Is this the smartest building in italy . The latest worker drones. And, beat this, a hearty handful. On july 12th, the internet, as we know it, will change. Go to amazon, twitter, reddit or many other sites and you could be asked to wait on a slower connection, or pay extra, or you may be blocked altogether. Thankfully, these warnings arent real. Theyre part of an internet wide protest, with the aim of protecting Net Neutrality. Net neutrality is the basic principle that protects our Freedom Of Speech on the internet. Its the guiding rules that have made the internet into what it is today, and it prevents our Internet Service providers so the Cable Companies like comcast, horizon and at t from controlling what we can see and do when we go online. Under the Net Neutrality principle, all data should be treated equally by isps. That means they cant slow down companies who refuse to pay to have their data prioritised, and they cant charge customers for fast access to certain data. But the Us Federal Communications commission, the fcc, voted recently to overturn rules from 2015 which enshrined these neutrality principles, and which meant Telecoms Firms could be fined for noncompliance. And that, says the organiser of the july 12th protest, will play right into the big Cable Companies hands. If we lose Net Neutrality, youre going to start to see the internet look more like cable tv. You can imagine trying to go to a Social Media Site and getting a notification from your Internet Service provider saying oh, sorry, if you want to access this site, you need to upgrade to our social media package. You need to upgrade to our streaming video package. You need to pay us more, in order to access the same sites that youve been using day after day for years. They can also go to those sites and charge them extra fees in order to deliver their content to users. And, of course, those fees get passed on to all of us. So its really an issue that affects every Single Person that uses the internet, regardless of your political views. Its gonna hit us in the pocketbook. And this wontjust affect us internet users. If you use an american web service which, lets face it, is most of us it may affect the service that they provide to us. The fcc says that the 2015 rules are unnecessary and may have stifled investment in next generation networks. And free market think tanks agree. Well, this fight could have been resolved ten years ago if it were reallyjust about Net Neutrality. This has really primarily been a fight about the fccs power to regulate the internet. We had our first major update to our Communications Law 20 years ago, and that law made it unclear exactly how the fcc was going to regulate the internet, and that ambiguity has left the agency to wrestle with this issue for a decade. And in a nutshell, there were simpler, better ways of dealing with this issue. There were other agencies that could have addressed Net Neutrality concerns when they arose, starting back in 2008. And congress has three times tried to legislate, and both republicans and democrats, i think, share the blame for missing the opportunity to craft a solution that would resolve this issue. And that, unfortunately, has led us to where we are today, which is a thorough rule making at the fcc to deal with this issue of Legal Authority, when the rules themselves the core of Net Neutrality have really never been controversial. Well, i wonder what the original inventor of the concept of Net Neutrality would make of these changes. You know, its. Very disappointing, lets put it that way. So, you know, the Obama Administration had finally put Net Neutrality into law, done a good job with it, everyone was happy, but out of nowhere, the trump administration. And its not been any Public Movement against Net Neutrality, its really the cable and phone Companies Want to make more money, lets put it that way. And they have somehow kind of, under the cover of trumps madness, managed to start the process on Net Neutrality. The thing is making the government realise that there are severe electoral consequences for messing with Net Neutrality. It has to be understood as the third rail, that you mess with this and youre going to get people very angry and descending on constituents. But not everyone agrees that next weeks protest will make much of a difference. The current fcc leadership has been very clear about their views of the fccs Legal Authority and their minds are not going to be changed by an angry mob or what amounts to policy arguments. Well, whatever happens next week, i have a feeling it wont be the last word we hear on Net Neutrality. Just a hunch welcome to the Royal Society of arts, in london, which this week was hosting its annual summer science exhibition. For one week only, universities from around the country gather here to bring their cutting edge Science Experiment out of the lab and into the publics imagination. Oh, you see, its great being a kid in another room, i got to feel the difference between a Healthy Heart and one suffering from cardiomyopathy. The robotic Hearts Beating in sync with my own heartbeat, which is being detected by the monitors on my wrists. You feel this ones beating quite regularly. This one is. Its beating faster and its beating weaker. So if my heart was diseased, it would feel more like this one. Which is a good incentive not to get one of these oh, and by the way, if you were wondering who the next doctor