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Last year, Monash University scientists created the “DishBrain” – a semi-biological computer chip with some 800,000 human and mouse brain cells lab-grown into its electrodes. Demonstrating something like sentience, it learned to play Pong within five minutes. The micro-electrode array at the heart of … Continued

Despite the brutal world around them, Gen Z has the unique potential to shape the future’s narrative through superior diversity, curiosity and data literacy. THERE HAS NEVER been a period in the history of humanity where a person’s expectations of the … Continued

Intel has announced the release of its new quantum research chip, Tunnel Falls, a 12-qubit silicon chip, and is making it available to the quantum research community. The company collaborates with the Laboratory for Physical Sciences (LPS) at the University … Continued

Australia now has a new roadmap to support our food systems to become more sustainable, productive and resilient for the future. Australia’s food systems must change now to remain sustainable in the future according to a new roadmap released today … Continued

EVERY BRAIN THINKS ABOUT THE FUTURE…BUT SOME BRAINS DO IT BETTER THAN OTHERS. From a neuroscience or brain-based perspective, foresight can be understood as the ability of the brain to imagine and anticipate possible future scenarios. The future thinking brain … Continued

The big idea A new type of material can learn and improve its ability to deal with unexpected forces thanks to a unique lattice structure with connections of variable stiffness, as described in a new paper by my colleagues and me … Continued

Some futurists try to foresee the future. Others attempt to shape it. Yet prolific science-fiction author and biochemist Isaac Asimov did both. Asimov not only invented the word “robotics,” his “Three Laws of Robotics,” first written as part of a … Continued

The idea that human desires are insatiable and that craving leads to misery is not new wisdom. It has ancient Hindu, Buddhist, and Greek roots and forms a keystone of most religions.  Lagom is the modern, Swedish twist on an … Continued

Ray Kurzweil is famous for making predictions that have actually become true. There’s no denying that we live in an era of rapid technological changes. New inventions are taking place in AI, machine learning, and nanotechnology. Over the last decade … Continued

Hundreds of billions of dollars are being invested in a high-tech gamble to make hydrogen clean, cheap and widely available. In Australia’s Outback, that starts with 10 million new solar panels. For eons this has been a quiet, unremarkable place. … Continued

For a small but growing network of countries, the world’s go-to metric of economic health is no longer fit for purpose. Mostly led by women, Finland, Iceland, Scotland, Wales and New Zealand are all members of the Wellbeing Economy Governments partnership. … Continued

Over the past ten years, food trends have become the basic tool for many actors in the food industry: in executive offices as well as in departments of product development and innovation, in international corporations, SMEs and start-ups, in the gastronomy … Continued

“Mom answered questions from grieving relatives after they had watched her cremation.”   Marina Smith, a 87-year-old woman who passed away in June, was able to address the mourners at her own funeral in the UK — sort of, at … Continued

In what is set to be a world first, a robot lawyer will appear in a United States court next month, representing a client facing traffic charges. The artificial intelligence (AI) tool uses machine learning to match text and voice recognition … Continued

Riding on the shoulders of the Apollo generation, the Artemis missions will pave the way for humans to return to the moon, begin human exploration of Mars, and someday for humanity to reach the edges of our solar system and … Continued

Those words are: “You can’t predict the future, but you can weigh the probabilities.” Bezos’ financial advice was offered when he counseled his Twitter followers that it’s time to prepare for possible economic turmoil. The probabilities in this economy tell … Continued

Sitting on the Marine Atlantic ferry, I’m watching the Newfoundland skyline disappear on the horizon as I type away. I see the rocking of the ocean waves, inhale its salty breeze, feel and hear the buzz of the ship’s rumbling … Continued

Roads of the future could be lit by glowing trees instead of streetlamps, thanks to a breakthrough in creating bioluminescent plants. Experts injected specialized nanoparticles into the leaves of a watercress plant, which caused it to give off a dim … Continued

One of the main arguments against a rapid transition to renewable energy is the potentially enormous cost. But a new study shows that moving quickly could actually save us huge amounts of money compared to taking things slowly or doing … Continued

California is spending $20 million on a pilot project that will install more than a mile of solar panels over sections of important water sources, including canals — a futuristic effort to fight a devastating drought hitting California this summer with green … Continued