Can UK’s ARIA Agency Achieve ‘Moonshot’ Tech?

One of the program directors, Gemma Bale, a medical physicist, aims to merge astrophysics and biotechnology advancements to develop novel methods for measuring human health, like non-invasive brain monitoring.

She even envisions using this technology to monitor the health of planets, saying, “Could you then scale that up to image through the entire ocean?” ARIA has given her the opportunity to think on a larger scale than ever before in her scientific career.

Another program director, David Dalrymple, intends to create artificial intelligence models that can be safely integrated into real-world systems, such as the UK’s energy infrastructure.

Jacques Carolan, another director, seeks to expedite innovation in neuroscience to better understand and repair the human brain using insights from physics and engineering.

Kieron Flanagan at the University of Manchester welcomes investments in diverse and exploratory ideas like these in UK research funding. However, he believes that ARIA is likely too small in scale and lacks the essential connections that drive innovation.

The success of the US agency ARPA, which later transformed into the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) with substantial backing from the US Department of Defense, adds to its reputation.

It’s unclear how ARIA, without military support, will achieve the same technological advancements, according to Flanagan.

Furthermore, Flanagan disputes the notion that DARPA’s success solely depends on hiring “brilliant program directors” and giving them the freedom to take risks, describing it as a myth.

He predicts that ARIA’s projects may struggle to have a significant impact due to a lack of mission clarity, scale, and connection