who is going to be. Two hearts. Right, time to get them beating a bit faster. Whether you love or loathe a trip to the shops, retail is changing, but theres more to it than people just shopping online instead. Can i just see what colours there are down lower . Heres an idea that takes shopping online a step further. O ne com pa nys software allows you to go a shops website and, from there, you can connect to a Shop Assistant in store, wholl be wearing a pair of smart glasses. Yeah, what do we have there on the right . There are some bags. Can you please take the cream bag off the shelf, and can you open it and show me the compartments . The shop has actually found that the same experience being streamed to a mobile has actually proved more popular than the smart glasses. And although i found the experience pretty good, it does of course have some limitations. Oh, i see, i wasnt expecting that. I thought it was going round your waist. Im glad i asked you. If, when shopping online, youre worried about getting your size right, then these smart leggings could help. They aim to be able to measure you and tell you the exact right size ofjeans that you should be buying. Hmm likeaglove hopes to measure women for the right size and style of jeans for their body shape. The stretchy measuring leggings connect via bluetooth to a smartphone app, where your stats will be stored, so you can keep track of your body shape. Oh, my Waist Measurement here seems to be about five inches larger than i thought it was and a fair bit bigger than the jean size i normally wear. When i clicked through to the suggestions, my size was as expected. The company say these measurements represent where the jeans would sit, rather than actual measurements you would expect. Might upset a few people along the way, though but another trend emerging is that we head back to the high street, but Shop Assistants as we know them dont. These Online Stores are open 2a hours a day, with only a series of cameras and microphones keeping an eye on you. You gain access through your smartphone, use it to scan your purchases and pay, then head off. Their first branch opened in sweden last year, followed by another in shanghai recently. The launch of amazon gos first store in seattle appears to have been delayed, but aims to replace queues and checkouts by using computer vision, Deep Learning and data from sensors. It will see what youve picked up in store and, in turn, charge your amazon account. But one us company has another idea about self service. Well, on first view, this does just look like an ordinary Vending Machine that happens to have a tv screen on it, but a machine like this could soon be selling alcohol, cannabis and even guns. Let me explain more. The device uses biometric sensors to identify users by the veins in their fingers, meaning you can turn a Standard Machine into an apparently secure one, only dispensing goods to the person with the right to collect them. And, yes, in the us, that item could be a gun. The Company Claims the machinery uses the same level of security employed by us military and large corporations to access facilities, but they do add. Everything is hackable. If its connected to the internet, they say where theres water, theres sharks. Where theres internet connectivity, somebody can make their way in there, perhaps. Weve jumped through every possible hoop we can do to make sure that only the Person Standing in front of it is able to get the product that they want if its that sort of regulated product. Right, and there are guns and alcohol available too . So some fellas are going out hunting and they leave late from work, and they rush out of the kitchen to catch up with their friends. Usually, youre far outside the city limits, youve made a whole plan, youve made your trip, you get out and you say, oh, i forget my ammo. In this situation, a Secure Machine would allow you to pick up some ammo, or even a replacement gun, if youre in the system. Maybe get their whiskey off the one side, get their ammo off the other, and head on into the camp and have a fine weekend of hunting. Ok, maybe this isnt solving a problem that many people have. And suddenly, the idea of shops without assistants doesnt seem so surprising. Welcome to this weeks tech news. Volvo announced theyll only make electric and hybrid cars from 2019. Formula one racing Team Williams unveiled a carbon fibre baby carrier that can transport critically ill newborn infants by ambulance or helicopter. The ba bypod protects against vibrations and can be kept at a constant temperature. And sex robots designed to look like children should be banned. A report looking into the future of peoples sexual relationships with robots said policymakers need to look at the issue and decide what is acceptable. Dubai police are to introduce a robot cop and autonomous patrol cars. The vehicles will use 360 degree Surveillance Technology to identify suspicious objects, launch a mini drone, and even give chase to suspects. Googles in the doghouse again this time, for a deal with a uk hospital that didnt respect the privacy of patients. The uks Information Commissioner ruled that 1. 