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...
Artificial sperm breakthrough gives infertile men new hope
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Researchers give new hope to infertile men and raise ethical questions about how we define fatherhood in the future. No doubt there are some of you that are sniggering about the news that Chinese researchers have managed to grow artificial sperm – after all, imagine...
