Drone ray gun gets FAA approval to take out drones at airports
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Drones are increasingly being used by criminals and terrorists to disrupt and destroy high value targets so security services around the world are now in an arms race to make sure they stay one step ahead of the threat. A UK created “ray gun”...
New Deloitte study says 861,000 UK public sector jobs can be automated
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Technologies including AI, bots, drones and robots will lead to the automation of large parts of the global workforce More than 861,000 public sector jobs could be lost by 2030 through automation, according to a study that comes as a further blow after hundreds...
Scientists discover a way to delete fears from the brain
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Researchers are slowly unravelling the mysteries of the brain and how memories are formed, as we edge nearer to being able to delete memories from peoples minds we also get closer to knowing how to implant artificial memories too. All of us have fears....
Super molecules help researchers create stable Qubits for Quantum computers
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Stable Qubits will help people store and manipulate information that can then be processed millions of times faster by Quantum Computers. Researchers from the University of Manchester have taken a significant step closer to demonstrate that it is possible to create miniscule – but...
Researchers used Jennifer Aniston to discover how we form long term memories
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Understanding how our brain creates memories paves the way for new treatments for neurodegenerative disorders and one day could help us discover new ways to improve memory retention and learning. Brain researchers in the UK and US have collaborated to make “a spectacular discovery”...
Photosynthesis breakthrough crams millions of years of plant evolution into months
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Scientists have used gene editing to turn off specific plant genes to boost plant growth by 15%, if transplanted into rice, maize and wheat this could help reduce famine and hunger in the world without the need to use extra fertilisers or chemicals. Scientists...
British girl who died of cancer wins right to be cryogenically frozen
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF In an age where we are making so many advances in healthcare it is increasingly conceivable that we may be able to bring people back from the dead which opens up a myriad of moral, ethical and religious questions about life and death. A...
Jurors will soon be able to walk through crime scenes in virtual reality
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Jurors often have to rely on reconstructed scenes to help them visualise how a crime unfurled, now, using virtual reality they can see and move around the actual scene days, months or even years after the crime(s) took place A physical crime scene may...
Report finds that global internet freedom declines for sixth straight year in a row
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Internet freedom is on the decline with over two thirds of the worlds population now subject to government and institutional censorship. Independent watchdog Freedom House has issued its 2016 report along with a chilling warning that internet privacy is becoming something of an oxymoron. Freedom...
Scientists lay out plans to build an artificial human genome by 2036
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF When scientists can create artificial genomes they will be able to create new designer organisms, and humans, with entirely new, engineered properties and abilities. Scientists have put forward plans for a follow up to the Human Genome Project (HGP) with a proposal to create...
Encryption’s arch nemesis is a ticking quantum time bomb
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Encryption is the primary tool that organisations and governments use to keep data safe and secure, when Quantum computers become more wide spread criminals, hackers and state sponsored actors will be able to use them to decrypt data and render most encryption algorithms obsolete. ...
Britain’s Royal Mint unveils the most secure coin in the world
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The Royal Mint calls its new £1 coin a “pioneering” design and says that it will be much harder to counterfeit. Having a currency that is hard to counterfeit is not only a matter of national security but it also helps to build confidence...
Brazil releases billions of genetically modified Mosquitos to combat Zika
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF There will always be questions about the viability and impact of releasing genetically modified organisms into our environment but with billions of mosquitos being released it might already be a moot point Every Saturday morning, Maria do Carmo Tunussi goes door to door asking...
Thomas Cook lets you experience your holiday in virtual reality before you buy
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Virtual reality holidays come to the high street. Virtual reality content is being trialled for the first time by Thomas Cook at a new concept store at the Bluewater shopping centre in Kent. Customers will be able to ‘enter’ a virtual world where they...
Stephen Hawking says creating AI is the biggest event of our civilisation
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Artificial intelligence can do great good, or great evil. Speaking at the launch of the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence (CFI), a new artificial intelligence (AI) think tank based in Cambridge, that aims to help shape how AI is developed, used and...
Scientists are creating a detailed map of all 35 trillion cells in the human body
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The Human Cell Atlas will exponentially accelerate our understanding of disease and “the Human Condition.” Last week in at a meeting in London, convened by the Broad Institute of MIT, Harvard University, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and the Wellcome Trust, a group of international scientists...
US Government unveils CAUSE, a program to predict cyber attacks before they happen
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The security industry faces a paradigm shift as the US Government moves to predict cyber attacks before they happen. The Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA), the sister organisation to DARPA, the Pentagons bleeding edge military research and development organisation, which invests in high-risk, high-payoff...
Google’s DeepMind team have created a human like memory for their AI
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Memory fills the gaps in information that even todays best AI algorithms can’t. Google’s DeepMind artificial intelligence lab does more than just develop computer programs capable of beating the world’s best human players in the ancient game of Go. The DeepMind unit has also been working...
Scientists may have identified the genes responsible for ageing
Researchers have discovered a link between a protein and aging A protein found within the powerhouse of a cell could be the key to holding back the march of time, research by scientists at The University of Nottingham has shown and the discovery could offer a new target for drugs that...
Futurist keynote, London: The Future of Blockchain, Marketforce Blockchain Summit
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Blockchain is turning into a force of nature that’s changing the world and as the hype around the technology reaches fever pitch everyone wants in. It’s always a great privilege to be invited to take part in Marketforce’s wonderful events and the Blockchain Summit...
