FOCUS 1

> The Future Today Institute's 15th Anniversary Tech Trends Report // March 2022, Future Today Institute
Learn the key trends impacting finance, insurance, transportation, healthcare, sports, logistics, telecom, work, government and policy, security, privacy, education, agriculture, entertainment, music, CPG, hospitality and dining, ESGs, climate, space and more. Discover critical insights. See what strategic action you can take on the futures, today.

Related article: SXSW 2022 – Amy Webb prédit la fin du marketing dans le métavers // 14.03.2022, Méta-Media

FOCUS 2

> 12 graphs that explain the state of AI in 2022 // 17.03.2022, IEEE Spectrum
Every year, the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI) puts out its AI Index, a massive compendium of data and graphs that tries to sum up the current state of artificial intelligence. The 2022 AI Index is covering R&D, technical performance, ethics, policy, education, and the economy. 12 charts that capture the state of play.

Related report: The 2022 AI Index: industrialization of AI and mounting ethical concerns // 16.03.2022, HAI Stanford

FOCUS 3

> AI and human enhancement: Americans’ openness is tempered by a range of concerns // 17.03.2022, Pew Research Center
Developments in AI and human enhancement technologies have the potential to remake American society in the coming decades. A new Pew Research Center survey finds that Americans see promise in the ways these technologies (facial recognition, algorithms, driverless cars, brain chips, gene editing, robotic exoskeletons) could improve daily life and human abilities. Yet public views are also defined by the context of how these technologies would be used, what constraints would be in place and who would stand to benefit – or lose – if these advances become widespread.

Related article: Americans are concerned about rise of AI and human enhancements, survey finds // 17.03.2022, CNN

FOCUS 4

> AI suggested 40000 new possible chemical weapons in just six hours // 17.03.2022, The Verge
All the researchers had to do was tweak their methodology to seek out, rather than weed out toxicity. The AI came up with tens of thousands of new substances, some of which are similar to VX, the most potent nerve agent ever developed. Shaken, they published their findings this month in the journal Nature Machine Intelligence.

FOCUS 5

> The UK may build a £16 billion solar power station in space. Here’s how it would work // 18.03.2022, Singularity Hub
The UK government is reportedly considering a £16 billion proposal to build a solar power station in space. Yes, you read that right. Space-based solar power is one of the technologies to feature in the government’s Net Zero Innovation Portfolio. It has been identified as a potential solution, alongside others, to help the UK achieve net zero by 2050. But how would a solar power station in space work? What are the advantages and drawbacks to this technology?

FOCUS 6

> Can brain scans reveal behaviour? Bombshell study says not yet // 17.03.2022, Nature
Most studies linking features in brain imaging to traits such as cognitive abilities are too small to be reliable, argues a controversial analysis.

FOCUS 7

> African effort to sequence continent’s biodiversity seeks $1 billion over 10 years // 15.03.2022, Science
Founder of African BioGenome Project says initiative will help conservation and agriculture while boosting local science capacity.

SPECIAL FOCUS: Russia-Ukraine conflict impacts on science and diplomacy
 

Research community

> “We don’t live in a research bubble” // 17.03.2022, The Verge
The hopes and fears driving an online movement to help Ukrainian researchers.

> Researchers around the world band together to help fleeing Ukrainian scientists // 16.03.2022, Chemistry World

> ERC for Ukraine: jobs for researchers fleeing the war // 18.03.2022, ERC press release

International and institutional agreements

> Russian labs run out of equipment as sanctions begin to bite // 17.03.2022, Science|Business

> Canada hits science ties with Russia, creates fund for Ukrainian students // 12.03.2022, Science|Business


Space sciences and policy

> International talks on space norms to continue but U.S. will not engage directly with Russia // 17.03.2022, SpaceNews

> ESA suspends work with Russia on ExoMars mission // 17.03.2022, SpaceNews


Digital science and technologies

> Ukraine’s Digital Ministry is a formidable war machine // 17.03.2022, WIRED

> Russia is risking the creation of a “splinternet” – and it could be irreversible // 17.03.2022, MIT Technology Review

