A research team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has developed a device that can listen to and transcribe a person’s otherwise silent inner voice, to make that information available to record or transmit electronically–all without the user having to utter a word.

The device, called "AlterEgo" by its designers, makes use of a specialized headset that wraps around the back of the user’s ear, with an extension placed along the jawline. It picks up on neuromuscular signals transmitted through the jaw and face, an unconscious result of the internal verbalizations being made by the individual. These signals are then interpreted by a machine-learning system that translates the patterns into words.
read more

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has become the first country on the planet to grant citizenship to a robot. During the October 25th announcement at the Future Investment Initiative summit being held in Riyadh, the robot receiving the honor, named Sophia, said, "I am very honored and proud for this unique distinction. This is historical to be the first robot in the world to be recognized with a citizenship."
read more

A new study of 90 different species of whales and dolphins has found a striking similarity in the evolution of the brains of cetaceans and primates, including humans. The study looked at the social complexity of each species, and used that factor to determine if brain size could be used to predict the richness of the culture of each type of marine mammal.
read more

Automotive and spaceflight entrepreneur Elon Musk issued a series of tweets on September 4th that downplayed the threat posed by the nuclear ambitions of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, saying that the race to develop more powerful artificial intelligence is more likely to trigger World War III instead.
read more