fans who have been longing for something different for so long. I suspect this device will have people flocking to stores to see it up close, if not to actually purchase it.  The S10 series is likely to remain Samsung's focus when it comes to sales for the foreseeable future.  The S10 and S10+ will cost more than the phones they supersede - beginning at £799 and £899 respectively when they go on sale on 8 March.  But the S10e means the Galaxy S range now starts at a lower price-point - £669 - albeit with lower specifications to match.  The S10 5G is yet to be priced and only has a vague "summer" release planned.  "Having a 5G variant is strategically important for Samsung as it gives them the jump on Apple and helps maintain the firm's brand strength and perceived technology leadership," commented Ben Wood, from the CCS Insight consultancy.  "It also gives the operators a tier-one brand for their 5G launches.  "But as far as consumers are concerned, unless you have a very good reason to buy a 5G phone this summer, one of the other three S10 handsets is probably a better investment, and will be viable for use for many years."  The launch comes days before Mobile World Congress in Barcelona - a trade event where Samsung's rivals will unveil new handsets of their own.  The overall smartphone market shrank in 2018, but Samsung's sales saw a particularly pronounced drop-off as Huawei and other Chinese manufacturers wooed away customers.  All four versions of the S10 are distinguished from last year's models by embedding the front cameras within their displays.  Samsung refers to this as being the Infinity O design, but it is more commonly referred to as the "hole punch".  The move allows the phones to feature a thinner top bezel without having the kind of "notch" found on many rivals.  It has, however, caused the firm to ditch the eye iris-scanner introduced in the S8.  Samsung says a new ultrasonic fingerprint sensor placed under the screens of the three higher-end phones offers close to the same level of security, and is more convenient to use than a scanner formerly placed on phone backs.  It is based on a technology unveiled by Qualcomm in 2015.  All versions of the handset feature wireless charging and introduce the ability to wirelessly charge other compatible devices in turn.  This mirrors a feature first offered by Huawei's Mate 20.  Samsung demoed the facility at a dual London and San Francisco launch as a way to recharge a new pair of Bluetooth headphones without having to use a separate cable or power mat.  All four devices now feature a 10 megapixel selfie camera and introduce a 16MP "ultra-wide" rear version, which offers a slightly larger field-of-view than our eyes.  The S10+ also has a second selfie camera to help it take depth readings.  In addition, the S10+ and S10 5G now offer up to one terabyte of internal storage, which the firm says could appeal to those shooting lots of 4K video or storing many game files.  "What's positive is that Samsung has moved away from software that nobody wants - like AR emojis and Samsung Cloud - and has gone back to its roots to deliver market-leading hardware," commented Ben Stanton, from market analysis firm Canalys.  "So for the premium part of the market, these are good phones.  "But my concern is that [they are still] not innovative enough to stop people from looking down to lower-price bands and being drawn into mid-range products from Chinese companies that are super-competitive."  The introduction of a lower price tier may help address this.  But trade-offs for picking the S10e include:  By contrast, the S10 5G benefits from several exclusive features:  "The phone had to be larger to feature a bigger battery because 5G [data transfers] will drain it much faster," commented Mr Stanton.  "But it was also smart to offer a large screen.  "The use cases for 5G aren't yet defined, but one potential is to stream 4K video rather than HD. And having a bigger screen makes that more compelling."  The original S-series handset was released days ahead of Apple's iPhone 4, and had a bigger 4in screen and microSD card slot in its favour.  At that point, its main Android rival was the HTC Desire, and although Samsung's device was lighter, thinner, and had a more powerful graphics processor, some reviewers said it felt less "premium" in the hand than its competitor.  The second-generation device saw its display grow to 4.3in, its rear camera increase in resolution to 8MP, and its processor move over to a dual-core design.  It was praised for allowing owners to unlock it by pressing the home key, rather than having to press a button on top as before. And although some griped that it still felt plasticky, it sold in its millions - helping Samsung overtake Nokia as the world's bestselling mobile phone-maker.  The third-generation model established a trend of including a bigger display but compensating for the growth by shrinking the size of the bezels.  Its innovations included the ability to detect when the screen was being looked at, so as to avoid dimming the image. And it introduced S Voice, allowing users to command music to play and photos to be taken by speaking to it.  Samsung added further touchless controls to the S4, letting owners scroll through text by making eye movements, and accept calls with a hand wave.  A dual-camera feature also created photos that blended together the views from the front and rear lenses.  Some critics found this all to be a bit gimmicky, and although the handset was a hit, there were reports that its sales fell short of Samsung's expectations.  The S5 added a fingerprint scanner, which could be used to authenticate purchases via PayPal.  It also introduced a black-and-white mode to help save battery life. But predictions that the firm would ditch Android for its in-house operating system Tizen proved to be inaccurate.  The S-series split in two in 2015 with a premium-priced Edge version offering a screen that curved round one of its sides.  A metal frame and glass back gave the handsets a more luxury feel, but they ditched water resistance and a microSD slot to make this possible.  The seventh-generation phones looked pretty similar to their predecessors, but restored the ability to dunk them in water and slot in extra storage.  Other improvements centred on the camera with better low-light and autofocus capabilities.  The S8 and larger S8+ ditched the home button, took Samsung's logo off the front and added the virtual assistant Bixby.  They also gained an iris scanner, which was billed as "one of the safest ways" to keep data private.  After scandals involving exploding Note 7s and the arrest of the firm's vice-chairman, the launch helped return the firm to surer footing.  The S9 and S9+ gained new camera features including a super-slow-motion video mode and a variable aperture - allowing owners to control how much light reached the sensor.  AR emojis also allowed users to create animated cartoon characters that looked like them.  But sales were lacklustre, and several months after it was unveiled Samsung acknowledged there had been "resistance" to its price.  Cameras that poke out of the screen and four distinct models mark out the latest generation.  But there are signs Samsung's smartphone dominance is slipping...


