Jeff Bezos lays out his vision to take millions of people to the stars and beyond
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As the world gets more crowded billionaires are lining up to make humans an inter-stellar species, with interesting results. The plan of Jeff Bezos, the world’s richest man, to transport humans from Earth to the Moon and house millions of us in space colonies...
Government can’t do it alone any more, says Apple’s CEO
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As individuals and organisations start becoming more powerful than many governments, people are wondering if private companies can solve humanity’s problems faster. As I travel around the world, from America to Africa, Europe to the Middle East, and Japan to Singapore, talking to people...
Colour night vision breakthrough turns the darkest midnight into day
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Being able to see in colour, even during the darkest nights, is a game changer that will have ramifications for multiple industries. When we think of night vision our minds automatically turn to grainy black and green images. But today things have begun to...
“Unblinking Eye” pre-crime tech gets investment boost from UK government
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As the pace of terrorism accelerates agencies around the world are trying to find the needles in the data haystack that can help them predict attacks before they happen. In the movie Fast and the Furious 7 movie a secretive US government agency created...
Deepfake President Trump looses itself in Eminem’s raps
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF In a couple of years time you won’t be able to tell what’s fake from what’s real. We all love DeepFakes – unless that is you’re a celebrity, a news corporation, or a fan of democracy. But all that asides if you look past...
Food breakthrough lets researchers grow fish meat on demand
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As the Earth’s population and its appetite for protein grows this latest breakthrough will help alleviate famine and hunger. We are on the cusp of a food production revolution, one that could eradicate global famine and let us make food, of all types, from...
Game changing “Unhackable” MORPHEUS computer chip re-configures itself every 50 milliseconds
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Being able to create an unhackable computer sounds like science fiction, but that doesn’t stop researchers from giving it a go. “Unhackable” is a strong word. And so far many of the technologies that people have described as being unhackable, even awesome science fiction...
Just as 5G starts rolling out 6G is in the already in the works
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The march of technology never stops, and as users celebrate Gigabit mobile speeds Terabit mobile speeds are already on the drawing board. While countries around the world are just beginning to roll out their first 5G networks that operate at Gigabbit speeds, technologists at...
Scientists have created a decoder to turn brain activity into speech
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF For a wide range of reasons many people have speaking disabilities, but now a Brain to Speech breakthrough gives them their voices back. Scientists have announced a breakthrough in Brain Machine Interface (BMI) technology that has, for the first time, let them translate electrical...
Amazon’s AI reportedly tracks, monitors and automatically fires hundreds of employees
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As we entrust machines with more decision making powers it brings both pros and cons, and being fired by an AI is definitely a con. There’s been a lot of news coverage about how Artificial Intelligence (AI), robots and Robotic Process Automation (RPA), will,...
China announces plans to build a Moonbase in the next decade
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Space exploration and building colonies on Mars and the Moon are in vogue as countries and billionaires vie to out do one another. Just like the European Space Agency, Jeff Bezos, who wants to also move heavy industry off Earth, and NASA, China has...
Scientists are teaching robots to share code and evolve just like animals
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF We all too often think of machines, and robots, as static things, but new breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, manufacturing, and materials are giving them the power to evolve. Bacteria do it, viruses do it. Worms, mammals, even bees do it. So our parents tell...
AI and automation: The benefits for business and industry
On 4 August 1997, Skynet, a US military developed program, became self-aware and began to think for itself. Operators tried to deactivate the computer system but the now ‘intelligent’ system perceived this as a threat and in order to protect its mandate of ‘safeguarding the world’ Skynet launched a nuclear...
China’s AI anti-corruption program is getting shut down for being too good
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Corruption is endemic, and now China’s AI powered anti-corruption program is getting shut down in a record number of provinces because it’s allegedly too efficient. What would you do if you had a machine that could catch a thief, or a corrupt politician? Well,...
First of a kind material lets solar panels generate electricity from snow
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As our knowledge of materials and how they behave improves we can generate electricity from almost anything. Scientists have announced that they’ve developed a first of its kind material that generates electricity from nothing other than, wait for it… snow. Based upon the principles...
Perfect fit one size fits all clothing is here, thanks to robots and smart materials
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Inventory is one of retailers biggest cash sinks, but now a new technology combo means retailers can buy one size from the manufacturer and custom fit it to every body shape in house. You’re shopping for a sweater, and you spot one you love,...
Codex of the Future 2020 to 2070
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The emergence of hundreds of powerful exponential technologies is accelerating the rate of global cultural, industrial, and societal change, this first of a kind Codex is your guide to understanding, simplifying, and navigating it all. eXplore the Codex THIS CODEX is your front...
This is the first ever photo of a black hole
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Up until now it’s been thought it’d be impossible to take a photo of a black hole, but where there’s a will there’s a way. Recently scientists managed to find a way to read information from the very heart of a black hole, but...
Electrical brain stimulation rejuvenates memory by 50 years
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As we age our memory capacity degrades, but his latest breakthrough turns the clock back over 50 years. Over the past couple of years I’ve been closely watching the field of Neuro-Training – an emerging technique that helps people with brain training, memory retention,...
Amazing ray tracing mod pack makes Minecraft look stunning
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As AI tools become better it’s getting easier for us to turn even the simplest graphical designs into stunning hi def visions. If you were to make a list of all the graphically intense, amazing looking games in the world, Minecraft wouldn’t be on...
