World first as scientists create nanobot swarms capable of performing surgeries in humans
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF By future standards today’s most advanced surgical techniques will look neanderthal, nanobots and nanomachines that can perform in vivo surgery are the future. A ground breaking new method of controlling nanobots that “emulates natural swarm behaviour” has been unveiled by scientists in Hong Kong...
World first as scientists use tractor beams to make objects dance
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Increasingly the things we think of as science fact are becoming reality, but tractor beams also have more practical applications, such as transforming healthcare and manufacturing. In addition to creating tractor beams like the ones straight out of Star Trek researchers have also been making more...
RNA breakthrough makes it possible to cure Cystic Fibrosis with an inhaler
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF A revolutionary new way to deliver mRNA into the body in aerosol form makes genetically editing faulty genes easier than ever before. Recent there have been some almost miraculous medical breakthroughs, from treating patients with inherited genetic diseases with in vivo gene therapy treatments...
Dutch man, 69, applies to legally change his age to 49 years old
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As anti-aging technologies arrive one day the elderly may well have the bodies and minds much younger than their years, and that will cause a societal dilemma. There’s a lot more than you might realise going on in the world of ageing, or more...
Revolutionary brain prosthetic that boosts human memory by 35 percent unveiled
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF They say to live a full life you should experience everything life has to offer, but if you suffer from dementia remembering it all is near impossible, until now. Just months after two different teams of researchers figured out hot to edit and delete...
Scientists 3D print Lithium Ion batteries for the first time
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Being able to 3D print batteries means we can create batteries in all shapes and sizes which will be useful for all our new gadgets. Recently I’ve been reporting on a variety of new battery developments, from polymer batteries that can charge your electric...
New “revolutionary” Google AI training method trains AI’s at the edge and protects user privacy
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF One of the biggest problems with training AI’s is the shortage of data, and the issue of privacy, Federated AI Learning overcomes this problem by training AI’s on the devices and smartphones at the network’s edge. When big tech firms use Artificial Intelligence (AI)...
Inside Google’s plan to make sure AI is safe
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As AI becomes more deeply embedded into our every day lives it is imperative that there are safeguards in place to make sure it’s safe. Making sure Artificial Intelligence (AI) does what we want and behaves in predictable ways will be crucial as the...
World’s first full body 3D scanner produces amazing live images of the human body
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Medical scanners haven’t advanced much in decades, this new scanner is faster, higher resolution and produces insights into the human body not possible using today’s technology. Recently I talked about a new innovation that lets doctors create movies of the behaviour of cells in...
Birth of genetically engineered twins resistant to HIV causes global outrage
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Imagine growing old and never experiencing what it’s like to be ill because you were genetically engineered in the womb to be resistant to all known pathogens and viruses, technology is starting to make that a reality. A little while ago I wrote about...
Scientists jumped out of a plane to create a new wonder material
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Everything is made from some form of material, whether it be organic or inorganic, which means the right breakthroughs can change industries forever. Most people don’t care about materials – even self-healing materials, or state of the art programmable materials, or materials that will...
World first as scientists re-grow a frogs amputated leg using a “silk bioreactor”
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Some of us are unfortunate enough to loose a limb, or multiple limbs, and one day this technology, and technologies like it, could help us regrow them. Like something, out of a science fiction movie or everyone’s favourite “Merc with a mouth”, Deadpool, researchers...
Breakthrough healthcare test screens for all known diseases at once
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Up until know hospitals have had to run multiple tests to identify multiple pathogens, which takes time and can cost lives, now they just need one. Imagine being able to use one test to screen for every type of known and unknown human disease...
Meet the robot surgeon that’s going to be taking aim at your organs
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Surgery is getting the robotic treatment, and it could mean better working conditions for doctors, and better outcomes for patients. When Luke Hares met with gynecological surgeon Mark Slack four years ago to talk him through his idea of Versius, the first UK built surgical...
A new blood test can tell what time it is in your body
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Certain drugs have to be delivered at certain times, and as we start to use nanomachines to release drugs telling the time in someone’s body becomes vitally important. Recently I wrote about new simple blood tests that can detect cancer and chronic pain, and now...
New Mantis Shrimp inspired camera will make self-driving cars safer
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Over the past few years people have been killed when their semi-autonomous cars got confused and blinded by the Sun so scientists have turned to biology to solve the problem. A little while ago a man driving a Tesla on autopilot was killed when...
Synthetic biology just got its own special programming language
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Being able to create and control discrete chemical and biological processes and reactions is extremely difficult, this new language aims to simplify it, alot. Synthetic biology is an exciting new field of research that applies engineering principles to biology, and so far it’s being used...
Drexel’s new spray on antennas can connect everything to the internet
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Tomorrow’s world will be increasingly connected, and connecting old legacy devices and things has been difficult, but it’s about to get much easier. Engineers are good at making minuscule antennas. Nowadays, we can cram antennas into our smartphones or smartwatches without much trouble. But...
Smart drug use hits all time high as people try to boost mental performance
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF There is an increasing amount of interest in creating drugs that improve cognition and intelligence, and their use is on the rise. The use of drugs by people hoping to boost mental performance is rising worldwide, finds the largest ever study of the trend....
Three people played Tetris telepathically together in world first
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As we unlock more secrets of the human brain we are slowly but surely getting better at communicating with each other telepathically. Telepathic communication is nothing new but it’s still in its early years as a technology. The first major telepathic breakthrough came in 2012...
