Month: March 2018

Impact Lab > 2018 > March
Big Problems, Famous Inventor, Google, Internet

Platform power is crushing the web, warns Berners-Lee

IMG_5934

On the 29th birthday of the world wide web, its inventor, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, has sounded a fresh warning about threats to the web as a force for good, adding his voice to growing concerns about big tech’s impact on competition and society.

The web’s creator argues that the “powerful weight of a few dominant” tech platforms is having a deleterious impact by concentrating power in the hands of gatekeepers that gain “control over which ideas and opinions are seen and shared”.

Continue reading… “Platform power is crushing the web, warns Berners-Lee”

Agriculture, Artificial Intelligence, Farming, Farms

The incredible ways John Deere is using artificial intelligence to transform farming

IMG_5931

Pesticides are currently an essential ingredient of big agriculture in order to ensure we can continue to feed the ever-growing global population of our planet.

However, pesticides also carry inherent risks, such as the damage they can do to the environment and local ecosystems, and the hazards that over-exposure can pose to human health. Their production and distribution also has environmental costs, as well as financial costs to the farmers. For this reason, when they must be used, there are a lot of good reasons that they should be used efficiently, and accurately.

Continue reading… “The incredible ways John Deere is using artificial intelligence to transform farming”

Economy, Finance, Money Talk

Experts May Have a Viable Alternative to Universal Basic Income

IMG_5929

At Brain Bar Budapest, a large hall that was plastered in dark and leafy plants struggled to hold a sea of attendees. The crowd gathered to watch Steve Fuller, author of Humanity 2.0 and the Auguste Comte Chair in Social Epistemology at Warwick University, debate Zoltán Pogátsa, a Hungarian political economist. The topic at hand? Whether or not Universal Basic Income (UBI) will be the “social security net of the future.”

Continue reading… “Experts May Have a Viable Alternative to Universal Basic Income”

Automation, bicycle, Business

A different kind of bike donut

IMG_5918

Add the Orbike to Musk’s Boring Company program and you’ve literally got a city that’s perfect for any commuter. Sitting half above and half below the surface of the road, the Orbike is a donut-shaped vending machine that allows people to rent bicycles and bike-related equipment. Designed to be efficient, but more to grab attention, the Orbike rotates inside its transparent shell, allowing you to literally cycle through products before choosing what to buy/rent.

Continue reading… “A different kind of bike donut”

Automobiles, Electric Automobile, Environment

Even more evidence that electric cars could save the planet

IMG_5915

The latest numbers say that as the American grid shifts toward renewables, the positive impact of electric cars is increasing.

EVERYONE’S SAYING IT: The future of driving is electric. The big-name car companies have plans to start giving Tesla some tough competition. Jaguar’s I-Pace electric SUV will be on sale soon, and Porsche is teasing a new concept Mission E Cross Turismo, which looks like an SUV’d Panamera (in a good way). And normal cars for regular people are going the same way. Combined, Ford and GM plan to offer 34 full electric models in the next five years.

Continue reading… “Even more evidence that electric cars could save the planet”

Genes, Medical Breakthrough, Medicine

In surprise result, gene therapy reverses blinding eye disease

China, government, Law Enforcement, Wearables

Beijing police are using facial-recognition glasses to identify car passengers and number plates

IMG_5902

A promotion video shows an actor wearing LLVision facial recognition smart glasses during a demonstration at the company’s office in Beijing, China February 28, 2018.

Beijing police began testing facial-recognition glasses last week.

They appear to be similar to those first used by police in a Henan railway station last month.

Continue reading… “Beijing police are using facial-recognition glasses to identify car passengers and number plates”

3D Printer, Architecture, Breakthrough Thinking, Housing

This $10,000 3D printed house can be built in 24 hours and is bigger than a studio apartment

IMG_5890

One of the less obvious products being unveiled this week at SXSW is a small concrete house. On the outside, it doesn’t look like anything particularly special, although the covered patio and spacious windows are less common on tiny poured-concrete buildings.

That’s because the innovation isn’t in the structure or materials — it’s in the design and building. ICON, the company that builds the 650-square-foot house, claims it costs just $10,000 to build, and can be 3-D printed by a Vulcan printer in 12 to 24 hours using the most common building material on Earth.

Continue reading… “This $10,000 3D printed house can be built in 24 hours and is bigger than a studio apartment”

Breakthrough Thinking, cutting edge, Engineering, Future, New Inventions, People Making a Difference

XPRIZE Founder Peter Diamandis: ‘We’re Living at a Time When Individual Entrepreneurs Are More Powerful Than Governments’

The Venture Final Pitch Sponsored By Chivas

Peter Diamandis is the founder and executive chairman of the XPRIZE Foundation, which designs and operates large-scale incentive competitions to, in essence, change the world.

In the words of its own criteria, an Xprize must be bold, audacious, and achievable. It must target market failure, drive investment, and give birth to a new industry. And, of course, it must give other innovators hope.

Continue reading… “XPRIZE Founder Peter Diamandis: ‘We’re Living at a Time When Individual Entrepreneurs Are More Powerful Than Governments’”

AI, Artificial Intelligence, Entertainment, Games

Fox to kick off the human-robot war with a new AI-based game show

IMG_5886

As children, most of us humans are taught not to be a “sore loser” by throwing some kind of tantrum when we lose a competition. The idea of gracefully accepting defeat forms the basis of friendship, democracy, and game shows, but Fox is risking the sanctity of all of that by developing a new show in which humans must compete against malevolent entities that know nothing about the danger of being a sore loser. We are talking, of course, about evil robots—or at least neutral robots that have the potential to become evil.

Continue reading… “Fox to kick off the human-robot war with a new AI-based game show”

Discover the Hidden Patterns of Tomorrow with Futurist Thomas Frey
Unlock Your Potential, Ignite Your Success.

By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.

Learn More about this exciting program.