Micro-payments between connected devices could enable a new layer of the economy

micropayments

Many of us now receive payments as well as make payments.

Ross Dawson: Last week I gave a keynote on The Future of Banking to a group of the most senior risk leaders in a major bank, sharing some provocative ideas on how the banking landscape may change in the years to come.

 

 

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MIT cheetah robot can run and jump untethered across grass

MIT-Cheetah-robot

MIT cheetah robot

Researchers at MIT have developed an algorithm for bounding that they’ve successfully implemented in a robotic cheetah. The robot sprinted up to 10 mph, even continuing to run after clearing a hurdle in experiments done on an indoor track. The MIT researchers estimate that the current version of the robot may eventually reach speeds of up to 30 mph — half the top speed of the natural cheetah, the fastest land animal on Earth. (Videos)

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$100B invested in wind or solar will produce more energy than oil

Solar-panel-array-and-wind-turbines-

By the late 2020s or early 2030s renewables could be competing much more aggressively with the oil market.

Kepler Chevreux, a French investment bank, has produced a fascinating analysis that has dramatic implications for the global oil industry. The investment bank estimates that $100 billion invested in either wind energy or solar energy – and deployed as energy for light and commercial vehicles – will produce significantly more energy than that same $100 billion invested in oil.

 

 

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Before we had computers, people programmed looms

woven portrait

This portrait was woven using a Jacquard loom.

Before IBM, before punch-card computers, before Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine, one of the very first machines that could run something like what we now call a “program” was used to make fabric. The machine was a loom and could process so much information that the fabric it produced could display pictures detailed enough that they might be mistaken for engravings.

 

 

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3D printed Mars homes could be built in 24 hours

mars 1

The Contour Crafter could 3D print housing on the surface of the Moon using concrete made from lunar rock.

Imagine it’s the year 2045, and you open the curtains in the morning and instead of grey skies and rain, you are looking out at a rust-colored rocky panorama. You have just woken up on Mars.

 

 

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‘Smart chopsticks’ let you check the safety and quality of your food

Baidu-smart-chopsticks-2

‘Smart chopsticks’

There are risks to eating food in China, such as reused cooking oil and rusty woks that can pose a problem for your health.  In an effort to protect people from street food in China, and cash in on the recent obsession with wearable tech, Chinese internet service company Baidu have develop a pair of “smart chopsticks” that can analyze your food. Anyone who has spent time in China will realize that there plenty of people who would happily pay to improve food safety in the country.

 

 

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Top 3 amazing ways 3D printing is already revolutionizing healthcare

printed version

The Simulator Program surpasses conventional systems with next-generation mannequins and 3D printing.

Gabriel Mandeville at five months old seemed like any other normal, healthy baby. Then he began having infantile spasms. The spasms became so frequent and severe that he had to undergo a hemispherectomy: a complicated surgical procedure that separates one side of the brain from another. Luckily, doctors at the Boston Children’s Hospital were able to use 3D printing technology to greatly increase the chances for a successful operation. (Video)

 

 

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Competition is for losers: Peter Thiel

google

Google makes so much money that it is now worth three times more than every U.S. airline combined.

This question is harder than it looks – what valuable company is nobody building? That’s because your company could create a lot of value without becoming very valuable itself. Creating value isn’t enough—you also need to capture some of the value you create.

 

 

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