Automating the future

The #FutureofWork is #automated. #Robotics purchases are up as prices decrease. via @VisualCap #automation #Industry40 #AI #DigitalTransformation pic.twitter.com/8TZCOVCrD2

— Tamara McCleary (@TamaraMcCleary) September 24, 2018

Millions of jobs have gone to the machines – and now at the top end too!

Dateline: 26 September 2020

It was way back in 2012 that we predicted that by 2022, your boss would be a machine. We were wrong. It's happened this year, 2020, a full two years earlier. And it's not some semi-smart robot taking over a drudge job on the factory line. That's old news. Instead, BeyondBlue, the world's latest neural supercomputer, has been made CEO of a major corporation! And it's the corporation that ...

New materials excite and amaze

As we discover new materials with properties that excite and amaze us we are reminded that the future of any industry still remains to be discovered and that we cannot extrapolate from a current knowledge set.

24 September 2018

It's a sad, sad world...quo vadis humanity?

Worlds hits saddest point ever...and we are doing it to ourselves! With some help by tech we dont really need or want but are enslaved by! We need to rehumanize ourselves if we are to survive the coming machine age!

The world has reached the lowest level of happiness in ten years

ENGINEERING THE PERFECT LIFE

Catalyst for a better synfuel could revive coal-to-oil process

Clever chemistry offers new source of jet fuel https://t.co/K89eCuB1zF

— Doug Vining (@dougv) September 21, 2018

Synthetic biodiesel from sugar makes oil-based diesel look primitive and costly

Dateline: 9 April 2010

Amyris has launched their second-generation biofuel, and it looks like they're taking the market by storm. The new diesel is 'manufactured' by tiny microbes directly from sugar cane pulp. The American biotechnology company has spent the last two years perfecting the process by which their genetically engineered micro-organism converts the natural carbohydrate energy in sugar to a chemical ...

Memory like a human for AI hegemony

It's difficult to create an #AI with a human like memory, but it was done almost two years ago and the advances its enabled have been staggering #Deepmind #Google https://t.co/mA1U2DZpzC

— Matthew Griffin (@mgriffin_uk) September 20, 2018

China and America reap the AI dividend

Dateline: 3 December 2030

In the last 15 years, we have witnessed the stunning rise of an exponential technology - machine learning and artificial intelligence. Like Moore's Law on steroids, smart machines and computer systems have created entirely new global industries, turbo-boosted productivity, and destroyed old, industrial age business sectors. The Economist, now a purely digital research and analysis house, ...

Flying while charging

The biggest problem with electric drones is limited flying time on battery power, and batteries are heavy, so it's a catch 22 situation if you want to extend the range - you have to limit the payload. For surveillance drones, there is the option of a tethered power link, if the area to be covered is fairly static or narrowly defined, but for delivery drones or similar, it's a real ...

In-flight charging gives drones unlimited autonomous range

DHL FLYING ON WIRELESS POWER

iPhone starts to talk sense

It's uncanny how close the new features on the iPhone 4S are to the scenario for speech controlled computing we envisioned in this MindBullet, which was published in 2004.

Long before the iPhone was even invented, it was an obvious application, and now many of these features are available on both Google and Apple phones. The timing is pretty close too - we suggested 2012. Perhaps these speech ...

Apple's New iPhone Would Like to Talk

FREE COMPUTERS FOR ALL

Dear Moon, here we come

Way back in 2015, we speculated that SpaceX would launch a 'Moon Taxi' sometime in the future. Well, it seems we anticipated the future quite correctly, even if we got some details wrong!

SpaceX to send Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa to the Moon ... with room for his friends - https://t.co/4WpAaaUGGM pic.twitter.com/3hQ7h0fwcW

— New Atlas (@nwtls) September 18, 2018

...

Fancy a walk on the dark side?

Dateline: 15 June 2029

It's fun to go away for a summer holiday, and what better, more exotic place than the moon? That's assuming you can afford the fare, of course. For the well-heeled, it has just become possible to take that once-in-a-lifetime trip to the moon, and back; courtesy of SpaceX. SpaceX has announced that it is opening bookings for round-trips to the moon, including landing on the surface and a ...

