Category Archives: Technology

Oct 19 2012
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Technology

From research scientist to project manager: outsourcing the lab

 

 

Read my latest for Wired….

Frankenstein may have been written almost two hundred years ago, but the iconic imagery of the lone scientist working in his homemade lab, trying to answer the most profound question of all — “what is life?” — still imprisons many people’s perceptions of what scientists actually do all day long.

However, for an increasing number of research scientists such a hands-on approach is no longer an option as they face the pressure of ever more complex and expensive technology, relentless budget cuts and the never-ending pressure to “publish or die”.

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Sep 23 2012
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Technology

Can SMEs help the lumbering NHS to innovate?

Read my latest for Wired……

If there is one word that the CEOs of small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) would not normally use to describe the NHS, it would be “innovative” — perhaps closely followed by “creative”. That is precisely what Colin Callow is hoping to change………

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Sep 14 2012
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Technology, Travel

Faster than the speed of flight: Is it possible to fly to Australia in just two hours?

Read my latest for The Indie…..and number 3 story on the website yesterday

Last month, more than 70 years since the dream of sustained hypersonic flight was first born out of Nazi designs for a manned bomber with a global reach, the US Air Force’s latest experimental hypersonic aircraft was lost during an attempt to maintain Mach 6 for merely five minutes. Hypersonic (high supersonic) speeds are those greater than Mach 5, or 3,500mph……..

Watch also the BBC 4 documentary that came out on Wednesday on The Three Rocketeers….or rather the guys behind Reaction Engines

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Sep 02 2012
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Book, Technology

Hunting for the deadliest prey in the jungle: viruses

Read my latest in The Independent….

For many, the dimly remembered panics over the bird-flu, swine-flu and Sars pandemics may now seem like a case of the authorities crying wolf, or even a conspiracy to boost the profits of Big Pharma. But to “virus hunter” Professor Nathan Wolfe, these viruses, which had all crossed over from wild animals, were merely the first gusts of a viral storm blowing out of the jungle and heading straight towards us….

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Aug 27 2012
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Technology

Diagnosis murmur: how ‘intelligent’ ultrasound could benefit medicine

Read my latest for Wired…..

If you have ever seen the heart of a baby pulsating away on the screen of an ultrasound scanner you will also have noticed how much the success of the scan depends on the skill — or luck — of the operator to jiggle the probe to get the best image and then measure a skull or a limb lurking somewhere in that confusion…….

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Aug 02 2012
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Technology

Smartphones, drones and social media: peacekeeping’s technological armoury

Here’s my latest piece for Wired…

Type “UNSMIS” into YouTube and you can see for yourself what the United Nations observers are seeing on the very mean streets of Syria. Fed up with accusations from the Syrian authorities that they were making up their reports of ceasefire infringements, the UN’s Supervision Mission In Syria, in a surprise move, decided to post their own footage…..

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Jul 23 2012
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Technology

Hacking attacks on printers still not being taken seriously

Read my latest for The Guardian…

Sometimes it’s hard to resist the promises made by the all-singing, all-dancing computer printers that line the shelves of stores of computer retailers. Yet perhaps we should resist, as it looks as if there may be a dark side to the printer revolution that few people are aware of; a dark side that threatens to turn the saviours of print into the spies within…….

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Jul 10 2012
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Technology

Biometric security hacks threaten to ruin the KeyLemon party

Read my latest piece for Wired….

As biometric security systems from companies such as KeyLemon are increasingly introduced to devices, spoofing attacks are becoming more common and sophisticated. The Tabula Rasa project aims to prevent these security breaches.

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Jun 07 2012
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Technology

Low-frequency 3D location technology flourishes where GPS fails

In 2011 two young Oxford academics came up with a potentially game-changing positioning technology developed from tracking badgers in Wytham Woods, just outside Oxford.

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Jun 07 2012
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Book, Technology

AI uprising: humans will be outsourced, not obliterated

I know I am a bit late posting this up…..

Forget about The Terminator, the real problem with AI (artificial intelligence) is what to do when it meets your boss or even your friends.

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