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Google is putting a different twist on the concept of 'automated reply' with a new tool that aims to write artificially intelligent responses to your email.
The technology is part of an update to Google's Inbox app for managing and organizing email. 

It gives users a choice of three responses to choose from.
'Smart Reply suggests up to three responses based on the emails you get,' Google said.
'For those emails that only need a quick response, it can take care of the thinking and save precious time spent typing. 
'And for those emails that require a bit more thought, it gives you a jump start so you can respond right away.'
The new feature is the latest example of Google's effort to teach machines how to take over some of the tasks typically handled by humans.
Dubbed Smart Reply, the system learns to generate appropriate replies by analyzing of email conversations from across Google's Gmail service.
The responses of uses are fed into a neural network that works in a similar way to the human brain in order to 'learn' a particular task.
'The network will tailor both the tone and content of the responses to the email you're reading,' says Google product management director Alex Gawley told Wired.  
Google has several other AI projects.
The most conspicuous example so far has been Google's 6-year-old project developing cars that can drive without a human steering the wheel. 
Google also has been using an artificial intelligence program called 'RankBrain' to help determine the pecking order in its influential Internet search results.
In this instance, Google says it has created a program that identifies which incoming emails merit quick responses and then figures out the appropriate wording. Up to three choices will be offered as a reply before it's sent. 
The responses that people select are supposed to help Google's computers learn which ones work best.
'Inbox uses machine learning to recognize emails that need responses and to generate the natural language responses on the fly.  
'And much like how Inbox gets better when you report spam, the responses you choose (or don't choose!) help improve future suggestions. For example, when Smart Reply was tested at Google, a common suggestion in the workplace was "I love you."
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Facebook is studying the ancient Chinese game of Go for insights as it works on building an artificial brain - one that it hopes to turn into a virtual personal assistant that can also sort through a mountain of photos, videos and comments posted by its next billion or so users.

Called M, it is believed to have been named after James Bond's secretary, Moneypenny.  
Facebook's artificial intelligence team revealed their work at an industry conference this week. 
Among its accomplishments: the development of software that can analyze a photo and answer questions about what it shows, or study a picture of toy blocks and predict whether they will fall over.
Sure, you could pay a human expert to examine a photo and answer those questions, but mustering an army of such organic brains wouldn't be cheap. 
'The beauty of AI systems is that we can get enough scale to deploy this to everyone on the planet,' Mike Schroepfer, Facebook's chief technology officer, said in a briefing for reporters.
Facebook isn't the only tech company working on these problems. Google, Apple, Microsoft and IBM are all studying artificial intelligence, as are several smaller tech firms that are vying to develop more useful digital services for consumers and businesses. 
Many are competing to hire the most talented scientists from universities, according to Mike Tung, CEO of Diffbot, a Silicon Valley startup that uses artificial intelligence to scour the Web and extract data that clients can use in their business.
Facebook recently began limited testing of an online personal assistant, called 'M,' that uses a combination of human workers and software to answer questions and carry out tasks like ordering food or flowers for a friend. 
Schroepfer said Facebook is using artificial intelligence software to assist and study those interactions, so it can learn the best responses and eventually perform tasks that now require human assistance.
The social network, which boasts 1.5 billion global users, has also sponsored efforts to build drones and laser networks to help reach billions more people who currently don't have Internet access.
Schroepfer said Facebook can use artificial intelligence to understand the vast amounts of information those users will upload and anticipate which messages they will want to see.
'We need systems that can help us understand the world and help us filter it better,' he added.
Schroepfer plans to describe some of Facebook's work in a speech at this week's international Web Summit conference in Dublin.
One project combines a new technique for identifying visual images with the ability to field questions posed in natural language. 
In a demonstration video, the program answered spoken questions about a photo of a baby, describing what the baby was doing and what kind of room he was in.
Another effort uses 'predictive learning' to study images and make informed predictions of what will happen, such as whether a stack of blocks is stable enough to stand or fall over.
Facebook has also developed a program to play the board game Go, which is considered a tougher challenge than chess for computers. 
Players in Go have thousands of options for arranging stones on the board, and the best human players appear to recognize visual patterns without trying to calculate each potential outcome
Schroepfer said Facebook's team is using visual recognition algorithms rather than just 'brute force' computing to examine every possible move.
It may be years before some of this work finds its way into Facebook's services, Schroepfer added — but it's definitely on its way.
Earlier this year Facebook began testing a personal assistant for users that can make purchases, reservations and even handle your diary.  
'M is a personal digital assistant inside of Messenger that completes tasks and finds information on your behalf. It's powered by artificial intelligence that's trained and supervised by people,' said the firm's David Markus.
'Unlike other AI-based services in the market, M can actually complete tasks on your behalf. 
'It can purchase items, get gifts delivered to your loved ones, book restaurants, travel arrangements, appointments and way more.'
Only a few hundred people are believed to have access to the service. 
'This is early in the journey to build M into an at-scale service, and the firm admits that the fact it relies on people to oversee it could make it difficult to provide for all of its users.
'But it's an exciting step towards enabling people on Messenger to get things done across a variety of things, so they can get more time to focus on what's important in their lives.'
In internal tests, Facebook employees have been using M for several weeks to do everything from organizing dinner parties to tracking down an unusual beverage in New Orleans, according to Wired. 
'An engineer went to Paris for a couple days, and his friend asked M to redecorate his desk in a French style,' Marcus told the site. 
'Twenty-four hours later, the desk was decorated with a proper napkin, baguette bread, and a beret.'
One of M's most popular requests from its Facebook employee testers was technical support, using the service to call their cable company and endure the endless hold times and automated messages to help you set up home wifi or cancel your HBO.
Marcus also reveal the human touches added by the service's 'trainers'.
'If you ask M to plan a birthday dinner for your friend, the software might book the Uber and the restaurant, but a person might surprise your friend at the end of the night by sending over birthday cupcakes from her favorite bakery.' Wired said
'M learns from human behaviors,' says Marcus.
The service was first revealed by Amir Efrati from tech site The Information. 
In comparison, Apple's Siri and Microsoft's Cortana can be used to search the web for goods, weather information, traffic details, quiz answers and more.
But they use artificial intelligence to find the best possible solution, which can sometimes fall short and struggles to deal with context correctly every time a person makes a request. 
Facebook's proposed plans are reminiscent of Magic, a service that aims to provide users with anything they want - providing it's legal - using just a text message.
Once an operator receives the message, they ask follow-up questions, say how much an item will cost and arrange its delivery as quickly as possible.
Users can sign up to Magic's service, which is currently only available in the US, by texting 408-217-1721. 
'We have trained operators standing by 24/7 to answer every one of your requests,' its website says. 'Send us a text message, and we'll get you what you want.'
Once a message is sent, it is left to the operator to work out how to fulfill the request in the fastest way possible.
For example, plane or rail tickets can be bought online and then emailed to the individual, while a service such as Instacart may be used to do the weekly shop. 
The service makes money by charging a fee, or 'tip' for its fixing service, which means that users pay two premiums for a supermarket shop, for example.
But texting the number in the first place is free and Magic always tells the user the cost of using it to buy a product or service before it's ordered. 
'There are no hidden fees, and tip is included,' the website added.
GoButler is a similar online concierge that is available internationally.  
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The oldest tree in Britain has started to change sex, it has been claimed.
The 5,000 year old Fortingall Yew, in Perthshire, Scotland, has for hundreds of years been recorded as 'male', meaning it produces pollen, whereas female yews produce red berries.