VW's plans for 3D printed parts

Aircraft manufacturers like Boeing have been using metal printers for some time, to produce specialised parts for aircraft from titanium powder. Even jet engines have adopted 3D printing for complex components like fuel nozzles. Auto companies like Volkswagen have also used them for rare parts and concept models, but now VW plans to use HP metal printers for mass production. Perhaps our ...

Volkswagen Plans to Use 3D Printing for Mass Production

NEW DIMENSION FOR METAL MINING

Bangkok's energy internet

Residents in a Bangkok neighbourhood are trying out a renewable energy trading platform that allows them to buy and sell electricity between themselves, signalling the growing popularity of such systems as solar panels get cheaper.
The pilot project in the centre of Thailand's capital is among the world's largest peer-to-peer renewable energy trading platforms using blockchain, according to ...

In a posh Bangkok neighbourhood, residents trade energy with blockchain

SOLAR POWER GOES VIRAL

Amortality in Africa

FutureWorld futurist Craig Wing weighs in on the pitfalls of eternal life.

My opinion piece in @forbesafrica on living forever and the consequences if we don't think carefully, especially in Africa: https://t.co/tqfStkpYqo#in #mortality #life #living

— Craig Wing (@wingnuts123) September 13, 2018

...

Every year your life increases by another year

Dateline: 1 January 2033

If you're young enough, you may never die. Seriously. Think about it: If average lifespan keeps increasing, every year, then as long as you are younger than that, you have an excellent chance of living another year. And next year, the same, and so on. Eventually there will be diminishing returns to medical science and optimal nutrition, but if you live in a highly developed economy, you may ...

The carbon bubble can't last indefinitely

Governor of California orders state to go carbon neutral by 2045 https://t.co/2vsY9aZybM pic.twitter.com/xONihwkxeg

— New Scientist (@newscientist) September 13, 2018

Stocks crash as executive orders bite

Dateline: 5 February 2021

US President Bernie Sanders has signed a series of Executive Orders designed as emergency measures to combat climate change. The net effect is to make fossil fuels way too costly to produce and consume, forcing emissions lower and a massive swing to nuclear and renewable power. On top of that, the plummeting cost of solar has convinced many consumers, even those skeptical about global ...

World's first digital teacher

A number of countries suffer from a shortage of good teachers - or as in South Africa, unionised teachers many of whom seem more interested in slacking off than teaching. So here's a solution to both problems - the world's first digital teacher, just launched in New Zealand.

13 September 2018

3D printing goes BIG!

3D printing is now pretty much mainstream - and it's going BIG! The US military has just built a 46 sq m barracks hut in just 40 hours, on what they're calling the world's biggest 3D printer. Check it out here.

US military builds barracks using "world's largest" 3D printer

PRINTING - THE FUTURE OF MANUFACTURING

Automation is a helping hand

It's pretty obvious that people would prefer machines or robots to do the '3D' work - Dull, Dangerous and Dirty. That gives humans the chance to do more important, rewarding and cleaner things, creative stuff. But what about getting robots to help you do your tricky industrial work? Machines that assist humans, acting as co-workers or 'cobots' are the new fashion in industrial automation. ...

25,000 robots and counting: Welcome to the fastest-growing segment of industrial automation

LET G-DROIDS DO THE DIRTY WORK

Synthetic biology is the new IT

Matt McKnight - CCO, Ginkgo Bioworks (updated)

Artificial DNA used to make live replicas of game characters

Dateline: 8 August 2028

Now that scientists have perfected the technique of synthesizing DNA, it is possible to take computer-generated characters from virtual world environments and make physical copies of them. Following on the craze of designer pets, kids can now design their own version of notorious game heroes, and have them 'grown' by BioSynth Inc. Reminiscent of the action figure toys of yesteryear, these ...

The great crypto collapse of 2018

"Ether has tumbled faster than bitcoin in recent months on concern that blockchain-related firms are cashing out of the second biggest cryptocurrency. Many start-ups that raised ether from investors in their initial coin offerings will eventually need to sell their holdings to cover expenses like salaries and development costs."

Crypto wipeout deepens to $640-billion - TechCentral

THE GREAT BITCOIN HEIST OF 2027