Quantum System One at Cleveland Clinic, IBM
According to Michael Dell, the founder and CEO of Dell, generative artificial intelligence has been on everyone's lips as if it is the destination, but it isn't.
At Dell Technologies World 2023, he suggested that AI was more or less a dress rehearsal for what was coming next: quantum computing. 'Imagine if [AI] now ran at five orders of magnitude higher performance,' he told the audience. 'And that, inevitably, is coming.'
Quantum computers are a new kind of computing technology that harnesses the principles of quantum mechanics to process information.
They use quantum bits, or qubits, which can exist in multiple states simultaneously, enabling them to solve complex issues much faster than traditional computers.
Several industries have already invested in quantum and identified its potential to speed up tasks such as optimisation, cryptography, drug discovery and materials science. For businesses, being quantum literate could lead to competitive advantages, cost savings and breakthroughs in research and development.
Germany – Product designer Juliane Kühr has developed a sex toy that doubles as a self-insemination device. Vruit offers an alternative to clinical insemination, transforming the act of insemination from something medicalised and sterile into a sensual and relaxed experience.
Recognising that queer and single people often experience prejudice and barriers to medically assisted reproduction and turn to self-insemination instead, Vruit ‘enables people to start families in a self-determined way and to exercise their reproductive rights’.
Due to the sensitivity of the ejaculate and the lack of specialised products, self-insemination after sperm donation must be carried out very quickly, making it hard to relax and leaving room for error. Vruit reintroduces pleasure into the insemination experience, while also providing information about the physical and legal aspects of self-insemination.
Social innovations such as Vruit are helping to address stigma in the Fertility Market and provide diverse and accessible means of conception for everyone.
Vruit by Juliane Kühr, Netherlands
Cabinet Health, US
US – Sustainable healthcare company Cabinet Health has launched Cabinet Health Rx, a refillable mail-order prescription service. A direct-to-consumer healthcare service, it is dedicated to reducing the environmental impact of the pharmaceutical industry.
Each Cabinet Health Rx patient is provided with a refillable glass bottle and is partnered with a dedicated Cabinet Care professional. Patients are then able to order and receive mail-order refills of over 150 of the most commonly used prescription drugs. Customers will also benefit from discounted member rates and on-demand healthcare support.
According to Business Wire, after three months of beta testing, Cabinet Health Rx has a waiting list of more than 20,000 patients.
‘Patient care and environmental sustainability are inextricably linked,’ said Achal Patel, co-founder and CEO of Cabinet. ‘Cabinet Rx provides our patients with the highest-quality sourced medicines, personalised care and sustainable packaging that is better for the environment and brightens up our homes.’
Plastic-free and refillable packaging has been well established in the beauty industry, and now the same expectations are reaching pharmaceuticals. As explored in our Clean Medicine report, consumers now want clean and sustainable options for every product they bring into their homes, including medical prescriptions.
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