Power projection or experimental flight? What Russian Tu-160 bombers actually did in Venezuela

The arrival of two Russian strategic bombers in Venezuela has jangled nerves in Washington and sent western media into meltdown. But the joint drills in the area don’t seem like an actual display of force, one analyst believes. The nuclear-capable Tu-160 strategic bombers, accompanied by two Russian Air Force heavy transport aircraft, landed in Caracas […]

Experimental AI lie detector will help screen EU travelers

In the future, you might talk to an AI to cross borders in the European Union. The EU and Hungary’s National Police will run a six-month pilot project, iBorderCtrl, that will help screen travelers in Hungary, Greece and Latvia. The system will have you upload photos of your passport, visa and proof of funds, and […]

IBM debuts Project Debater, experimental AI that argues with humans

In what may be the biggest rollout of conversational AI from IBM since Watson, IBM Research today debuted Project Debater, an experimental conversational AI with a sense of humor, little tact, and occasionally powerful arguments. Training of Project Debater began six years ago and only gained an ability to participate in debates with people two […]

Mom fears losing access to experimental drug that helped daughter after study ends

Arzu Ozkose’s 10-year-old daughter suffered debilitating seizures caused by Dravet syndrome, but has improved dramatically while taking a cannabis oil being tested as part of a clinical trial. Ozkose’s predicament highlights the question do pharmaceutical companies have an ethical obligation to keep supplying experimental medications to patients?

Trump is pushing to give terminally ill patients the ‘right to try’ experimental treatments — but it could do more harm than good

Getty Images/Christopher Furlong After a year in which President Donald Trump devoted much of his health policy attention to the repeal and replace of the Affordable Care Act, Trump used part of his recent State of the Union address to press Congress to focus attention in 2018 on a new health priority — the passage […]