bbc--2019-03-16--How swarming drones will change warfare

How swarming drones will change warfare

The swarm robots are coming and they could change the way wars are fought.  In February, the defence secretary said "swarm squadrons" will be deployed by the British armed forces in the coming years.  The US has also been testing interconnected, co-operative drones that are capable of working together to overwhelm adversaries.  Low-cost, intelligent and inspired by swarms of insects, these new machines could revolutionise future conflicts.  From swarming enemy sensors with a deluge of targets, to spreading out over large areas for search-and-rescue missions, they could have a range of uses on and off the battlefield.  But just how different is "swarm" technology from the drones that are currently used by militaries across the globe? The key is self-organisation.  "If you imagine a football match, a coach isn't going to tell the players from the sidelines exactly where to run and what to do," says Paul Scharre from the Center for a New American Security think tank.  "Players are going to figure that out on their own. Similarly, the robot agents need to coordinate among each other what actions to take."  Instead of being individually directed by a human controller, the basic idea of a drone swarm is that its machines are able to make decisions among themselves. So far the technology has been at an experimental stage, but it is edging closer to becoming a reality.  Swarms come in different shapes and sizes. The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), for example, has been working on a programme dubbed Gremlins; micro-drones the size and shape of missiles, designed to be dropped from planes and perform reconnaissance over vast areas.  On the other side of the spectrum is the larger XQ-58 Valkyrie drone, measuring almost 9m in length. It has been called a 'loyal wingman' for a human pilot - able to carry precision-guided bombs and surveillance equipment. It recently completed its first successful test flight, although the eventual aim is for it to work in a group alongside a manned fighter jet.  In either case, the biggest advantage of a 'swarm' is the ability of machines to work together in numbers. And when it comes to the battlefield, numbers matter.  "Swarming allows you to build large numbers of low-cost expendable agents that can be used to overwhelm an adversary," says Mr Scharre. "This reverses the long trend of rising aircraft costs and reducing quantities.  "And unlike having a large number of soldiers, robotic agents can coordinate on a scale that would be impossible for humans."  Flinging a barrage at a defence system is one thing, but that could be done with a sack of rocks. The key to the swarm is that it's smart enough to coordinate its own behaviour.  It's not only the military that's interested in this problem. Dr Justin Werfel is a senior research scientist at Harvard's Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering.  "In a natural swarm of birds or bees, all individuals are doing their own thing. Each one has its own brain, knows what it can see for itself," he says. "You don't have an explicit hive mind. The queen bee is not giving instructions to everyone.  "The challenge is how you build the individuals so that the collective does what you want."  One robotic construction project run at Harvard, for example, takes inspiration from termite colonies and how they build enormous, elaborate structures without central control. They do this using a mechanism known as "stigmergy", which boils down to one animal leaving signals in an environment for others to react to.  "The idea is that by leaving information in the environment where it's most relevant, individuals can communicate," says Dr Werfel. "Ants do this by leaving chemical trails, termites do a similar thing about where soil has been put down in a mound."  Flocks of birds are another inspiration for researchers in this area. Watch a murmuration of starlings and it seems to move with a collective intelligence, but the animals are actually each responding to subtle changes in speed and direction. Information ripples across the flock in a split second, and this decentralised behaviour is exactly what drone researchers want to replicate.  But applying these ideas to a battlefield presents issues, namely that a combat zone is a lot more chaotic than a construction site or a quiet patch of sky. For a robotic swarm to work effectively, it has to respond not only to missiles whizzing around but electronic attacks on its communications and GPS.  At the tail end of last year DARPA announced it had done exactly that, using its Collaborative Operations in Denied Environment (CODE) project to equip a squad of drones with the ability to "adapt and respond to unexpected threats" high above the Arizona desert, even after human communication was knocked out.  But if a flock of drones is able to "accomplish mission objectives without live human direction", as DARPA says, does that make it an autonomous weapon? There have been calls to ban artificial intelligence systems that are capable of killing without any human intervention. Where do the lines around control lie, when you have a swarm that can make its own tactical decisions?  There may be some time needed to find the answers to these questions. Mr Scharre says it will be "a while before we see this come to fruition in a really dramatic way."  In the short term, the experiments continue. This month a swarming drone "hackathon" will take place, organised by the UK's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) and the US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). It is not aimed at developing attack swarms, however, but new ways to help emergency services deal with wildfires.  "A drone swarm should reduce the operator burden, who could task it to, for example, find lost members of the public or perhaps provide a real-time map of a large advancing fire on several fronts, similar to California in 2018," says Shirley Swain, senior external communications adviser for the DSTL.  Could these systems also be considered for wider military applications? "We will of course seek to exploit any means of reducing the risk of harm to our emergency services and forces alike," says Ms Swain.  Whether or not the results of the hackathon one day wind up on a battlefield, it seems the use of swarm military technology is inevitable. Mr Scharre compares it to the development of precision-guided weapons, tested and refined through the 1970s and 1980s, but only coming into their own during the first Gulf War of the early 1990s.  That war in many ways set the template for conflicts in the following decades. Self-organising swarms of autonomous machines could well do the same for wars to come.


