Uncomfortable truths
Confronted with unsatiable demand for milk, New Zealand's fragile ecosystem is front-running environmental risks exposing much larger economies worldwide, glad to supply in the short term, but at what cost ?
21st Century
Land of milk and honey
Ratcheting up milk supply, New Zealand is now coping with the environmental fallout. Too much of a good thing or, more probably, a warning shot the major global agriculture exporters would discount at their peril
Dr. Moll's challenge
The achievements of Fred Moll in medical robotics are close to legendary but the collaboration of Dr. Moll with Johnson & Johnson, may raise the bar, with real-time management of the data feeds informing the robotics applications - the next frontier...
Radical start-ups for radical research
Challenging dominant Intuitive Surgical, many robotics systems are coming to market but the vast ambitions of Auris Health stand out and Verb Surgical, a Google / Johnson & Johnson partnership, is waiting in the wings
Sweet spot for satellites ?
Sharply reduced launch costs and radical advance in satellite technology open the door for a new era in global communications. Constellations of satellites still need to prove their case but the future is beckoning
The future of energy storage
Associate Professors J. Johnson and J. DeCarolis, North Carolina State University, envision the advent of grid-scale batteries, providing the utilities with flexible energy delivery, if the price per KwH of lithium batteries continues to plummet
Improved lithium-ion battery technology
To charge the battery, the anode loads up lithium ions. Ions travel through the electrolyte to the cathode to generate power With a higher ‘upload’, replacing the graphite anode by a silicon – graphite mix anode, the battery will generate more power
The (Trade) War of the Machines
The future of trade ? Let’s watch the machines…
Fanuc and the tale of two Smith
Fanuc, a Japanese company listed in Tokyo (ticker – 6954), is a major player in industrial robotics worldwide
An electrifying future
Viewing China’s expansion in the car industry, one of the top action plans singled-out in ‘Made in China 2025’, in a broader context and on a much longer horizon
Playing the long game in EVs globally
Electrical battery production is – to some extent – yesterday’s story and competitive advantage on brand alone could become hard to keep up ...except for advanced research, which is becoming an indispensable differentiating factor
Education and the local community
Innovations in the public school system might contribute to an inclusive ‘public-private’ model - Reviewing Sam Meyers' recent book "Education and the Commercial Mindset"
Will gene therapies become affordable ?
With a small number of facilities in the US, the logistics of individual treatment – and their length – are likely to limit patient access and the pricing structures raise issues with vast implications for insurers and patients alike
Immunotherapy by adaptive cell transfer (ACT) - CAR-T
The foundations of cancer treatment have been surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy and targeted therapies homing in on specific molecular changes seen primarily in cancer cells
ADM, Bunge and global soybean, corn and grain trading networks
4 commodity traders - ADM, Bunge, Cargill and Louis Dreyfus - and a new potential entrant - Glencore amidst wide swings in the grain and soybean markets
Growing security concerns in an interconnected world
There is little doubt the massive Equifax [EFX/NYSE] data breach (publicized in September ’17) generated a wave of potential customer leads and renewed investor interest in the industry