AI or ANN? Designers of artificial cognitive systems have tended to adopt one of two approaches to building robots that can think for themselves: classical rule-based artificial intelligence or artificial neural networks.

Both have advantages and disadvantages, and combining the two offers the best of both worlds, say a team of European researchers who have developed a new breed of cognitive, learning robot that goes beyond the state of the art.

The researchers’ work brings together the two distinct but mutually supportive technologies that have been used to develop artificial cognitive systems (ACS) for different purposes. The classical approach to artificial intelligence (AI) relies on a rule-based system in which the designer largely supplies the knowledge and scene representations, making the robot follow a decision-making process – much like climbing through the branches of a tree – toward a predefined response.

TOKYO, March 25 /PRNewswire/ --

NTT Communications (NTT Com) today announced that it signed a construction and maintenance agreement to participate in a consortium building a new optical fiber cable system -- the Trans-Pacific Express Cable Network (TPE) -- that will link Japan, Mainland China, South Korea, Taiwan and the United States.

TPE, a new submarine cable network that will use cutting-edge technology, is being built jointly by a consortium that now consists of NTT Com, AT&T, China Netcom (CNC), China Telecom (CT), China Unicom, Chungwha Telecom (CHT), KT and Verizon Business (Verizon).

BEIJING, March 25 /PRNewswire/ --

Mr. Wu Duanping, CEO of 5fad.com, revealed yesterday that the second hearing on the 5fad.com lawsuit against Baidu.com, dubbed as China's No. 1 Intellectual Property protection case, was held in the People's High Court of Beijing on March 3 and the court will make its final ruling by the end of May.

The case ranks No. 1 since the founding of the People's Republic of China in terms of the sum of compensation for copyright infringement asked by the plaintiff.

It is widely believed that the verdict will impose a far-reaching influence over the development of both the search engine service sector and digital entertainment industry in China. As a matter of fact, many parties are waiting to see what happens.

DUBLIN, Ireland, March 25 /PRNewswire/ --

- Seminar Will Provide Practical and Comprehensive Training On Efficient Datacentre Cooling

Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: DLR), a leading owner and manager of corporate datacentres and Internet gateways, will host a two-day seminar in Dublin on 16 and 17 April 2008 that will provide datacentre professionals with practical information about best practices for datacentre cooling. The seminar will feature three of the industry's most respected experts in datacentre operations and efficiency:

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for peri- and postmenopausal symptoms increases disease recurrence in breast cancer survivors, according to an article published online March 25 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Previous studies have shown that HRT increases breast cancer incidence in healthy women, but its impact on breast cancer survivors has remained obscure. Observational studies and one small randomized trial had suggested that HRT had no effect or even might reduce recurrence. However, two-year follow-up data from the randomized HABITS (Hormonal Replacement After Breast Cancer —Is It Safe?) trial indicated that survivors who took HRT were more likely to suffer disease recurrence than those who did not take HRT.

LONDON, March 25 /PRNewswire/ --

- Yell.travel enables UK users to search the top 20 travel web sites such as Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz, Priceline, Kayak, Hotels.com and other major travel sites at the same time with one click.

Yell.travel Corporation; http://www.Yell.travel, operator of popular web properties today announced the launch of Yell.travel; a tool that enables UK users to search the top 20 travel web sites such as Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz, Priceline, Kayak, HotWire, SideStep, Hotels.com and other major travel websites at the same time with one click without having to search each website individually.

In the near future a bio-sensing nano-device developed by Arizona State University researcher Wayne Frasch could eliminate long lines at airport security checkpoints and revolutionize health screenings for diseases like anthrax, cancer and antibiotic resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) - and it will all happen with the world’s tiniest rotary motor.

Frasch works with the enzyme F1-adenosine triphosphatase, better known as F1- ATPase. This enzyme, only 10 to 12 nanometers in diameter, has an axle that spins and produces torque. This tiny wonder is part of a complex of proteins key to creating energy in all living things, including photosynthesis in plants. F1-ATPase breaks down adenosine triphosphate (ATP) to adenosine diphospahte (ADP), releasing energy. Previous studies of its structure and characteristics have been the source of two Nobel Prizes awarded in 1979 and 1997.

Low doses of hydrogen sulfide, the toxic gas responsible for the unpleasant odor of rotten eggs, can safely and reversibly induce 'suspended animation', in mice, say Massachusetts General Hospital reseachers. They report that effects seen in earlier studies do not depend on a reduction in body temperature and include a substantial decrease in heart rate without a drop in blood pressure.

“Hydrogen sulfide is the stinky gas that can kill workers who encounter it in sewers; but when adminstered to mice in small, controlled doses, within minutes it produces what appears to be totally reversible metabolic suppression,” says Warren Zapol, MD, chief of Anesthesia and Critical Care at MGH and senior author of the Anesthesiology study. “This is as close to instant suspended animation as you can get, and the preservation of cardiac contraction, blood pressure and organ perfusion is remarkable.”

BEIJING, March 25 /PRNewswire/ --

- ViDeOnline is Hosting a Joint Press Conference Reception With CCTV.com on the Exclusive Advertisement Rights Granted on 2008 Beijing Olympics

ViDeOnline Communications, Ltd. (http://www.videonline.com), a video networking company, today announced that a joint press conference will be held on March 28th at 2:00pm local time at the Beijing Grand Hyatt, hosted by ViDeOnline and CCTV.com to announce the exclusive advertisement rights granted by CCTV.com to ViDeOnline to sponsor the online video streaming of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games broadcasts via Live and VOD (Video On Demand) channels on http://www.cctv.com.

LONDON, March 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Royal Caribbean International has launched a nationwide search for a British Godmother to reign over the cruise line's newest and largest ship, Independence of the Seas, when she launches in Southampton, next month (April 2008).

Sir Steve Redgrave, five-time Olympic gold medallist and figure head of the Steve Redgrave Fund, will front the cruise line's search for Independence of the Seas' Godmother. Royal Caribbean International begins its nationwide call for Godmother nominations beginning Monday, March 24, 2008, working in conjunction with ITV, the UK's biggest commercial television station.