bbc--2019-04-03--Climate change Magic bullet carbon solution takes big step

Climate change: 'Magic bullet' carbon solution takes big step

A technology that removes carbon dioxide from the air has received significant backing from major fossil fuel companies.  British Columbia-based Carbon Engineering has shown that it can extract CO2 in a cost-effective way.  It has now been boosted by $68m in new investment from Chevron, Occidental and coal giant BHP.  But climate campaigners are worried that the technology will be used to extract even more oil.  The quest for technology for carbon dioxide removal (CDR) from the air received significant scientific endorsement last year with the publication of the IPCC report on keeping the rise in global temperatures to 1.5C this century.  In their "summary for policymakers", the scientists stated that: "All pathways that limit global warming to 1.5C with limited or no overshoot project the use of CDR ...over the 21st century."  Around the world, a number of companies are racing to develop the technology that can draw down carbon. Swiss company Climeworks is already capturing CO2 and using it to boost vegetable production.  Carbon Engineering says that its direct air capture (DAC) process is now able to capture the gas for under $100 a tonne.  With its new funding, the company plans to build its first commercial facilities. These industrial-scale DAC plants could capture up to one million tonnes of CO2 from the air each year.  CO2 is a powerful warming gas but there's not a lot of it in the atmosphere - for every million molecules of air, there are 410 of CO2.  While the CO2 is helping to drive temperatures up around the world, the comparatively low concentrations make it difficult to design efficient machines to remove the gas.  Carbon Engineering's process is all about sucking in air and exposing it to a chemical solution that concentrates the CO2. Further refinements mean the gas can be purified into a form that can be stored or utilised as a liquid fuel.  Carbon Engineering's barn-sized installation has a large fan in the middle of the roof which draws in air from the atmosphere.  It then comes into contact with a hydroxide-based chemical solution. Certain hydroxides react with carbon dioxide, reversibly binding to the CO2 molecule. When the CO2 in the air reacts with the liquid, it forms a carbonate mixture. That is then treated with a slurry of calcium hydroxide to change it into solid form; the slurry helps form tiny pellets of calcium carbonate.  The chalky calcium carbonate pellets are then treated at a high temperature of about 900C, with the pellets decomposing into a CO2 stream and calcium oxide.  That stream of pure CO2 is cleaned up to remove water impurities.  "The key to this process is about concentrating the CO2," said Carbon Engineering's Dr Jenny McCahill.  "We can then put it underground as in sequestration, or we can combine it with hydrogen to form hydrocarbons or methanol. There's a number of things you can do."  Yes. It's complicated but it can be done.  The captured CO2 is mixed with hydrogen that's made from water and green electricity. It's then passed over a catalyst at 900C to form carbon monoxide. Adding in more hydrogen to the carbon monoxide turns it into what's called synthesis gas.  Finally a Fischer-Tropsch process turns this gas into a synthetic crude oil. Carbon Engineering says the liquid can be used in a variety of engines without modification.  "The fuel that we make has no sulphur in it, it has these nice linear chains which means it burns cleaner than traditional fuel," said Dr McCahill.  "It's nice and clear and ready to be used in a truck, car or jet."  CO2 can also be used to flush out the last remaining deposits of oil in wells that are past their prime. The oil industry in the US has been using the gas in this way for decades.  It's estimated that using CO2 can deliver an extra 30% of crude from oilfields with the added benefit that the gas is then sequestered permanently in the ground.  "Carbon Engineering's direct air capture technology has the unique capability to capture and provide large volumes of atmospheric CO2," said Occidental Petroleum's Senior Vice President, Richard Jackson, in a statement.  "This capability complements Occidental's enhanced oil recovery business and provides further synergies by enabling large-scale CO2 utilisation and sequestration."  One of the other investors in Carbon Engineering is BHP, best known for its coal mining interests.  "The reality is that fossil fuels will be around for several decades whether in industrial processes or in transportation," said Dr Fiona Wild, BHP's head of sustainability and climate change.  "What we need to do is invest in those low-emission technologies that can significantly reduce the emissions from these processes, and that's why we are focusing on carbon capture and storage."  Some climate campaigners are positive about the development of direct air capture technology, but others are worried that it will be used to prolong the fossil fuel era.  "We need to be working together to figure out how we move away completely from fossil fuel - that's our moral and economic challenge but these technologies provide a false hope that we can continue to depend on fossil fuels and produce and burn them, and technology will fix it - we are way past that point!"  Others are concerned that the development of direct air capture devices may just encourage some people to think that they don't have to personally reduce their carbon footprint.  "I think there's a real danger that people will see this technology as a magic bullet and not cut back their carbon," said Shakti Ramkumar, a student at the University of British Columbia (UBC), who is active in climate change protests.  "We have a moral responsibility to reduce our consumption on a large scale. We need to reflect deeply on how we live our lives and whether everyone can have access to the things we have, and fairness, so we can all live a good life."  It's impossible to say if Carbon Engineering's idea will emerge as the type of device that makes a major difference in the battle against climate change.  Certainly, the company believes that its machines could become as common as water treatment plants - providing a valuable service, yet hardly noticed by the general public.  Right now, it has secured enough money to build a commercial facility and can draw down carbon for less than $100 a tonne. But there is a big worry that with large investments from the fossil fuel industry, the focus of its efforts could be turned to producing more oil, not just tackling climate change.  Carbon Engineering says that if governments want to invest in its process they are very welcome to do so. If they're not ready to stump up the cash, the company is happy to take funding from the energy industry as time is so short, and the need for the technology is so great.  "Is it the silver bullet?" asked CEO Steve Oldham.  "I would never say to anybody that you want to put all your eggs in one basket - the future of the planet is very important for us all.  "But having the technology built, available, ready to go, with no harmful chemical side-effects, less land-usage, having those available - that's a good thing.  "If or when we need them, and if you read the science that's today - it's available, it's ready."  Sign up for a weekly chat about climate change on Facebook Messenger


bbc--2019-05-02--Life-saving kidney delivered by drone

Life-saving kidney delivered by drone

A donor kidney has been delivered to surgeons at a US hospital via drone, in the first flight of its kind.  Many see huge potential for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) delivering medical products, with some drones already doing so in Africa.  The US flight required a specially-designed drone which was able to maintain and monitor the organ.  It is hoped that it can pave the way for longer flights and address safety issue with current transport methods.  The recipient, a 44-year-old from Baltimore, had waited eight years for the transplant.  She said of the unusual delivery method: "This whole thing is amazing. Years ago, this was not something that you would think about."  According to the United Network for Organ Sharing, which manages organ transplants in the US, in 2018 there were nearly 114,000 people on waiting lists, with 1.5% of organs not making it to the destination and nearly 4% being delayed by two hours or more.  "Delivering an organ from a donor to a patient is a sacred duty with many moving parts. It is critical that we find ways of doing this better," said Joseph Scalea, assistant professor of surgery at University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM), and one of the surgeons who performed the transplant.  "As a result of the outstanding collaboration among surgeons, engineers, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), organ procurement specialists, pilots, nurses, and, ultimately, the patient, we were able to make a pioneering breakthrough in transplantation."  The three-mile journey required a lot of new technology, including a custom-made drone capable of carrying the additional weight of an organ, which also needed on-board cameras and organ tracking, and communications and safety systems for a flight over an urban, densely-populated area.  It also had a parachute recovery system in case the aircraft failed.  "There's a tremendous amount of pressure knowing there's a person waiting for that organ, but it's also a special privilege to be a part of this critical mission," said Matthew Scassero, part of the engineering team based at the University of Maryland.  Charlie Alexander, chief executive of The Living Legacy Foundation of Maryland, a charity working to increase organ donation, said: "If we can prove that this works, then we can look at much greater distances of unmanned organ transport.  "This would minimise the need for multiple pilots and flight time and address safety issues we have in our field."