But in a 'rare and unusual phenomenon' baffling scientists, it has started to sprout red seeds, suggesting that part of the tree is changing gender.
Max Coleman of Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, who spotted the 'three red berries', said that the phenomenon could be caused by 'environmental stress'. 
He said: 'It's a rare occurrence... rare and unusual and not fully understood. 
'It's thought that there's a shift in the balance of hormone-like compounds that will cause this sex-change. 
'One of the things that might be triggering it is environmental stress.'
The tree is otherwise healthy, but Mr Coleman said it would be monitored closely for further changes.   
The gnarled tree is in an old church yard, and is difficult to age because its heartwood - the wood in the centre of the tree - has long rotted away.

THE TREES THAT CAN CHANGE SEX

Although it may seem unusual, Dr Coleman said that yew trees have been observed to change sex.  
'Odd as it may seem, yews, and many other conifers that have separate sexes, have been observed to switch sex.
'Normally this switch occurs on part of the crown rather than the entire tree changing sex. 
'In the Fortingall Yew it seems that one small branch in the outer part of the crown has switched and now behaves as female.'
It is difficult to calculate the age of ancient yews, as their annual growth rings rot away.
A girth measurement in 1769 suggested the Fortingall Yew could be up to 5,000 years old. 
It has more recently been estimated at between 2,000 and 3,000 years old. 
Scientists have been able to estimate the tree's age by comparing its current size with measurements taken in the 1700s.
Mr Coleman wrote in his blog: 'Yews are normally either male or female and in autumn and winter sexing yews is generally easy. 
'Males have small spherical structures that release clouds of pollen when they mature. Females hold bright red berries from autumn into winter. 
'It was, therefore, quite a surprise to me to find a group of three ripe red berries on the Fortingal yew this October when the rest of the tree was clearly male. 
'Odd as it may seem, yews, and many other conifers that have seperate sexes, have been observed to switch sex.
'Normally this switch occurs on part of the crown rather than the entire tree changing sex. In the Fortingall Yew it seems that one small branch in the outer part of the crown has switched and now behaves as female.'
He said the three seeds had been collected and would be included in a major project to 'conserve the genetic diversity of yew trees' by planting them out at the Botanic Garden. 
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If you have ever endured the sleepless nights, endless feeding and constant worrying that comes with having children, you may find this hard to believe.
But having babies can actually mean you live longer.

