Google’s new AI learns nearly as fast as humans
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Artificial intelligence can only progress as fast as it can learn, and now that it can learn at almost human speed it’s going to be progressing much, much faster. Make no mistake, artificial intelligence (AI) has humans in its perfect, heightened, machine vision sights. Deep...
Stem cell breakthrough paves the way for mass produced artificial blood
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Hundreds of millions of people each year need some form of blood transfusion and supplies are always stressed, this latest breakthrough could let doctors produce any type of blood on demand and save countless lives. Researchers at the University of Bristol (UB) have made a...
Rolls Royce CEO sticks it to fossil fuels, announces the future of flight is electric
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The airline industry has been grappling with the dual challenge of rising fuel costs and increasing pollution levels for decades, but now executives agree the future is electric. Twenty years ago if you’d said that the future of cars was electric people would have...
Solar powered artificial skin gives prosthetics a sense of touch
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Many amputees complain of “Phantom limb” syndrome but now a new breakthrough could help them finally feel again, for real. UK researchers have developed a synthetic skin for prosthetic limbs that can generate power and return the sense of touch to amputees. Researchers from...
ARM unveils DynamicIQ, its chip to conquer artificial intelligence
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Artificial intelligence workloads and learning need huge amounts of computing power, and chip manufacturers are waring to lead the new revolution There’s an artificial intelligence (AI) arms race going on. But I’m not talking about a software arms race – although that’s in full...
Gene therapy successfully cures two babies of cancer
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF New gene therapy treatments could spell the end of painful and exhausting chemotherapy treatments, and give patients new hope, but there’s a long road ahead still. Just think of living in a world where people don’t have to go in for chemotherapy treatment any...
Google DeepMind publishes breakthrough Artificial General Intelligence architecture
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF DeepMind is trying to create a new Artificial General Intelligence architecture by creating an adaptable, massive neural network that draws on thousands of other “sub” neural networks. On January 20th Google’s DeepMind division, the division behind a myriad of artificial intelligence (AI) firsts, quietly...
Airbus unveils PopUp, the sky taxi of the future
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The future of mobility is still going to be multi-modal but nothing says we have to stay on the ground. None of us like sitting in a traffic jam and watching the taxi meter rise, or the world pass us by, but now an...
Google DeepMind uses bitcoin like tech to track NHS patient data
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Plagued by critics who accuse Google DeepMind of getting too much “free” access to NHS patient data, DeepMind’s new “bitcoin like” audit platform will let people know exactly how data is being accessed and used Google’s AI powered health tech subsidiary, DeepMind Health, is planning to...
Researchers design a DNA computer that outperforms future Quantum computers
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF DNA computers, up until now, have been theoretical but now they’re feasible, and that’s a huge step towards the next step – building one. A team of researchers from the University of Manchester, the same university that’s recently been making breakthroughs in quantum computing, led by...
The Terminator bought to life, researchers want to put artificial human skin onto robots
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Robots with human skin are nothing new, at least in sci-fi terms, but we now have the technology and a reason to make it happen… This week researchers Pierre-Alexis Mouthuy and Andrew Carr from the University of Oxford announced that they believe robots dressed...
New stem cell therapy freezes Multiple Sclerosis in its tracks
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Multiple Sclerosis is a debilitating disease that affects hundreds of thousands of people worldwide, but new therapies and treatments are bringing new hope to the people affected by it. A new multiple sclerosis treatment that “resets” the human immune system has been found to “freeze”...
Microsoft’s AI has learnt how to write it’s own code and create its own programs
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF An AI that can code and build new computer programs from scratch could change the world, give rise to a whole new generation of entrepreneurs. And put a lot of people out of jobs… For many of us the digital world’s an alien place....
Scientists get ready to take the world’s first photo of a Black Hole
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Taking a photo of a Black Hole was always thought to be impossible, until now and it’s going to be awesome. Scientists believe they are on the verge of obtaining the first ever picture of a black hole, and in order to accomplish the...
Scientists have a plan to re-freeze the Arctic
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The Arctic is melting at its fastest rate ever, and with temperatures 20C above normal scientists want us to take drastic action. Physicist Steven Desch has come up with a novel solution to the problems that now beset the Arctic. He and a team...
New virtual reality project lets doctors fly through cancers to save lives
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The ability to visualise and fly through cancers will help researchers create better treatments and better outcomes for cancer patients. 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 May this year, in a...
New micro-rocket will one day travel round your body fighting disease
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Miniaturised rockets that can travel around your body at will, tracking and tackling disease, repairing tissue and looking for the early signs of cancer would usher in a healthcare revolution. In the 1980’s one of the decade’s most popular films was one called “Innerspace” where...
Scientists have developed the world’s first working artificial womb
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF In an age when we can create motherless and fatherless embryos, and where artificial humans are on the horizon, one day artificial wombs could be commonplace. In what’s considered a landmark experiment, researchers in the US and the UK have managed grow human embryos to 14...
Scientists publish a breakthrough architecture for the world’s first Quantum Computer
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Building the world’s first commercial quantum computer will require international collaboration, and a plan, and it looks like we now have that plan. An international team, led by a scientist from the University of Sussex, and made up of scientists from Google, Aarhus University...
Scientists propose using sound to stop killer tsunamis at sea
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Over the years tsunami’s have killed hundreds of thousands of people, now scientists think they have a way to stop them in their tracks before they reach shore. Most people know that if you want to cancel a wave out – whether it’s a...