bbc--2019-05-21--Female-voice AI reinforces bias says UN report

Female-voice AI reinforces bias, says UN report

AI-powered voice assistants with female voices are perpetuating harmful gender biases, according to a UN study.  These female helpers are portrayed as "obliging and eager to please", reinforcing the idea that women are "subservient", it finds.  Particularly worrying, it says, is how they often give "deflecting, lacklustre or apologetic responses" to insults.  The report calls for technology firms to stop making voice assistants female by default.  The study from Unesco (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) is entitled, I'd blush if I could, which is borrowed from a response from Siri to being called a sexually provocative term.  "Companies like Apple and Amazon, staffed by overwhelmingly male engineering teams, have built AI systems that cause their feminised digital assistants to greet verbal abuse with catch-me-if-you-can flirtation," the report says.  "Because the speech of most voice assistants is female, it sends a signal that women are... docile helpers, available at the touch of a button or with a blunt voice command like 'hey' or 'OK'. The assistant holds no power of agency beyond what the commander asks of it. It honours commands and responds to queries regardless of their tone or hostility," the report says.  "In many communities, this reinforces commonly held gender biases that women are subservient and tolerant of poor treatment."  Research firm Canalys estimates that approximately 100 million smart speakers - the hardware that allows users to interact with voice assistants - were sold globally in 2018.  And, according to research firm Gartner, by 2020 some people will have more conversations with voice assistants than with their spouses.  Voice assistants now manage an estimated one billion tasks per month, according to the report, and the vast majority - including those designed by Chinese tech giants - have obviously female voices.  Microsoft's Cortana was named after a synthetic intelligence in the video game Halo that projects itself as a sensuous unclothed woman, while Apple's Siri means "beautiful woman who leads you to victory" in Norse. While Google Assistant has a gender-neutral name, its default voice is female.  The report calls on developers to create a neutral machine gender for voice assistants, to programme them to discourage gender-based insults and to announce the technology as non-human at the outset of interactions with human users.  A group of linguists, technologists and sound designers are experimenting with a genderless digital voice, made from real voices and called Q.  The report also highlights the digital skills gender gap, from lack of internet use among girls and women in sub-Saharan Africa and parts of South Asia, to the decline of ICT studies being taken up by girls in Europe.  According to the report, women make up just 12% of AI researchers.


bbc--2019-06-20--Why the age of electric flight is finally upon us

Aerospace firms are joining forces to tackle their industry's growing contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, with electric engines seen as one solution. But will this be enough to offset the growing demand for air travel?  This week's Paris Airshow saw the launch of the world's first commercial all-electric passenger aircraft - albeit in prototype form.  Israeli firm Eviation says the craft - called Alice - will carry nine passengers for up to 650 miles (1,040km) at 10,000ft (3,000m) at 276mph (440km/h). It is expected to enter service in 2022.  Alice is an unconventional-looking craft: powered by three rear-facing pusher-propellers, one in the tail and two counter-rotating props at the wingtips to counter the effects of drag. It also has a flat lower fuselage to aid lift.  "This plane looks like this not because we wanted to build a cool plane, but because it is electric," says Eviation's chief executive Omer Bar-Yohay.  "You build a craft around your propulsion system. Electric means we can have lightweight motors; it allows us to open up the design space."  Eviation has already received its first orders. US regional airline Cape Air, which operates a fleet of 90 aircraft, has agreed to buy a "double-digit" number of the aircraft.  The firm is using Siemens and magniX to provide the electric motors, and magniX chief executive Roei Ganzarski says that with two billion air tickets sold each year for flights of under 500 miles, the business potential for small electric passenger aircraft is clear.  Crucially, electricity is much cheaper than conventional fuel.  A small aircraft, like a turbo-prop Cessna Caravan, will use $400 on conventional fuel for a 100-mile flight, says Mr Ganzarski. But with electricity "it'll be between $8-$12, which means much lower costs per flight-hour".  "We're not an environmentalist company, the reason we're doing this is because it makes business sense."  MagniX is now working with seaplane operator, Vancouver-based Harbour Air, to start converting their existing fleet to electric.  The future also looks reasonably bright when it comes to medium-range flight - a range of up to about 1,500km.  Unlike Alice, aircraft targeting this range would use a mix of conventional and electric power, enabling them to cut CO2 emissions significantly by switching on the electrical component of their propulsion at the key points in a flight - take-off and landing.  Several demonstration projects are now nearing fruition.  For example, Rolls-Royce, Airbus and Siemens are working on the E-Fan X programme, which will have a two megawatt (2MW) electric motor mounted on a BAE 146 jet. It is set to fly in 2021.  "There are huge amounts of energy involved here, the engineering is absolutely leading-edge - and our investment in electrification is ramping up rapidly," says Rolls-Royce's chief technology officer Paul Stein.  United Technologies, which includes engine-maker Pratt & Whitney in its portfolio, is working on its Project 804, a hybrid electric demonstrator designed to test a 1MW motor and the sub-systems and components required.  The firm says it should provide fuel savings of at least 30%. It should fly in 2022 and is forecast to be ready for regional airliners by the mid-2020s.  Zunum Aero, backed by Boeing, is using a engine turbine from France's Safran to power an electric motor for a hybrid craft. And low-cost airline EasyJet is working with Wright Electric, saying it will start using electric aircraft in its regular services by 2027. This is likely to be on short-haul flights, such as London to Amsterdam - Europe's second busiest route.  "Electric flying is becoming a reality and we can now foresee a future that is not exclusively dependent on jet fuel," says EasyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren.  It's a statement underscored by a report from investment bank UBS which predicts the aviation sector will quickly switch to hybrid and electric aircraft for regional travel, with an eventual demand for 550 hybrid airliners each year between 2028 and 2040.  But the prospects for electric long-haul flights are not so rosy.  While electrical motors, generators, power distribution and controls have advanced very rapidly, battery technology hasn't.  Even assuming huge advances in battery technology, with batteries that are 30 times more efficient and "energy-dense" than they are today, it would only be possible to fly an A320 airliner for a fifth of its range with just half of its payload, says Airbus's chief technology officer Grazia Vittadini.  "Unless there is some radical, yet-to-be invented paradigm shift in energy storage, we are going to rely on hydrocarbon fuels for the foreseeable future," says Paul Eremenko, United Technologies chief technology officer.  The big problem with this is that 80% of the aviation industry's emissions come from passenger flights longer than 1,500km - a distance no electric airliner could yet fly.  Yet the UK has become the first G7 country to accept the goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050 - a huge challenge for the air travel business with 4.3 billion of us flying this year and eight billion expected to do so by 2037.  Regulators are also piling on the pressure.  In Europe, the European Aviation Safety Agency says it will start categorizing aircraft based on their CO2 emissions, while Norway and Sweden are aiming to make short-haul flights in their airspace electric by 2040.  So logically, is the only answer is to ditch long-haul flights?  This obviously isn't an appealing prospect for the industry. Rolls-Royce's Paul Stein says starkly that the world would be in a "dark place" if we stopped travelling.  He argues that in a global economy "where peaceful co-existence comes about from travelling and understanding each other, if we move away from that I am very concerned it's not the direction mankind should be going in".


bbc--2019-07-06--Will Facebooks digital money Libra be good for Africa

Will Facebook's digital money Libra be good for Africa?

