WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Many countries have tried to develop miniaturised nuclear reactors for space flight applications, but Russia’s by far the closest.   Elon Musk wants to travel to Mars using SpaceX’s planned monolithic rocket booster, the Big Falcon Rocket. Meanwhile, on the other side of the world in...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The internet means citizens can now become part of large, virtual collectives, or nations, and there are fears these nations, with their own rules, welfare and support systems, could threaten the power and influence of sovereign nations.   When is a nation not a nation?...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF One of the biggest problems with training AI’s is the shortage of data, and the issue of privacy, Federated AI Learning overcomes this problem by training AI’s on the devices and smartphones at the network’s edge.   When big tech firms use Artificial Intelligence (AI)...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF If people can longer tell fake content or “people” from what’s real then there’s the threat that trust in each other, and in society and government, could break down.   How times have changed. Just a few years ago, before the arrival of fake Chinese...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Digital Avatars will mean that physical human death is simply a doorway into a new digital reality where our descendants interact with our Avatars instead of the real, physical us.   Over the past couple of years, asides from the giant strides we’ve seen in...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF In the past you would need a rocket to get into space, but today there are more planes taking on that role, and Cape Canaveral wants to dominate the future of commercial space flight.   As the race for space heats up, Cape Canaveral is...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As the cost of access to space continues to fall it opens up new possibilities for a wide range of industries, the us military included.   Today the US already uses its unmatched fleet of cargo planes to project its influence and move its forces...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF If you’ve ever been too lazy to go and get something yourself then tractor beams are for you.   Hot on the heels of researchers in the UK and US who over the years have created a variety of different types of tractor beams that...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As AI becomes more deeply embedded into our every day lives it is imperative that there are safeguards in place to make sure it’s safe.   Making sure Artificial Intelligence (AI) does what we want and behaves in predictable ways will be crucial as the...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The benefits of manufacturing products in space are clear, but it’s still complex and expensive, this technology could help make space based manufacturing a commercial reality.   Over the past year or so I’ve been seeing more and more references made to not just space...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The Billion Journey Project shows how today just one idea can transform over a billion journeys a year, and clearly demonstrates the power of ecosystems and open thinking.   Firstly, a big thanks to Theo and David for inviting me to be this years keynote...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF A lot has changed in the last ten years, and even more will change in the next ten. Are you ready?   Firstly, a big thank you to Kathrin and the team for inviting me to be the keynote at this years RWE Leadership meeting...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Medical scanners haven’t advanced much in decades, this new scanner is faster, higher resolution and produces insights into the human body not possible using today’s technology.   Recently I talked about a new innovation that lets doctors create movies of the behaviour of cells in...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF In the future electric cars won’t solely be reliant on Lithium Ion batteries, as battery technology and new materials evolve we’ll see the emergence of battery-less electric vehicles.   If you ever watch one of my keynotes on the Future of Transportation, like the one...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The level of regulation is already a major burden on companies, a robo-regulator could automate compliance, lighten the load, reduce costs, and even identify crime before it happens.   A little while ago I wrote an article highlighting a point made by the UK’s Chancellor...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Many investors have said Bitcoin will take off when you can pay your taxes with it, well that time might be getting closer.   There’s a lot of legal uncertainty in the US surrounding cryptocurrencies, and many other investors, like Kevin O’Leary ABC show Shark Tank fame,...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Regulators don’t like noisy supersonic aircraft flying over land, so Lockheed and NASA have teamed up to create a quiet supersonic aircraft.   One of the reasons why the iconic Concorde was mothballed was because it was too noisy when travelling at supersonic speeds, so...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Imagine growing old and never experiencing what it’s like to be ill because you were genetically engineered in the womb to be resistant to all known pathogens and viruses, technology is starting to make that a reality.   A little while ago I wrote about...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF This new type of engine, an ion engine, could one day be a useful propulsion system for drones and small aircraft but a lot of work remains to be done.   Since the first airplane took flight over 100 years ago, virtually every aircraft in...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Services and industries are increasingly becoming decentralised, and the financial services industry is no exception.   A little while ago I discussed how one hedge fund, Aidyia, is now fully autonomous, a decentralised autonomous organisation run by an AI without humans, and how another, Numerai,...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Everything is made from some form of material, whether it be organic or inorganic, which means the right breakthroughs can change industries forever.   Most people don’t care about materials – even self-healing materials, or state of the art programmable materials, or materials that will...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Some of us are unfortunate enough to loose a limb, or multiple limbs, and one day this technology, and technologies like it, could help us regrow them.   Like something, out of a science fiction movie or everyone’s favourite “Merc with a mouth”, Deadpool, researchers...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Windows on airplanes add upto 50 percent to the weight of the aircraft, and reduce their structural integrity, so people want to get rid of them.   