IBM, NYC hospital training Watson in cancer

The medical training of IBM's speedy Watson computer will continue with a residency at a renowned Manhattan cancer hospital. IBM and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center said Thursday that they will add the latest in oncology research—and the hospital's accumulated experience—to Watson's vast knowledge base, and keep updating it. The result should help the hospital diagnose and treat cancer more quickly, accurately and personally, they said. Applying its speed and language skills to medicine was a longtime goal at IBM, and Watson went to work last year for the health insurer Wellpoint Inc.