In our series of letters from African journalists, technology writer Andile Masuku looks at what the launch of Facebook's digital money could mean for Africa.  From early next year, Facebook intends to let its two billion-odd users - more than 139 million of whom are in Africa - make digital payments through its apps and popular messaging service WhatsApp using a new crypto-currency called Libra.  It could have profound implications for a continent which receives a huge amount of remittances - and is one of the least-banked regions of the world, something that has allowed for other innovations like mobile cash payments to take hold in Africa.  As a Zimbabwean living in South Africa, I have become numb to the daylight robbery that ensues whenever I receive money from abroad or send cash to my family back home.  As such, like many other cautious pragmatists, I relish the prospect of a network like Libra permanently disrupting the lucrative cash remittance businesses of large banks and money transfer services like Western Union and MoneyGram.  According to a World Bank report published last year, the cost of sending cash in sub-Saharan Africa was at least 20% higher than any other region in the world. The report revealed that sending $200 to and from the region in the first quarter of 2018 cost a whopping $19.  But we must not be naive to the myriad factors responsible for maintaining market inefficiencies and actively engineering economic complexities which corporations like Western Union exploit to great effect.  The fact is, many governments in Africa have enabled the remittance industry status quo and have come to rely on lining their coffers with remittance-related revenue.  African governments are also deeply suspicious of crypto-currencies, like Bitcoin. The long list of countries which have, in some way or another, prohibited the use of crypto-currencies includes Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia and even my native Zimbabwe, which is well on its way to being a cashless society thanks to the growing adoption of mobile money services.  It abandoned its own currency for 10 years because of hyperinflation, and it is currently in the throes of trying to reassure a sceptical nation that the newly introduced Zimbabwean dollar has value.  Policy makers in Zimbabwe have argued that the idealised notion of a crypto-currency does not adequately take into account some of the very real limitations and security risks.  Think challenges in levying taxes, the risk of unwittingly enabling illicit activity and money-laundering, and of course the potential susceptibility to crypto-hackers.  Why Facebook wants to be money's future  And these are things that African leaders need to address with Facebook up front. In the US, lawmakers have already proposed a moratorium on the Libra rollout until Facebook assures Congress that Libra will not exacerbate money-laundering and the funding of terror groups among other issues.  Facebook's Libra white paper, which outlines the tech giant's plans to re-imagine global finance, does show that unlike completely decentralised digital currencies such as Bitcoin, which operate outside the oversight of central authorities or banks, Libra is set to be backed by a reserve of actual currencies and assets.  Facebook is using this difference to convince policy-makers that Libra is a bankable bet. It has the high-powered backing of the likes of Visa, MasterCard, Uber, Spotify and even South Africa's PayU.  As Facebook representatives push back against concerns regarding the extent of the company's self-interest in the Libra project, we would do well not to forget how it formerly served the world poverty-porn laden rhetoric to justify the global roll-out of Free Basics offering several years ago.  Back then, the tech firm audaciously sold Free Basics, which lets people in some countries access Facebook and other websites without charge, as mankind's most significant development towards promoting "internet as a right" for all.  Dubbed by detractors as the "Internet According to Facebook", many African countries lapped it up.  India, quite famously, did not, arguing that it undermined the principle of net neutrality - the idea that all internet traffic should be treated equally - and that it was improper to allow Facebook to deliver a dumbed-down version of the internet to hundreds of millions of people.  With the help of the pan-African mobile telephone operator Airtel Africa, Facebook rolled out Free Basics in no less than 17 African countries.  It is hard to argue that offering poor, disconnected Africans limited web access to services like health, education, jobs, communication and local content at no cost to them is anything but beneficial.  Yet Facebook's now infamous business model of monetising user data makes it impossible to ignore the potential adverse long-term impact of allowing such a firm to profit from curating the only version of the internet millions of Africans may ever come to know.  Given the company's high-profile shortcomings, there is good reason to distrust Facebook and many die-hard crypto-currency proponents think of the Libra concept as the perfect prop for a hopelessly broken global finance industry.  Critics also point to the ease with which African governments can cut off the internet and messaging apps, meaning if it suited them they could effectively cut off their citizens from accessing digital cash. Would it be wise for us to become too dependent on Libra?  The recent network issues on Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram experienced in South Africa this past week have also served as a sober reminder of how economically disruptive relying on Facebook's Libra could prove to be should a similar outage occur again.  I am encouraged by how key personalities within Africa's innovative digital money community are leading impressively nuanced debate about the potential pros and pitfalls of Libra.  Social media posts and impassioned blog posts by Nigeria's Seyi Taylor, who thinks if it proves cheap and convenient, uptake could be rapid, and Kenya's Michael Kimani, who flags how it targets the poor, have so far prompted robust discussion online that one can only hope will filter into the hallowed halls of policy-making across the continent.  With that all said, if on a future Sunday I could send my folks $100 to pay for some cattle vaccines via a WhatsApp message, and they could immediately go to their local agri-mart and make a purchase using Libra - that would be rather nifty.  Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica


bbc--2019-08-13--The poetry of concrete and the tragedy of a broken bridge

The 'poetry of concrete' and the tragedy of a broken bridge

It's one year since part of a motorway bridge outside Genoa collapsed, as cars and lorries sped across it. Dozens fell off the edge, tumbling 45m to the ground below, resulting in 43 deaths. Here, seven of those closely affected tell their stories.  On 13 August 2018, Emmanuel Diaz and his brother Henry drove across the Morandi bridge. Emmanuel was flying to Colombia to study psychology and Henry gave him a lift to the airport.  "When we said goodbye I hugged him very hard, I told him: 'Henry, I love you very much, I am so proud of you.' I felt weird, because I didn't want to let him go, so much so that the last words he told me were: 'Emmanuel, I really have to go.' Now it feels as though his destiny was already written and life allowed us to say goodbye, because that last hug was perhaps the most intense of our lives. I wanted to hug him forever."  By the following morning, Emmanuel had reached Bogotá and was waiting for his connection to Medellín when he saw on the news that, back home in Genoa, the bridge had collapsed.  "I immediately felt something was wrong. There's a special connection that exists between brothers. I looked at a picture of my brother Henry and I thought, 'Why do I feel like you are so far away?' I felt he was no longer with me.  "When I got to Medellín, I tried calling him, calling our friends, our mother in Italy, but I felt powerless. I was almost 14,000km away. So I started looking at the news online, looking for updates. We had a yellow car, very distinctive. I started watching a Facebook livestream and I saw the moment they pulled our yellow car out of the rubble. In that moment I understood my brother was dead. I looked at the image of the car and I thought, 'Nobody can have survived in that car, it's not possible.' I fell to the ground, I lost the strength in my legs, I collapsed."  Deputy Prosecutor Paolo d'Ovidio had just come back from his summer holidays and had left his mobile phone at home. He rang his wife to let her know and she told him to switch on the news.  "She said, 'Look, something's happened to the Morandi bridge.' I went online and saw the first pictures. I hurried home to get my phone, then went with the police to the site. We arrived within an hour of the collapse. There were firefighters, police, paramedics and reporters. It was raining.  "I saw so much desperation. I can't pretend it wasn't upsetting. There were people shouting, crying out; dogs searching for bodies, dogs searching for those still living. And there were whole pieces of bridge, whole pieces of road that had fallen on other roads. There were warehouses destroyed by the 50m-60m of road that had fallen. There was a lorry hanging 50m above the ground with the driver trapped inside.  "Straight away it was clear that, as well as rescuing the survivors, there was an immediate need to understand what had happened, and so the investigation began from there."  One of the first eyewitnesses was Davide Capello, who was driving his Volkswagen Tiguan over the bridge. He was half-way across when he heard a dull metallic sound.  "It wasn't a bang, it wasn't an explosion. It seemed like something made of steel had broken. A crack - as if something had split open. For a few seconds I was stunned. I couldn't work out where the sound was coming from. Then I saw that everything ahead of me was starting to collapse. I saw the cars in front of me disappearing and pieces of road falling.  "I hit the brakes - trying to stop the car before I ran out of road. But I didn't manage to. I felt the road beneath me vanish and my car nosedived into the void. I let go of the steering wheel and put my hands behind my head. I was shouting, 'I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead.' It was a very strange feeling - it happened so fast, I didn't have time to be frightened. All I felt was a sense of powerlessness. Waiting for everything to end.  "I was lucky enough to land on a pile of debris. I remember hitting it with the back of the car. There was a loud crash all around me. It was all sound and dust, as if a missile had hit the bridge. I was in the car for around 20 minutes because I was scared to get out, I was stuck. When I finally got out, I looked around me and all I saw was debris, crushed cars, people inside the cars. There was an unreal silence, an unnatural silence. It was like a war scene."  Thirty metres below the bridge, Mimma Certo was in her family's third-floor flat when she too heard a strange metallic sound.  "I was in the shower. I heard this sound like thunder that seemed to go on forever. Like something colliding with iron. And I couldn't work out if it was a lorry that had fallen on the railway. Then I started to hear people rushing into the street and voices shouting.  "I opened the window and I saw all these cars in the river with their headlights still on, and I looked up and saw the stump of the bridge. That's when I froze. I grabbed my bags and shoes and ran. I rang my sister, and I took a photo because it was impossible to explain what had happened. No-one would believe it."  Mimma's sister, Anna Rita, was at work. Now in their 60s, the sisters were children when the bridge was built over the top of their apartment block, back in the 1960s.  "We watched it growing. We played underneath it. When the president came to open it, we felt like we were living under an architectural masterpiece. It was a sign that Italy was growing.  "When I saw the photo of the collapse, I felt like I had been betrayed. Because the bridge was a presence since my childhood. It was like discovering that your best friend is a killer."  Structural engineer Prof Carmelo Gentile was on holiday more than 1,000 miles away in Greece when he received a text from his brother saying the bridge had collapsed.  "My wife told me that I sat in complete silence for 20 minutes after I read that text message. It's hard to describe what was going through my mind," he says.  The autumn before, Gentile and his team at Milan Polytechnic had tested the bridge in preparation for a €26m project to reinforce the pylon that eventually failed. The reinforcement work had been due to start just a month after the bridge collapsed.  "We use sensors, and from the vibrations we measure variations are detected which give information on the rigidity and health of the bridge. What emerged was that the part of the bridge that later collapsed had very clear anomalies.  "If an engineer sees something out of the ordinary - in this case a waveform that was very strange and outside the usual measurements - you need to run more in-depth tests to open up the structure and go and see what's going on inside. You need to do that as soon as possible."  Autostrade, the private company that managed the bridge, says it was constantly monitored and subject to frequent routine inspections, and that none of the different types of monitoring ever indicated there was a need for "immediate or urgent intervention."  Gentile sent his report to SPEA engineering, which is a subsidiary of Autostrade's parent company and carries out work for Autostrade.  "If they had asked me to carry out further tests, I would probably have spotted that there was a problem," Gentile says. "Probably as soon as I had fitted the monitoring system, I would have realised the situation had deteriorated since the last tests. In that case, I could have written to a judge and, armed with objective data, requested the closure of the bridge on safety grounds."  Or download the Documentary podcast from BBC World Service  Deputy Prosecutor Paolo d'Ovidio and his team have gathered evidence which they're presenting to a judge in pre-trial hearings. They're investigating about 80 people, from senior managers to engineers and technicians.  D'Ovidio doesn't go so far as to say Autostrade knew the bridge might collapse, but he does think it's possible there was a "criminal undervaluation of the risk", if not more.  "Our evidence is both the state of the debris and the documents we've seized," he says.  Autostrade says that the bridge was subject to continuous maintenance, as a result of the monitoring that was conducted, and that this work cost €9m in the three years before the bridge collapsed.  But d'Ovidio and his team want to know why the privatised Autostrade waited so long to reinforce the pylon that collapsed. The other two pylons were reinforced in the early 1990s, when Autostrade was still owned by the Italian state. Back then Prof Carmelo Gentile was one of those working on the project and he witnessed some disturbing evidence of decay.  "At a certain point they did an inspection of the bridge and a piece of concrete came away and revealed a hole. Inside you could see the steel falling to pieces. In fact, we found an area where there was no concrete at all. If there is an air pocket inside water gets in and corrodes the metal, making it rusty.  "Riccardo Morandi [the bridge's designer] loved the poetry of concrete so he wanted to make a bridge where concrete was all you saw - the metal was encased in concrete. This design contains a huge number of problems. If everything is done perfectly, you protect the steel inside. But if the manufacturing process is not perfect, you can no longer inspect the steel stay, so you cannot see if there is corrosion or if it has become unsafe. And it was very hard with the technology of the time not to have any air pockets or bubbles in the concrete."  Deputy Prosecutor Paolo d'Ovidio says expert analysis of the debris has shown that, in the section of the bridge that collapsed, much of the metal inside the concrete was also badly corroded. His team are investigating possible manufacturing defects as well as the maintenance and safety checks carried out on the bridge.  "The condition of the bridge was very poor. It was a miracle that it hadn't happened the year before. It could have happened three, five, even 10 years before," he says.  Autostrade has engaged its own experts who dispute that there was evidence of structural fatigue or that the corrosion was sufficient to compromise the load-bearing capacity of the bridge.  "Who's to blame? It's the fault of those who should have got their hands dirty and intervened in the bridge's condition but didn't, those who should have spent the money, but didn't, those who should have checked it, but didn't," d'Ovidio says.  The prosecutors are working towards charging suspects with aggravated or vehicular manslaughter, but it may take years before a court delivers its verdict.  Emmanuel Diaz has put his studies in Colombia on hold so he can fight for justice for his brother, Henry. So far, he's attended every session of the pre-trial hearings.  "That's my job now. That's my life. Thankfully fate kept one of us here on Earth to fight for the other and to take care of our mother.  "Henry and I lived a complicated life. We grew up in Colombia in a world of violence - my father was murdered because he was involved with narco-traffickers.  "When we moved to Italy, Henry and I worked hard to clean up the family name. He was 30 when he died - just a few months away from finishing his degree in engineering. He used to organise charity events to raise money for children in Colombia because so many of his school friends had got lost in the world of narcotics. He always carried a smile with him, because he loved life, he defended it, he glorified it. He said it was a wonderful gift.  "I know there are people who are responsible, I know there are people who must be punished, and I am very confident we will get justice - because that's what Italy wants. What do you do when you are dead? You rise again. Italy will send a message to the world, because Italy wants to return to being the great power it used to be. I know there will be justice for this tragedy."  You may also be interested in:  This is the story of one flat on the 14th floor of Grenfell Tower - flat 113 - and the eight people who sheltered there on the night of the fire. The strengths and weaknesses of the London Fire Brigade's response to the huge challenge of Grenfell may help explain why four of the eight survived, writes the BBC's Kate Lamble - and why four of them died.


