Bill Gates’ top 10 breakthrough technologies of 2019. 

Writer: Timothy Sirma

With a personal fortune estimated at $96 billion, Bill Gates is the world’s second wealthiest person, ahead of Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg ($60 billion) but some way behind Jeff Bezos of Amazon ($135 billion).

Since founding Microsoft, Gates has become a leading player in a new wave of philanthropy.

Through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, he has invested heavily in research into malaria and Alzheimer’s and given billions of dollars to fund health and education initiatives.

It’s perhaps not surprising then that when he turned his attention to the 10 Breakthrough Technologies list for the MIT Technology Review innovations that strive to do good, as well as to achieve commercial success feature prominently.

In conversation with MIT Technology Review , he explains the rationale behind his top 10 choices.
Three of his top 10 focus on reducing the planet’s dependence on fossil fuels and reducing carbon emissions. There’s already a great deal of work underway in the developed world on expanding the use of renewables.

But Gates is at pains to point out the real challenges lie elsewhere: “... when you say to India, ‘Provide electricity to everyone to have things we take for granted – heating, air conditioning.’ Their path is to build more coal plants. That’s the cheapest form of electricity for them.”

Similarly, one breakthrough technology is a toilet which functions without being connected to a sewer network.


The reason Gates sees this as crucial is that in many parts of the developing world, the infrastructure costs for building a network of sewers and sanitation are simply too high. Added to which, 844 million people don’t have enough clean water to drink, let alone for flushing toilets.

Instead, Gates believes a toilet that can filter wet waste, and separate out solids for safe incineration, can deliver a huge improvement in health and quality of life without astronomical investment. It’s a pragmatic take on a seemingly intractable
problem.

That outlook is also in evidence with another of his choices – animal-free meat.

“Only about a quarter of emissions come from electricity generation,” he says. “This is a category that people weren’t paying much attention to as a greenhouse-gas problem. And yet I think the path to solve it is clearer than in, say, cement or steel or other materials.”

Lab-grown meat and plant-based alternatives are two potential alternatives to the currently meat-rich diet of many parts of the world , and would help reduce some of the resource-consumption related to livestock farming.

These alternatives could also free up stocks of grains and pulses currently used as animal food and divert them to feed the world’s growing population.

The inspiration for some of the top 10 came from one of Gates’ favourite pastimes – reading.

“Reading is my favourite way to learn about a new subject – whether it’s global health, quantum computing, or world history,” he says.

From the importance of sanitation (covered in Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo) to the future of humankind in an AI-centric future (Life 3.0 by Max Tegmark and Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari), the list of top 10 tech books Gates has pulled together illustrates how he is driven by a thirst for new ideas.

Even though some of those books contain bleak, even dystopic views of the future, Gates describes himself as an optimist and believes a more inclusive, more holistic use of technology can make inroads into people’s quality of life.

“Look at how long people are living, the reduction of under-five mortality, the reduction in how poorly women are treated,” he says. “Globally, inequity is down: poorer countries are getting richer faster than the richer countries are getting richer.”

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Safety concerns raised over breast implants

An investigation has raised safety concerns about the most commonly used type of silicone breast implant in the UK.

Women in France are now being advised not to use "textured" silicone implants while authorities investigate links with a rare form of cancer.

British women are still having the implants put in and there has been no warning from the UK regulator to stop.

It says it will take action when it sees there is a problem.

A Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority (MHRA) spokesman said: "We know that there are ongoing concerns about the safety of silicone breast implants - we're keeping a very close eye on that."

Manufacturers say the safety of the implants is supported by extensive testing and studies, as well as more than a decade of use in America and Europe.

The BBC's Panorama programme has been investigating implants with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and organisations around the world, including the Guardian newspaper and the British Medical Journal.

'Mortified'

Janet Trelawny had breast cancer over 20 years ago. Her breasts were removed and replaced with textured implants.

Now, she has been diagnosed with breast implant associated lymphoma (BIA-ALCL).

It is not breast cancer but a type of cancer of the immune system.

In most cases, it is found in the scar tissue and fluid near the implant. But in some, it can spread throughout the body.

She said: "It's frightening to think that something that I'd done because I've had a cancer previously has then caused me to get cancer again.

