The Conduit

📢 Four founders. £200,000 in funding. One bold new award. We’re thrilled to announce the finalists for our new Impact Venture Award, in collaboration with Conduit Connect. From climate-tech to future-proof buildings and inclusive education, these entrepreneurs are tackling some of the biggest challenges of our time. Up for grabs?  💸 Up to £200,000 in equity investment from the Conduit EIS Fund  📍 Pitching and networking at the Conduit Innovator Awards on 21 May 👇 Meet the finalists: 🌿 Robert Cobbold, Native Squared – partnering with indigenous guardians to restore nature through climate tech    🔥 Lucy Lyons and Matt Goodridge, Kestrix – building the ‘Google Maps of heat loss’ using AI and drones to cut building emissions    🧠 Zareen Ali & Felix de Grey, Cogs AI – creating inclusive learning tools for neurodivergent children 🎟 Tickets are just £35 (£15 for students and Conduit members).   👉 https://lnkd.in/duMSChB2 #TheConduit #InnovatorAwards25 #Innovation #SocialImpact #Funding #Startups 

BRITAIN WANTS LESS SUN “Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it," said American novelist Charles Dudley Warner. ☁️ But weather-obsessed Britain is now giving it a go. This week, the UK’s Advanced Research and Invention Agency (Aria) announced a £57mn plan to experiment with solar geoengineering. 🌍 The new investment means the UK will now challenge the US as the largest global funder of such research. 💸 Solar geoengineering, also known as solar radiation modification (SRM), involves reflecting the sun’s rays back into space by seeding aerosols or sea spray in the sky above the earth. 🧪 The aerosols can be released into the stratosphere by plane. The sea spray can be blasted upwards from ground level or released from a tethered balloon. It is radical science, and the idea has been gaining credence in international scientific communities over the last decade. Pascal Lamy, former DG of the WTO and chair of the Climate Overshoot Commission, asserts that further investigation is worth any potential risks. It has also been called ‘barking mad,’ and like treating cancer with aspirin. ⚖️ The risks include unintended impacts on food production, diverting effort and funding from cutting emissions, and no-one being quite sure what would happen if we became reliant on SRM and then turned it off. There are growing demands for an immediate agreement to stop SRM experiments globally, including from scientific advisors to the EU. It is easy to be dazzled by the latest shiny new solution, and much SRM technology remains hypothetical. But at some stage, all new technology is. The Aria investment represents 0.14% of the £40bn the UK invests in renewables every year, and realists may feel that the planet should not remove any potential climate arrows from its quiver. 🏹 Aria claims its experiments will be ‘small-scale’ and ‘rigorously assessed.’ Before banning SRM, or committing to it at any scale, the world needs to know more. This investment is a first step towards achieving that, and better understanding technology that could buy vital time for a heating planet. 🔥 To find out more about the latest climate technology sign up to #Radical Realist: https://lnkd.in/eyicANVX #ClimateInnovation #Geoengineering #UKScience #SolarGeoengineering #FutureOfEarth

A much needed cause for optimism!

AI is transforming the future of medicine 🌍. Google DeepMind's AlphaFold cracked a 50-year mystery by predicting protein structures with 99% accuracy 🧬 — a breakthrough made possible by open collaboration and shared data 💊. Today, millions of scientists are building on this discovery to accelerate treatments and cures 🚀. Here representatives from Pfizer and The Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC) discuss how open science in early stage research has the power to transform drug discovery. This is the power of collaboration in science — when we work together, we solve the impossible 🤝. 🔬 Collaboration fuels innovation 💡 Shared knowledge drives progress 📩 Stay inspired and informed — sign up for the #Radical Realist: https://lnkd.in/eyicANVX #AI #Healthcare #OpenScience #Collaboration #DrugDiscovery Paul van Zyl, Megan Kennedy, Sierra Paller, Colin Helms, Matt Farquharson, Peres K., Mehrad Jaberansari, Charlotte Kilpatrick

☀️ As the evenings start getting longer, you’ll know where to find us… Rucola is a rooftop oasis right here in the middle of Covent Garden. From golden hour cocktails to sustainable three-course meals, 🌱 View a sample menu or book a table at the link below.  —-- 👉 Find out more & book a table at Rucola: https://lnkd.in/eUgUa2NH  🌱 The Conduit is a members’ club bringing together people committed to creating a just, prosperous and sustainable future

🌍 From Smog to Solutions: London’s Air is (Finally) Breathing Easier 💨 Once infamous for toxic fog, London now ranks among the cleanest major cities – thanks to a citywide Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ). 🚗 Since 2019, drivers of high-polluting vehicles have paid to enter the city.  📉 Roadside nitrogen dioxide is down 27%.  ✅ 99% of monitoring sites show real, measurable improvement.  🌍 Cities from Amsterdam to NYC are now following London’s lead. ULEZ has not been without opposition – especially in outer boroughs – but the evidence is compelling: cleaner air leads to healthier lives and stronger communities. London Mayor Sadiq Khan summed it up best:  “It would’ve taken 193 years to clean up our air – now we’re on track to do it in less than 10.” 💡 Want to know how clean air policies can save lives and reshape cities? Join us on 23 June at The Conduit’s “Climate and the Future of Health” conference to explore how the movement for a greener, healthier world is helping cities clean up their act. 👉 https://lnkd.in/eASUb6Hr #ClimateHealth25 #CleanAir #ULEZ #UrbanInnovation #London #TheConduit #ConduitLive 

