NASA starts assembling the spacecraft that will save Earth from an asteroid strike
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Somewhere out there there’s an asteroid withEarth’s name on it, and NASA’s new spacecraft will be the one to try to deflect it. Within near-Earth space there are a crazy 18,000 asteroids whose orbit occasionally brings them close to Earth. Over the course of millions of...
Ground transport at 760mph, HTT unveil their hyperloop passenger capsule
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Countries around the world reinventing mobility and transportation, and the Hyperloop is a crucial part of many countries future vision. Elon Musk’s dream of travelling by hyperloop, essentially a Mach 1 train in a vacuum tube, is getting closer to reality as the UAE...
The project to rid the world’s oceans of plastic has begun
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Plastic waste is a menace at sea and on land, but an ambitious project hopes to clean up 90% of the oceans plastic waste within a decade. Plastic waste has become a growing issue over the past decade or so which is why more...
Three people played Tetris telepathically together in world first
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As we unlock more secrets of the human brain we are slowly but surely getting better at communicating with each other telepathically. Telepathic communication is nothing new but it’s still in its early years as a technology. The first major telepathic breakthrough came in 2012...
Can your smartphone detect when you’re depressed? This startup thinks so
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Mental health issues are growing in number but in many cases they go left undiagnosed or treated, this breakthrough could help change that. Today we can use smartphones to detect cancer, dementia, eye diseases, heart disease, illness and even inherited genetic conditions, but could...
Breakthrough solar charged battery could revolutionise the solar industry
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Despite solar power’s increasing popularity until now customers it’s been difficult and expensive for customers to store the excess energy from their solar panels to use later, meaning they often still have to be attached to the energy grid. Recently we passed the 1...
Human mini brains grown in a lab integrated with live mice brains
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As our ability to re-code and “improve” on nature improves so too will our ability to produce new human organs in new ways. The future of personalized medicine will very likely involve human “spare parts,” whether they’re 3D printed on demand, grown on demand...
FDA approves first spray on skin treatment for burns
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Treating third degree burns today often involves skin grafts and more pain for the patient, spray on skin will put an end to that misery. Over the past couple of years we’ve gotten increasingly good at 3D printing human skin and making artificial skin...
Neural implants let military pilots control three jets at once with their minds
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The future of warfare is digital and telepathic, and both types of warfare are now starting to enter the mainstream. Asides from the fact we are increasingly entering the world where brains meets brawn, literally, and where, future cyber warriors will telepathically roam the...
Scientists get funding to grow neural networks in petri dishes
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The future of computing isn’t silicon or quantum, it’s biological. Will the computers of the future be built in factories as they are today, or will they be grown in labs like cell cultures? You might think that this is a daft question, and...
Scientists have created an ultrasound patch to monitor your vital health
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Having access to ultrasound is like having a window into your body, and now it’s on a patch. Earlier this year we heard how scientists from the University of California San Diego in the US had developed a flexible ultrasound patch that allows users to see...
The internet is splintering in two, one led by the US the other led by China
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As individual nation states look to assert their dominance on the global stage we are witnessing the early stages of a splintered internet with multiple standards. The internet is disappearing, being replaced instead by a fabric of connected devices, like wearables and sensor systems,...
Breakthrough increases solid state storage capacity by a thousand fold
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The world is storing more data than ever before and that’s a trend that will only increase, so we need revolutions in storage not evolutions. Recently we’ve seen breakthroughs in storage technology that allow us to pack more than 215 Petabytes of information into...
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...
Mine hunting bees tracked with Lidar help farmers boost crop yields
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Bees help pollinate nearly 75 percent of our crops, this new system can track their progress and predict deadly colony collapses before they happen. You might expect to hear an angry buzzing when honeybees have been disturbed. But some apiarists reckon they can also...
US Marines 3D printed new barracks using the world’s largest 3D printer
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The way we make buildings hasn’t changed much in thousands of years, so it’s time for a faster, cheaper alternative to take center stage. Recently a family in France were the first family to move into a 3D printed house, and the benefits of...
Windows are the perfect lens-less cameras for AI and VR headsets
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Researchers have re-thought cameras from the point of view of today’s AI’s, and what they’ve created is as innovative as it is revolutionary. Cameras used to be their own devices with lenses and film and trips to the drug store to get the pictures...
A robot taught itself how to identify and manipulate objects autonomously
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Robots that can autonomously identify and skill-fully manipulate objects without needing to be previously trained could revolutionise the robotics industry. Human dexterity is an impressive skill that requires both our body’s fine motor skills and highly efficient visual acuity, and despite recent advances from...
Telepathic warfare takes center stage as US military bets big on neuro tech
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Today’s brain machine interfaces are rudimentary or require invasive surgery, this program could bring brain interfaces to the masses and be the next step in human-technological evolution. Until now the advanced and cutting edge neuroscience programs at DARPA, the self proclaimed mad science wing...
A teenagers revolutionary algorithm busted quantum computings greatest promise
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Quantum computers promise amazing performance gains over classical computers, but a new algorithm just put the ball back in the classical computer’s court. A teenager from Texas has single handedly taken one of the biggest advances promised by the first generation of quantum computers...
