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Mars, the internet, e-commerce and science – what is the next big thing? All your essential sci-tech reading for the weekend.
1. What would it be like to live on Mars? Dr Niamh Shaw has a good idea
After years of dreaming about space, Dr Niamh Shaw is now aiming to get there, starting out with some training in Martian isolation.
2. Amazon now a fully-fledged grocery giant with $13.7bn Whole Foods takeover
Amazon is attempting to secure its future in the retail shopping space with the purchase of Whole Foods for $13.7bn.
3. Charles Dowd: ‘We plan to make Plynk a verb in every language
Having secured one of Ireland’s largest ever Series A rounds, entrepreneur Charles Dowd is not short on ambition.
4. Curious minds and good science communication are key, says US science chief
At Inspirefest, Dr France A Córdova will discuss her career and the challenges facing science today. She spoke to Claire O’Connell.
5. Blockchain ticketing and payments start-ups in Trinity accelerator
Having churned out start-ups with an accumulated €6m of funding in the past, Trinity’s LaunchBox accelerator has revealed the 2017 cohort.
6. Accenture set to close the gender gap by 2025
Multinational company Accenture commits to having a completely gender-balanced workforce by 2025.
7. Facebook to employ AI in the war on terrorism
Forget bible, beer and bullets. Facebook believes the solution in the battle against terrorism is people, AI and machine learning.
8. Techstars’ Connor Murphy: ‘SAP.io Foundry wants to accelerate some good start-ups’
Techstars’ Connor Murphy is calling on promising Irish start-ups in the B2B and enterprise SaaS space to compete for €120,000 in investment.
9. Supercomputer arms race hots up as US commits $258m to research
To try and stay ahead in the supercomputer arms race with China, the US is pumping $258m into six firms to speed up development.
10. Twitter gets a facelift: Mobile redesign is tweet chic
Will Twitter’s redesign attract new users or has that bird already flown?
