Microsoft, Facebook to build transatlantic subsea cable

Microsoft Corp and Facebook Inc have agreed to jointly build a subsea cable across the Atlantic Ocean to meet growing demand for high-speed cloud and online services.

The construction of the new "MAREA" cable will begin in August and it is expected to be completed in October 2017, the companies said in a statement on Thursday.

The 6,600 kilometer cable, the first to connect the United States with southern Europe, will be operated and managed by Telefonica SA's telecoms infrastructure unit Telxius.

The cable is initially designed to carry 160 terabits of data per second, the companies said.

The move comes nearly two years after Google Inc, which is now Alphabet Inc, agreed with five Asian companies to invest about $300 million to develop and operate a trans-Pacific cable network connecting the United States to Japan. (reut.rs/1P0LEvN)

Mind-controlled drones show off latest in brain tech

Billed as a world 1st, 16 people race aerial vehicles piloted by their thoughts

A University of Florida student uses a headset that interfaces with her brain to fly a drone during a competition in Gainesville, Fla., last weekend. Experts warn that there are ethical concerns with brain-controlled interfaces.

Wearing black headsets with tentacle-like sensors stretched over their foreheads, the competitors stare at cubes floating on computer screens as their small white drones prepare for takeoff.

"Three, two, one ... go!" the announcer hollers, and as the racers fix their thoughts on pushing the cubes, the drones suddenly whir, rise and buzz through the air. Some struggle to move even a few feet, while others zip confidently across the finish line.

The competition — billed as the world's first drone race involving a brain-controlled interface, or BCI — involved 16 pilots using willpower to drive drones through a 10-metre dash over an indoor basketball court at the University of Florida last weekend.

Organizers hope to make the event an annual inter-university spectacle, involving ever-more dynamic moves and challenges and a trophy that puts the brain on a pedestal.

"With events like this, we're popularizing the use of