🌍 Power, Politics & People at The Conduit 🔥📚🎥 From tackling authoritarianism to reimagining global borders and reshaping entire industries, The Conduit is convening thought leaders and creatives for a week of bold, timely conversations. Here’s what’s on: 🎥 Borderland: The Line Within – Film Screening & Talk with Paco de Onís, Pamela Yates, and Benjamin Ward 📅 Tues 23 Apr | 🕕 6–8:30pm A gripping new documentary on mass migration, U.S. border policy, and the grassroots movements fighting back. 🎬 Green Riders: Climate Action in Film & TV with Lucian Msamati & Will Attenborough 📅 Tues 23 Apr | 🕡 6:30–8:30pm How actors are rewriting the rules of sustainability in Hollywood and beyond. 🏛️ How Tyrants Fall with Marcel Dirsus & Brian Klaas 📅 Wed 24 Apr | 🕕 6–7:30pm What topples authoritarian regimes—and how nations can recover. 🎟️ Thought-provoking events for people who shape change: https://lnkd.in/eP3nXJ4v #TheConduit #Democracy #ClimateAction #Migration #MediaForChange #ForeignPolicy #Leadership #GreenRider #BorderlandFilm #Ukraine #Putin #HumanRights #Sustainability

🎉 Introducing our new CFO, Tom Haley! Tom’s career began in tax at Barclays before moving into strategy, project management, and eventually becoming a Finance Director. He then took on the role of CFO at The Other House, where he built the finance function, overseeing everything from development finance to operational strategy. With a strong commitment to ESG, Tom has consistently integrated purpose into his work. At Barclays, he led the Global Finance Citizenship agenda, and at The Other House, he combined his CFO responsibilities with leading ESG initiatives. Now, he brings his wealth of expertise to The Conduit, supporting our mission with a strategic and financial perspective. It’s great to have you on board, Tom! —-- 🌱 The Conduit is a members’ club bringing together people committed to creating a just, prosperous and sustainable future

AI CAN DO IMPRESSIONS NOW 🤖 In a story many missed, AI may now be more human than you. Researchers at UC San Diego have proved that AI can now consistently pass the famous ‘Turing Test.’ Named after British codebreaker Alan Turing, the 75-year old test challenges machines to convince human judges that they're real people. Judges had two simultaneous text-only chats: one with AI, one with a real person. In the UC experiment, GPT-4.5 was judged to be the human 73% of the time. 🧠 This is a giant leap from GPT-4o, which only had a 20% win rate. In brief: the best large language models (LLMs) are now better at being human than real humans. And in a time when AI milestones tumble by the day, the last few weeks have been particularly momentous. 🚀 New analysis from METR, a ‘frontier AI’ research organisation, has found that the size of tasks AI can handle doubles every seven months. At the moment, AI models struggle with tasks that take human experts more than four hours. But at the current rate of growth, by 2029 the best models will be able to tackle tasks that would take human experts a month. ⏳ But does that mean we can all put our feet up while the machines go to work, or that every one of us will soon be redundant? We must be realistic about the dangers and opportunities of this radical new technology. In the AI frontier of California, a particularly thoughtful new policy report highlights AI’s potential for “severe and…potentially irreversible harms.” But it also points to the increasing push within tech for absolute transparency, and ‘open source AI’ to understand threats while maximising benefits. 🛡️ As part of our Solutions Agenda on AI for Good, we’ll continue to explore the possibilities and concerns around AI and what policy makers need to consider, as its growth outpaces legislators. Join us next month, to discover How AI Took Over and Where it's Taking us Next. 🌍 🔗 https://lnkd.in/eZXqgytE For more valuable insights into AI sign up for #Radical Realist: https://lnkd.in/eyicANVX

🇪🇸 What if the secret to saving your economy… was immigration? Before her passing at 117, María Branyas Morera was the world's oldest person — and she lived in Spain, one of the countries with the longest life expectancy (📈83 years vs. 77 in the US). But here’s the flip side: birth rates are at a record low 📉 (just 1.19 births per woman). Spain, like much of Europe, is staring down a demographic cliff — more elderly, fewer workers, and a growing pressure on pensions and care systems. But unlike others, Spain is acting boldly. 🚨 Starting next month, Spain will grant residency and work permits to 900,000 undocumented migrants. Why? Because it’s not just about compassion — it’s about prosperity. Immigration filled 400,000 out of 500,000 new jobs in 2024 and fueled 25% of household consumption. PM Pedro Sánchez put it bluntly: “Between being an open, prosperous country or a closed and poor one… it’s as simple as that.” 👀 Want to understand how smart immigration policy could help save aging economies? Spain might just be the blueprint. For more valuable insights sign up to Radical Realist: https://lnkd.in/eyicANVX #Demographics #ImmigrationPolicy #Spain #FutureOfWork #Economy #Longevity #Leadership #Innovation Paul van Zyl, Megan Kennedy, Peres K., Mehrad Jaberansari, Sierra Paller, Jonny Bann, Matt Farquharson, Kristopher Simmons, Charlotte Kilpatrick