US Army explores the use of shape shifting robots for 2040
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Technology is transforming warfare, and the US military believes autonomous swarms of shape shifting robots could give them a significant advantage in battle. Interested in the Exponential Future? Connect, download a free E-Book, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. Recently I discussed how swarms of robots were able...
Baltimore becomes the first US city to be watched from the air 24/7
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As airborne platforms, from aircraft to drones, and as machine vision and optic technologies improve, our ability to monitor cities and people from the air in real time will improve dramatically. Interested in the Exponential Future? Connect, download a free E-Book, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. A...
A hydrogen powered drone just made an epic ocean crossing
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Despite advances drones today are still limited by their range, but new technologies like hydrogen fuel cells are helping overcome those limitations. Interested in the Exponential Future? Connect, download a free E-Book, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. Although multi-copter drones are now being used to transport everything...
The USAF deploys it’s first microwave drone killing weapon
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Drones have been around for decades, but new technologies have accelerated their development and adoption, and as they’re weaponsised we need new ways to take them down. Interested in the Exponential Future? Connect, download a free E-Book, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. Recently a black hat hacker...
Airbus and Audi join forces and unveil their flying taxi concept
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF It seems noone wants to be left out of the flying Robo-Taxi race, so now Audi are teaming up with Airbus to develop their own concept. Interested in the Exponential Future? Connect, download a free E-Book, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. Flying Robo-Taxis, which rather than the...
Volocopter completes its first flying taxi flight in Europe
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As multiple technologies develop and converge the future of transport is increasingly looking skywards. Interested in the Exponential Future? Connect, download a free E-Book, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. The team at Volocopter, who in 2017 flew their flying taxi around the skyscrapers of Dubai, has ticked...
Goodyear unveils it’s flying car tilt rotor tyre concept
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Flying taxis are arriving, albeit in drone form, but the dream of actual flying cars is far from dead. Interested in the future and want to experience even more?! eXplore More. If you watch any science fiction movie none of the flying vehicles or cars...
Hydrogen powered sky taxi boasts record breaking 400km range
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Traditional ground transportation has had its day, but it’s going take a long time before sky taxi’s are ready for mass transport duties. Interested in the future and want to experience even more?! eXplore More. Hydrogen is still lagging behind electric batteries as an energy...
Amazon trained their delivery bot Scout in the virtual world so it could handle the real one
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Training AI software and robots in the virtual world will dramatically accelerate disruption and the world’s rate of change. Interested in the future and want to experience even more?! eXplore More. Amazon, who are already on their way to becoming a fully autonomous retailer, recently...
New Lithium Metal batteries beat out LiOn to power drones for longer
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As investment flows into new battery tech Lithium Ion suddenly has a whole host of new competitors to contend with. Interested in the future and want to experience even more?! eXplore More. It’s easy to be jaded by new battery news, after all, there’s a...
New military virtual reality system lets operators control swarms of drones
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As drone swarms become more common we need new ways to control them. Interested in the future and want to experience even more?! eXplore More. Ever since drones became a thing the standard practice for piloting one has been one operator for each unmanned vehicle....
Future EV’s with 16,000km range and space elevators made possible with new Chinese Nano-Cable
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF There are multiple uses for incredibly strong cables and materials, from defence to space elevators, and even helping electric cars travel 16,000km on one charge. Recently I’ve discussed advances across a wide variety of materials, including the development of a wonder material that lasts...
Shooting lasers at drones helps DARPA keep them airborne forever
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As more companies field drones one of their biggest hurdles is keeping them airborne for long periods of time, DARPA’s latest program hopes to solve that. DARPA, the bleeding edge research arm of the US Military that’s bought and bringing you everything from conscious robots and autonomous...
The founder of China’s largest online retailer envisions a “100% robotic workforce”
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF There are particular industries and companies that lend themselves for full automation, and E-Commerce is just one of them. “I hope my company would be 100% automation someday … no human beings anymore, 100% operated by AI and robots.” That’s Richard Liu’s audacious goal,...
The world’s first silent, engineless aircraft takes flight at MIT
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF This new type of engine, an ion engine, could one day be a useful propulsion system for drones and small aircraft but a lot of work remains to be done. Since the first airplane took flight over 100 years ago, virtually every aircraft in...
This million core neuromorphic computer simulates a whole mouse brain
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Exponential computing platforms that have more processing power than mammalian brains are now a reality, simulating a whole human brain is next. Neuromorphic computers are self-learning computing systems capable of packing all the power of today’s top of the line supercomputers, like Summit, which...
Worldwide surveillance, Hawkeye satellites use radio to track illegal shipping
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Over $3Trillion worth of goods are transported illegally, and this new technology gives law enforcement a major new weapon in the race to find them. A little while ago I talked about a company called Planet, that can watch the world, and everything on...
Collapsing bee colonies prompt researchers to build robo bees
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF We rely on bees to pollinate nearly 75 percent of our crops, but as colonies continue to collapse researchers are looking for new alternatives to pollinate crops. Food security continues to come under the spotlight which is why we’ve recently seen research that uses...
DeepMind’s AI now has human like 3D vision
WHY THIS MATERS IN BRIEF As we come to rely on robots and automated systems more in our daily lives their ability to accurately perceive our world is crucial. If I showed you a single picture of a room it’s likely you’d be able to tell me about it...
Aston Martin unveils its first stunning flying car concept
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As the technology to build flying cars improves, and as companies start to look rolling out the first services, the competition is heating up. Lamborghini recently unveiled their first electric hyper car concept where the car is the battery, but now Aston Martin, the iconic...