bbc--2019-08-25--Port Talbot steelworks waste gases could power flights

Port Talbot steelworks' waste gases could power flights

Passengers could soon be flying on planes fuelled by waste gases from steelworks.  The plan involves using the gases from Tata's Port Talbot plant, which developers believe could be used for thousands of flights a year.  Tata, along with Neath Port Talbot council and American bioengineering firm LanzaTech are working on the plan.  Virgin Atlantic worked with LanzaTech last year to fly from Orlando to London powered by recycled carbon jet fuel.  Waste gases are an unavoidable part of the industrial production of steel and it is thought it could generate 30 million gallons of biofuel for the aviation industry every year.  "We certainly have an ambitious agenda with this strategy and heavy industry has to be a part of that," said Neath Port Talbot council's deputy leader Anthony Taylor.  "We accept Tata is one of the main carbon emitters across the whole of Wales. We don't want to endanger the economic side of things, but we have to tackle the environmental issues from this as well.  "But also economically taking something that has previously been regarded as waste in the industrial process and actually harness it and give Tata Steel the opportunity to make some money from the waste it produces."  LanzaTech's gas fermentation process uses carbon-rich industrial gases from the manufacturing of steel, and turns them into ethanol. It can then be transformed into chemical products and fuel.  Carl Wolf, vice-president of the firm's European arm, said it was like a traditional fermentation process where waste carbon pollution and microbes are used instead of sugar and yeast.  He added: "It's a bit like retrofitting a brewery onto a steel mill. We can use a variety of waste carbon, from industrial off-gases to gasified solid wastes like agricultural residues and unsorted, unrecyclable household waste.  "We have also developed a technology that converts alcohols, such as ethanol, into jet fuel. This is increasingly important as the aviation sector needs to meet its self-imposed carbon reduction targets."  Mr Wolf said the product performs "as well or better than its fossil-based counterparts".  A Tata Steel spokesman said: "Developing any technology to transform CO2 from our steelmaking processes into valuable resources for other industries is of huge importance.  "LanzaTech has the technology to transform waste CO2 from the steelmaking process into ethanol and is now seeking permission to develop a plant at our site in Port Talbot to convert that into jet fuel."


bbc--2019-10-01--Why are so few women inventors named on patents

Why are so few women inventors named on patents?

