New Chinese camera can see round corners
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Being able to photograph and “see” objects that are out of sight have both military and civilian applications. In an age dominated by megapixel counts, a research group from Xi’an Jiaotong University in China led by Bin Bai have designed a one megapixel camera...
New H2 smartphone puts a lab grade molecular sensor in your hands
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Being able to analyse the chemical composition of products, particularly counterfeit ones, has long been something you could only do in a lab, now the lab’s in the palm of your hand. Smartphones already do a lot of things, in fact, it’s likely that...
China’s Ehang gets serious about autonomous sky taxis, begins tests
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Flying cars and flying taxis’s have been tried before, they’ve been scoffed at, but the investment, regulatory and technology environment is now coming together in their favour, one day you’ll be able to take a ride in one. At Las Vegas’ glitzy Consumer Electronics...
China to build artificially intelligent, fire and forget, cruise missiles
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The increasing use of intelligent, autonomous systems is getting people spooked, so much so that the UN are getting involved It’s the start of 2017 and I knew there was a void – something I couldn’t quite put my finger on, but something I...
China to spend $500 Billion by 2020 to build new high speed rail links
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Many countries believe that having strong infrastructure helps their economies grow and thrive, and China is out investing everyone. The Chinese government plans to expand the country’s high-speed rail network to 18,600 miles by 2020, part of public infrastructure spending aimed at shoring up...
Walmart improves public safety by putting pork on the blockchain
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Global supply chains are complex and can be easy for criminals to exploit by putting pork onto the blockchain Walmart are able to ensure and query the integrity of their supply chains, identify problems and pull tainted batches off of the shelves faster. Walmart...
China rolls out its Social Credit Score complete with Orwellian overtones
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The technologies to create an Orwellian state surveillance and ratings system already exists, but without the will and resources to pull one together they remained relegated to the pages of fiction, until now. Swiping her son’s half fare student card through the turnstile one...
The era of pre-crime? Chinese AI can tell you’re a criminal by looking at your photo
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The greatest danger we face is underestimating the power of todays, let alone tomorrows, technology. As we enter an era of persistent online and offline surveillance it is becoming easier to see how one day police forces around the world could create a Minority Report...
Chinese researchers trial the worlds first cancer vaccine on humans
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The CRISPR gene editing technique is being used to create everything from new forms of life that are resistant to every known virus on Earth to vaccines for cancer, it will, and is already, revolutionising life and wellbeing In July this year a team...
China claims new anti-stealth radar systems neutralise stealth
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Chinas relentless drive to develop new radar detection systems could, if true, render stealth technologies obsolete This week at the Zhuhai Air Show China showed off what it claims is an anti-stealth radar system that could threaten to undo hundreds of billions in US spending...
Report finds that global internet freedom declines for sixth straight year in a row
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Internet freedom is on the decline with over two thirds of the worlds population now subject to government and institutional censorship. Independent watchdog Freedom House has issued its 2016 report along with a chilling warning that internet privacy is becoming something of an oxymoron. Freedom...
China’s puts final touches to its 2,000km long unhackable quantum network
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Quantum networks are unhackable, keeping data secure and making interception and eavesdropping impossible, now they can cover greater distances which will help increase their adoption and use By the end of this year, a team led by researchers from the University of Science and...
Baidu launches a medical chatbot to help Chinese doctors diagnose patients
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Melody could one day replace your GP – once it’s matured. The doctor will see you now. Chinese search engine company Baidu has announced the release of Melody – a chatbot powered by increasingly powerful artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities that lives inside the existing Baidu Doctor app...
Get a drones-eye view with this new headset
Birds eye view takes on a new meaning Last week DJI announced an all too cool new product for their Mavic Pro line of drones and while the new product looks like a virtual reality headset it’s actually not, although the similarities both in terms of look, and experience are...
Wanxiang announces plans to use Blockchain to underpin it’s $30 Billion Smarter Cities program
WHYTHIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Blockchains momentum keeps rolling on with another company announcing another major push. Another company jumped on the blockchain bandwagon in a big way, with Wanxiang’s $30 billion smart city project. The Chinese electric car maker announced the mega-project at last weeks Global Blockchain Summit. Wanxiang said...
Claimed Chinese Quantum Radar breakthrough would render US stealth obselete
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Chinas bold claim of creating the worlds first Quantum Radar system, if true, will render US, and all stealth systems, obsolete. This week Beijing’s state media arm, the Global Times, made the bold claim that a Chinese defense contractor successfully developed the world’s first...
China launches Tiangong-2 space lab into orbit
China continues its conquest of space by launching a rival to the International Space Station China has launched its second ever space lab, a key part of the nation’s plan to have a permanently staffed space station up and running by the early 2020s. The uncrewed Tiangong-2 spacecraft lifted off...
The US and China are developing supersonic submarines
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The world’s military powers are pushing the boundaries of speed – underwater. Water is a thousand times more dense than air and as any of you who swim will know this difference in density creates a huge amount of drag. But for submarines the problem is...
China launches worlds first unhackable Quantum communications satellite
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF China recently launched the world’s first quantum satellite, heralding in a new era of ultra-secure communications. “The satellite is designed to establish ultra-secure quantum communications by transmitting uncrackable keys from space to the ground,” Xinhua, China’s state news agency, wrote after the equipment was...
China trials a CRISPR vaccine for Cancer on humans
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Researchers around the world are racing to be first to create a viable cure for Cancer, now a team in China might beat the US to the punch. Medicine, and the way that we treat disease, is changing and nowhere is that more self...