> Where is Russia’s cyberwar? Researchers decipher its strategy // 17.03.2022, Nature

> Russia's killer drone in Ukraine raises fears about AI in warfare // 17.03.2022, WIRED
 

Energy

> Nations should conserve fuel as global energy crisis looms, IEA warns // 18.03.2022, The New York Times

> The nuclear reactors of the future have a Russia problem // 17.03.2022, WIRED

Geopolitics

> Les ambitions européennes rattrapées par la guerre // 21.03.2022, Le Temps

> Russia and the Arctic: the irony of an aggressor in charge of a ‘zone of peace’ // 16.03.2022, Geneva Solutions

> Big Pharma faces an ethical dilemma: should they keep selling to Russia? // 10.03.2022, WIRED

GOOD READS ABOUT GESDA'S PLATFORMS THEMES

Platform 1: Quantum Revolution & Advanced AI

Quantum  

> Microsoft announces progress on a completely new type of qubit // 15.03.2022, Ars Technica

> Nouveau record mondial pour le stockage d’un qubit // 22.03.3022, Université de Genève

AI and tech  

> Google may have found the tech to take AR smart glasses mainstream // 17.03.2022, SlashGear

> Les créateurs à la conquête du Web3 // 18.03.2022, Méta-Media

> It’s like GPT-3 but for code – fun, fast, and full of flaws // 15.03.2022, WIRED
OpenAI’s new tool can autocomplete lines of programming or conjure software from a simple prompt. It could also riddle the internet with even more bugs.

> Reality+: virtual worlds and the problems of philosophy (podcast) // March 2022, eSkeptic
How do we know that there’s an external world? What is the nature of reality? What’s the relation between mind and body? Virtual reality is genuine reality; that’s the central thesis of David Chalmers’ book: Reality+ – a highly original work of “technophilosophy” in which Chalmers gives a compelling analysis of our technological future. He argues that virtual worlds are not second-class worlds, and that we can live a meaningful life in virtual reality. He uses virtual reality technology to offer a new perspective on long-established philosophical questions. We may even be in a virtual world already. Dr. David Chalmers is University Professor of Philosophy and Neural Science and codirector of the Center for Mind, Brain and Consciousness at New York University.

Platform 2: Human Augmentation

Genomics  

> NIH’s huge All of Us genes and health study releases first 100,000 genomes // 17.03.2022, Science
First genetic data from planned 1-million-person U.S. biobank will help fill gaps in studies of non-Europeans.

> A more-inclusive genome project aims to capture all of human diversity // 16.03.2022, Nature

> New details emerge about a U.S. scientist’s obscured role in the ‘CRISPR babies’ scandal // 18.03.2022, STAT

> Gene therapy for hemophilia A // 17.03.2022, New England Journal of Medicine

Longevity and health

> Bionic eye that mimics how pupils respond to light may improve vision // 17.03.2022, New Scientist

> Artificial touch: The new tech making virtual reality more immersive // 16.03.2022, New Scientist

> Covid-19: un compromis sur les brevets des vaccins // 16.03.2022, Le Temps

Neurosciences

> Reconstruction of neocortex: Organelles, compartments, cells, circuits, and activity // 17.03.2022, Cell

> Decoding cognition from spontaneous neural activity // 08.03.2022, Nature Reviews Neuroscience

> Deep brain stimulation of the thalamus restores signatures of consciousness in a nonhuman primate model // 18.03.2022, Science Advances

> Blood stem cells treat brain disease after transplant // 17.03.2022, BioWorld

> What do psychedelic drugs do to our brains? AI could help us find out // 16.03.2022, MIT Technology Review

Platform 3: Eco-regeneration & Geoengineering

Energy

> Technological pathways toward sustainable batteries // 18.03.2022, One Earth

Biotechnologies

> Can we resurrect extinct species? Scientists put Jurassic Park to the test // 16.03.2022, Singularity Hub