A UK study found that women who are mothers are 20 per cent less likely to die early at any given point than their childless counterparts.
Breastfeeding is also linked to a longer life, as is taking the pill, according to the research, which studied hundreds of thousands of European women.
It is thought that the associated hormonal changes with having babies boost heart health and reduce the risk of cancers.
The researchers from Imperial College London analysed detailed data on the lives of 322,972 women from ten European countries, including the UK.
During the 13 years of the study, 14,383 of the women died. Almost 6,000 of the deaths were from cancer and 2,400 were caused by heart disease.
But the scientists found that those who had children were a fifth less likely to have died – with those who had their first baby while still in their 20s seemingly particularly blessed with good health.
The analysis, published in the journal BMC Medicine, also showed that women who had two or three children were less likely to die of cancer than others. As well as this, it revealed that mothers who breastfed were 8 per cent less likely to have died than those who bottlefed their babies.
Finally, women who were taking or had taken the oral contraceptive pill were 10 per cent less likely to die than those who didn’t – as long as they didn’t smoke.
If they smoked, the benefits of the pill on longevity were cancelled out. The study didn’t look at the reasons for the links but it is thought that they can be explained by hormonal changes.
Previous research has credited breastfeeding with cutting the risk of breast cancer, with a year of breastfeeding over a woman’s lifetime cutting her odds of the disease by almost 5 per cent.
They also discovered breastfeeding is also linked to a longer life, as is taking the contraceptive pill
The 12 months do not have to be continuous – and the more months of breastfeeding a woman clocks up, the lower her chances of developing the disease.
This may be because the levels of oestrogen, a hormone that can fuel breast cancer, drop when a woman is breastfeeding. The process may also change the cells in the breast, making them more resistant to the changes that lead to cancer.
Women make less oestrogen when on the pill, while pregnancy may also lead to protective hormonal changes.
The study only looked at women but previous research has found that becoming a parent is also good for male health.
Research has also shown that a couple’s happiness increases with the birth of each child – up to the third.
But, when child number four comes along, levels of satisfaction start to dip.
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An app that tells you which friends are free and want to meet has been released by Google.

Dubbed 'Who's Down', the app is available for free download - although it is currently invitation-only.
Once you've confirmed you're 'down' for an activity, nearby friends will see your status and be given the option to join you.
You do this by sliding a switch that makes you available for three hours. The app also lets you pick from a list of popular activities or create your own. 
If you manage to find some friends, there are group chatting features included to help organise the logistics of the event.
The app, which was spotted by 9to5 Google, is available for both iOS and Android.
The Verge suggests it is likely directed at teenagers. 
If you attempt to sign up for Who's Down without an invitation, Google asks you to enter your email address and your school.

'We're not down to share more details just yet,' the company said. 
The new app is similar to Apple's Find My Friends tool and Foursquare's Swarm app, with the main difference being the option to say exactly what you're 'down' for. 
Earlier this year, an Apple patent revealed its plans to extend its tool.
It wants to provide more customisable notifications that alert friends when you leave or arrive at a certain location, and lets them track your route more accurately. 
A related filing uses 'nodes' inside buildings to help these users pinpoint your exact location even when you're indoors. 
The patents, first spotted by AppleInsider, build on existing technology known as geofencing that creates a virtual fence or barrier around a specific location.
Friends have to consent to being tracked, but once they accept the invitation the initial user can request to see their location and get location-based alerts that notify them when they arrive at an airport, or when a child leaves school. 

NOW YOU CAN HIDE YOUR EX IN GOOGLE PHOTOS 

Google's latest update to its Photos app on Android lets you hide a specific person under the People tab
Google's latest update to its Photos app on Android lets you hide a specific person under the People tab
We all have an ex we'd rather not see again.
But with social media documenting our every move, it can be harder than ever to simply 'erase' someone from our history.
Now Google says it has a solution. The firm's latest update to its Photos app on Android lets you hide a specific person under the People tab.
According to a recent Google+ post, the new tool will mean that photos with that person will no longer appear under the 'Rediscover this Day' tab.
To use the feature, tap on the search button on your Android app which appears as a magnifying glass in the lower-right corner of the screen.
Press on the face you would prefer not to see. This activates a multi-select interface where you can pick as many people as you like to hide.
Then hit the 'Hide' button at the right side of the action bar. You will then be offered the option to confirm or undo the option.
The process isn't permanent. You can bring people back by making them temporarily by using the 'Hide & Show' people option.
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If you live in a foreign country, it helps to learn the local lingo.
And this holds just as true for apes as it does for humans, scientists claim.
Chimpanzees that had lived for years in a Dutch safari park adopted a ‘Scottish accent’ after they moved to a new home in an Edinburgh Zoo alongside nine local chimps, the researchers argue.

