Source: http://gizmodo.com/this-machine-builds-obscure-molecules-from-scratch-in-h-1691231482
This tangle of tubes, bottles and electronics may look a mess—but its appearance belies its impressive abilities. This is a small-molecule synthesizer, a kind of chemical 3D printer, and it can be used to construct the most obscure of molecules from scratch.
The restaurant sector is becoming increasingly competitive.
Americans go out to dinner an average of 74 times a year, The Washington Post's Wonkblog reports, citing the consumer research firm NPD Group. That's the lowest reading in three decades.
And a number of fast-casual establishments are threatening traditional fast-food and casual-dining restaurants.
Morgan Stanley recently released a list of restaurants that will outperform the rest of the sector over the next five years.
The chains are primarily winning because they appeal to millennial consumers, who are entering their peak spending years.
Here are their top picks:
The coffee chain has growth opportunities through its new tea chain, Teavana. The company has also started selling health and lifestyle products in grocery stores. Starbucks also has the opportunity to expand through its mobile payment app and loyalty program, according to the analysts.
"Starbucks remains a best-in-class secular growth story," the analysts write.
The hugely successful fast-casual chain will continue to grow, according to Morgan Stanley.
Chipotle's catering business is taking off, and the company continues to invest in its Asian ShopHouse and Pizzeria Locale concepts.
The demographic shift toward younger consumers will also benefit Chipotle, which touts its no-frills marketing scheme and locally sourced ingredients.
The company is suddenly the world's hottest pizza chain, thanks to a reinvented menu.
Domino's has also been aggressive in investing in mobile and online technology.
Finally, a successful international expansion will continue to drive sales, the analysts write.
Panera Bread is changing its strategy. Notable improvements include kiosks for ordering, in-store pick-up, and outsourcing catering orders to separate locations.
"Though the rollout of Panera 2.0 will likely disrupt earnings growth over the next 1-2 years, we believe the long-term benefits (better throughput, higher customer satisfaction, expanded catering capabilities) will be significant," the analysts write.
Although it is already one of the fastest-growing restaurants in the sector, executives are planning a myriad of changes to get customers to come more often, stay at the restaurant longer, and spend more money.
This includes tablet ordering and payment and more beer and wing sauce options.
The company also benefits from having an established millennial consumer base, according to Morgan Stanley.
SEE ALSO: 15 companies that will make a ton of money from millennials
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In February, Bloomberg reported that Ray Dalio's Bridgewater Associates, the world's largest hedge fund with $160 billion in assets, was building a new artificial intelligence team under senior technologist Dave Ferucci. It was to launch this month.
The report seemed to offer even a small glimpse into Bridgewater's mysterious investment approach and where it was heading.
However, a Bridgewater representative tells Business Insider that the hiring of Ferucci was misconstrued. Bridgewater has been developing AI since 1983.
Here's the full statement:
There has been a lot of speculation in the media, as well as some misunderstanding, about what Bridgewater is doing in the area of artificial intelligence, and with Dave Ferrucci. We felt it was important to clarify this.
Ever since 1983 Bridgewater Associates has been creating systematic decision-making processes that are computerized. We believe that the same things happen over and over again because of logical cause/effect relationships, and that by writing one's principles down and then computerizing them one can have the computer make high-quality decisions in much the same way a GPS can be an effective guide to decision making.
Like using a GPS, one can choose to follow the guidance or not follow it depending on how it reconciles. It is through this never ending reconciliation process that the computer decision-making system constantly learns, and the learning compounds over time.
It is because Bridgewater and Dave Ferrucci both have long and deep commitments to this area that Dave has recently joined Bridgewater. It would be a mistake to think that this is a new undertaking for Bridgewater or that the process being used at Bridgewater is like some artificial intelligence systems that are based on data-mining rather than well-examined logic.
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/03/12/bbc-micro-bit-coding/
It's the first year of a major new coding curriculum in the UK, and now the BBC wants to play its part in training the next generation of star programmers. The broadcaster is developing a spiritual successor to the BBC Micro, called the Micro Bit, which will give students a physical companion in their path to coding competence. It's going to be a small, standalone device with an LED display that children can carry around with them and plug into a computer to continue their work. The hardware will be basic, as the BBC calls it a "starting point" for "more complex" devices such as the Raspberry Pi and Kickstarter-funded Kano kits. The project is still in a prototype phase, but the BBC claims it'll be ready to give away one million of the new microcomputers to year 7 students this autumn.
The Micro Bit is just the tip of the BBC's new initiative, however. The organisation is developing classroom resources under its Bitesize and School Report brands, as well as a slate of events to inspire would-be coders. Under a new 'Make it Digital' campaign, the BBC is also pulling on some of its biggest TV shows, including Doctor Who, EastEnders and The One Show, to create new programming that will promote technology-fuelled creativity. BBC Three will be launching a talent show called 'Girls Can Code' and there will even be a drama about the making of Grand Theft Auto. Yes, you read that correctly. Grand Theft Auto. While some of this content will be available straight away, the BBC says it's working towards a "big audience moment" in September, when the kids go back to school.
The BBC has teamed up with a ton of companies to make all of this happen, including Google, Microsoft and Samsung, as well as Code Club, the British Computing Society and Tech City UK. At a time when the licence fee is being scrutinised yet again, such an ambitious project is a timely reminder of the BBC's public service contributions.
Source: BBC
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/03/12/macbook-air-samsung-ssd/
Lost in the news of Retina-equipped, 12-inch MacBook was the arrival of all-new MacBook Air models with the latest Intel HD6000 graphics and CPUs. Apple also boasted that the 13-inch version has disk speeds "up to two times faster" than the last generation, and thanks to iFixit, we now know why. The bigger model packs a brand new 128GB M.2 x 4 SSD from frenemy Samsung -- which owns the PCIe SSD market at the moment -- giving it a stellar max read speed of 1,285 MB/s.
That's twice as fast as the SanDisk-equipped 11-inch MacBook Air, which still cooks along at a mere 668MB/s. The good news is that the SSDs are one of the few replaceable parts, and you could actually swap in the faster part on the smaller Air. That's assuming you're feeling brave -- the MacBook air only rates 4 out of 10 on iFixit's repairability scale.
[Image credit: iFixit]
Source: iFixit
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