Who would you trust to determine history's most creative at? A room full of seasoned critics? Rutgers University researchers think a machine can do the job.

They've developed a computer vision algorithm that ranks the creativity of art based on how similar it is to earlier works in terms of everything from color and texture to the presence of familiar objects.

 The code treats art history as a network -- groundbreaking pieces are connected to later derivatives, and seemingly unique content may have a link to something produced in the distant past.

So what are the top picks? In many ways, they match what you'd expect.

 Edvard Munch's iconic The Scream is considered exceptionally creative, as are Goya's Christ Crucified and Monet's Haystacks at Chailly at Sunrise.

 At the same time, though, the algorithm knocks classics like Auguste Rodin's scuplture Danaid or Albrecht Durer's portrait of his mother.

 However, it's important to remember that the software is looking for originality, not whether or not artwork is good.

 Although the algorithm could easily apply to books and other artistic formats, it's going to take considerably longer before computers develop a critical eye.

Even the researchers involved in the project describe it as "verging on science fiction". A team of British scientists has produced aircraft wings that can fix themselves after being damaged, suggesting that self-healing technology will soon become commonplace.

Their research, due to be presented at a Royal Society meeting in London this week, is being billed as an important step in an emerging

 

Thinking of selling your old Android smartphone? Watch out, as its data may be retrievable even after wiping it, finds a Cambridge study.

User data is routinely retrievable from second-hand Android devices that have been wiped through a factory reset, the Cambridge study warned.
Most Android handsets offer no easily acce