The Dutch apes would make high pitched grunts when they saw apples.
The local Edinburgh chimps, by contrast, made a distinctive, lower-pitched grunt.
It's evidence, the scientists from the universities of York, Zurich and St Andrews said, that apes have ‘accents’ that vary from place to place – just like us.
It took several years for the expat apes to pick up the local dialect, because the two groups did not mix much when they were first introduced in 2010.
Dr Katie Slocombe, of the University of York said: ‘They weren't spending much quality time together and there weren't many friendships. So they didn’t have any motivation to change their calling.’
But after three years, the two groups buried their initial distrust of each other and got on famously.
In what is billed as a breakthrough in the study of language, the scientists said the Dutch apes adopted the same style of grunting as that of their hosts.
In what is billed as a breakthrough in the study of language, the scientists said the Dutch apes adopted the same style of grunting as that of their Scottish hosts. A stock image of a chimp is pictured

CHIMPANZEES CAN TELL RIGHT FROM WRONG 

They are our closest relatives in the animal kingdom, capable of using tools and solving problems much like their human cousins, but it appears chimpanzees also share our sense of morality too.
A new study of the apes reacting to an infant chimp being killed by another group has shown the animals have a strong sense of right and wrong.
The researchers found chimpanzees reacted to videos showing the violent scenes in a similar way to humans.
The researchers, whose study is published in the journal Human Nature, filmed 17 adult chimpanzees from two different zoos in Switzerland as they watched video clips.
The clips showed chimps either performing a neutral activity such as walking or cracking nuts, aggressive adult chimps, a small colobus monkey being hunted and killed by chimps and an infant chimpanzee being killed by its own kind.
The zoo animals looked up to four times longer at the infanticide scenes than any of the other video clips, responding not just to the infant screams but also to the scenes as a whole.
The findings suggest that chimpanzees can distinguish between aggression against infants compared to other violent forms of behaviour.
However, the researchers also found while the chimps watched the infanticide scenes for longer, there was only limited evidence they became agitated or reacted to them.
Dr Rudolf von Rohr said this perhaps suggest while chimpanzees can distinguish between right and wrong they will only respond emotionally to digressions within their own social group.
She said: 'We propose that chimpanzees as uninvolved bystanders may detect norm violations but may restrict emotional reactions to such situations to in-group contexts.'
By 2013, Dr Slocombe said: ‘The Dutch chimps had actually adopted the Edinburgh call for apples.’
She added: ‘If you tend to mimic someone's accent, they tend to get on better with you and they like you more. So it could be something similar to that, that we're seeing in the chimps.’
But the charming idea that there are regional variations in chimpanzee language has not been met with universal acceptance.
A rival band of researchers claim that the idea Scottish chimps have accents is making a monkey of us.
Scientists from the German Primate Centre in Göttingen, the University of Kent, and New York University (NYU) think the Dutch apes were simply getting excited at meeting some new friends.
James Higham, an assistant professor at NYU said the findings are ‘fundamentally a misrepresentation of the what the data actually show.’ 
He said in a paper published in Current Biology that the original authors did not factor in ‘arousal’ and that the Dutch chimps were simply more excited.
Julia Fischer, of the German Primate Centre added: ‘The Dutch chimpanzees may have given slightly different calls to the Edinburgh chimps, and then changed their calls, due simply to differences in their original feeding environments and diet, and then the subsequent changes in these following their move to Edinburgh.’
The authors add that when it comes to a Dutch chimp accent and a Scottish chimp accent the differences ‘are not terribly distinct’.
They say that in effect, one chimp grunt is much like another.
Brandon Wheeler, of the University of Kent said: ‘Closer inspection of the data reveals that both groups largely overlapped in the range of calls they were originally giving in response to apples, with only a few calls of the Dutch chimpanzees outside the range of the calls given by the Edinburgh chimpanzees.
‘There is some statistically significant but biologically weak change of the calls over time following the move of the Dutch chimpanzees to Edinburgh, but such social modulation is a well-known phenomenon in animal vocalizations that has been found in most primate calls-and even in the calls of goats.’
Professor Higham added: ‘This process bears little resemblance to chimpanzees 'vocally learning' a different call for the same object.’  
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You might assume that those approaching their twilight years may no longer have the spark for passion-filled romances.

