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Hey everyone, welcome to FutureProof - my Tech and Sustainability Digest.
It’s been a busy week what with a highly controversial Coldplay concert, Stephen Colbert’s late night show being axed, and the ICJ making a landmark climate ruling (more on that below). I’m reverting this newsletter to Thursdays - let me know if you prefer to receive it on Thursdays, or Fridays.
And as always this newsletter is dedicated to surfacing and sharing good news stories across tech and sustainability. If good news sounds like something you need, read on. And please share this newsletter with anyone/everyone else you feel could do with a little cheering up!
Climate News
The Planet Takes the Stand — And Wins
In a historic flex from the International Court of Justice, the UN’s top court has officially ruled that countries must protect their people from environmental harm - not because it’s a nice idea, but because it’s a legal human right. That’s right: the environment just lawyered up. The ICJ made it clear that climate inaction violates international law and that states can be held responsible for the carbon chaos they unleash across borders. For Pacific island nations and other climate-vulnerable countries, this is less about lawsuits and more about finally having legal ammunition in the fight for survival.
🔑 Key Highlights:
The ICJ declared that environmental protection is legally tied to basic human rights, especially for future generations.
States can now be held liable under international law for cross-border climate damage - think floods, fires, and forced migration.
The ruling doesn’t mandate specific emission targets, but it sets a global precedent: harm the climate, and you’re legally accountable.
Why This Matters: This ruling could supercharge climate justice, giving small and climate-vulnerable nations a fighting chance in the legal ring against the world’s carbon-heavy hitters.
Kismet: This all started with a handful of schoolkids and uni students in Vanuatu, who decided their future was worth taking all the way to the world’s highest court, and won. 👉 Full story here
AI News
AI Just Schooled the World’s Brightest Teens (At Maths, No Less)
DeepMind’s latest Gemini model has officially reached gold medal standard on the International Mathematical Olympiad - yes, the one where the world’s top teen brains go to sweat through six hours of proof-based problem solving with no calculators, no multiple choice, and absolutely no mercy. Gemini didn’t just do well, it performed like a top-tier human, complete with “DeepThink” mode to show its working, like a proper nerd. The upshot? AI is not only getting better at maths, it’s learning to reason, explain, and even write out full-blown mathematical proofs like the overachiever at the front of the class.
🔑 Key Highlights:
Gemini now matches the median score of human IMO gold medallists, without cherry-picking questions.
Its new “DeepThink” method boosts reasoning accuracy by explicitly tackling subproblems and building multi-step solutions.
Google says the model could help humans solve unsolved maths and science problems. (Looking at you, climate models.)
Why This Matters: If AI can tackle Olympiad-level reasoning, it’s not just solving maths problems, it’s inching closer to becoming a collaborative research partner across science, energy, and sustainability. That or Skynet!
Kismet: The IMO questions Gemini tackled were harder than any maths problem ever used to test an AI model, and it still aced them, all while showing its working out like a polite prodigy in a bowtie. 👉 Full story here
Protein Engineering Just Went Drag-and-Drop
Latent Labs has launched a web-based AI model that lets anyone - yes, even someone who still burns toast, design new proteins from scratch. Think of it like ChatGPT for molecules, but instead of writing haikus, it’s inventing the next biodegradable plastic, cancer drug, or meat-free burger ingredient. Their open-access platform skips the jargon and lets scientists (and garage biohackers?) tinker with protein structures like they’re playing with LEGO, powered by an AI transformer model trained on over 100 million proteins.
🔑 Key Highlights:
Latent Labs’ tool uses a generative AI model to create protein sequences with defined functions, from scratch.
The platform is browser-based and designed for accessibility, breaking down barriers to biotech R&D.
This could speed up breakthroughs in medicine, materials science, climate tech, anywhere proteins do the heavy lifting.
Why This Matters: It democratises one of the most powerful tools in modern science, opening the doors to a wave of bio-innovation that might just solve some of our biggest sustainability problems.
