1 Elon Musk floats brain electrode firm (BBC) Tesla
chief executive Elon Musk has launched Neuralink, a start-up which aims to
develop technology that connects our brains to computers. A report from the
Wall Street Journal said the company was in its very early stages and
registered as a “medical research” firm.
The company will develop so-called “neural lace”
technology which would implant tiny electrodes into the brain. The technique
could be used to improve memory or give humans added artificial intelligence. According
to the Journal, leading academics in the field have been signed up to work at
the company which is being funded privately by Mr Musk.
Specialists in the field envision a time when humans
may be able to upload and download thoughts. Mr Musk is considered one of
Silicon Valley’s most visionary figures - and surely now its busiest.
As well as heading electric carmaker Tesla, Mr Musk
is involved with running space exploration company Space X, a project to
reinvent transport called Hyperloop and, most recently, a firm investigating
the feasibility of boring tunnels underneath Los Angeles - and a new project to
power Australia.
2 Big rise in visitors to UK (Will Coldwell in The
Guardian) Stay-at-home holidaymakers in the UK are likely to be rubbing
shoulders with even more overseas visitors this summer, according to statistics
that suggest Brexit could lead to an influx of foreign tourists.
As Article 50 is triggered, marking the start of the
process through which Britain will leave the EU, voices from the tourism
industry suggest this summer will be a strong period, with a record-breaking
increase in visitor numbers, as well as an increase in how much they spend.
Much of this increase will be down to the weaker
pound making the UK a more-affordable destination for foreign visitors.
According to Visit Britain, at the end of February 2017, the UK was 11% more
affordable for overseas tourists than it was in the same month last year.
The latest official figures released by Visit
Britain, show that January already set new records, with 2.85m inbound visits
to the UK. These visitors spent £1.5bn, up 15% on last year, while holiday and
business visits were also up a record-breaking 19% and 22% respectively.
Flight bookings to the UK for this summer, from
March-August 2017 are up 19%. Visit Britain forecasts this growth will continue
during the remainder of the year, with a total of 38.1m inbound visits – and a
total spend of £24.1bn.
3 Singapore staff seen least engaged in Asia
(Straits Times) Employees in Singapore are the least engaged among major Asian
markets, according to a new study. The term refers to how workers relate to
their companies.
This is measured by asking staff if they are
motivated to give their best at their jobs, if they say positive things about
their organisation and if they intend to stay for a long time. The annual
survey noted that Singapore's employee engagement score fell by 4 percentage
points to 59 per cent in 2016 - a stark contrast to 2015, when an increase of 3
percentage points was recorded.
The study by talent firm Aon Hewitt suggests that
workers here feel less meaningfully invested in their jobs, a trend seen most
prominently among younger employees. Millennials - people under the age of 34 -
indicated a dimmer view of the ways in which organisations involve and manage
their staff.
Workers in China, India, Indonesia, Thailand and the
Philippines were found to be more invested in their jobs than Singapore staff. Aon
Hewitt also found that, on the whole, employees in the Asia- Pacific region
were less engaged in 2016 than they were in 2015. Its research also showed that
a rise in employee engagement is linked to higher revenue growth.
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