But, according to research, the older generation still regard desiring their partner as an important factor in their love lives.
In a study which separated a person's needs from the length of their relationship, psychologists found that, although there was a slight drop in the importance placed on sexual attraction after the age of 60, it did not dip further after that.
And the report, which analysed data from people aged 20-95, found that the need for cosy companionship was no greater in the older daters than the younger ones.
'Contrary to the stereotype, older adults still value sexual attraction quite highly,' said the researchers from the University of California.
'There is no consistent evidence that communication or companionate characteristics are valued more at older ages.'
For their study, the academics analysed data from nearly 5,500 men and women who had signed up to the online dating site eHarmony.
The site asks users to complete a mandatory questionnaire that scrutinises their characteristics and goals, by asking them to rate the importance of various items on a scale.
The researchers split the data into four groups: 'young' users under age 40, 'middle-aged' users aged 40-59, 'young-old' users age 60-74 and 'old-old' users age 75 and above.
While there was evidence that 'users approaching age 60 and older valued sexual attraction less than younger users…there were no significant age differences among the users older than 60, and they still valued sexual attraction highly', the researchers wrote in the journal Psychology & Aging.
'Overall, young-old and old-old users had similar preferences in this sample.'
The researchers said that while older adults tend to have longer relationships, which in turn are associated with 'declining sexual, passionate love and more friendship-based, companionate love', by studying new relationships they were able to analyse the influence of 'age separate from relationship duration'.
'Comparing younger and older adults seeking a new relationship provides a more equivalent starting point than comparing long-time married couples to newlyweds,' they wrote.
Josephine Menkin, one of the study's authors, added that often people resist starting a new relationship in later life because of certain 'barriers', such as concerns about upsetting adult children.
'It is possible that older adults who are using online dating are especially highly motivated to re-partner, and sexual interest may be one of the motivating factors that encourages people to actively seek a partner online, instead of just seeing if they happen to meet someone in person,' she said.
Less surprisingly, the researchers found that across the age groups, men consistently valued sexual attraction slightly more than women, with ladies placing a greater relative emphasis on companionship than the chaps.
Additionally, they found that divorcees were more concerned with feeling the spark of desire with a new partner than the daters who had never been married.

CAN SHARING A HUSBAND BE GOOD FOR WOMEN? POLYGAMOUS HOUSEHOLDS ARE WEALTHIER AND HAVE HEALTHIER CHILDREN

Polygyny, where a man has more than one wife, was found to be beneficial to the entire household in a study by UC Davies
It's the dream of some men and the nightmare of others.
But now scientists have discovered that having multiple wives can actually be good for the entire family.
A new study into polygyny - where a man has more than one wife (polygamy is the umbrella term for multiple marriages) - found it lead to greater health and wealth for women and their children.
While countries around the globe ban or restrict marriages to more than one spouse at a time, UC Davis researchers looked at the established practice in parts of Tanzania.
They compared polygynous and monogamous households in 56 villages in northern parts of the country, where polygyny is widespread among certain ethnic groups, including the Maasai. 
It was found that polygynous households often had better access to food and healthier children. 
They also owned more cattle and farmed more land than monogamous households. 
'If you have a choice of a guy who has 180 cows, lots of land and other wives, it might be better for you to marry him rather than a guy who has no wives, three cows and one acre,' said anthropologist and study lead, Monique Borgerhoff Mulder.
Scientists suggest the findings support early accounts of marriage - that polygyny can be in a woman's strategic interest when they depend on men for resources. 
The practice of taking several wives has been practiced for many centuries by cultures from all over the world.
It can often be found in areas where food is scarce and there is poor health among children.
But rather than being the cause of this, researchers suggest it can be beneficial to these people. 
So while the United Nations states that polygyny contravenes a woman's right to equality with men and that such marriages ought to be discouraged and prohibited, the study found this a depended on local factors.
They suggest that in some settings, prohibiting polygyny could be disadvantageous to women by restricting their marriage options.
'The issue is not the number of partners,' Professor Borgerhoff Mulder said. 'Women should be assured the autonomy to make the decisions they want'
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Google plans to begin delivering packages by drone in 2017, the firm has revealed.
It is set to face fierce competition from Amazon, Wal-Mart and others, all of whom are developing competing systems.

