An AI just discovered three new anti-ageing senolytic compounds
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF AI is very good at trawling through data and modelling scenarios at speed, and that’s going to accelerate everything from drug discovery and beyond. Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, read about exponential tech and...
Researchers new high energy density grid scale storage flow battery lasts 30 years
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Flow batteries have significant advantages over their traditional LIoN battery cousins, and they’re getting better. Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, read about exponential tech and trends, connect, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. Edinburgh-based energy storage solutions...
Old oil wells are finding new life as Hydrogen fuel sources thanks to these bacteria
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Once oil wells are tapped out they’re capped, but now they’re getting a new lease of life after bacteria injected into them turn them into green hydrogen fuel sources. Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University,...
Scotlands first underwater substation makes waves in the energy sector
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Offshore wind is becoming increasingly important and now a radical new substation design is giving it a big boost. Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, read about exponential tech and trends, connect, watch a keynote, or browse my blog....
Gravity energy storage finds a new way to solve renewable energy’s achilles heel
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Today solar panels only generate electricity when there’s sunlight, wind farms when there’s wind, so energy needs to be stored so it can be released later. Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, connect, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. Renewable...
Bacteria manage to recycle plastic into vanilla flavouring in weird world first
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF If you think plastics can only be recycled to make new plastics you’d be wrong. Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, connect, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. I see many weird things – such as molecular assemblers and...
This new chemical programming language could revolutionise digital chemistry
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF By converting chemistry into a chemical programming language it opens up a huge range of new possibilities. Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, connect, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. In June, the US government purchased the vast majority of world’s...
Researchers unveil an unhackable chip that even quantum computers can’t crack
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Quantum computers will be able to crack most encryption systems on the planet, but this new security system is apparently uncrackable. Interested in the Exponential Future? Connect, download a free E-Book, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. The word unhackable is a strong one and recently there have...
Shooting laser beams from your eyes a reality after scientific breakthrough
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Ocular lasers have many applications, but frankly I’m not sure what most of those could be (yet). Death rays anyone? Interested in the future and want to experience even more?! eXplore More. Recently I talked about a new set of Mission Impossible style smart contact...
New autophage rocket devours itself for fuel
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF A rocket that consumes itself for fuel could dramatically reduce the cost of future satellite launches. A team of engineers from Scotland and Ukraine have developed what they call an “Autophage” rocket that would consume its own structure as it hurtles into space, and...
Scottish council to vote on implementing a Universal Basic Income scheme
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As the threat to jobs from AI, automation, drones and robotics increase governments are experimenting with new welfare schemes aimed at helping stave off future hardship, poverty and social unrest Scotland could become one of the first places in the world to try a...
Renewable energy sources power up Scotland and Costa Rica
Countries are increasingly managing to meet all of their energy requirements using renewable energy Hot on the heels of Costa Rica announcing that their state run energy company had managed to provide 100% of the territory’s energy requirements for 113 consecutive days using renewable energy sources last weekend Scotland announced...