Important Innovations

  Fighting Climate Change Destruction of Forests With Tech Source:  German Black Forest                                                       Source:  AI Forest Protection/Management System Sustainable Forests Climate Change is devastating forests around the world, including in Germany.  The worst conditions in Germany are taking place in Baden-Wurttemberg, where 43% of all forest areas are damaged.  German scientists are starting to deploy artificial intelligence and big data in an innovative program to make forest systems more resilient and resistant to Climate Change. AI Based Forest Management Scientists from Karlsruher Institute for Technology (KIT) and EDI Gmbh (an intelligent software spinoff) have developed an AI based assistance system for forest management.  This is a collaborative big data gathering effort by the South German Climate Office, the German Weather Service, KIT and EDI Gmbh.  They're developing a cloud based, decision making support system based on AI to bett

  Professional Soccer Clubs Using AI To Prevent Player Injuries Source:  Stock Image of Soccer Match Gamechanging Tech A California based, AI company Zone7 is using artificial intelligence to analyze performance data on elite professional soccer players to predict, and thereby prevent, when they are at risk for injury.  A number of professional soccer teams in Scotland, Spain and elsewhere are sending their training, game and health monitoring data to Zone7.  Zone7 uses their algorithm to analyze the data against their huge data base on sports injuries. As part of its analytical base, the company uses 200 million hours of soccer data going back one year. On a daily basis, the company sends their client teams emails warning if  any of their players are in the "danger zone" of being injured. Impressive Results Spain's soccer team Getafe has been using the system for more than a year.  They say their team injuries are down 66%.  For every 3 injuries they had two seasons ago,

Far Better Mapping of Wet Road Conditions Source:  Toyota Toyota's New Tech Innovation Toyota's connected windshield wipers are designed to create far more accurate weather maps when the wipers are operating.  They're part of a joint project between Toyota and Japan-based Weathernews, which offers app based weather reports.  The 2 companies are currently conducting what they call a "verification test" using wiper data to provide drivers with real-time information about road weather risks.  They say the tech is designed to increase driver safety by increasing the accuracy of available weather forecasts and data. Lots of Tech Involved The system uses the onboard loT communications in most new Toyota models, along with Big Data and artificial intelligence.  It can detect whether wipers are on or off in designated regions.  By using data on the operational status of wipers, Weathernews weather data and vehicle data

DARPA's AI System to Predict the Future KAIROS - Schema-based Artificial Intelligence System The US Defense Department's Advanced Research Projects Agency - DARPA - is developing a schema-based, AI system to predict the future of major global events for the US government. This is a world first, knowledge-directed artificial intelligence reasoning over schema system. To put it simply, schema is common language people use to describe and make sense of global events. KAIROS Mission The purpose is to help the US Defense Department better understand and predict world events that could lead to chaos or unrest.  The end result is to provide actionable understanding and predictions on how major, dynamic events will unfold.  For a great news blog on this, go to my journalist colleague Ed Kane's blog at Important Innovations Collection: DARPA's Tech to Predict Future : KAIROS - System to Forecast the Future Source:  DARPA's KAIROS Project Combines AI and Sc

AI ID From Face to Deep Space Source:  Dr. Chen Wu & Dr. Ivy Wong, Radio Galaxy Predictions from ClaRan ClaRan Faces off in Space Researchers have taught an AI program that's routinely used to recognize faces on Facebook to find galaxies deep in space.  Its mission has been transformed from face to space.  The artificial intelligence bot is called ClaRan.  It's been created by researchers at the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) who also serve on the faculty of the University of Western Australia. Radio Galaxies ClaRan scans images taken by radio telescopes.  It spots radio galaxies, which are galaxies that send strong radio jets from the huge black holes located in them. This new AI system was just created by big data specialist Dr. Chen Wu and astronomy expert Dr. Ivy Wong of the University of Western Australia and ICRAR. Millions of Unknown Galaxies Dr. Wong says black holes are found at the center of most galaxies. They send out &q

Geospatial Cloud Analytics Photo:  Courtesy of Descartes Labs - Fishing Boats off Singapore A New Mexico startup company Descartes Labs is receiving up to $7.2 million from the US government to bring geospatial data from satellites to the Cloud.   The volume of data is huge, in the terabytes, unwieldy and of the highest value. Descartes has been tasked by the government to use machine learning to process massive amounts of visual data from satellites. Images of Earth and Space Images of the Earth including heat imagery are available in massive volume from many satellites.  They contain rich and compelling information on such dynamic issues as changing global oil supplies, potential food shortages and climate change.  This is very big data from many sources that can't be fully capitalized on because it's not organized and centralized. Cloud Infrastructure Descartes Labs will build out cloud infrastructure to import, store, process and curate the data.  They'l

DARPA Goes After Practical, Competitive Uses for Quantum Computing Exponential Computing Power thru Quantum Computing The US Defense Department's Advanced Research Projects Agency DARPA wants to know how quantum computing can help the US surge ahead of technology competitors like China and Russia. Quantum computing uses the laws of quantum mechanics to accomplish complex data operations.  Unlike traditional computers that use bits, it uses qubits and delivers exponential computing power. DARPA Questions and Challenge DARPA specifically wants to know how quantum computing will practically impact AI, physical systems, machine learning, data analytics and enhancing distributed sensing.  This is a leading indicator of the future of technology and innovation as DARPA views it. Leading Edge of Where Quantum Computing is Taking Us - Harbinger of The Future DARPA is asking industry and academics for proposals to research the real possibilities of quantum computing.  There are 4 k

New AI Tech Spots Pneumonia and Eye Disease AI Speeding Treatment Scientists at the University of California San Diego have developed an artificial intelligence system that accelerates treatment of pneumonia and retinal disease.  The diagnoses take 30 seconds and the accuracy is close to 100%. Transfer Learning on 200,000 Patient Scans It's a computational tool using AI and machine learning techniques.  The technique is called transfer learning in which knowledge gained in solving one problem is stored in the computer and applied to a different but similar problem.  The AI system reviewed 200,000 patient scans. Highly Accurate Results This new AI system, first reported in the journal Cell, has spot-on accuracy.  The accuracy rate for eye disease is 95% and for pneumonia, differentiating between viral and bacterial pneumonia, is 90%.  The turnaround time is 30 seconds. Future of AI in Medicine The UC San Diego researchers say the future of better, cost effective patient

AI -Enabled Documentation of Wild Kingdoms Using Artificial Intelligence, researchers and scientists are able to spot and document wild animals in their natural habitat like never before.  They're also able to count and identify them.  They've developed an AI system that can automatically identify, count and describe animals in their natural surroundings in real time.  The scientists believe this will significantly forward wildlife study and conservation.  This tech animal adventure is being conducted by scientists from University of Wyoming, and Harvard University.   It's a wildlife conservation  breakthrough. Motion-Sensor Cameras and Big Data This is exciting breakthrough technology.  It's inexpensive, unobtrusive and accurate.  With motion sensor cameras, photographs are collected and described by neural networks. They've developed machine learning algorithms to do it with 97% accuracy to id, count and describe the wildlife,.  The system is automated an