15 science stories of the week
Welcome to your weekly science update – a curated list of this week’s most interesting stories in science.
Special Young Scientist Edition!
Next week the World Economic Forum will be hosting over 1,600 leaders from business, government and civil society organizations in Dalian, China for our flagship summit on science and innovation – the Annual Meeting of New Champions. The programme is full of fascinating science, with talks from many renowned global science leaders. Each year we convene a gathering of top scientists under the age of 40. Here are some of the things the World Economic Forum Young Scientists are traveling to Dalian to say:
How 3D sensors are changing our lives
How killer snails can improve the state of the world
How our waste can save the world
How artificial intelligence can make us healthier
Why memory is the key to a better future
What the quantum revolution means for us
Why scientists need to think like entrepreneurs
How a computer can tell what you’re thinking
How graphene will change the world
How we can commercialize touch
Other top stories this week
The end of forgetting. A brilliant essay on how machine speech recognition and ubiquitous recording could change our world, for better or worse, and how researchers have been making progress.
The $1 Microscope. This handy innovation could make research and medical diagnostics as accessible and easy to use as your smart phone. Perhaps more importantly, it will provide millions with tools that enable discovery.
China’s struggle with GMOs. Genetically modified food is a cornerstone of China’s official food security strategy, but like Europe and the US, Chinese public opinion is divided on their safety and desirability.
Robot Masons. This automated system can lay bricks three times faster than a human.
Three trillion trees. A new global tree tally finds there are eight times as many trees on Earth as previously estimated. That’s about 400 trees per person. But we are losing 10 billion trees a year (including new growth). Data like this will help us to monitor and preserve the Earth’s vital systems.
Author: David Gleicher is Senior Programme Manager, Science and Technology, at the World Economic Forum
Image: A man is pictured while hiking on a sunny day in Landstetten near lake Starnberg, southern Germany, October 14, 2014. REUTERS/Michaela Rehle
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