Kismet: The AI behind it was trained on a dataset 10× bigger than AlphaFold’s, and it’s open to the public, meaning a 17-year-old in her bedroom could now design a carbon-sucking enzyme. 👉 Full story here
Electromobility
Ethiopia to ICE: Get Stuffed
In a bold move that puts many wealthier nations to shame, Ethiopia has become the first country in the world to ban all imports of internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, and just to be clear, they don’t make any locally either. They’ve now expanded the ban to include SKD and CKD kits, shutting the door on petrol-powered cars entirely. Why? Because importing fuel is bleeding their economy dry, and they’ve decided EVs are the smarter, cleaner, and cheaper future. No oil, no problem.
🔑 Key Highlights:
Ethiopia is the first country globally to ban all ICE vehicle imports, including for assembly, with zero domestic production.
The policy is fuelled (ironically) by sky-high fossil fuel import costs and a push to protect foreign currency reserves.
The government is rolling out EV-friendly infrastructure and enabling local assembly of electric vehicles instead.
Why This Matters: It flips the script on who’s leading the energy transition, turns out the Global South doesn’t need to wait around for “leadership” from the usual suspects.
Kismet: The country that’s never made a combustion engine is now years ahead of most that do, Ethiopia’s public buses may go fully electric before the UK finalises its delayed ICE phaseout. 👉 Full story here
Ford’s Electric Pony Hits 250,000 Miles — Still Galloping
So much for EV batteries wearing out like cheap phone chargers. A first-gen Mustang Mach-E just passed 250,000 miles (that’s over 400,000 km for the rest of us), and the battery? Still has 92% of its original capacity. This isn’t lab data, it’s real-world, road-tested wear and tear from a car that’s been driven like it’s got somewhere to be. The owner barely did any maintenance, either. So next time someone brings up “battery lifespan,” point them to this electric workhorse and smile politely.
🔑 Key Highlights:
The Mach-E clocked 250,000 miles with only 8% battery degradation.
No motor or battery replacements, and maintenance was limited to tyres, wipers, and a 12V battery - even the brake pads are the originals.
Ford engineers are studying the car to inform future durability improvements.
Why This Matters: It shreds the myth that EV batteries are fragile or short-lived, and shows EVs can go the distance with far fewer breakdowns (and less oil-stained hands).
Kismet: If this Mach-E keeps up the pace, it could hit a million kilometres before a single drop of oil touches its insides, not that it ever needed one. 👉 Full story here
YASA’s Tiny Motor Just Smashed a Big World Record
UK-based YASA (owned by Mercedes-Benz) just built an axial flux electric motor that doubled the industry benchmark for power density, in plain English: smaller, lighter, cooler, and stupidly powerful. It clocked an unofficial world record with over 100 kW per litre and over 30 Nm/kg of torque density. That’s performance you’d usually find in sci-fi concept cars or Formula E, not in something that could soon be mass-produced. It’s still early days, but this might be the motor that lets EVs shed weight and gain range, and maybe even look good while doing it.
🔑 Key Highlights:
YASA’s new axial flux motor hits 100 kW/litre power density, 2× the current benchmark.
Its torque density of 30 Nm/kg also breaks known records, unofficially putting it at the top of the global leaderboard.
Axial flux motors are lighter and more compact than conventional radial motors, ideal for high-performance EVs.
Why This Matters: High power density means smaller motors, lighter EVs, better efficiency, and a potential leap forward in everything from electric aircraft to two-seater screamers.
Kismet: The same axial flux design that just broke records was first invented by a Belgian monk in 1821, Brother Zenobe Gramme would be proud. 👉 Full story here
From Tassie With Voltage: Battery Ferries Set Sail
Australian shipbuilder Incat has just landed a deal to build not one, but two massive battery-electric ferries for Denmark - and they’re going to be fast, quiet, and gloriously fossil-free. This isn’t some tiny harbour boat either. These beasts will carry 600 passengers and 188 cars at 25 knots. With nearly 40 megawatt-hours of battery capacity onboard (that’s more than 400 Teslas’ worth), these ferries will make waves, literally, as some of the largest fully electric vessels in the world. Diesel? Never heard of her.
🔑 Key Highlights:
Incat is building two fully electric ferries for Danish operator Molslinjen, 130 metres long, 40 MWh battery packs.
They’ll operate between Aarhus and the island of Samsø, replacing ageing fossil-fuel vessels.
This continues Incat’s shift away from combustion entirely, it’s not offering diesel models anymore.
