WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Graphene’s weird properties could help create computer chips that are thousands of times faster than today’s chips.   Today’s silicon based electronic CPU’s, like the ones sold by AMD and Intel, operate at clock rates of several hundred gigahertz, hence the GHz acronym given to...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Noone likes hackers, so everyone is trying to find ways to create the ultimate unhackable system, and this breakthrough in quantum mechanics could be one of the most promising.   In the wake of countless data breaches there has been a dramatic rise in the...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF AI will play an increasingly central role in both government policy making and governing as China rolls out their first AI policy maker.   If you’re a foreign policy maker with a government then, whether you like it or not, you’ll soon be working with...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Technology is showing us how ancient the concept of the traditional nation state is, and as virtual nations take shape being able to reboot them in times of war is crucial.   How do you reboot an entire country? It’s an odd question, but in...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Bees help pollinate nearly 75 percent of our crops, this new system can track their progress and predict deadly colony collapses before they happen.   You might expect to hear an angry buzzing when honeybees have been disturbed. But some apiarists reckon they can also...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The way we make buildings hasn’t changed much in thousands of years, so it’s time for a faster, cheaper alternative to take center stage.   Recently a family in France were the first family to move into a 3D printed house, and the benefits of...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF We’re always told ai cannot be imaginative or creative, but human creativity can be cloned.   Recently art made by Artificial Intelligence (AI) software has become a field in its own right and it’s become quite a niche market in certain circles. As a result...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Researchers have re-thought cameras from the point of view of today’s AI’s, and what they’ve created is as innovative as it is revolutionary.   Cameras used to be their own devices with lenses and film and trips to the drug store to get the pictures...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Robots that can autonomously identify and skill-fully manipulate objects without needing to be previously trained could revolutionise the robotics industry.   Human dexterity is an impressive skill that requires both our body’s fine motor skills and highly efficient visual acuity, and despite recent advances from...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Today’s brain machine interfaces are rudimentary or require invasive surgery, this program could bring brain interfaces to the masses and be the next step in human-technological evolution.   Until now the advanced and cutting edge neuroscience programs at DARPA, the self proclaimed mad science wing...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF We rely on bees to pollinate nearly 75 percent of our crops, but as colonies continue to collapse researchers are looking for new alternatives to pollinate crops.   Food security continues to come under the spotlight which is why we’ve recently seen research that uses...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The cost of getting astronauts and cargo into space is still astronomical, a space elevator could eliminate the need for costly rocket launches and democratise access to space.   Let’s be honest, launching things into space with rockets is a pretty inefficient way to do...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF We think the internet is already decentralised, but the internet as we know it is evolving, and tomorrow’s internet will be truly decentralised.   An increasing number of people want to fix the flaws of the internet by decentralizing it, including Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the father...

WHY THIS MATERS IN BRIEF As we come to rely on robots and automated systems more in our daily lives their ability to accurately perceive our world is crucial.   If I showed you a single picture of a room it’s likely you’d be able to tell me about it...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Quantum computers promise amazing performance gains over classical computers, but a new algorithm just put the ball back in the classical computer’s court.   A teenager from Texas has single handedly taken one of the biggest advances promised by the first generation of quantum computers...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Plastic has turned into the scourge of the environment, and companies are tripling their efforts to find viable environmentally friendly alternatives.   Society is producing more waste plastic than ever before and it’s polluting our oceans and contaminating our drinking water. By all accounts by...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Grid scale energy storage is now a viable economic alternative to coal fired power stations designed to top up the grid during peak demands.   Grid scale energy storage is going to get a big boost after California officials, who also recently announced that Los...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As 3D printing improves it will continue to revolutionise the way we make everything from clothes to homes.   It was always going to happen, and now it finally has. First came 3D printed houses in Dubai, who want 25 percent of all new houses to...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF AI, avatars and bots will play an increasingly central role in the future of education, and Will is the first teacher of his kind.   It’s back to school time for millions of children around the world and you know what that means – it’s...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Filters may be boring but they play a vital role in our everyday lives, from healthcare and transportation, to the food and drinks we consume.   Filters have increasingly been hitting the headlines recently, especially graphene ones that could help us end future water shortages...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Dota is a game of prediction, strategy and collaboration, and it’s been long thought that an AI couldn’t master it – until now.   A lot of humans think they’re so good at video games that they make the point of describing themselves as “gamers.”...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The use of glass is increasing around the world and scientists are trying to find new ways to enhance its properties.   Recently we saw new research that lets windows turn into mirrors at the flick of a switch, and now researchers from the Institute...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Being able to spray nanobots onto surfaces and objects is a fast way to turn them from dumb objects into smart ones that have new sensing capabilities.   