> Genomics can help restore coral reefs in the Indian Ocean // 18.03.2022, EPFL

Climate and environment

> UN Environment Programme joins alliance to implement One Health approach // 18.03.2022, UNEP

> The land-to-ocean loops of the global carbon cycle // 16.03.2022, Nature

> Great Barrier Reef hit by sixth mass bleaching event, leading coral scientist says // 16.03.2022, The Guardian

> Climate Grand Challenges finalists on accelerating reductions in global greenhouse gas emissions // 17.03.2022, MIT News Office

> Higher-altitude solar geoengineering brings no cost benefit, study predicts // 16.03.2022, Physics World

Resources

> The sobering truth about corn ethanol // 15.03.2022, PNAS

> Battery technology and recycling alone will not save the electric mobility transition from future cobalt shortages // 15.03.2022, Nature Communications

> Valuing Water // 2021, UNESCO
The 2021 World Water Development Report on “Valuing Water” assesses the current status of, and challenges to, the valuation of water across different sectors and perspectives, and identifies ways in which valuation can be promoted as a tool to help achieve sustainability.

Platform 4: Science & Diplomacy

> Development expert emerges as one of frontrunners in race for ILO top job // 14.03.2022, Geneva Solutions

> Scrutinizing environmental governance in a digital age: New ways of seeing, participating, and intervening // March 2022, One Earth

> Switzerland at the World Water Forum in Dakar // 18.03.2022, FDFA

> Why politics limits climate ambitions (opinion) // 19.03.2022, Financial Times
All countries have a shared interest in tackling global warming, yet conflicting priorities hold them back.

GESDA Platform: Knowledge Foundations

> Microbes and minerals may have set off Earth’s oxygenation // 14.03.2022, MIT News

> Are there limits to economic growth? It’s time to call time on a 50-year argument // 16.03.2022, Nature

OF INTEREST

> Academic freedom on the decline // 03.03.2022, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg

> Can an online course help Big Tech find its soul? // 11.03.2022, WIRED
The Foundations of Humane Technology is an eight-hour class for Silicon Valley’s disillusioned workers.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

TOOLS, RESOURCES AND PARTNERS

> NSF stands up directorate for technology, innovation, and partnerships // 17.03.2022, American Institute of Physics
Related press release: New National Science Foundation directorate to accelerate breakthrough technologies, societal and economic advances // 16.03.2022, NSF

> Mathematics for action: supporting science-based decision-making // 14.03.2022, UNESCO
Everything we do is based on some mathematical structure, and although mathematics is often considered abstract, it is fundamental to how we understand nature, the larger universe, with its time and space dimensions and a myriad of uncertainties. The Covid-19 pandemic brought mathematical modeling to the forefront of public attention and debate. Vocabulary such as ‘flattening the curve’ has become part of the collective lexicon. Governments all over the world rely on mathematics not only to forecast the epidemic but also to understand social issues like vaccine hesitancy. Mathematics has allowed for pivotal improvements in weather prediction and has applications in agriculture and fisheries. With new mathematical approaches, a tropical cyclone’s track can now be predicted up to 1 week in advance giving communities time to evacuate, and potentially saving lives and reducing economic losses. The Mathematics for Action toolkit focuses on engaging stories of mathematics in action. Written by mathematicians and thought leaders from across the globe, it presents fascinating research of how mathematics is addressing the world’s most pressing challenges. The toolkit provides insightful information for decision-makers and for all those who seek proofs to challenging questions and it presents new avenues for scientific research.

> L’innovation, «ADN du Pavillon Suisse» à l’exposition universelle 2025 // 18.03.2022, Le Matin
Ce vendredi, le Conseil fédéral a approuvé le message relatif à la demande de crédit pour la participation de la Suisse à l’exposition universelle 2025 à Osaka au Japon. Le plafond des dépenses s’élève à 17,6 millions de francs.

Communiqué de presse en lien.