The photovoltaic effect of ferroelectric crystals can be increased by a factor of 1,000 if three different materials are arranged periodically in a lattice. This has been revealed in a study by researchers at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU).

Image: Most solar cells are currently silicon based; however, their efficiency is limited. (CREDIT: Creative Commons)

Shopify was originally an online store that sold only snowboards. Its founders and leaders, frustrated by existing online storefronts, created what they considered an ideal sales platform for their designs. After recognizing that other online retailers had similar growth strategy challenges, however, they leaned into a new opportunity — from just selling snowboards to becoming an ecommerce platform for small business owners. And did that change of strategy ever pay off: Shopify now has a valuation of more than $50 billion.

India is on a mission in the very first year of Amrit Kaal. This mission is technology-driven. Technology will therefore be centre-stage during this phase of socioeconomic growth and development. We are the bright spot in a turbulent world.

However, India is currently 40th in the Global Innovation Index 2022. While we have leapfrogged by 41 counts in a span of seven years, we must aspire to be in the top 25 in the near term and in the top five by India @ 100. The Prime Minister has provided a huge impetus to innovation by adding Jai Anusandhan to the country’s evergreen slogan of Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan, Jai Vigyan.

At first glance, it seems like a rough time for venture capital, especially in the healthcare industry. Overall, venture investments in 2022 were down 35% from 2021, according to CB Insights, with digital health investments down over 50%. Biopharma investment beat the trend a little bit, according to Evaluate Vantage, down only 23% from the year before.

Image: Dimension founders Zavian Dar, Adam Goulburn and Nan LiDIMENSION

Expectations signal a difficult macro environment for the U.S. in 2023. Yet while venture markets are likely to be challenged in the near term, long-term opportunities remain. Here's a look at the economic factors shaping our outlook, what actions founders can take to navigate the challenging capital raising landscape and what J.P. Morgan is thinking about a potential turn in the exit environment from my article in the PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor Q4 report.

Last year was another tumultuous year in the workplace, with continued high employee turnover rates, evolving return-to-office policies, inflation, and more. In 2023, amid a looming economic downturn, organizations will continue to face significant challenges — and how they respond could determine whether they are an employer of choice. Several authors from Gartner’s HR practice predict nine trends that organizations will have to confront this year.

Organizations across the globe are pivoting their workplace technology strategy and many employers are grappling with big questions about which tools are needed to create a thriving hybrid environment in 2023.

Based on a JLL survey of over 1,000 companies worldwide, a vast majority expect to make significant changes to their tech stack over the next three years. Download the infographic highlighting the workplace technologies that were consistently mentioned by employers as top priorities and discover why those technologies are prioritized and how they change workplace.

After years of frenzy and soaring valuations, U.S. venture capital investment levels and returns came crashing down in 2022 as the world economy faltered.

The official year-end report by Pitchbook and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) showed that 2022 saw only $71.4 billion in total exit value generated, which is a 90.5% decline from 2021’s record of $753.2 billion and the first time this figure has dipped below $100.0 billion since 2016.

Image: VCs raised more money than ever in 2022. Image Credit: Pitchbook/NVCA

Tiny semiconductor chips are essentially the brains powering our modern lives. We use them all day long, in our coffee pots, our cars, our cellphones. But these tiny chips also hold the key to immense economic and government power. Those little silicon wafers help create advanced weaponry and are crucial to national security.

In a sandy field on the edge of the Mojave Desert in Lancaster, California, an array of solar panels sit next to dozens of long white boxes that are filled with used batteries from electric cars. At the site, more than 1,000 old batteries from Nissan and Honda EVs now have a second life: During the day, they store electricity from the solar panels and excess energy from the electric grid. At night, when California homes need more power and the supply of solar drops, the startup that runs the system, B2U Storage Solutions, sends electricity back into the grid.

Image: B2U Storage Solutions

Researchers are starting to unravel one of the biggest mysteries behind the AI language models that power text and image generation tools like DALL-E and ChatGPT.

For a while now, machine learning experts and scientists have noticed something strange about large language models (LLMs) like OpenAI’s GPT-3 and Google’s LaMDA: they are inexplicably good at carrying out tasks that they haven’t been specifically trained to perform. It’s a perplexing question, and just one example of how it can be difficult, if not impossible in most cases, to explain how an AI model arrives at its outputs in fine-grained detail.

Global Data created a celestial 3D animation comparing the scale size of astronomical objects in our known universe, beginning with the relatively minuscule Dwarf Planets and concluding with the Supercluster Laniakea which is more than 500 million light years wide.

Progress in AI systems often feels cyclical. Every few years, computers can suddenly do something they’ve never been able to do before. “Behold!” the AI true believers proclaim, “the age of artificial general intelligence is at hand!” “Nonsense!” the skeptics say. “Remember self-driving cars?”

The truth usually lies somewhere in between.

Image: This image was partially AI-generated with the prompt "a pair of robot hands holding pencils drawing a pair of human hands, oil painting, colorful," inspired by the classic M.C. Escher drawing. Watching AI mangle drawing hands helps us feel superior to the machines... for now. —Aurich

As law firms, businesses, and their clients adapt to the new realities of the legal and business worlds, law schools must prepare students in new ways—beyond traditional law school curricula and teaching methods—to give students an experience and education that better prepares them for their post-graduation careers.

Image: https://news.bloomberglaw.com

SaaS platform ProfitWheel has launched what it calls its flagship product: A tool that helps marketers operate without cookies.

The new product, Consumr.ai, enables large enterprise advertisers to discern their audience based on insights from their first-party data.

With cookies reportedly expiring in 2024, first-party data is ever more necessary for determining the content and offers that will best serve consumers, the company argues.

'With the introduction of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and other smart technologies, securing organisations from cyber threats becomes more challenging. And, that’s where innovation takes over because as technology grows, so shall cybersecurity'

When it comes to work and business ownership, there are two types of people in this world.

The first puts the company above everything. They work extremely long hours, almost never take time off, and prioritize work over family relationships, health, and just about everything else.

Like so many others, I have been playing around with ChatGPT, the chatbot AI offering from OpenAI. It does a reasonable job of writing articles (or even books), answering questions, and analyzing information.

But can it innovate? I decided to put it to the test.

Researchers may have made a massive breakthrough in quantum computing. According to a new study published in Nature Nanotechnology, researchers may have discovered a cheaper way to push large-scale quantum computers.

Quantum computing is an intriguing field that has seen quite a bit of growth over the past several years. However, there’s still a lot holding back the massive computers that researchers are working with – namely, their size and the sheer amount of control required to keep large-scale quantum computers running smoothly.

Successful product development means knowing what’s important to your audience and why — and what they’re willing to spend on it. For insight into nailing customer-focused product development at every stage of the process, don’t miss this VB Spotlight.