DTN 148: US Astronauts Are Going Back to the Moon
Plus: DOE resumes nuclear waste search, SpaceX and xAI merger, new wiper malware hits Polish energy grid, stratospheric internet, criminalizing cloudseeding, and more.
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Astronauts are going back to the Moon for the first time in half a century
“As soon as February 6, the crew of Artemis II will also head moonward. It will certainly not spell the first human expedition to the moon, but it will be the first since 1972—when the crew of Apollo 17 came home, the Apollo moon program was canceled, and the translunar trail went dark.”
- After 16 years, DOE resumes search for nuclear waste solution
- This Chinese startup wants to build a new brain-computer interface—no implant required
- Elon Musk’s SpaceX and xAI in talks to merge, report says
- US Army Puts Out the Call for Space Soldiers
- Microsoft unveils latest AI chip to reduce reliance on Nvidia
- Stratospheric internet could finally start taking off this year
- Data centers are driving a U.S. gas boom
- Iowa considers criminalizing cloud seeding, geoengineering
- Feds mull first-ever seafloor mining in Alaskan waters
- U.S. Space Command to bring commercial firms into classified wargame on nuclear threats in space
- Poland's energy grid was targeted by never-before-seen wiper malware
- Micron builds $24 bn Singapore chip fab as AI demand soars
- Pentagon releases National Defense Strategy, with homeland defense as top priority
- Fauna Robotics unveils Sprout humanoid robot for household chores
“We have succeeded in miniaturizing an autonomous robot to 1/10,000th the size of a conventional robot,” says Mark Miskin, assistant professor of electrical systems engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. “This opens up a whole new scale for programmable robots.” (via WIRED)
- A new flexible AI chip for smart wearables is thinner than a human hair
- New research enables safe reuse of concrete
- Underwater 3D printing may reshape maritime concrete construction
- Light-based nanotechnology offers potential alternative to chemotherapy and radiation
- AI models that simulate internal debate dramatically improve accuracy on complex tasks
- Synthetic 'muscle' with microfluidic blood vessels shows promise for soft robotics
- AI can generate a feeling of intimacy that exceeds human connections
- Unlocking defect-free graphene electrodes for transparent electronics
- Tenpoint Therapeutics raises $235M to develop vision rejuvenation therapies for the aging eye
- Northwood Space raises $100M Series B to build satellite ground infrastructure
- PaleBlueDot AI raises $150M Series B at to scale AI compute platform
- RobCo raises $100M Series C to build physical AI-driven robotics
- Breakthru Medicine raises $60M Series A to develop solid tumor cancer therapies
- Twogee Biotech raises €2.16M seed to develop enzyme solutions for biomass conversion
- Gigablue raises $20M to scale marine carbon removal
- Co-reactive raises €6.5M to scale CO2-negative cement technology
- SamanTree Medical raises €20M to advance surgical imaging technology
- Fortitude Biomedicines raises $13M seed to develop immune-targeting biologics and ADCs
- Standard Nuclear raises $140M Series A to scale advanced nuclear fuel production
- CraniUS Therapeutics raises $20M Series B to advance neurotechnology platform
- Elysium Therapeutics raises $7.5M to develop overdose reversal treatments for synthetic opioids
- TRexBio raises $50M to finance its eczema drug testing
- Cellares raises $257M Series D to expand commercial cell therapy manufacturing
- Hologen raises $150M Series A to develop AI-driven drug development and diagnostics
- Baseten raises $300M to scale AI inference platform
- Corxel Pharmaceuticals raises $287M Series D1 to develop cardiometabolic therapies
- PAQ Therapeutics raises $77M Series B to develop targeted protein degradation therapies for KRAS-driven cancers
- Innocent Meat raises €3M for cultured meat production
- Grid Aero raises $20M Series A to build autonomous long-range aircraft
- Barnwell Bio raises $6M seed to develop precision animal health and biosurveillance systems
- VC firm 2150 raises €210M fund to solve cities’ climate challenges
- AI startup CVector raises $5M for its industrial ‘nervous system’
- GlassPoint raises $20M to scale solar-thermal technology for industrial decarbonization
- Ricursive raises $300M Series A to build self-improving AI chip systems
- Epidarex raises $145M Fund IV to invest in early-stage UK and US life science companies
- Waabi raises up to $1B and partners with Uber to deploy 25,000 robotaxis
AI on Australian travel company website sent tourists to nonexistent hot springs / US cybersecurity chief leaked sensitive government files to ChatGPT: Report / Meet the Vitalists: the hardcore longevity enthusiasts who believe death is “wrong” / Should the Arctic be refrozen? / Tesla’s energy storage business is growing faster than any other part of the company / Anduril has invented a wild new drone flying contest where jobs are the prize / SpaceX is coming to the public markets, and secondaries are already on fire / What AI “remembers” about you is privacy’s next frontier / No pain, no gain: Insilico ‘Gym’ gets AI models into shape / Alex Honnold completes Taipei 101 skyscraper climb without ropes or safety net / Clawdbot - open source personal AI assistant / People who know the formula for WD-40 / The hidden engineering of runways / The universal pattern popping up in math, physics and biology / Is particle physics dead, dying, or just hard? / How London became the rest of the world’s startup capital
