Gravity energy storage finds a new way to solve renewable energy’s achilles heel
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Today solar panels only generate electricity when there’s sunlight, wind farms when there’s wind, so energy needs to be stored so it can be released later. Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, connect, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. Renewable...
The future of power is transcontinental supergrids that connect the world’s energy supplies
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Today if you generate electricity in one part of the world you can’t transport it to any other place in the world – supergrids are a paradigm shift. Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, connect, watch a keynote,...
Bacteria manage to recycle plastic into vanilla flavouring in weird world first
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF If you think plastics can only be recycled to make new plastics you’d be wrong. Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, connect, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. I see many weird things – such as molecular assemblers and...
Self-improving material could rapidly accelerate the development of green fuels
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As the world weans itself off fossil fuels the new fuels we use need to be much greener to produce. Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, connect, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. Three years ago, scientists at the...
China’s Mach 30 wind tunnel could put them decades ahead in hypersonic technology
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The future of everything is fast – and this is the world’s fastest and most brutal wind tunnel which will let China test new hypersonic concepts. Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, connect, watch a keynote, or browse my blog....
GE floats futuristic deep ocean wind turbines as the future of renewables
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Today wind farms are located near the shoreline but these new wave rider wind turbines could be placed in the deep ocean far from shore. Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, connect, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. GE...
New Norwegian wind farm trials giant wind catcher grids with hundreds of wind turbines
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Wind power projects are springing up all over the world and companies are now starting to innovate new more powerful designs. Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, connect, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. By now we’re all familiar...
New Transhumanist theory thinks Dyson Spheres could unlock human immortality
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Ironically there are many paths to immortality, but this one is the most far out there yet … Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, connect, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. Step back twenty years ago and when you...
Biofuels made using giant Pacific Kelp elevators could power a tenth of all US transport
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF There is alot of controversy about using land for biofuel production, but the sea on the other hand … Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, connect, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. The world’s hunger for energy is increasing...
NASA’s Perseverance rover makes oxygen on Mars in historic first
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Being able to produce oxygen on Mars opens the door to Mars based colonies and rocket re-fuelling stations. Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, connect, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. An increasing number of billionaires and multi-national organisations...
BP announces plans to build the UK’s biggest hydrogen plant
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Hydrogen fuels are zero emissions and have ten times the energy density of Lithium Ion batteries making them a vital asset in the fight against climate change. Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, connect, watch a keynote, or browse my...
Bill Gates latest nuclear power plant burns nuclear waste and packs in grid scale storage
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Unlike their traditional infamous cousins TWR nuclear reactors use nuclear waste as their fuel and are orders of magnitude safer. Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, connect, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. Wind, solar, geothermal, hydro, wave energy...
Startups Cloud in a Box brings fresh water to the areas that need it most
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Water is ubiquitous, it’s everywhere, but extracting it and distributing it to the people who need it has often been difficult – until now. Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, connect, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. Today over 75...
Climate change startups begin sucking CO2 out of the air with giant rigs
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The accelerating build up of CO2 in the earth’s atmosphere risks creating a runaway greenhouse effect that will cook the earth, so startups are innovating solutions … Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, connect, watch a keynote, or browse my...
A giant 25 tonne prototype deep sea mining robot is stuck at the bottom of the ocean
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF There are more raw materials and minerals on the ocean bed than in all the world’s mines – but mining it isn’t easy … Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, connect, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. One of...
The Maldives Government announces plans to build the world’s first ocean city
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Climate change and rising sea levels will displace billions of people, and the Maldives government is preparing itself … Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, connect, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. As sea levels rise thanks to climate...
World’s first handheld neutron detector detects bombs and nuclear material in real time
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF We now have an easy way to detect bombs and nuclear weapons, in a convenient hand held device … Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, connect, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. After the successful test of the WATCHMAN...
This ferret died 33 years ago and scientists bought it back to life
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Our ability to clone and de-extinct complex organisms and animals is getting better – and one day humans will be next. Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, connect, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. Like most of us you...
Scientists found a new form of light that turns all objects invisible
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Light is amazing, and it’s also incredibly powerful and useful as a tool, and we’re using it to innovate all manner of new technologies and applications. Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, connect, watch a keynote, or browse my blog....
The shipping industry bets big on Ammonia to reach carbon zero
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The world’s cargo ships use bunker fuel which is the most polluting form of all fuels, and they need to reach carbon zero by 2050. Ammonia could be the answer. Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential...
