This Week in Tech

This Week in Tech – 05/06/2018: The Smithsonian’s New Tour Guide Isn’t Human

The Smithsonian’s New Tour Guide Isn’t Human

Why bother with a human docent when a robot could give you a guided tour? Last week, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, revealed its new employee — an interactive robot named Pepper…


Bill Gates Told Trump That Being His Science Adviser Is ‘Not a Good Use of My Time’

Trump still hasn’t appointed a science adviser — but he did offer the job to Bill Gates, who said it was “not a good use of my time.”…


Case Western Reserve University’s Diagnostic Imaging Computers Outperform Human Counterparts, but Offer Tools for Better, Less Costly Care

The ‘deep learning’ computers in Anant Madabhushi’s diagnostic imaging lab at Case Western Reserve University routinely defeat their human counterparts in diagnosing heart failure, detecting various cancers and predicting their strength…


Customer Takes Bell to Court and Wins, as Judge Agrees Telecom Giant Can’t Promise a Price, Then Change It

A Toronto man is elated after a deputy judge ruled that a verbal contract he made with a Bell customer service agent trumps the contract the telecom later emailed him, noting prices could increase…


Facebook Harvested 3.5 Billion Instagram Images Without Warning Their Owners Until Today

EVEN your selfies and brunch photos aren’t safe from the long arm of Facebook, it was revealed overnight, as the tech giant admitted it had taken billions of photos from Instagram accounts around the world to boost its own research…


Tesla Making Model 3 Battery Packs in 17 Minutes Down From 7 Hours

Elon Musk reported in the Wednesday’s Q1 2018 earnings call that Tesla has managed to reduce the time to make a Model 3 battery pack by 94%, from 7 hours to under 17 minutes…


Gmail’s ‘Self Destruct’ Feature Will Probably Be Used to Illegally Destroy Government Records

A new update rolling out for Gmail offers a “self destruct” feature that allows users to send messages that expire after a set amount of time…