"I was absolutely mortified. I'm frightened that this can happen and I had no idea."

Janet is waiting for further biopsy results and has been told she will need to have chemotherapy to treat her cancer.

Under investigation

The French have been investigating breast implants since 2011, when they started receiving reports of BIA-ALCL.

The risks of developing it after an implant vary around the world but are thought to be very small.

As of September 2018, the MHRA has received 57 reports of ALCL in patients with breast implants, 45 of which meet specific diagnostic criteria.

That puts the estimated risk of BIA-ALCL at about one per 24,000 implants.

BIA-ALCL appears to have occurred with textured implants made by every manufacturer, according to the British Association of Plastic and Reconstructive Aesthetic Surgeons (BAAPS).

Breast implants come with different fillings and different surfaces - smooth and textured.

In the UK, 99% of breast implants used are textured, according to BAAPS.

More checks

Dr Suzanne Turner, an expert in breast implant associated lymphoma at Cambridge University, said: "It is a concern, absolutely, particularly now that we're seeing breast implant associated lymphoma developing in these ladies.

"So, the risk is small but it's a risk that we should know about and be informed of."

The investigation discovered that some manufacturers did not carry out adequate tests before selling textured implants to the public.

These tests are called biocompatibility tests and they assess how the body responds to a product.

The manufacturers argued the tests were unnecessary but the French regulator said: "Almost all of the arguments put forward by the manufacturers were considered to be unacceptable for justifying the lack of biocompatibility tests."

Some manufacturers now say that they have completed the necessary biocompatibility tests.

But the secrecy around the regulatory system does not allow us to see what was done.

The investigation has also found out that manufacturers in Europe and America have under-reported problems with breast implants.

Some haven't told regulators when the implants rupture, because they say it's a routine event.

Nobody knows the scale of the risks, because the implants haven't been adequately tracked when they've been put into people and problems may take years to develop.

A register for breast implants was set up in 2016 but at the moment it's still voluntary.

Carl Heneghan, professor of evidence based medicine at Oxford University, says campaigners have been asking for a register for 25 years.

"Every implant should be in a register because that's what defines patient safety. In the absence of that, we're in the dark."

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SEE The Terrible Thing That Happened To Lady's Head After She Used A Hair Dye (Photos) 

Healthy Living


A woman's head doubled in size after a horrific allergic reaction to a common hair dye that left her struggling to breathe.

19-year-old English student Estelle, from Paris, shared photos showing her shocking disfigurement caused by the chemical PPD, which is found in 90 percent of hair dyes.

Estele had bought a standard DIY hair dye from a supermarket in Val-de-Marne, on the outskirts of Paris. But, she stunned social media in France after she posted her allergic reaction to PPD, in which her face looks increasingly swollen and raw.

The horrific reaction had first caused her scalp to itch before the top of head started to swell up. Estelle had attempted to treat herself using antihistamines and cream from a pharmacist but she awoke the next day to catch a glimpse of her inflated reflection.

Speaking to French daily Le Parisien, Estelle said: “I could still see; here I was struggling to breathe."

“My forehead had doubled in volume. My head was like a light bulb”.

Her tongue started to swell up and she was rushed her to the hospital where the circumference of her head now measured 63 cm rather than the average 56.

Estelle, who had previously suffered a mild reaction to a different hair dye, had even used the allergy test that comes with the product.

But, instead of waiting the recommended 48 hours, the teen applied the dye after just 30 minutes.

Despite this, Estelle's mother believes there should be greater awareness of the dangers behind PPD.

He mother argued: “It’s true that she didn’t follow the instructions word for word but the warning has to be clearer." PPD, the abbreviation for paraphenylenediamine, is also used in high concentrations in the popular black henna tattoos.

It is the prime cause of allergic reaction to hair dye and is needed for most shades of permanent colour, especially dark shades. There is a strict limit on PPD concentration at a maximum of 2 percent and the chemical is banned in other cosmetics.

Estelle now wants her dreadful experience to act as a warning to other women who dye their hair.

She added: "I almost died, I don't want something similar to happen to other people." Culled from SunUK

Estelle before the incident

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