You probably already had a feeling you should skip the vending machine for an afternoon snack. But it turns out ultra-processed foods are even worse than we already thought.
A new study, out in Cell Metabolism, shows these foods cause weight gain even when they don’t have more fat, sugar, or carbohydrates than their healthier counterparts. There’s something about the processing itself that causes people to eat more before they feel full. On the flip side, switching to a whole food diet — even with no calorie restriction — can lead to measurable weight loss in just two weeks, the researchers found.
Comcast is working on an in-home device to monitor people’s health, and aims to begin pilot-testing it later this year.
A team under Sumit Nagpal, a senior vice president and general manager of health innovation at Comcast who previously worked at the consulting firm Accenture, has been working on the device for more than a year, according to two people with direct knowledge. Nagpal joined Comcast in February of this year, according to LinkedIn, to build a strategy and a team for bringing the new health hardware to market.
In her new book, “The Age of Living Machines: How Biology Will Build the Next Technology Revolution,” Hockfield, a former president of both the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology argues that we have entered a new era of scientific innovation in America.
The first great wave of innovation arose during World War II, when the government concentrated its resources on developing the technology that would power rockets, aircraft, and other tools of warfare by combining physics and engineering. Today’s innovations, she maintains, depend on the intersection of biology and engineering. This would include developing biology-based technologies like aquaporin — water that has been purified through the injection of a protein — or self-made biological viruses that can create natural batteries.
With last year’s acquisition of Aetna, CVS Health became the biggest publicly traded health care company in the world. But the costly acquisition hasn’t paid off yet—leaving consumers and investors wondering: Is getting health care from your pharmacy the future?
NPR’s Audie Cornish talks with Microsoft President Brad Smith about why he thinks the government should regulate artificial intelligence, especially facial recognition technology. [audio, 7:17]
Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson announced a contract with Massachusetts Institute of Technology, May 20, focused on accelerating artificial intelligence technologies through fundamental research in computational intelligence, reasoning, decision-making, autonomy and relevant societal implications. The agreement includes selecting eleven Airmen for a research and development collaboration team designed to field practical AI solutions for real-world, national security challenges.
Microsoft is investing in certification and training for a range of AI-related skills in partnership with education provider General Assembly, the companies announced this morning. The goal is to train some 15,000 people by 2022 in order to increase the pool of AI talent around the world. The training will focus on AI, machine learning, data science, cloud and data engineering and more.
In the new program’s first year, Microsoft will focus on training 2,000 workers to transition to an AI and machine learning role. And over the full three years, it will train an additional 13,000 workers with AI-related skills.
As part of this effort, Microsoft is joining General Assembly’s new AI Standards Board, along with other companies.
Donald Trump’s administration has finally found an international agreement it can support.
At an annual meeting on Wednesday, the 36 countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) plus a handful of other nations are set to adopt a list of guidelines for the development and use of artificial intelligence.
The agreement, seen by POLITICO, marks the first time that the United States — home to some of the world’s largest and most powerful tech companies — has endorsed international guidelines for the emerging technologies.
Trees, from the mighty redwoods to slender dogwoods, would be nothing without their microbial sidekicks. Millions of species of fungi and bacteria swap nutrients between soil and the roots of trees, forming a vast, interconnected web of organisms throughout the woods. Now, for the first time, scientists have mapped this “wood wide web” on a global scale, using a database of more than 28,000 tree species living in more than 70 countries.
“I haven’t seen anybody do anything like that before,” says Kathleen Treseder, an ecologist at the University of California, Irvine. “I wish I had thought of it.”
Backed by a five-year, $6.7 million National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant, the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health today announced that it plans to lead a culture shift in data-sharing rippling through scientific fields and harness it to improve global knowledge of infectious diseases.
Pitt Public Health will lead a multidisciplinary group of computer scientists, biostatisticians and biomedical informatics experts to direct the inaugural Network Coordination Center for the Models of Infectious Disease Agent Study (MIDAS), a collaborative research network originally launched by the NIH in 2004 to assist the nation in preparing for infectious disease threats.
Faisal Akkawi, faculty director of Northwestern University’s Master of Science in Information Systems program, highlights the school’s recently announced AI specializations within its Master of Science in Data Science and the Master of Science in Information Systems programs.