Would you want to fly eight hours or more on an airplane with no windows? Absolutely you would I...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Exponential computing platforms that have more processing power than mammalian brains are now a reality, simulating a whole human brain is next.   Neuromorphic computers are self-learning computing systems capable of packing all the power of today’s top of the line supercomputers, like Summit, which...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF In time all adverts, and the majority of content, will be created by AI, and people won’t be able to tell it from the “real” thing.   Over the past eighteen months or so I’ve been discussing how Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been becoming increasingly...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The aviation industry is one of the world’s biggest polluters so companies around the world are trying to find new ways to power aircraft.   Recently I talked about SolarStratos, a company that’s looking to produce “the world’s first commercial solar aircraft,” and a couple...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The pace of change is accelerating, and new technologies are re-writing the narrative for many industries, including aviation.   In the coming decades the aviation industry will, arguably, see more change than it has in the past century, whether it’s because of the introduction of...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As humans we tend to believe that creativity is our exclusive domain, but AI is muscling in in a big way, and creative machines are improving all the time.   Over the past couple of years I’ve been banging the drum, through my articles and...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As more companies explore using 3D printers to print buildings it’s impractical to use just one large printer, so scientists are experimenting with swarms. Today there’s more talk than ever before of using 3D printers to print all sorts of buildings, from small houses, and...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Over $3Trillion worth of goods are transported illegally, and this new technology gives law enforcement a major new weapon in the race to find them.   A little while ago I talked about a company called Planet, that can watch the world, and everything on...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF With so much information being generated we need a new way to store it all, and DNA is a perfect storage solution.   In a world awash with data, DNA is a hugely efficient and compact way to store it. After all, the data on every...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF GPS signals are often unreliable and they don’t reach every part of Earth, such as the deep oceans, this breakthrough replaces GPS everywhere.   Over the past year I’ve been increasingly discussing how researchers around the world, from the US to China, have been experimenting...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Renewable energy is clean and green, but when the sun goes down and the wind drops energy output falls, which means sustainable renewable energy needs grid scale battery storage to support it.   Multinational energy utility Engie has launched a new grid connected storage project...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF When it comes to security and surveillance governments hold all the cards, Edward Snowden wants to change that.   In today’s world digital security is just as important as physical security to those who find themselves constantly online in hostile countries or environments, and while...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Technology isn’t just democratising mobility above ground, it’s increasingly reducing the cost of exploring the world’s deepest oceans too.   There’s a lot of talk recently about conquering space, whether it’s by living on the Moon or Mars, and space tourism, but the fact still...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As it gets easier to create high quality, natural sounding “human-like” avatars we’ll see more emerge and take on new and varied roles.   Over the past couple of years there’s been a huge increase in the amount of press columns devoted to the topic...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As the number of small renewable energy installations around the world grow individual communities are increasingly cutting out the energy companies and trading energy directly with one another.   Residents in a Bangkok neighbourhood in Thailand are trying out a new blockchain based peer to...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Increasingly most people don’t believe the news they’re seeing is real, this new technology helps news organisations and outlets regain that trust.   Falsifying photos and videos used to take a lot of work – either you used CGI to generate photorealistic images from scratch,...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As our understanding of how to turn mundane objects and materials into batteries increases in the future anything and everything could be a battery.   As I discussed a little while ago Carbon Fiber is going through its own little revolution, firstly it can now...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Being able to detect and weed out fake news is quickly rising up the political agenda, and companies are in an arms race to try to find solutions fast.   Any fact-checker who works in the media has a straightforward but challenging job – make...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Up until know hospitals have had to run multiple tests to identify multiple pathogens, which takes time and can cost lives, now they just need one.   Imagine being able to use one test to screen for every type of known and unknown human disease...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF AI will help organisations and society at large unlock untold new opportunities, in this report Microsoft discusses how to maximise the upsides while minimising the downsides.   Firstly, thank you to the team at Microsoft for reaching out and asking me to participate in their...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The rate and pace of change is accelerating, and in the next two decades the transportation industry will change more than it has in the past thousand years.   Last year I was writing about the goings on and unveilings, for example, of Dubai’s first...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The airline industry is one of the world’s heaviest polluters and it’s getting worse as air travel increases, electric aircraft will reverse that trend.   Over the past year or so I’ve been discussing the eventual emergence of fully electric aircraft and sky taxis, such...

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Surgery is getting the robotic treatment, and it could mean better working conditions for doctors, and better outcomes for patients.   When Luke Hares met with gynecological surgeon Mark Slack four years ago to talk him through his idea of Versius, the first UK built surgical...