1. One thing that helps
As we age, the cells in our eyes degenerate, this can also occur due to disease or genetics meaning vision problems are a significant issue for many people. Retina degeneration is very hard to fix, but what if we replaced the damaged retina instead of struggling to regenerate these cells?
PRIMAvera trials have shown success in replacing the retina with a two-millimetre square implant—that's around the size of a grain of salt. This implant contains up to 400 light-sensitive pixels that convert light patterns to electrical signals for the brain to interpret. It is then paired with camera-equipped glasses that send visual information to the implant. Using this system, participants who are legally blind saw massive improvements, including reading, on average, 5 more lines down the eye chart.
Max Hodak, CEO of Science Corp and former president of ElonMusk’s Neuralink, said, “To my knowledge, this is the first time that restoration of the ability to fluently read has ever been definitively shown in blind patients.”
2. One to be wary of
The internet is made possible largely due to undersea cables. Cut them off and an entire country or continent may suddenly find themselves without access. Quite a vulnerability that could be exposed by malicious actors using unmanned uncrewed undersea vehicles (UUVs).
UUVs range in size from 1 meter torpedo-shaped designs to the 40-foot Northrop Grumman Manta Ray. As their name implies, these vehicles operate without a human pilot. The concern is that malicious actors, both state-sponsored or not, could disrupt the internet by using UUVs to cut undersea cables. The primary challenge is that these UUVs are almost impossible to identify once deployed. And with UUVs being commercially available, anyone can anonymously sabotage any underwater installation.
What can be done here? Well the same UUVs can be deployed to patrol and secure the cables of the internet. For now though it remains a significant issue.
3. One to amaze
Wine tasters beware - AI is coming after your job! Who would have guessed that AI can finally taste food and drinks?
Penn State University has come up with an AI that can detect and distinguish between tastes just like a real tongue. In place of muscles, the researchers used graphene and chemical sensors to replicate the taste functions of the human tongue. The sensors detect the chemical makeup of liquids and the results are analysed by a neural network. The system was able to distinguish between blends of coffee and even between Coke and Pepsi.
The primary application is for the food and beverage industries. This AI tongue can be used to detect when products are spoiled or contaminated. We don't want a human tasting spoiled milk! It is even able to detect forever chemicals - substances that take a long time to degrade - in our food and drink.
I wonder if it would react to brussel sprouts the same way I do!