Jeff bezos announces target to build the world’s first Moon base in 2023
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF At some point in the future humanity will become an interplanetary species, and several billionaires want it to be sooner rather than later. Blue Origin, the space company run by Jeff Bezos, who wants to one day use the service to deliver goods to...
Biodegradable plastics made from “Tree glue” could hit the shelves in five years
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Today plastics are the scourge of the environment so now companies around the world are racing to create environmentally friendly alternatives, and plastics made from true glue could be near the top of the list. Plastic’s fall from grace in the past couple of...
MIT researchers have taught their AI to see through solid walls
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF There are times when seeing through walls is useful, for example in hostage negotiations, search and rescue, and to see when mum and dad are about to bust in on your gameplay. Recently we’ve seen camera developments from both China and MIT that help...
Jeff Bezos wants to colonise the Moon and move heavy industry off Earth
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF There are an increasing number of billionaires who believe heavy industry should be moved off of Earth and onto the Moon, and Bezos might be one to help make it a reality. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is convinced that one day “we are going...
Baidu starts mass production of it’s fully autonomous bus
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The faster autonomous vehicles hit the roads the faster the transportation industry’s going to flip, and it’s clear that there are companies that want it to happen sooner rather than later. Chinese tech and internet giant Baidu has begun volume production of China’s first...
Canada and UK partner to develop the West’s first Quantum Radar system
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Any technology like Quantum Radar that renders all traditional stealth obsolete is a game changer. Hot on the heels of China’s announcement last year that they’d managed to create the world’s first working Quantum Radar, a technology that would render military stealth technologies nothing...
Uber reveals six of its favourite flying taxi Skyport concepts
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As more companies become interested, and invest, in flying taxi’s, companies like Airbus and Uber are keen to be at the forefront of the revolution. Stout cylindrical towers that cars can fly inside and stacked landing pods are among the proposals that architects and...
Scientists put a worms mind into a Lego robot to control it, and it worked
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The convergence of biological intelligence with robotics will be an area of increasing interest in the future. It’s not something you do every day, put a worms brain into a Lego robot… but then again you’re probably not a scientist. This is the promise...
US military starts trialling robotic surgeons in the battlefield
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Being able to monitor the health of soliders in battle will help keep them at peak efficiency, and military robot surgeons will help save lives on the battlefield. Keeping soldiers healthy has always been a struggle but there may soon be a high tech solution after US...
Microsoft created elusive particles to build the world’s most accurate quantum computer
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The most powerful quantum computers in the future will be the ones not necessarily with the most Qubits, but be the ones that are the most accurate, and that’s what Microsoft is focusing on. At Microsoft’s Dutch research facility at the Delft University of Technology,...
Soul Machines reveal the secrets behind BabyX, their life like artificial baby
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Over time we will all be interacting more and more with AI, as a result companies are trying to “humanise” it. BabyX, the virtual, artificially intelligent creation of Mark Sagar and his company, Soul Machines, who also bought us Ava, a life-like digital avatar that’s...
Roborace’s fully autonomous race car prepares to pound the track at FoS
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF In the future our sports events could be dominated by robot and drone warriors battling it out for supremacy, and at some point this could present companies with a new market opportunity. Later this week, the world’s first autonomous race car company Roborace will make history...
Plexus VR gloves give users fine grained control of their VR environments
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The best technology is invisible and frictionless to use, and virtual reality still has a way to go before the experience is simple and seamless, but these gloves could help bring more users into the sector. Bringing a user’s hands into a Virtual Reality...
Nike’s new 3D printed kicks get set to revolutionise retail
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Retail will soon be going through another disruption, one where personalised products are made on demand in the back of stores, and the sportswear industry are leading the charge. We’re facing a retail revolution, another one, and this time it’s not e-commerce, one where...
Stopping the DIY bio-terrorists, US military embraces AI and Ginkgo Bioworks
WHY THIS MATTERS As the cost of powerful DIY gene editing kits continue to fall bioterrorism is going to be on the rise, so we need a way to defend against it. Recently I gave a talk on the “Future of Cybersecurity” in the Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) sector...
Scientists have turned human cells into complex living computers
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Being able to turn human cells into powerful, living computing systems will revolutionise computing, energy, and healthcare, along with a myriad of other industries. Today’s computer hardware is about to get softer, a lot softer, after a research team in the US announced they’ve...
China unveils their revolutionary ZKZM-500 laser assault rifle
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As lasers become more efficient, and as the battery packs needed to power them become more dense and powerful, we’ll continue to see the miniaturisation and deployment of increasingly powerful laser weaponry. Artificially intelligent “fire and forget” cruise missiles, quantum internet and quantum radar,...
2018 Directory of Corporate R&D and Innovation Labs
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The world is changing faster than many organisations anticipated and the pace of technological change is now many CEO’s primary concern, the result of which is that innovation labs are now a business necessity, not a luxury. The global pace of disruption and transformation...
Futurist Keynote, Warrington: The Future of Industrial Controls Nuclear Security, Cyber Senate
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Industrial Control Systems (ICS) that enable the safe and efficient operation of our CNI assets are becoming increasingly smart and connected, making them more vulnerable to attack, and new technologies bring new challenges. Firstly, thanks to James for inviting me to be the keynote...
Revolutionary injectable brain implant restores mobility in paralysed patients
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF People with paralysis or nervous disorders could soon be regaining their movement thanks to a revolutionary new form of wireless brain machine interface. Imagine if a tiny matchstick sized brain implant could circumvent damaged spinal cords and help paralysed people, and anyone for that...
