Apparently we’ve invented the mathematical techniques to recover high-resolution images from low-resolution samples. So all my harrumphing as CSI zooms in on CCTV images may be about to be invalidated.

The technique uses the concept of sparsity (a friend’s dad once programmed a BBC Micro to calculate sparse matrices back in the 1980s – they could be related) and is called compressed sensing. The benefits to speeding up MRI are clear; there must be many others, but they are hidden in fiendishly complicated academic papers.

At least I can still harrumph at the the “can you track the mobile phone location” as it takes minutes on screen when we know it can be done instantly, even by civilians.