World Economic Forum (August 12, 2023) – This week’s top stories of the week include:

0:15 Scientists discover self healing metals – They have the ability to weld tiny cracks back together again without human intervention. Scientists were studying how microscopic cracks spread through platinum using a machine that repeatedly pulled on the ends of the metal. But after 40 minutes, the damage began to heal itself. The scientists said it was ‘absolutely stunning’ to watch first-hand. The finding revises some of our basic theories about metals.

1:42 Who owns a song written by AI – Music made with artificial intelligence has made headlines this year. In April, an AI-generated track cloned the voices of Drake and The Weeknd. Heart on My Sleeve racked up 20 million streams on Spotify, Tiktok and Twitter before copyright claims by Universal Music Group saw it pulled from platforms. The pop star Grimes has taken a different route, offering to split royalties with anyone who uses her voice on an AI track. The limits of creative copyright were once clear but AI has introduced uncertainty.

4:50 These special microbes kill harmful bacteria – The food industry struggles with persistent pathogens, such as Salmonella which causes fever, diarrhoea and stomach pain. In 2021, 96,000 cases of salmonellosis were reported in the EU. The illness costs up to €3 billion a year in health bills and lost productivity. These phage food safety solutions have been created by Phageguard. Phages are the most abundant organisms in nature and a natural solution to bacteria which they infect and dissipate. As well as being natural and safe, phages are specific to each target pathogen and unlike antibiotics, they don’t lead to side-effects or antimicrobial resistance (AMR)

6:24 Prescribing fruit and veg could save millions of lives – In the US, fruit and veg prescriptions would prevent almost 300,000 heart attacks and strokes and give people an extra 260,000 years of good health if they were offered to people with diabetes aged 40-79.

_____________________________________________

The World Economic Forum is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation. The Forum engages the foremost political, business, cultural and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. We believe that progress happens by bringing together people from all walks of life who have the drive and the influence to make positive change.