Page 3 - BBC Focus - August 2017

AUGUST 2017
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To anyone taking a stock check of our planet’s
resources, the future doesn’t look bright. Coal,
gas and oil supplies are shrinking. Indium, There is a group
nickel and tantalum – just some of the metals of marine
that go into our smartphones – are being used animals known
as sea spiders
faster than we can dig them up. Food supplies
–› p56
and drinkable water are becoming strained as
our planet’s population swells and the climate
changes. It’s easy to imagine that the next
century could be characterised by scarcity.
And that’s without considering the ethical and ecological
consequences of acquiring these precious resources. However, there
is another way to look at this problem. On p36 Matt Ridley makes his Emotions
case for a different future, one that’s brighter than you might think. amplify pain,
Just one more thing… I’m a big crime fan. Columbo’s more my making it feel
flavour than The Killing; I love a great whodunnit. But the crime worse –› p70
genre might be in trouble, as breakthroughs in the likes of genetics
and AI are about to make solving crime a lot simpler. For instance,
some cities are already working on systems that will help them
predict crimes before they happen, much like earthquakes. And if
someone does commit a crime, in the near future the police will You could
probably be able to establish what the suspect looks like and what throw a
frisbee on
they’ve been up to from a few samples of blood and hair. There’ll be no
Mars, but
savant-like detectives either, as all the real work will be done by an you’d have to
artificial intelligence that’s studied every criminal case from the last put some effort
decade. Even then, unless they teach it to gather all its suspects into a in! –› p81
room before delivering a lengthy monologue revealing the culprit, I
suspect crime writers are going to have to shake up the genre. I jest,
but the point stands that the way we fight crime is going through a
revolution right now, turn to p48 for more. Frogs can keep
milk fresh
–› p88
Daniel Bennett, Editor

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