'Our goal is to have commercial business up and running in 2017,' David Vos, the project lead for Google's Project Wing, told an audience at an air traffic control convention outside Washington
Google's prototype Project Wing's aircraft have a wingspan of approximately 1.5m (4.9ft) and have four electrically-driven propellers.
They will fly a programmed route with just the push of a button, and they'll follow rules to respond safely if they run into unexpected situations like a gust of wind, Google says.
The project was originally envisaged by Google boss Sergey Brin as a way to deliver defibrillators to heart attack victims, but has since been expanded. 
Last week Wal-Mart has applied to U.S. regulators for permission to test drones for home delivery, curbside pickup and checking warehouse inventories.
The move is the clearest sign yet it plans to go head-to-head with Amazon in using drones to fill and deliver online orders.
The world's largest retailer by revenue has for several months been conducting indoor tests of small unmanned aircraft systems - the term regulators use for drones - and is now seeking for the first time to test the machines outdoors. 
It plans to use drones manufactured by China's SZ DJI Technology Co Ltd.
In addition to having drones take inventory of trailers outside its warehouses and perform other tasks aimed at making its distribution system more efficient, Wal-Mart is asking the Federal Aviation Administration for permission to research drone use in 'deliveries to customers at Walmart facilities, as well as to consumer homes,' according to a copy of the application reviewed by Reuters.
The move comes as Amazon.com, Google and other companies test drones in the expectation that the FAA will soon establish rules for their widespread commercial use.

HOW IT WORKS

 
Project Wing's aircraft have a wingspan of approximately 1.5m (4.9ft) and have four electrically-driven propellers.  
The total weight, including the package to be delivered, is approximately 10kg (22lb). 
The aircraft itself accounts for the bulk of that at 8.5kg (18.7lb). 
The hybrid 'tail sitter' design has wings for fast forward flight, and rotors for hovering for delivery and vertical take-off and landing. 
Dual mode operation gives the self-flying vehicle some of the benefits of both planes and helicopters.
It can take off or land without a runway, and can hold its position hovering in one spot to gently drop packages.
Packages are stored in the drone's 'belly' then dropped on a string before being gently lowered to the ground. 
At the end of the tether, there's a little bundle of electronics the team call the 'egg,' which detects that the package has hit the ground, detaches from the delivery, and is pulled back up into the body of the vehicle.
FAA Deputy Administrator Michael Whitaker said in June that the agency expected to finalize regulations within the next 12 months, faster than previously planned. 
Commercial drone use is currently illegal, though companies can apply for exemptions.
There is a Walmart within five miles of 70 percent of the U.S. population, which creates some unique and interesting possibilities for serving customers with drones 
The FAA will review Wal-Mart's petition to determine whether it is similar enough to earlier successful applications to be fast-tracked, or whether it would set a precedent for exemptions, requiring regulators to conduct a detailed risk analysis and seek public comment, agency spokesman Les Dorr said. 
The FAA normally aims to respond to such petitions in 120 days.
Amazon has said it would be ready to begin delivering packages to customers via drones as soon as federal rules allow.
Wal-Mart spokesman Dan Toporek said the company would move quickly to deploy drones depending on its tests and regulations.
'Drones have a lot of potential to further connect our vast network of stores, distribution centers, fulfillment centers and transportation fleet,' he said. 
'There is a Walmart within five miles of 70 percent of the U.S. population, which creates some unique and interesting possibilities for serving customers with drones.'
Finding ways to more efficiently warehouse, transport and deliver goods to customers has taken on new importance for Wal-Mart, which this month projected a surprise decline in earnings next year as it copes with costs to increase wages, beat back price competition and boost online sales.
In the FAA application, Wal-Mart said it wanted to test drones for taking stock of trailers and other items in the parking lot of a warehouse using electronic tagging and other methods. 
A Wal-Mart distribution center could have hundreds of trailers waiting in its yard, and a drone could potentially be used to quickly account for what each one is holding.
The retailer also wants to test drones for its grocery pickup service, which it has recently expanded to 23 markets with plans to add another 20 markets next year. 
The test flights would confirm whether a drone could deliver a package to a pick-up point in the parking lot of a store, the application says.
Wal-Mart also said it wants to test home delivery in small residential neighborhoods after obtaining permission from those living in the flight path. 
The test would see if a drone could be deployed from a truck 'to safely deliver a package at a home and then return safely to the same,' the application says.
To date the FAA has approved more than 2,100 exemptions allowing for commercial drone testing and use.
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Men prefer women who are far more intelligent than themselves - but only in long distance relationships, researchers have found.
They say that in 'live' interactions, men were generally less attracted to women who were smarter. 

