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When science fiction becomes science factFrom underwater laboratories to autonomously changing liquid metal, rolling robots to real-world invisibility, Hollywood boldly takes us where no [wo]man has gone before, giving us tantalising glimpses of technology to come. Who knew when audiences first saw the iconic Star Trek communicator on their TV screens back in the 1960s […]

After All: The eerie quietness of Berlin’s deserted and dimly lit ghost stationsMy first introduction to one of Berlin’s lesser-known Cold War relics, the so-called ‘ghost stations’, or Geisterbahnhöfe, was spontaneous and totally unexpected. Having just landed at Berlin’s Schöenefeld Airport, we took an S-Bahn (overground) train to Friedrichstrasse Station, where we changed to the […]

Odense Robotics cluster: inside Denmark’s robot nurseryThe city of Odense in Denmark has set out to make itself a centre for the development and commercialisation of robotics technology. It has created the Odense Robotics cluster in which, at the latest count, 129 companies plus suppliers and research facilities interact with each other to reinforce their […]

Money & Markets: Market noise reflects coronavirus concerns but logic will prevailThe market is meant to be a perfect judge of all information so that the price of any instrument is right all the time, every time. Industry professionals rebel against this idea because you can’t add value for customers if this is true. A […]

Proposed points-based immigration rules prioritise STEMThe points-based rules will prioritise high-salary and high-skilled workers and will ostensibly put an end to immigration of non-English speakers. Points will be assigned for certain criteria and only award visas to applicants who have 70 points and who meet “essential criteria”: fluency in English and a job offer from […]

Chancellor told to protect cash as declining use threatens its futureThe use of cash has been consistently falling for the last decade with card use overtaking it (13.2bn annual payments compared to 13.1bn for cash) at the end of 2017. Since then cash has continued to fall and 13 per cent of free-to-use cashpoints were […]

What has the XPrize done for us lately?The first XPrize, as we know it, launched in 1996. It was a $10m (£8.1m) prize offered to the first private company to fly a reusable, manned craft into space. Yet the concept was born earlier. In 1919, hotelier Raymond Orteig offered $25,000 – the equivalent of around […]