Forget AlphaGo, the really smart AIs grapple with the real world
While not defeating human Go masters, machine intelligence is teaching itself how the world works by picking up household objects and playing with kids' toys
Material that can grow when stretched is inspired by Islamic art
Geometric patterns based on ancient Islamic designs allow metamaterials to move in ways that could be useful for medical devices and satellite technology
Virtual instruments let you play music using only your eyes
A system that converts eye movements into musical notes could help people with disabilities compose tunes on different instruments
Cancer stopped in frogs by hacking cells’ bioelectricity
Reprogramming a cell's electricity could provide an alternative to standard toxic cancer drugs and their unpleasant side effects
Snapping shrimps make less noise in acidifying oceans
Fish and other marine larvae that use noises made by snapping shrimps to navigate to reefs could be among those affected by changing ocean soundscapes
How victory for Google’s Go AI is stoking fear in South Korea
A nation of Go players, South Korea feels Google’s victory more clearly than anyone else. How can a computer shake up a whole country?
Take a detour to improve traffic for everyone else
Commutes would be up to 30 per cent shorter if just a few drivers took the scenic route
Tiny sensors carried by pigeons can test air quality on the wing
London has an air-pollution problem. Tiny sensors that can be carried anywhere might help figure it out
Graphene origami produced by world’s thinnest folds
Folding up a single sheet of graphene according to the principles of the Japanese art of origami could result in tiny devices like nano-robots and flexible circuits
Fermat’s last theorem mathematician Andrew Wiles wins Abel prize
Andrew Wiles has won one of the top prizes in maths for solving a problem that dogged number theory for three-and-a-half centuries