Researchers say it sheds new light on why opposites attract - but only sometimes.
'We found that men preferred women who are smarter than them in psychologically distant situations,' said Lora Park, associate professor in the UB Department of Psychology and the study's principal investigator. 
'Men rely on their ideal preferences when a woman is hypothetical or imagined.
'But in live interaction, men distanced themselves and were less attracted to a woman who outperformed them in intelligence.' 
The new study by a University at Buffalo-led research team published in the latest edition of the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin concluded psychological distance — whether someone is construed as being near or far in relation to the self — plays a key role in determining attraction.
'It's the distinction between the abstract and the immediate,' says Park. 
'There is a disconnect between what people appear to like in the abstract when someone is unknown and when that same person is with them in some immediate social context.'
Even though the research focus of the current study was on romantic attraction and, specifically, men's interest in women, Park says the result might potentially be a broader phenomenon, extending to other interpersonal situations.
'That's a question for future research,' she said. 
'But presumably, anyone who is outperformed by someone close to them might feel threatened themselves. 
'We just happened to look at men in a romantic dating context.'
Park's team conducted six separate studies involving 650 young adult subjects. 
The studies ranged from presenting subjects with hypothetical women, to women they expected to meet, to actually engaging in an interpersonal interaction.
'In each case, how much you like someone or how much you are attracted to them is affected by how intelligent that person is relative to you and how close that person is relative to you,' said Park.
But the area of performance has to be something important to the individual.
'The domain matters,' says Park.
'If you don't care about the domain, you might not be threatened.
'Yet, if you care a lot about the domain, then you might prefer that quality in somebody who is distant, then feel threatened when that person gets close to you.'
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Teenagers spend nearly nine hours a day absorbing media and despite all the new options, music and television remain the favorites.

Common Sense Media released an exhaustive survey Tuesday outlining how young people spend screen time. One concern: the number of youngsters who feel comfortable multi-tasking while doing homework.
Two-thirds of teenagers said they listen to music every day, and 58 per cent said the same about watching television, the study said. By contrast, 45 per cent reported using social media every day and only 36 per cent said they enjoyed that activity 'a lot'; twice as many said they really enjoyed their music.
'I think the sheer volume of media technology that kids are exposed to on a daily basis is mind-boggling,' James Steyer, chief executive officer and founder of Common Sense Media, told CNN in an interview. 
Television is the favorite activity of teenagers in training, with 62 per cent of respondents aged 8 to 12 saying they watched every day, the study said. Tweens said they spend just under six hours a day of media time.
Exactly half of the time teenagers spend with video involves watching a TV program at the time it originally airs. The rest is parceled out among time-delayed viewing, DVDs or online video, the study said.
Teens and tweens spend most of their media time watching TV, using their computer or listening to music 
Teens and tweens spend most of their media time watching TV, using their computer or listening to music 
Boys are much more likely to play video games than girls. The survey found male teenagers spent an average of 56 minutes a day gaming, while girls devoted only seven minutes. Girls spent more time on social media or reading than boys.
Half of the teenagers said they watch TV or use social media either 'a lot' or 'sometimes' while doing homework, and 76 per cent said they listen to music while working. Half of the teens say that listening to music actually helps their work, while only 6 per cent said they thought it hurt.
'As a parent and educator, there's clearly more work to be done around the issue of multi-tasking,' said James Steyer, founder and CEO of Common Sense Media, an organization that monitors youthful media use and gives recommendations to parents. 'Nearly two-thirds of teens today tell us they don't think watching TV or texting while doing homework makes any difference to their ability to study and learn, even though there's more and more research to the contrary.'
More kids said their parents have talked to them about the content of what they watch or listen to rather than the time spent on media, the study said.
Poor children have less access to computers, tablets and smartphones than wealthier kids, but spend more time on devices when they have one, the study said.
Black teenagers spend more time with media than other ethnic groups, an average of 11 hours and 13 minutes each day. Latinos spend just over nine hours and whites eight hours, 48 minutes, the study found.
Common Sense Media conducted a survey of 2,658 young people between February 6 and March 9. The results have a margin of error of plus or minus nearly 2 per cent.
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Moody people are often baffling to those of us with steadier emotions.
But scientists argue that changing moods – as seen in sulking teenagers, grumpy spouses, or bad-tempered parents - serve an important purpose.

Rather than being a weakness, they are nature's way to of helping us adapt to an ever changing world.
So when times are good and spirits are high, we take more risks at a time they are likely to be rewarded.
And when times are tough, sulking can help us conserve our energy.