You may have sworn off aerosol sprays back in the 1990’s when everyone was talking about the hole...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Being able to apply new properties to glass, such as liquid mirrors, could help companies reduce their air conditioning bill and help homeowners improve their privacy.   Researchers from Imperial College London in the UK have developed a new material that can turn a transparent surface into a...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Homomorphic encryption gives organisations a secure and easy way to run analytics on data without having to first decrypt it, but up until now it’s been oh so slow…   IBM has announced that it’s rewritten its C++ Homomorphic encryption library and claims that it...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Metamaterials have amazing, and unique, properties and they’re turning up in more places, and helping revolutionise more industries.   The first 400 flat panel antennas developed by Redmond based Kymeta, which has received over $200million in funding so far from luminaries such as Bill Gates,...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Even today’s cutting edge cybersecurity products have no defence against virus laden, weaponised neural networks.   It’s been a very busy few weeks in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and neural networks with the creation of the world’s first DNA neural network, and the world’s...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Chemistry plays a vital role in our society and being able to create new drugs, and chemical cocktails and compounds, will revolutionise everything from cars to healthcare.   Chemists have a new lab assistant, and its name is Artificial Intelligence (AI), and they join synthetic...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The rise of renewable energy is on a tear, and it’s now looking unstoppable.   Global wind and solar developers took 40 years to install their first trillion watts of power generation capacity, and, as electric vehicles get ready to take off, and as renewables...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF By figuring out what data sets cybersecurity are training their AI’s on hackers have found a way to create malware that can’t be detected.   Walking around the exhibition floor at this week’s massive Black Hat cybersecurity conference in Las Vegas many people were struck...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF VR headsets create an isolating experience, so a US startup has found a way to create VR worlds without them.   Many people have dreamt about being able to use free form holograms, like the ones in Star Wars, to communicate with their friends and...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The development of an AGI that can master tens, hundreds, and eventually thousands or millions of subjects is the “holy grail” of AI, and it will change every corner of society.   One of the most significant Artificial Intelligence (AI) milestones in history was quietly...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Mining blockchain has become a contentious issue because of the amount of energy it uses and its speed, Microsoft are trying to solve both problems.   Hot on the heels of its interest in Iota, a blockchain-like peer to peer cryptocurrency that does away with...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF There is a concern that the lack of focus on developing new, advanced hardware will put US business and its military at a serious disadvantage in the future so DARPA is quadrupling its investments.   There is now question that the electronics industry has been...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As transistors get smaller companies are going to be able to create computers that are orders of magnitude more powerful and energy efficient than today’s platforms.   Over the past couple of years we’ve seen the development of a wide range of transistors that push...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Since the end of the Space Shuttle program the US has had to rely on rides from the Russians to get to the ISS, this marks America’s return to its own manned spaceflight.   After making history in 2012 as the first commercial spacecraft company...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Every job is a combination of different competencies but most training courses only focus on a few, now AI can tell you all the competencies you lack and how to get them.   Here’s the conundrum with corporate online learning, there are so many classes available from...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As Uber faces challenges on multiple fronts the company has had to take the hard decision to double down on strategic bets.   Two years after Uber bought self-driving truck developer Otto for $680 million, the ride hailing company has announced that the Uber Advanced...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Cyborg bacteria could be used to replace today’s silicon solar panels with higher efficiency, lower cost panels that help accelerate the renewable energy revolution.   Although most life on Earth relies upon photosynthesis as its sole source of energy, the process has a weak link...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Creating complex neural networks and AI’s takes a lot of expertise, money and resources so being able to watermark them will help protect them from theft.   What if machine learning models, much like photographs, movies, music, and manuscripts, could be watermarked nearly imperceptibly to denote...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF China, Russia and the US are engaged in a race to create the next generation of hypersonic weapons, and the race is accelerating.   Over the past year China has announced it’s developed the world’s first quantum radar system, that neutralises US stealth, the first...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF A rocket that consumes itself for fuel could dramatically reduce the cost of future satellite launches.   A team of engineers from Scotland and Ukraine have developed what they call an “Autophage” rocket that would consume its own structure as it hurtles into space, and...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Satellites are ubiquitous and a newly discovered exploit could let hackers turn them into high frequency weapons that fry electronics on the ground.   As I discussed in a recent keynote on the future of cybersecurity, even air gaps, thought to be the ultimate in...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Being able to print advanced and complex AI’s mean we can produce them cheaply and position them at the edge of networks where computer power might be limited.   Recently a team of researchers in the US revolutionised artificial intelligence when they made the world’s first...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF If we are ever going to unravel the mysteries of the mind, and help find new treatments for cognitive diseases, we first have to understand how the brain works.   A study using epilepsy patients undergoing surgery has given neuroscientists an opportunity to track in...