More than a year and a half after some MacBook owners began vociferously complaining about broken MacBook keyboards, Apple is making what it says is a material change in the keyboards in its high-end MacBook Pro laptops. It will also extend its keyboard repair program, in a bid to appease Apple laptop owners who have been frustrated by stuck or double-typing keys.
The company just announced strategic alliances with Novartis, Otsuka, Pfizer and Sanofi to develop new clinical research programs utilizing the Project Baseline platform across therapeutic areas ranging from cardiovascular disease to oncology to mental health.
Everyone gives gifts. Gifting is one of the fundamental ways humans build relationships. The best gifts are extremely memorable but require a lot of time and effort. Gifting is also a soft skill, which is difficult to learn. Because of this, many of us are not able to leverage gifting to grow our relationships and businesses.
When I first moved to the US, I faced a difficult challenge: I needed to build relationships with new people and I needed to do it quickly before my savings dried up. I knew sending gifts would help convey my gratitude and my sincere desire to build a lasting relationship. But I was not a great gifter. As you might expect, trying to have a conversation with someone in a way that would reveal personal information, and then using that information to send a surprise gift, sounded like an invasion of privacy and felt really awkward.
And, thus, Eva was born. The hypothesis behind Eva is that humans are more open and transparent with machines than with people. Therefore, a gift recipient (a.k.a the giftee) should be more comfortable sharing their tastes and preferences with a bot than with another human being.
New York, NY June 20, brought to you by Dataiku, starting at 8:30 a.m. “Engage with leaders at the forefront of data science, machine learning, and AI as we explore human-centered topics like inclusivity, diversity, and responsible AI.” [$$$]
Boston, MA September 23-24. “Attendees will get a practical introduction to what A.I can do for them along with an understanding of key A.I.-related technology like neural networks.” [application required]
Oxford, England May 28, starting at 5:30 p.m., Mathematics Institute (Andrew Wiles Building). Speaker: Victoria Nash, Deputy Director of the Oxford Internet Institute. [free, registration required]
“In this study you will play three games, each with only a single level. Some of these games will have been designed in a limited time by human game designers and some by Artificially Intelligent (AI) game designers. All three games will make use of only the arrow keys and space bar for controls. The general goal of each game is to reach the end of the level, and the games will automatically reset if you die. There is no strict minimum or maximum time you must spend, but please at least give each game a few tries or until you feel you understand it. After you play the three games you will be asked to take a brief survey reflecting on your experience.”
“The challenge is open to all graphic designers, visualisers or storytellers with the aim to help tackle the world’s plastic waste crisis through effective communication of data/information. The data visualisation track specifically invites participants to ‘represent a data set related to the global challenge of plastic waste as an original and compelling data visualization or infographic.’ Sponsored by National Geographic and Sky Ocean Ventures Deadline for submissions is June 11.
“Designed to supplement your graduate education in astronomy by teaching you essential skills for dealing with big data.” Deadline for applications is June 14.
“New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) is seeking an Operator, team of Operators, or multiple Operators to implement the NYC Center for Responsible AI. This includes a physical space that houses four activities: The Applied Research Lab, Data Collaboratives, Talent and Education Program, and the AI for Good Program. The NYC Center for Responsible AI is a holistic approach to advancing innovation and beneficial uses of data and AI, while ensuring the growth of this industry is done so in a responsible and ethical manner.” Deadline for submissions is August 5.
“Want to learn the steps of developing an automated financial trading strategy using deep reinforcement learning? We wrote this article to guide you through our experience at Manxmachina an artificial intelligence agency based at Wall Street, New York.”
After a week of reflective blog posts, 90 minutes of thoughtful discussion at a DC Tech Salon, and a Twitter chat, it’s clear that responsible data is no longer an optional element of effective and ethical digital practice – it’s critical.
USAID’s Considerations for Using Data Responsibly launched this week. The team behind the Considerations designed them with the intention to support USAID staff and partners to have better dialogue on the subject of responsible data. The Considerations are also a welcome endorsement of the importance of responsible data, which for many years has been working its way from the fringes of development and humanitarian tech conferences to the plenary stage.
It’s intimidating to apply AI within an enterprise context, and for many it’s difficult to know how to start
Our team have created a simple framework to help others begin the process
The framework has been developed over the course of 6 months working with 10 of the world’s leading fintech startups to help bridge the gap between research, big tech, and the startup environment