6 million Patient Details were provided to Googles Deepmind illegally, to help develop an app to diagnose kidney failure. And could tickets be replaced by inaudible sounds . Well, it seems maybe. Ticketmaster has teamed up with listener, a company that uses Ultrasonic Sound Technology to transmit information between devices. Checking into a venue with an app would give off the sound, and organisers could log who was in and where they are unless your phone dies, of course. Back at the Royal Society of arts, i finally got my robotic heart to beat a bit faster. Our individual lifestyles may affect our health personally, but our collective lifestyles have been affecting the world that we live in. Its one thing to talk about Climate Change and its effects on the environment, but its another thing to actually see it in action. This is a simulation of the c02 that was in the atmosphere in 2006. The redder bits are the most c02 heavy. Whats really interesting is, have a look at the difference between the north and the south. Just look how much c02 is covering china and the united states. If, indeed, thats what im looking at, because you really cant see it under all the c02. This work was created by the uks met office and the Natural EnvironmentResearch Council. The scientists mashed up historical weather data with information coming from all sorts of modern sensors, including things like air traffic data, to try and predict the worlds climate in the future. Theyre wanting to see how all different components that affect the climate the oceans, the atmosphere, the land and ice how that all interacts. And really, thats so the met office and also the Natural EnvironmentResearch Council and their Research Centres can kind off give messages about whats likely to happen and, therefore, what likely changes were going to need to keep to a safe level of Global Warming of two degrees. But pollution comes in many forms. If you live in a big city, for example, im sure you would count the noise and congestion as just as harmful to your health as the air that we breathe. Now, currently, half of the worlds population lives in cities and, in the next decade, thats expected to rise to five billion. And technology will be part of the solution. Senseable city lab, from mit, has brought together a team of scientists and designers to truly understand our urban needs and how we can improve the designs of our cities in the future. The Agnelli Foundation was set up by the family behind fiat cars, and its new shared office space has become a Living Research lab for the university. Cat travelled to turin, in italy, to meet its designers. Like many things italian, everything here is very stylish. This 60s building and the old italian villa next door, which was once home to mr fiat himself, were recently redeveloped and brought bang up to date. Well, even the cafeterias suitably smart. As trendy as this place may be, its design is farfrom over. Going forward, the chief architects of this space will not be its creators, but its inhabitants. The idea behind this whole place is similar to any Big Data Project collect as much information as possible and make the whole thing more efficient. One theory on trial here is personalised heating. Instead of setting the heating for the whole building, workers here are able to set their own desired temperatures. So this system is actually quite clever. When theres a few of us there in the same space, the system above us will take everyones preferences and just average it out. And despite different personal heating settings, this setup is proving to be more efficient. The very good thing is that by understanding your position, the system will shut down if youre not there. Were still, lets say, simulating numbers, but were almost sure that the improvement, the ecological and Energy Improvement of the building, could be up to 25 , in terms of consumption. Beyond the personalised heating, the doors unlock and lights come on as you approach, and you can find your colleagues on a map. Researchers hope these features will entice more users to download the app and share their location data, so they can really get an accurate picture of how the building is being used, identify dead corners and spaces and improve the overall design in the future. Very often, we speak about architecture as our third skin. The first one in our biological skin. The second one, our clothes, and the third one is actually the physical space we inhabit. So far, this third skin has been very rigid, really like a corset. With this building, were making an attempt, we make a step forward and we want to try to understand if this third skin could be something more flexible, more tailored to our needs and to the needs of the occupants of the space. This experiment is just the very beginning and its hard to think how rigid structures such as buildings could one day become more personalised and flexible, but im excited to think that we can all have a small say in what works. That was cat in italy. Now, smart cities wontjust consist of Smart Buildings and self driving cars, above our Heads Autonomous Drones will be busily buzzing about, too. Drones already today are an integral part of the city. In future they will be even more dominant. They will be doing deliveries, they will be doing traffic control, monitoring, for example, they will be doing aerial and water sampling. Pollution monitoring. But also infrastructure, maintenance, servicing, and repair. The drone im controlling is one of those repair drones, or at least a very early prototype. So, down, up, left, right, forward, back. He is flying the thing, im in charge of the robot arm underneath, which may one day be able to build, manipulate, and fix things