MIT’s CRISPR gene editing alternative inserts new DNA without cutting
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Using the CRISPR gene editing tool to cut and edit DNA sequences can create unintended side effects, and CAST eliminates the cutting process. Interested in the future and want to experience even more?! eXplore More. The CRISPR gene editing system is such a powerful and revolutionary...
Google secretly spent $10million on a 4 year Cold Fusion experiment
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Cold Fusion is thought to be impossible, but if it isn’t it would change the world, so Google went to try and discover it. Interested in the future and want to experience even more?! eXplore More. The journal Nature last week revealed the results of a 4-year, $10...
MIT’s crazy laser can beam adverts directly into your ears
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF We now have the technology to beam sound directly into people’s ears, and future admen can’t wait to get hold of the tech. Interested in the future and want to experience even more?! eXplore More. In the future, if we futurists are to believed, which...
Disney’s latest VR jacket lets gamers “feel the force”
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Virtual reality is good, but it’s not great yet – this tech lets gamers both experience and feel the game. Interested in the future and want to experience even more?! eXplore More. Virtual Reality (VR) worlds look great, but, unless you have something like touch...
BIG unveil Oceanix their floating city concept backed by the UN
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As the Earth’s population grows, and as climate change threatens to displace hundreds of millions of people the UN are now seriously considering building floating cities. Interested in the future and want to experience even more?! eXplore More. In the future it’s not just NASA...
New self-healing material rebuilds itself using carbon from the air
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF In the future it will be taken for granted that materials can self-heal, and they’ll be able to do it in a multitude of ways. Interested in the future and want to experience even more?! eXplore More. In a world first researchers at MIT in...
Baxter the robot fixes its mistakes by reading your mind
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Dealing with today’s technology can be cumbersome, which is why researchers think things would be better if it could simply read your mind. Interested in the future and want to experience even more?! eXplore More. Baxter is but a child, a robot child with...
Blockchain startups are trying to break big tech’s hold on AI
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Companies with better brand recognition, and deeper pockets, are cornering the market for AI talent, but now companies want break that hold, and they have a way to do it. Despite how easy the combination is to mock, the idea of applying the Blockchain...
Perfect fit one size fits all clothing is here, thanks to robots and smart materials
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Inventory is one of retailers biggest cash sinks, but now a new technology combo means retailers can buy one size from the manufacturer and custom fit it to every body shape in house. You’re shopping for a sweater, and you spot one you love,...
MIT researchers have turned WiFi signals into electricity
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Wireless charging is becoming more popular, which is why we’re seeing breakthrough after breakthrough in the space, and new innovations. Noone likes having to shove a battery into things or plug everything they own into an electrical plug socket, whether it’s your phone, your...
NASA’s revolutionary metamaterial “morphing” wing mimics birds wings
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Aircraft wings are subject to different conditions during flight, but until now rigid wings weren’t optimal for any of them. A team of researchers led by NASA and MIT in the US have come up with a radical new aeroplane wing design that is...
Experts believe Chinese scientist who Gene-Hacked twins “likely boosted their brainpower”
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Genetic enhancement has a variety of unknown impacts on human biology and cognition, and we are no where near to understanding them. When now infamous Chinese scientists He Jiankui edited the genes of human twin babies last year, he was reportedly trying to make them immune...
MIT’s new neural network can explain its decisions
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As AI gets more deeply embedded into the world’s digital fabric, in everything from self-driving cars to high frequency stock trading, it’s crucial we know how it makes its decisions. A child is presented with a picture of various shapes and is asked to...
MIT discover a way to mass produce cell sized robots
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Small robots have their benefits too, in everything from the oil and gas industries to healthcare, now we can manufacture them en masse. Recently I’ve written about not just tiny robots, but microscopic ones – tiny molecule sized robots that are being used to...
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...
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...
MIT trained an AI to spot fake and biased news stories
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Being able to detect and weed out fake news is quickly rising up the political agenda, and companies are in an arms race to try to find solutions fast. Any fact-checker who works in the media has a straightforward but challenging job – make...
A powerful battery breakthrough from MIT could usher in electric planes
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The airline industry is one of the world’s heaviest polluters and it’s getting worse as air travel increases, electric aircraft will reverse that trend. Over the past year or so I’ve been discussing the eventual emergence of fully electric aircraft and sky taxis, such...
The web is broken so it’s founder is re-inventing it
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The internet was supposed to empower people, but so far most of that power is being concentrated in big centralised platform companies instead. The founder of the World Wide Web thinks it’s broken and has a plan to fix it. Tim Berners-Lee, the British...
Doctors will soon be able to track your health through walls using your wifi
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Imagine being able to have your health and emotions monitored wirelessly wherever you were, whether it’s in your house or even out in the street, that’s the promise of this new technology. Imagine a box, yes, that’s it, similar to the wifi router you...