Why This Matters: Shipping is one of the dirtiest transport sectors, but electrifying short sea routes like this is a giant leap toward cleaning it up.
Kismet: While Denmark has operated electric ferries since 2018, these will be the largest to hit its waters, and they’re being built 16,000 km away on a little island off Tasmania. 👉 Full story here
Clean Energy
China’s Clean Energy Exports Are Slashing Global Emissions (No, Really)
In 2024 alone, China’s solar panels, batteries, and EVs sold abroad will help cut other countries’ emissions by a staggering 1.5 billion tonnes of CO₂ - that’s more than Japan emits in a year. According to Carbon Brief, this green export boom means China is now indirectly decarbonising the rest of the world, even as it catches heat for its domestic coal use. Exports of solar alone are responsible for 838 Mt of avoided emissions, not bad for a country often cast as the climate villain.
🔑 Key Highlights:
China’s clean energy exports in 2024 are expected to cut global emissions by 1.5 gigatonnes, mainly through solar, batteries, and EVs.
That’s equivalent to about 40% of China’s own power sector emissions.
For every tonne of emissions China produces making clean tech, the exported tech avoids 3–4 tonnes overseas.
Why This Matters: It reframes the climate narrative: China’s not just the factory of the world, it’s become a massive exporter of decarbonisation.
Kismet: China now exports more clean energy tech than fossil fuels, a reversal that would’ve seemed absurd just a decade ago. 👉 Full story here
India Hits 50% Clean Power — Five Years Early
India just hit a major climate milestone: over half of its installed electricity capacity now comes from non-fossil sources, and it wasn’t supposed to get there until 2030. Solar, wind, hydro, and nuclear have quietly surged past coal and gas, making up 51% of the total grid mix. And no, this doesn’t mean coal’s gone (India still uses a lot), but it does mean the future is tilting faster than expected, with huge implications for grid planning, energy security, and global climate maths.
🔑 Key Highlights:
Non-fossil capacity now makes up 51% of India’s electricity, 5 years ahead of its Paris target.
Solar and wind lead the charge, but hydro and nuclear helped push it across the 50% line.
India’s total installed power capacity now exceeds 440 GW, with fossil fuels making up the minority.
Why This Matters: India is the third-largest emitter, and if it can fast-track clean energy, it sends a strong signal to other developing economies.
Kismet: India added more renewables in the last six months than Germany and the UK combined. 👉 Full story here
91% of New Renewables Are Cheaper Than Fossil Fuels (Yes, Still)
IRENA’s latest cost report is out, and it’s a blinder: in 2024, a whopping 91% of all newly installed renewable energy was cheaper than the cheapest fossil fuel alternative. The average cost of utility-scale solar fell another 13%, and onshore wind shaved off 7%, all while oil and gas whinged about volatility. Solar in China? As low as 2.5 cents per kWh. Wind in Brazil? Even cheaper. The clean energy cost gap is no longer a gap, it’s a canyon.
🔑 Key Highlights:
Renewables installed in 2024 will save developing countries up to $34 billion annually compared to fossil alternatives.
Global average costs fell to $0.049/kWh for solar PV and $0.033/kWh for onshore wind.
This marks the ninth straight year where renewables have consistently undercut fossil fuels on price.
Why This Matters: It obliterates the last remaining argument for new fossil generation: cost, clean energy isn’t just cleaner, it’s decisively cheaper.
Kismet: Solar costs have dropped 87% since 2010, if toothpaste followed the same curve, a tube would cost you 14 cents. 👉 Full story here
Science
A Universal Cancer Vaccine? Scientists Just Dropped a Big “Maybe”
In a twist that could rewrite medical textbooks, scientists have discovered a set of molecular flags, neoantigens, common to multiple cancers. That means we might be able to develop a universal vaccine to teach our immune system to hunt down a wide range of tumours, not just one at a time. The study’s still early-stage (mice, not humans), but it’s a tantalising first step toward cancer prevention that doesn’t rely on luck, genes, or brutally expensive treatments. It is bittersweet that I hear that shortly after learning of the death of a former SAP colleague Hans Thalbauer last weekend from cancer. RIP Hans, you’re missed.
🔑 Key Highlights:
Researchers found shared neoantigens across different human tumour types, opening the door to a potential pan-cancer vaccine.
