Archaeology: our ancestors were using fire to make tools 300,000 years ago, flint blades reveal

Fire was used to make tools by our early human ancestors some 300,000 years ago, an analysis of flint blades unearthed in a cave east of Tel Aviv has revealed.  Researchers from Israel studied stone blades, flakes and pot-lids from the Qesem cave — and discovered evidence that they had been exposed to controlled fires. Exposing … Read more

TV builder, 74, is accused of downing tools half-way through £77,000 home extension

A former Builder of the Year who appeared on Channel 4’s Love It Or List It has been accused of downing tools midway through a £77,000 home extension job.  Terry Bodley, 74, was hired by Adam Lewis to carry out the extension at his home in Billesley, Birmingham. Mr Lewis, 46, lives in the three-bedroom … Read more

Microsoft unveils new tools to identify deepfake videos

Microsoft has launched a new tool that can identify ‘deepfake’ videos that were designed to present false information and a quiz to help people spot them. There were at least 96 ‘foreign influenced’ deep fake campaigns on social media targeting people in 30 countries between 2013 and 2019, according to Microsoft. Deepfakes, also known as … Read more

France’s covid testing teams down tools – for summer holidays

France is facing new coronavirus testing troubles as dozens of labs close to allow staff a summer holiday despite signs that a second wave is building. Doctors have warned that the vacation crunch is just part of a larger web of failures in France’s testing strategy which was described earlier this week by the government’s own virus … Read more

Mass grave of WWII Nazi paratroopers found in Poland contains 18 skeletons and tools with swastikas

Stalin’s army invaded a Nazi airfield towards the end of World War II, killing a number of German soldiers and now archaeologist have found their final resting place. A mass grave unearthed in Poland contains skeletal remains of 18 paratroopers who met their demise in 1945. The pit also revealed weapons etched, tools etched with … Read more

Wearable robotic arm holds tools, plays badminton and even smash through walls

Fully armed! Wearable robotic arm powered by hydraulics can hold tools, play badminton and even smash through walls Scientists have designed a hydraulic powered robotic arm that sits on the waist  The robot has three degrees of freedom and can move nine feet per second It is equip with clutches at then end, allowing it … Read more

New York City looters were ‘dropped off in cars with tools’

Looters in New York City were dropped off in luxury cars with power tools and suitcases before being picked up and driven to next location, according to eyewitnesses.   Police are said to be looking into numerous reports the rioters were organized and are now checking license plate numbers of vehicles that dropped groups off. Some are … Read more

Google is pulling its AI tools and software from projects dedicated to fossil fuel extraction 

Google says it will stop providing custom AI and machine learning tools to help fossil fuel companies operate their extraction operations Goole will stop building custom AI tools to help fossil fuel companies  The announcement came in response to a Greenpeace report that criticized the close relationship between cloud service providers and the gas and … Read more

AI researcher had to remove basic grammar tools to get software to understand Donald Trump

Trying to analyze Donald Trump made a speech recognition bot literally CRASH – and the only way to make it work properly was to strip out its grammar and syntax tools Researchers assigned a speech recognition bot to analyze Donald Trump The bot struggled to make sense of his rambling and fragmentary sentences The team … Read more