Is there life on Mars? Ministers say finding out is ‘at the core of our industrial strategy’ and give scientists £3m to fund research October 6, 2017 Ministers have today handed a bunch of space boffins £3m to try and find out if there really is life on Mars. The department of business, energy and industrial strategy (Beis) provided the money to 17 scientists, which are looking into “past and present life on Mars” as well as the presence of water and [...]
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk unveils plans to send humans to the moon and Mars by 2024 at the International Astronautical Congress September 29, 2017 It’s official: not content with pioneering reusable rockets and re-stocking the International Space Agency, Elon Musk now wants to use SpaceX to let people travel to the moon and start colonising Mars. During a 40-minute presentation at the International Astronautical Congress in Adelaide this morning, it was revealed that SpaceX will start making smaller rockets [...]
Mapped: Here are the 10 shortlisted Hyperloop One routes including Edinburgh to London and Glasgow to Liverpool September 14, 2017 Hyperloop One has announced 10 winners of the global challenge it set back in May last year, to identify the strongest potential routes in the world. It has carried out a close assessment of the proposals with a panel of infrastructure, tech, and transport experts scrutinising the details, and now 10 teams from five countries [...]
AI can liberate humans to lead happier lives, if we get it right September 11, 2017 Discussions around artificial intelligence (AI) provoke both excitement and fear in strong measure. Just last week, Elon Musk predicted that AI will be the most likely cause of World War III (although perhaps he just wasn’t following President Donald Trump closely enough). As happens so often with new advances, policymaking lags significantly behind. We must [...]
Solar, bitcoin, tech, Tesla and tea: seven important investment charts from August September 5, 2017 Each month, writers at Schroders pull together the most intriguing charts of the month. Solar production eclipsed (briefly) The US came to a standstill on 21 August as people looked skyward to witness a remarkable solar eclipse. But as the moon blocked the sun it also temporarily blocked solar energy production. California aims to generate [...]
Donald Trump is right about the UN – and the UK should follow him September 5, 2017 As Britain leaves the EU, is it time to re-examine our membership and funding of another international institution – the United Nations (UN)? Asking such a question will no doubt rile those who see the UN’s existence as inherently virtuous. A genuine forum for sovereign nation states to discuss international affairs and cooperate is a [...]
Could robots reduce the state pension age? The TUC union thinks artificial intelligence will help us retire early September 4, 2017 Fancy retiring early than expected? The nation could get a helping hand to kick back and relax ahead of time thanks to robots and artificial intelligence. There may be fears around the technology taking jobs, but in fact, one of the benefits could be a reduction in the state pension age, which has steadily risen [...]
How to tackle the PR challenge facing Uber’s Travis Kalanick August 27, 2017 Controversial former Uber chief Travis Kalanick has hired Teneo BlueRubicon to "refresh his tarnished image", according to reports. Though I can’t see confirmation on the record from either Kalanick or Teneo in the sources I’ve read, no denial from either party suggests a grain of truth. Real news or fake news, it makes the news [...]
Apple’s driverless car project Titan has morphed into a staff shuttle bus as reports suggest a scaling back of ambitions August 23, 2017 Apple’s driverless car project, long-rumoured and only recently confirmed by boss Tim Cook, looks like it might be taking a back seat at the company. Its ambitions have been scaled back from a fully autonomous Apple car, to a shuttle bus for staff. Read more: “Hey Siri”: Now you can transfer money with just your [...]
Move over Crossrail: Watch Hyperloop One hit record 200mph in latest test of Elon Musk’s crazy transport system of the future August 2, 2017 Hyperloop, the crazy transportation of the future that wants to whizz you hundreds of miles within minutes, has just shown exactly how fast it can go. The pod and tunnel system has gone faster than ever before, hitting 192mph in fresh tests over in Nevada in the US by Hyperloop One – that’s nearly three [...]