Weekend Reads 8/5/17

Facebook's artificial intelligence robots shut down after they start talking to each other in their own language

The bizarre discussions came as Facebook challenged its chatbots to try and negotiate with each other over a trade, attempting to swap hats, balls and books, each of which were given a certain value. But they quickly broke down as the robots appeared to chant at each other in a language that they each understood but which appears mostly incomprehensible to humans.

Are you the password?

The next level of biometric user authentication, however, will focus on a different facial feature, or the way you walk, or heartbeat patterns. Even brainwaves could become passwords with the help of EEG, or electroencephalogram, systems. Of course, these systems are still in development, and much remains to be ironed out.

Big-headed gecko shows human actions are messing with evolution

One of the most interesting things about this research is that the geckos on all five of the islands studied have evolved larger heads, even though they were isolated from each other. This suggests that increasing head size without increasing body size is the most efficient way to take advantage of the opportunity to eat a more varied diet than is normal for this species.