AWS announced the preview launch of Braket (named after the common notation for quantum states), its own quantum computing service. It’s not building its own quantum computer, though. Instead, it’s partnering with D-Wave, IonQ and Rigetti and making their systems available through its cloud. In addition, it’s also launching the AWS Center for Quantum Computing and AWS Quantum Solutions Lab.With Braket, developers can get started on building quantum algorithms and basic applications and then test them in simulations on AWS, as well as the quantum hardware from its partners.

Voice assistants aren't new, but could they become a vital member of your family and life? Amazon's Alexa plans to move from passive to proactive interactions - that is, pre-empt your request and needs rather than wait for your prompt. How will it anticipate your every whim & need and orchestrate your life? It will need to be omnipresent and get to know you better than ever before (and possibly better than you know yourself). This raises lots of possibilities to improve life, but what of our insatiable appetite for data and the power we derive from it? https://www.technologyreview.com/s/614676/amazon-alexa-will-run-your-life-data-privacy

California’s One Concern is an example of a next-generation disaster management service that provides a model for what could be achieved in Australia. It has partnered with various city governments, including San Francisco and Los Angeles, to create virtual models of particular regions’ physical environment, by assigning “digital fingerprints” to each significant feature of that environment. The service constantly monitors any thermal shifts and seismic movement across the sensor network. Processing this data together with historical data allows One Concern to run simulations to help determine the best course of action while a disaster event is unfolding. https://theconversation.com/amp/virtual-

Researchers are building tools so officials can use data to learn how to rebuild communities devastated by natural disasters. Artificial intelligence lets computers predict and find insights from that data. By analyzing historical disaster information, publicly available census data and predictive models of risk and resilience, tools will be able to identify and prioritize key decisions, like what kinds of infrastructure investments to make. https://patch.com/california/across-ca/data-science-could-help-californians-battle-future-wildfires