Nigeria is riddles with corruption, For (a small) example, the DPR (Department of Petroleum Resources) is devastated by corruption. At the end of 2006, for example, its Director was dismissed because he was involved in shady deals and contracts that were never fulfilled, a case which coincided with the discovery of $ 20 billion missing in the NNPC’s accounts.

Physical theft of oil is widespread, contracts are awarded on the basis of bribes and this has led to the paradox that the more crude oil and gas Nigeria sold, the less money it earned. In 2006, the domestic EFCC (Economic and Financial Crimes Commission) estimated that the federal government may have stolen or wasted more than $ 380 billion in total since independence.

And this is the shining light that will reduce emissions? Laughable.

How do they combat perennial grassy and sedge weeds? Broadleaf ones are easy, of course.

Which plant breeders looking at drought tolerance have been doing for decades at CIMMYT, ICRISAT - International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics - and others.

Let me do my duty as Eeyore. 15 years puts us almost in 2040. Then, the old rich world will be down to about a fifth of world output (versus 40% today, 95% in 1950) and geopolitics will have changed to match this. The emerging economies will have more graduates that the old rich world has people, most of whom will be elderly. Africa will continue to have most fo the world's youth, and will be on its way to a third of world population - always given that it remains stable and doesn't descend into chaos. The sole stable response of the old rich world is automation, including the integration of its workforce into advanced systems. Many will be unable to compete under such conditions, and a form of economic apartheid will separate players in secure urban environments and dependents into peripheral trailer parks. As this "stable response" is politically difficult, such outcomes will be hard to achieve and trade barriers and protectionist blocks to the broader world will be widespread. The old rich world will be sour with denial and blame: an ecosystem of Trumps.

In general, the world of 2040 will be one of systems, both natural and sociopolitical, under intense strain. The void that lurks below when management of these faisl will eb evidenced by several horrid examples. Where management succeeds, the outcome will achieve extraordinary heights, but always permeated by anxiety about the troughs and their ability to spread their rot. Successful societies will be watchful, authoritarian, Singapore writ large.

Fame at last, as an appendage. When we in Shell were looking at grocery ordering on an 'on line' that we were going to invent, we were naturally focused on single picking warehouses. Robotics were of course fundamental, but we settled on cassette dispensers, whereby manufacturers were to supply standard sized packages that were bulk broken and dispensed accordingly. Alll you then need was to tell the system which dispenser held what and belt-carry individual order "baskets" to appropriate dispensers. Arms waving around don't sound too practical, in the light of jams, misplaced feeds and so on.

Any encryption scheme is algorithmic can be undone with sufficient time and crunch. Current schemes rely on that time being long. It is hard to imagine any scheme that is not algorithmic that is also useful to Bob when Alice uses it. One time pads where the "key" fires off a distinct algorithm are not easily decryptable: caustic schemes for example. You just need a lotta lotta pads to service the internet base.

To what end? Sounds like the ultimate pointless goal.

History can appear cyclical because memes/ narratives repeat themselves: barbarians at the gate, exploitative elites, golden ages, wonder technologies. However, nothing in the actual data shows cyclicality: not innovation (Kuhn disproven), not political instability, not militarism, not nationalism nor expansionism. Some drivers have tended to produce common outcomes: urbanisation rapid increases in wealth disparities, famines and plagues. But those are just social symptomology, not cycles.

To quote the famous remark: "If you're so smart, how come you ain't rich?" If thisd fatuous headlien was even vaguely correct, the owners of this device would be cackling al the way to the bank. Instead, they write feeble press releases.

Prototype needs a bit of work before commercialisation. :)

1990s technology kept alive by congress for pork barrel reasons. It even looks rusty. And that's $35 bn down the tubes.

Set of random sentences set in random font sizes. What does "transforming concepts into thoughts" mean? Aren't the subject and object of the sentence transposed if it is to mean anything at all?

A particular archaism that pisses me off are aircraft seats. Why the hard, knobbly arm rests? Why the cut-you-in-half seat belts? Why ash trays, for god's sake?

Powering the battle field is a very hot topic.

Yet another hypothesis without a single scrap of evidence to support it. Just like the "crashed alien spacecraft", where are the inexplicable technological leaps that would follow from its dissection. Occam's Razor, please.

Obviously, otherwise ships would look like swans and aircraft like huge birds. But many think of gAI as discrete objects, boxes in dark rooms somewhere. Reality is that they will be a part of systems into which humans are embedded, aka companies and governmental organisations.