DTN 149: 1 Million Solar-Powered Satellite Data Centers
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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SpaceX seeks federal approval to launch 1 million solar-powered satellite data centers
“There are currently around 15,000 satellites orbiting Earth, according to the European Space Agency, and they’re already creating issues with pollution and debris. SpaceX has filed a request with the Federal Communications Commission to launch a constellation of up to 1 million solar-powered satellites that it said will serve as data centers for artificial intelligence.”
- Microbes could extract the metal needed for cleantech
- A new AI math startup just cracked 4 previously unsolved problems
- SpaceX pauses Falcon 9 launches after upper stage anomaly
- Picogrid wins $9M Air Force contract for counter-drone software written by AI
- House passes $839B defense spending bill, teeing up end to government shutdown
- Pacific Fusion finds a cheaper way to make its fusion reactor work
- Pentagon CTO picks six defense tech vets to lead Critical Technology Areas
- Trump unveils $12B mineral stockpile amid US-China race
- Physical Intelligence, Stripe veteran Lachy Groom’s latest bet, is building Silicon Valley’s buzziest robot brains
- Elon Musk’s SpaceX officially acquires Elon Musk’s xAI, with plan to build data centers in space
- Cotton, Klobuchar intro Biosecurity Modernization and Innovation Act to address AI-era biosecurity risks
- The discovery of comet C/2026 A1 MAPS
“With no lungs, the highway hits a dead end. Bharat’s artificial lungs literally bridged the gap—moving and oxygenating blood in place of the patient’s lungs. And to prevent a ‘traffic jam’ on that bridge, Bharat’s team also built an ‘exit’ road for blood to return to the right side of the heart… Bharat’s method, he says, offers ‘a novel approach’ to ‘the same problem that that everyone is facing’ in the field.” (via Scientific American)
- New AI system fixes 3D printing defects in real time
- Quantum-inspired wireless technology could tackle 6G's biggest challenges
- Supercomputer simulations reveal how to keep hydrogen flames stable
- Origami-inspired waveguides fold for launch, expand in space for satellites
- Batteries from rust? Carbon spheres filled with iron oxide deliver high storage capacity
- Brain-inspired AI helps soft robot arms switch tasks and stay stable
- A hack-proof internet? Quantum encryption could be the key
- Scientists teach microorganisms to build molecules with light
- Mesh bioreactor achieves 20‑fold efficiency increase and 50% cost reduction for wastewater treatment
- Web-based tool visualizes catalyst 'gene' profiles to speed materials design
- Expert Intelligence raises $5.8M seed to automate regulated laboratory workflows
- Morpheus Space raises $15M Series A+ to scale electric propulsion production
- Avalanche Energy raises $29M to advance small-scale nuclear fusion technology
- Skyryse lands another $300M to make flying, even helicopters, simple and safe
- Positron raises $230M Series B to take on Nvidia’s AI chips
- Apeiron Labs raises $9.5M to flood the oceans with autonomous underwater robots
- ElevenLabs raises $500M at $11B valuation to expand voice AI platform
- Overland AI raises $100M to scale autonomous ground systems for defense
- Third Arc Bio raises $52M Series A extension to advance multifunctional antibody therapies
- Machina Labs raises $124M Series C to scale AI-driven metal manufacturing
- Bedrock Robotics raises $270M Series B to deploy autonomous construction fleets
- Lunar Energy raises $232M to deploy home batteries that prop up the grid
- Mundi Ventures closes €750M first close for Kembara, its largest deep tech and climate fund
- Cerebras Systems raises $1B Series H to scale wafer-scale AI infrastructure
- York Space Systems IPOs at $4.75B valuation to scale satellite production for U.S. defense
- Yosemite closes $200M+ first close on second biotech fund
- Waymo raises $16B at $126B valuation to scale robotaxi operations
- Primmune Therapeutics raises $8.6M Series B extension to advance Phase 2 melanoma study
- Redwood Materials raises $425M Series E to scale domestic battery recycling and energy storage
- VulcanForms raises $220M to scale digital metal manufacturing platform
- Biorce raises $52M Series A to apply AI to clinical trial design and execution
- Prenosis raises $20M Series A to commercialize FDA-authorized AI diagnostic for sepsis
- CesiumAstro raises $470M Series C to scale space and defense connectivity
- AI drug discovery company Generate:Biomedicines files for Nasdaq IPO
The private company bringing nuclear enrichment back to America / New York wants to Ctrl+Alt+Delete your 3D printer / Intel will start making GPUs / CIA to sunset the world factbook / Anthropic's Claude Opus 4.6 uncovers 500 zero-day flaws in open-source code / I infiltrated Moltbook, the AI-only social network where humans aren't allowed / YC startups can now receive investment in stablecoin / Elon Musk’s SpaceX company town is getting a police department / Trump’s critical mineral reserve is an admission that the future is electric / Secondary sales shift from founder windfalls to employee-retention tools / NASA astronauts can now bring their phones with them on their mission to the moon / CERN accepts $1B in private cash towards Future Circular Collider / Autonomous cars, drones cheerfully obey prompt injection by road sign / U.S. life expectancy hits all-time high / Two kinds of AI users are emerging / Leaked chats expose the daily life of a scam compound's enslaved workforce / Training a trillion parameter model to be funny / U.S. quietly declassifies Cold–War era ‘JUMPSEAT’ surveillance satellites / How bee brains are shaping next-generation computer chips / Optical atomic clocks poised to redefine how the world measures seconds / Informant told FBI that Jeffrey Epstein had a ‘personal hacker’ / Why deep tech investors are turning to the secondary market for liquidity / Open-source AI tool beats giant LLMs in literature reviews — and gets citations right