In mice, vaccines based on these antigens reduced tumour growth and improved survival rates.
Human trials could be next, but much more research is needed before we start rolling up sleeves.
Why This Matters: It hints at a future where vaccines don’t just stop viruses, they might stop cancer too.
Kismet: The research team used AI-powered scanning to identify common neoantigens across thousands of cancer samples, speeding up a process that would’ve taken humans decades. 👉 Full story here
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Latest Publications
Why I’m Betting on Climate Optimism (And You Should Too)
In my latest blog post, I make the case that climate optimism isn’t naïve, it’s strategic. From plunging solar prices, to Africa skipping straight to EVs, the data says we’re already making massive progress. But if we let doom dominate the narrative, we risk derailing the very momentum we need to scale. This isn’t a pep talk, it’s a call for clear-eyed confidence rooted in facts, not vibes.
🔑 Key Highlights:
Climate doomerism is easy clickbait, but it’s often based on outdated data or outright myths.
Optimism, grounded in evidence, helps galvanise investment, policy, and public support.
From clean tech adoption to decoupling emissions from growth, there’s more progress than most people realise.
Why This Matters: The stories we tell shape the actions we take, and if we want to win the energy transition, we need a mindset built for mobilisation, not paralysis.
Kismet: Globally, more money was invested in solar in 2023 than in oil — a sentence that would’ve sounded delusional just five years ago. 👉 Read the full post here
PowerPoint Is Dead. Long Live Immersive Engineering.
In this episode, I sat down with Matt Trubow of Hidden Creative to talk about how immersive tech, think 3D virtual environments you can walk around in, not just click through, is transforming the way engineering firms do sales, onboarding, and knowledge transfer. His team built a browser-based platform, and it’s like Zoom with superpowers: you can invite clients into a digital replica of a wind turbine nacelle or a ship engine room, tear it apart, and have real-time conversations, all without stepping on a plane or into a hard hat zone.
🔑 Key Highlights:
Simmerse lets engineering teams demo complex products remotely, interactively, and safely — ideal for inaccessible or dangerous kit.
It tackles the knowledge gap caused by retiring engineers, helping preserve and pass on expertise through experiential learning.
The platform reduces travel, emissions, and sales cycle friction — all while impressing clients far more than “death by PowerPoint.”
Why This Matters: It’s a rare win-win: immersive tech cuts carbon, boosts safety, shortens onboarding, and makes engineers actually want to sit through a presentation.
Kismet: ABB saved nearly $700,000 in just six months by using this platform for meetings and demos, and clocked 3,000+ hours of user engagement across web and VR. 🎧 Listen to the full episode
Coming Soon to the podcasts
In upcoming episodes of the podcasts I will be talking to Ollie Carpenter, Director of Environmental Risk for Risilience, and Ori Shaashua, Co-founder and CCO of Gigablue.
Don’t forget to follow the podcasts in your podcast app of choice to ensure you don’t miss any episodes.
Featured Chart
I mentioned that Ethopia has banned the import of ICE engined vehicles, but Norway has been encouraging the purchase of EVs for far longer, and now 32% of the cars on their roads (not new car sales - new car sales are >95% EV) are EVs. Thanks to the synth pop group A-ha! If you are unfamiliar with that story, it is a cracker. Check it out here.
Misc stuff
Lots of memes emerged from last weekend’s Coldplay concert. I loved this one.
I was a big fan of Gary Larson’s Far Side cartoons. This one has a very similar vibe.
Engage
If you made it this far, very well done! If you liked this newsletter, or learned something new, feel free to share this newsletter with family and friends. Encourage folks to sign up for it.
Finally, since being impacted by the tech layoffs, I'm currently in the market for a new role. If you know someone who could benefit from my tech savvy, sustainability, and strong social media expertise, I'd be really grateful for a referral.
If you have any comments or suggestions for how I can improve this newsletter, don’t hesitate to let me know. Thanks.
*** Be aware that any typos you find in this newsletter are tests to see who is paying attention! ***
Should I change this email's format?
And Finally
When threatened, the Pope can puff out his neck frills to startle or intimidate predators and appear appear larger, more threatening, or more dangerous he actually is.
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