It's easy to list some of the many everyday items invented and patented by women - the dishwasher, windscreen wipers, the board game Monopoly, to name but a few - but the world is still failing to take full advantage of women's innovative ideas, a report suggests.  Women inventors account for just under 13% of patent applications globally, according to the study, by the UK's Intellectual Property Office (IPO). That's one female inventor for every seven male ones.  And although the proportion among patent applications is increasing, at the current rate it won't reach gender parity until 2070.  So, why are there so few women in the world of inventing?  Researchers attribute the gap to a lack of women working in science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem). According to Penny Gilbert, partner at intellectual property law firm Powell & Gilbert, it's simply a pipeline issue.  "If we want to see more women filing patents, then we need to see more women taking up Stem subjects at university and going on to careers in research," she says.  Currently only about a quarter of the UK workforce in Stem industries is female and fewer girls and women study these subjects at secondary school and university, despite efforts to diagnose and solve this imbalance.  Patents are granted to the owner of an invention, allowing the creator and subsequent owners to prevent others from using their invention. In order to qualify as an "invention" patent, the filing must contain a new, useful idea - that would not be obvious to a skilled person in that field.  They can be filed individually, or by teams of inventors.  The gender disparity among inventors grows even starker when you take into account most female inventorship takes the form of a lone female on a male-dominated team.  More than two-thirds of all patents come from all-male teams or individual male inventors - and just 6% from individual female inventors.  All-female teams are nearly non-existent, making up just 0.3% of applications, according to the IPO.  Even when they apply for patents, women may be less likely to receive them, according to a study of US patent applications, by Yale University researchers. They found applicants with an obviously female name were less likely to have their patent approved.  And of course, not everyone involved in an invention is credited with a patent.  All in all, female scientists are less than half as likely to obtain a patent for their research, according to a previous World Intellectual Property Organisation study, suggesting women may be less likely than men to think about commercialising their inventions.  In 1991, Ann Tsukamoto developed a way to isolate stem cells. Her innovation led to great advancements in understanding the blood systems of cancer patients and could lead to a cure for the disease.  Dr Tsukamoto, who is currently conducting further research into stem cell growth, is also the co-patentee on more than seven other inventions.  Biotechnology, the use of living organisms to produce useful products such as medicine and food, is the sector with the highest proportion of female inventors. Some 53% of biotechnology-related patents have at least one female inventor.  In second place, 52% of pharmaceutical-related patents have at least one female inventor.  Electrical engineering was at the bottom of the list, with fewer than one in 10 applications having at least one female inventor.  The proportion of women inventors has doubled in the past 20 years, according to the IPO, from just 6.8% in 1998 to 12.7% in 2017, the latest year for which full data is available.  During the same period, the proportion of applications naming at least one woman among the inventors rose from 12% to 21%.  Dr Gilbert says stereotypes around women's educational and career choices need to be tackled - by encouraging women to choose Stem areas, introducing mentoring schemes, and celebrating female role models.  "We should applaud the fact that some of the greatest scientists and inventors throughout history have been women - from Marie Curie and Rosalind Franklin to Grace Hopper, [a computer programming pioneer], and Stephanie Kwolek, the inventor of Kevlar," she says.  "We should tell their stories."  Although female inventorship in the UK has increased, from 8% in 1998 to 11% in 2017, other countries are well ahead.  With 17% of patent applications including at least one woman over the past 20 years, Russia had the highest proportion of female inventors, out of the 10 countries with the most patent applications, followed by France.  At the other end of the scale, in Japan and South Korea fewer than one in 20 patent applications included a female inventor during the time period.  The gender of inventors is usually not included in patent applications, so the IPO inferred gender based on inventors' first names, using data from the European Patent Office Worldwide Patent Statistical Database (PATSTAT).  Inventors' names were matched to a gender using birth data from the UK's Office for National Statistics and the US Social Security Administration, which lists the names of all babies born, and the number of male and female entries, as well as by crawling Facebook profiles to create a larger list of names and their likely gender.  Only names for which at least 95% of entries were male or female were included, so gender-neutral names such as "Robin" have been excluded.  A total of 75% of inventors' names were matched to a gender, although this success rate varies country by country. The name lists used were biased towards Western names, so the UK has the highest "success rate", while countries in East Asia, including South Korea and China, have a lower rate.  BBC 100 Women names 100 influential and inspirational women around the world every year and shares their stories.  Find us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and use #100Women.


bbc--2019-10-08--Could blacklisting China's AI champions backfire?

Just over two years ago, China announced an audacious plan to overtake the US and lead the "world in AI [artificial intelligence] technology and applications by 2030".  It is already widely regarded to have overtaken the EU in many aspects.  But now its plans may be knocked off course by the US restricting certain Chinese companies from buying technologies developed or manufactured in the States.  Washington's justification is that the organisations involved have made products used to commit human rights abuses against China's Muslim ethnic minorities.  But it is notable that those on its blacklist include many of China's official "national AI champions", among them: • Megvii - an image recognition software developer sometimes referred to as being the world's most valuable AI start-up • Hikvision - one of the world's biggest CCTV systems manufacturers • SenseTime - a start-up that makes AI services for use in smart city, transport and education applications  Like the telecoms firm Huawei before them, they now face major disruption as a consequence of the Trump administration's intervention.  That is, in part, because they are reliant on US-based know-how.  SenseTime, for example, formed an alliance with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) last year to jointly fund research projects. And Yitu recently worked with researchers at the University of California San Diego to develop algorithms to diagnose illnesses in children.  The move also threatens to jeopardise the companies' ability to attract foreign investment. The Bloomberg news agency has already suggested that a planned $1bn flotation by Megvii could be derailed as a consequence.  But perhaps most crucially, the blacklisting threatens to cut off the supply of computer chips and other components that Hikvision requires to build its surveillance cameras, and the others need to train their algorithms.  The US is the undisputed leader in semiconductors.  Whether its CPUs (central processing unit) and GPUs (graphics processing units) from tech giants including Intel and Nvdia, or chips that specialise in AI-related tasks from lesser-known firms such as Ambarella and ON Semiconductor - American firms provide the tech that underpins the Chinese tech firms' progress.  This dependence has not gone unnoticed.  At present only 16% of the semiconductors used within China are made in the country, and only half of those by local companies - according to a report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.  But the study notes that Beijing aims to boost that figure to 40% by the end of next year, and raise it to 70% by 2025.  "For decades, building indigenous Chinese chips has been an aspiration of the government," Matt Sheehan, author of The Transpacific Experiment - a book about China and the US's tech ties - told the BBC.  "Moves like the entity lists have turned that aspiration into an imperative for the government, but also potentially a matter of life or death for private Chinese companies.  "That doesn't mean they'll succeed at it any time soon. This is one of the most complex engineering tasks out there, one that often requires decades of accumulated in-house knowledge and experience.  "But it does seem that China's own AI chip start-ups will not be short of cash or new orders any time soon."  Over recent weeks, first Huawei and then Alibaba unveiled computer server chips specially designed to carry out machine learning tasks at high speed.  Xiaomi has also said it is working on a similar product.  Meanwhile, smaller start-ups have secured hundreds of millions of dollars worth of funds for other types of AI processors, such as chips for self-driving cars or processors for "intelligent robots".  American firms are not standing still, but one Washington-based think tank warns the US should not consider its lead to be unassailable.  "US firms are also developing specialised AI chips," the Center for Data Innovation said in a report.  "Nonetheless, China's development of well-funded AI chip start-ups and advancements in chip design indicate it may be able to close at least some of the gap."  It added that the EU was a "laggard" in this field by comparison.  All this matters because AI-driven technologies have the potential to make companies more productive, citizens better-educated and healthier - and also armies better equipped to wage wars.  "China's success in commercial AI and semiconductor markets has direct relevance to China's geopolitical power," noted Gregory Allen for the Center for a New American Security.  "It reduces the ability of the United States government to put diplomatic and economic pressure on China and... it increases the technological capabilities available to China's military and intelligence community.  "Regarding the latter, essentially all major technology firms in China co-operate extensively with China's military and state security services and are legally required to do so."  Putting the brakes on China's AI champions may serve the US's own national security and foreign policy interest in the short term.  But ultimately, it could spur on the Chinese Communist Party's determination to make its tech industry less dependent on foreign partners, with all the financial and geopolitical consequences that entails.