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News from the future – December 17th, 2018

17 December 2018 | Written by La redazione

Virgin Galactic has reached space

The era of space tourism is a little closer: on Thursday, December 13, the Virgin Galactic spacecraft VSS Unity reached the first altitude of about 80 kilometres, thus overcoming the boundary beyond which the Space begins by convention. The space company of Richard Branson has taken an important step forward in the road that, hope for Virgin, will soon offer private citizens the opportunity to make space travel. In previous tests, VSS Unity had reached a maximum altitude of 52 kilometres. Although Virgin is not yet ready to offer the service to tourists, the company claims to have already collected hundreds of reservations, for tickets costing 250 thousand dollars.

 

Coffee is in danger: robots are threatening it

Whether it is espresso, macchiato or American, coffee is undoubtedly one of the most popular drinks in the world, an essential fuel for many workers. However, in the future, we may no longer need caffeine and the blame lies with robots. A report from the RBC financial consulting firm, published in Business Insider, explains how the development and deployment of artificial intelligence systems and robots will minimize the categories of workers who consume the most coffee today. On the contrary, the workers of the future will have an ever greater need to think and relax and for this, according to the study, will increase in consumption of products rich in CBD, is one of the substances found in cannabis. I wonder if even in Italy, where coffee is an institution almost comparable to pizza, we will succeed in renouncing our preferred energy source.

 

Google will not sell facial recognition systems for now

One of the technology giants of the world, Google, reaffirms its commitment also on the ethical front. After announcing stringent rules for the development of artificial intelligence systems, facial recognition has now ended in the spotlight of the Mountain View Company. Google ensures that it will not make available the systems until defining important technological and ethical aspects.

 

Bitcoin: half of the accounts have less than 4 dollars

In 2018, the value of Bitcoin has gradually decreased, leading to a quotation that now is around 3 thousand dollars. Currently, there are 17.4 million Bitcoins in circulation, for a total capitalization of 60 billion dollars. However, how is their distribution? A survey by the research firm Delphi has shown that almost half of the Bitcoin portfolios contain less than 0.001 Bitcoins, about 3.40 dollars. In addition, almost 90% contained less than one-tenth of Bitcoin, $ 340. For now, to have really invested in this cryptocurrency are few, therefore. What will happen in the near future?

 

Genetic editing for the agriculture of the future

In California, a group of researchers has succeeded in producing seeds able to give life to rice plants from the genetic code identical to that of the mother plant, thanks to the use of the Crispr-cas9 technique and keeping unchanged all the characteristics of the food. In fact, for decades, studies have been focusing on creating plants that are more resistant to atmospheric phenomena and diseases. These, however, are not able to transmit the “new” characters to subsequent generations: the advantage gained in hybridization is lost and the farmers have to buy the seeds again with unsustainable costs. Thanks to this study, however, rice can grow up starting from new seeds, “designed” to reproduce in an asexual way, giving life to specimens that have the genetic characteristics of the mother plant. The grains of rice on your plate, therefore, could be clones.

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