Groundbreaking 3D printing and scanning techniques are improving access to fully customisable artificial limbs
Before the vehicle that she was travelling in flipped over and trapped her right leg, Leakhena Laing was a happy teenager who enjoyed climbing trees and playing football with friends. After her limb was amputated, she could only sit and watch.
Continue reading… “3D printing can revolutionize the medical profession”
My dad, a former Wall Street trader always advised me “cash is king” and to “hold on to it” when the economy gets tough.
But in the Netherlands, cash is definitely not getting the royal treatment. In so many places, it has simply ceased to be recognised as legal tender. More and more Dutch stores, from upscale health-food store Marqt to my local baker and bagel shop, take pin — or debit — cards exclusively. Some retailers even describe going cash-free as “cleaner” or “safer”.
Continue reading… “Cash is on the verge of extinction in these countries”
Skyscrapers in the City of London could soon be built by robots rather than by people, according to the boss of one of the UK’s biggest construction firms. The result would be huge productivity gains as more work could be done by fewer people – but also mass layoffs as traditionally labour-intensive construction projects hire fewer and fewer staff.
The world’s first three-parent baby has been born.
Scientists revealed the birth of a baby boy, now five months old, usingDNA from three parents.
Fertility experts hailed the breakthrough as “great news and a huge deal” for the future of reproduction.
But they expressed concern that it was only achieved because US scientists crossed the border to Mexico to take advantage of lax regulation.
Continue reading… “Three-parent baby technique produces world’s first baby”
A jump in the fluency of Google’s language software will help efforts to make chatbots less lame.
Google’s latest advance in machine learning could make the world a little smaller.
Continue reading… “Google’s New Translator Works Almost as Well as Humans”
People want it—but don’t understand it.
If you had to pick a tech industry buzzword for 2016, “machine learning” would be a good choice. Every other company, it seems, is packing the phrase into their pitches, and it’s having an effect.
Continue reading… “Machine Learning: What Companies Get Wrong”
Egyptian researchers have developed a bandage embedded with nanoparticles for the treatment of wounds using the anti-epilepsy drug Phenytoin, known for its capacity to treat skin injuries.
The bandage can heal wounds in a few days, after just one application to soft tissue. Wounds normally take several days to a few weeks to heal completely, and some may only heal after several months or up to two years.
Continue reading… “Nanotech bandage: Healing wounds in days”
If you summon an Uber in 10 years’ time, you will probably get a car that drives itself. But then again, you may not be travelling in a car at all.
The taxi-hailing app is working on technology that would allow airborne passenger drones to fly its users short distances around cities, it has emerged, raising the prospect of a future in which skylines are dotted with Uber aircraft shuttling commuters back and forth.
Starting a modern payments network underpinned by Ripple and supported by rules and governance for global settlement.
Ripple, which earlier this month completed a $55 million Series B financing round, has announced that a number of global banks are joining forces to establish the first interbank group for global payments based on distributed ledger (blockchain) financial technology.
Continue reading… “Six Global Banks Lead Standardizing Global Payments via Blockchain”
Canadian companies are placing big bets on a better way of powering drones.
So far these stealthy units — long used by military forces for intelligence-gathering, surveillance and striking targets — have been powered by internal combustion engines or lithium polymer batteries.
Continue reading… “Fuel cells about to power the drone industry”
We already know that artificial intelligence systems can work in law firms and beat the world champion at a game of Go. Now it turns out that AI can write some pretty good pop songs, too.
Continue reading… “The first pop song ever written by AI is actually pretty good”
Last week, the director of the Federal Aviation Administration reported that his department is receiving an average of 2,000 new registration requests for drones every day, and that it has registered up to some half a million drones since new rules went into effect in January. But as sales of drones have increased, so too have other more worrying numbers. The FAA also says it receives more than 100 reports per month of drones flying around airports and other forbidden places, where they could damage infrastructure or accidentally collide with the engine of a landing airplane.
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.