Battery breakthrough lets robots store energy like humans do in fat reserves
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF We think of batteries as having a common fixed shape, but structural batteries can be any shape and they’re the future … Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, enjoy exclusive content, future proof yourself with XPotential University, connect, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. There have been thousands of...
Transparent solar panels smash records again to turn skyscrapers into power stations
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The Earth is bathed in energy, and reversing climate change relies on us being able to capture and use it sustainably. Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, enjoy exclusive content, future proof yourself with XPotential University, connect, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. Let’s face it, what are windows...
Common element combinations could replace rare Earth metals in electronics
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Rare Earth metals are expensive, rare, and increasingly being used as a political pawn, so what if we didn’t need them any longer? Interested in the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, connect, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. In the recent China-US trade war so called Rare Earth...
Mind control breakthrough gives patients fine grained control of prosthetic limbs
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The ability to use your mind to control prosthetic limbs is a game changer for millions of people around the world who’ve lost limbs. Interested in the Exponential Future? Connect, download a free E-Book, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. Over the past number of years there have...
Game changing “Unhackable” MORPHEUS computer chip re-configures itself every 50 milliseconds
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Being able to create an unhackable computer sounds like science fiction, but that doesn’t stop researchers from giving it a go. “Unhackable” is a strong word. And so far many of the technologies that people have described as being unhackable, even awesome science fiction...
The world’s smallest computer makes a grain of rice look massive
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As computing and AI processing gets moved to the edge of the network and into billions of IOT devices computers will have to get ever smaller. Researchers at the University of Michigan have created the world’s smallest computer, again, after their previous micro-computers, called...
This new metamaterial could turn your car into its own airbag
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Being able to create materials that can transition between hard and soft states could open the door to a whole host of new applications. I think you’ll agree with me that rubber and steel are at different ends of the spectrum when it comes...
New omniphobic material reduces maritime fuel consumption by upto 80 percent
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Today’s ships use huge amounts of energy and fuel to move through the water because of the amount of drag on their hulls, this new coating could reduce fuel use by between 40 and 80 percent. Shipping is one of the most polluting industries...
Suspicious nuclear power plants can now be monitored remotely using WATCHMAN
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Up until now it’s only been possible to assess the status of a sovereign states nuclear power program by physically inspecting the site, which is sometimes difficult, but now it can be done remotely from thousands of miles away. A consortium led by UK...
DARPA drops $4m to build the world’s first unhackable ‘self-reconfiguring’ computer system
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Cyber attacks are becoming the pandemic of the 21st Century, and as the number of AI fuelled cyber attacks increase matters will only get worse, but now DARPA hopes a new reconfiguring “Rubik’s Cube” computing system will stop hackers in their tracks. This week...
3D printing breakthrough lets hospitals and doctors print drugs on demand
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Medical supply chains are incredibly complex and highly regulated but now we’re on the cusp of 3D printing human organs and prosthetics on demand, and medicines are following suit. Medicine gets a lot of attention, but normally it’s to do with drug development rather...
NASA’s new ion thruster smashes all the records
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Chemical rockets are big, bulky and expensive, and once they run out of fuel they’re useless, Ion thrusters operate without fuel and could help propel humanity beyond our solar system. A thruster that’s being developed for a future NASA mission to Mars broke several records during...
An AI hedge fund designed a cryptocurrency to open source Wall Street
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The finance marketplace is unique in that, unlike the technology sector, it has little to no “network effect” but one entrepreneur is trying to change that. Wall Street is a competition, a Darwinian battle for the almighty dollar. Gordon Gekko said that greed is...
The size of a grain of rice, researchers unveil the world’s smallest computers
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Micromotes will stop the sensors at the edge of the world’s networks from flooding datacenters with exabytes of worthless information, and open the door to new computing applications. At just one cubic millimetre in size Micromotes, which are so small that they can almost be...
World’s top AI experts met to discuss Doomsday scenarios, and solutions
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Showcasing how AI will destroy the world is easy but finding a solution isn’t. Today’s press is full of column inches on the future impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on society. On one side of the fence AI optimists predict a brave new world...
Michigan greens lights the use of autonomous vehicles on all its roads
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF While many people question if autonomous vehicles are ready for the prime time without the right regulatory and legal frameworks in place to support them they will never make it out of the showrooms The Governor of Michigan has signed into law a series of bills...
Scientists discover a way to 3D print bone on the fly
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Doctors will be able to treat people with broken, or missing bones faster than ever before. If you shatter a bone in the future, a 3D printer and some special ink could be your best medicine. Researchers have created what they call “hyperelastic bone”...
