The notion of nanoscale self-replicating machines getting out of control and covering the earth in “gray goo” is an idea proposed by Eric Drexler in his 1986 book Engines of Creation. Similar to how cancer cells begin multiplying in an out of control fashion and wreaking havoc in a host organism, machines might be capable of doing something very […]
A machine learning algorithm is only as good as the data you use to train it with. That’s why any company that has a large proprietary data set can now start to extract exclusive insights from it, something that in the olden days we used to call “data mining.” Nowadays, it’s all about trying to predict the […]
We do lots of research here at Nanalyze, and over the years we’ve learned that market size estimates are largely useless. This quickly becomes apparent when you go gather every single estimate out there and compare the numbers. Essentially, what you get are a bunch of MBAs who all use different methods to arrive at different […]
The term “metadata” refers to data that describes data, and it comes in quite handy when you’re training machine learning algorithms. Take for example a picture of a table with a plate of eggs, bacon, and toast along with a couple of hands holding utensils. We can easily label the individual objects – knife, fork, left hand, […]
Mental illnesses affect 15.5% of the global population. They’re the leading cause of disability-adjusted life years, accounting for 37% of healthy years lost from non-communicable diseases. Even worse, mental health conditions are on the rise, with some estimates putting the costs to the global economy up to $16 trillion between 2010 and 2030 if global healthcare systems […]
Retailers are getting smarter by the day, tidying up shelves and aisles with merchandising insights driven by machine learning algorithms. Robots can now optimize inventories at stores with self-service checkouts relaying instant information from the point of sale. Automation goes all the way to the top of the enterprise, with senior managers turning to predictive analytics tools to help them find ways […]
The best thing about having a large audience of readers, and the worst thing about having a large audience of readers, is that when you make mistakes, people call you out on it. Well, at least you hope they will. The worst thing that could happen is if people thought “let’s just not say anything […]
We write about emerging technologies at Nanalyze because we fundamentally believe that advancements in areas like artificial intelligence and robotics will make life better in tangible ways – and investors need to understand the companies behind the curtain. These technologies can obviously be abused to oppress people (or create a great society, depends on who you […]
We’ve all heard some variation of the adage about how 98% of the world’s data was created in the past two years, and at the rate the Internet of Things (IoT) is developing, that should continue to hold true. A firm out there has now developed an IoT sensor that can actually power itself using […]
The first time you fly into Los Angeles on a clear-ish day, and look across the great concrete expanse of the city, you see a landscape that’s so barren it would seem that the only thing growing there is the crime rate. That’s not entirely true though, because as the property values in Silicon Valley […]