GOOGLE MAY TRACK YOUR MOOD 

Wearable technology can already track your steps, sleep and heart rate but in the future they could also be used to monitor your mood. 
Google Life Sciences recently hired leading mental health expert Dr Thomas Insel and in a recent interview he discussed plans for sensors 'that give you very objective measures of your behaviour.'
These sensors could analyse a person's language for early signs of psychosis, monitor levels of anxiety, or encourage wearers to take clinical tests in order to measure mental health.
Dr Insel was previously director of the National Institute for Mental Health for 13 years. 
Speaking at Chicago Ideas Week, he said: 'Technology can have greater impact on mental healthcare than on the care for heart disease, diabetes, cancer or other diseases.  
'It could transform this area in the next five years.' 
To take a human example, a stock market trader who makes a successful deal becomes more optimistic about the outcome of his next transaction.
He is then likely to take more risks – as he becomes more optimistic things will go in his or her favour.
The increase in risk taking allows him to make maximum gains at a time when risk taking is most likely to pay off.
This holds true when a variety of different events have an underlying connection, the authors argue.
To take an example from the natural world, the authors suggest an animal's mood improves on finding a number of fruits in a tree.
Rather than assessing each tree individually, this good mood helps the animal to look at the big picture – and optimistically make it think fruits are in abundance.
This encourages the animal to climb up the neighbouring branch – where good conditions make it more likely that there will be a tasty fruit available.
It may be increased rainfall or sunshine has caused fruit to become more abundant, the authors suggest.
'In this situation, it makes little sense to update expectations for each tree independently,' the authors write, and makes the animal expect 'a general increase in reward and update expectations for all related trees accordingly.'
Eran Eldar, of University College London said: 'This effect of mood should be useful whenever different sources of reward are interconnected or possess an underlying momentum.
'That may often be the case in the natural as well as in the modern world, as successes in acquiring skills, material resources, social status, and even mating partners may all affect one another.'
When rewards are starting to thin out – for example if winter is coming – then a negative mood will result in an individual event, such as finding a fruit, being 'downgraded'– allowing behaviour and expectations to be quickly adjusted downwards. 
The authors suggest that this could lead to behaviours such as an animal deciding to save energy and hibernate instead of rushing around. 
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Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi will begin selling its handsets in Africa this month, with South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya becoming the first African countries where the company's devices will be available for purchase.
The smartphones that'll go on sale include the Redmi 2 and Mi 4. As for the price, while the former will carry a tag of around $160, the latter will set you back around $320. Xiaomi has appointed the Mobile In Africa (MIA) Group - which has presence in 14 African countries - as a full-service distributor for these markets, providing importation, logistics, marketing, and support services.
“We see Africa as the next frontier for smartphone growth and we are excited to be partnering with MIA Group to offer consumers in these three countries our high-quality smartphones at amazing prices,” said Xiaomi’s Global Strategy Director Raymond Tian.
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As of today, Twitter favorites are no more. They've been killed by the social network in favor of likes. With the death of favorites, the star icon used for them is now gone too. Likes are depicted on Twitter with a heart icon.
For whatever reason, Twitter's decided to let go of one of its oldest features - favoriting tweets. This was done by clicking or tapping on the star icon.
Since that's now dead, in its place you'll find the new heart icon which you can click or tap if you want to like a tweet you see. Twitter says people like hearts more than stars. They love hearts, in fact. Oh, and the heart is "a universal symbol that resonates across languages, cultures, and time zones" in a way that the lowly star couldn't. The company's blog post on the matter goes on to claim that "the heart is more expressive, enabling you to convey a range of emotions and easily connect with people".
Hearts are also coming to Vine, Twitter's enterprise that's all about six-second videos, after having debuted in Periscope, the company's live streaming app. The heart icon and associated like gesture are out today in Twitter for iOS and Android, the Twitter website, TweetDeck, Twitter for Windows 10, Vine for Android, the Vine website, as well as in embedded tweets across the web. The new feature will hit Vine for iOS and Twitter for Mac "soon".
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Vertu changes hands yet again. The luxury phone maker is going to Hong Kong-based called Godin Holdings and private investors, three years after being sold by Nokia to investment fund EQT VI. The deal has received the required approvals.
It seems that Vertu will keep its manufacturing plant in Hampshire in the UK, but it is parting way with CEO Massimiliano Pogliani. Pogliani was appointed head of Vertu after the Nokia sale.
It's not clear how much the extravagant manufacturer was sold for, both parties decided to keep that private. Back in 2012, Nokia allegedly got $200 million for a 90% share in the company, keeping 10%.
“We believe VERTU is operationally stronger today with a leading position in the luxury mobile phone market. VERTU is now ready to take the next step in its development together with a new owner,” says Caspar Callerström, Partner at EQT Partners AB.
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Twitter's newly-installed CEO Jack Dorsey has announced that he's giving away one-third of the company stocks he owns to employees. If you're wondering, that's exactly 1% of the company, which translates into an estimated $214 million. He made the announcement in a tweet on the micro-blogging service.
The move, quite clearly, is aimed at boosting the morale of the employees, given that the company is currently facing layoffs - just last week, it was announced that up to 336 jobs, which translates into 8% of the company's total workforce, will be cut. Dorsey has also recently given back 15 million shares of Square, another company he heads, to its employees.
If you aren't in the know, former executive officer of Microsoft Steve Ballmer recently announced that he has bought a 4% stake in Twitter, making him the third largest individual shareholder in the company.
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