This month:
// Quantum Computers Using DNA Storage
// (Don't) Tax The Robots
// The Useless Class
// The Astounding Cosmos
Here’s our monthly summary of what Memia Labs has been reading and thinking this month at the confluence of future technology, business and society.
This selection of links is taken from our the regular
Memia Labs Premium* subscription service - if you're interested in more information please get in touch.
Ben Reid
Consulting Director
labs@memia.com
* Memia Labs Premium is a monthly service for Memia customers.
Sign up for our regular updates at http://memia.com/labs/
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-uvOpMyPgI[/embed]
Back in 1997, French director Luc Besson (accidentally?) imagined DNA-based memory: in this scene from his flamboyant film
The Fifth Element, Supreme Being Leeloo (Milla Jovovich) was reconstructed from her orders-of-magnitude-more-complex-than-human DNA - with her memories perfectly intact right up until the moment she had died (in an exploding spaceship, natch). This month, scientists have discovered how to fit the maximum amount of data in a single nucleotide, leading us into a future of DNA-based storage, potentially powering the next generation of Quantum computers (not to mention built-in backups for our minds...).
AI...
Full stack vertical AI startups actually work - in amidst all the AI hype 2017 will be the year of breakout successes from a handful of vertically-oriented AI startups solving full-stack industry problems.
http://www.bradfordcross.com/blog/2017/3/3/five-ai-startup-predictions-for-2017
...and Robots (they really mean AI)
Taxation without representation? Tax the robots says Bill Gates (...you what!?!).
Don't tax the robots replies the Economist. Why? Because
robots will take these 5 jobs (but probably
not these 5).
Everyone's talking about
Homo Deus
This podcast with author Yuval Noah Harari are well worth a listen to get an overview of the themes explored. A clear exposition of the potential near future when humans may no longer the most intelligent beings on the planet. His phrase "the useless class" is particularly sobering...
Azeem Azhar:
https://soundcloud.com/exponentialview/homo-deus-a-conversation-between-yuval-harari-and-azeem-azhar
Miscellaneous Tech
Welcome to the fog computing era OpenFog Consortium Releases Landmark Reference Architecture for Fog Computing
http://insidebigdata.com/2017/03/07/openfog-consortium-releases-landmark-reference-architecture-fog-computing/ (but how open is this Cisco-led standard when you have to register to download it...!?).
Hard drives of the future could be made of DNA, just like Leeloo
https://www.engadget.com/2017/03/03/DNA-hard-drive-storage/
In fact, asks Wired,
What if quantum computers of the future used hard drives of DNA? https://www.wired.com/2017/03/quantum-computers-used-hard-drives-made-dna/
Global Tech Industry
Taking your SaaS product upmarket - Enterprise features are common across the board, this is a great resource
https://www.enterpriseready.io/
The Human Condition
I usually describe myself as a "destination, not a journey person". Unfortunately for me, apparently
Happiness Is Always Seeking Something More
https://qz.com/684940/neuroscience-confirms-that-to-be-truly-happy-you-will-always-need-something-more/
You're a different person at 77 than 14
https://digest.bps.org.uk/2017/02/07/longest-ever-personality-study-finds-no-correlation-between-measures-taken-at-age-14-and-age-77/notepad
Tensors, Tensors, Everywhere
So What Exactly Is A Tensor Anyway?
https://hackernoon.com/learning-ai-if-you-suck-at-math-p4-tensors-illustrated-with-cats-27f0002c9b32#.52x3aphbu
Getting cosmological
Finally this month we are seeing ever more astounding visualizations of the cosmos in which we belong. Ever since
Hubble Deep Field discovered previously unimagined depth to the universe in 1995, our understanding of our nano-nano-nanoscopic place in the universe is continually reinforced. The universe seems to be layered in multiple orders of magnitude there to be explored and understood. Enjoy these if you haven't seen them before.
It all started here with the iPhone app
Cosmic Eye:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfSNxVqprvM
Laniakea - our home supercluster
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rENyyRwxpHo
(In)sanity
On March 25th spare a thought for me when I will be taking part in the inaugural
Breca Wanaka Swimrun event: 42km of trail running and 8km of swimming in the freezing cold depths of despair that is
Lake Wanaka, New Zealand.
Assuming I make it back from that in one piece, more in a month’s time. :-)
Comments, feedback, suggestions? Email
labs@memia.com
