Google 2.0 Will Build Cities And Airports
Source: theverge.com
The world’s got problems and the Google CEO is searching for solutions.
As if self-driving cars, balloon-carried internet, or the eradication of death weren’t ambitious enough projects, Google CEO Larry Page has apparently been working behind the scenes to set up even bolder tasks for his company. The Information reports that Page started up a Google 2.0 project inside the company a year ago to look at the big challenges facing humanity and the ways Google can overcome them. Among the grand-scale plans discussed were Page’s desire to build a more efficient airport as well as a model city. To progress these ideas to fruition, the Google chief has also apparently proposed a second research and development lab, called Google Y, to focus on even longer-term programs that the current Google X, which looks to support future technology and is headed up by his close ally Sergey Brin.
None of these ambitions seem to be taking commercial considerations into account, at least not at their outset. More realistic and near-term goals have also been under discussion during Google 2.0 meetings, including Page’s determination that location tracking should be precise "down to the inches." That would allow people to identify those around them discreetly, as well as providing information to store owners that can help customize what you’re presented with as you walk through a shop. Also, just as Apple is doing with Touch ID on the iPhone, Page wants to see some form of biometric security — potentially provided by the sensors embedded in smartwatches — replacing the traditional (and traditionally insecure) written password. It’s hardly a surprise to see Google thinking about the future, but the ambition illustrated in this report is strikingly grand and all-encompassing, even for a company as vast as the one Larry Page controls.
Source: theverge.com
Also don’t forget that the Google Founder’s Wife are working on getting your DNA
Illumina, a company that makes tools for the study of human genes (and the genes of other animals and plants) has gotten a lot of attention as a result of its new partner, 23andMe.
23andMe is a well-funded ($10 million) start-up that was co-founded by none other than Sergey Brin’s wife herself, Anne Wojcicki. It will let you send in a sample of your own DNA, and return back a wealth of information regarding those chromosomes that make you who you are. When Google invested $3.6 million in 23andMe, along with Genetech and Esther Dyson, it caused a bit of a stir, as $2.6 million of the funding was to repay a loan that Brin had given to the company.
But back to the good stuff. 23andMe definitely looks to be an interesting project. Once you send in your DNA (from your saliva in most cases—just use a Q-tip), Illumina will process it and spit back all kinds of information. What Illumina does is make DNA chips, or SNPs (pronounced snips) when lets the company tell of the hundreds of DNA variations for each sample provided. This information can be used to help find ancestral information, or for medical purposes.
Your 23andMe account is kept private. 23andMe isn’t quite ready for public access, but Illumina has indicated that the service will be free. And what’s cool is that Jeff Flately, chief exec of Illumina, has saved slides of his own genome on his iPhone, meaning there’s a lot that you’ll be able to do with your DNA very soon.
