DTN 151: Space Nuclear Power Race Heats Up
Plus: Perovskite computers, India's AI city, biotech M&A sees big exits, anti-drone weapons on TikTok, China's flying wind turbines, and more.
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NASA Authorization Could Kick Start Space Nuclear Power
“As it stands, the bill could solve the “chicken and egg problem” that’s holding space nuclear tech back from widespread use, according to Zeno CEO Tyler Bernstein. In a lot of ways, this bill is just emboldening [the agency] to do what they want to do, and is giving them the structure and authority to execute faster.”
- Project Omega comes out of stealth with nuclear batteries and recycling
- DIU wants commercially developed imagery satellites for on-orbit spying
- First Proof is AI's toughest math test yet. The results are mixed.
- Brain-like computers could be built out of perovskites
- The urban geothermal boom reshaping how cities heat and cool
- This defense company made AI agents that blow things up
- China is reportedly testing a new airborne wind turbine
- India plans AI 'data city' on staggering scale
- SpaceX to compete in Pentagon contest for autonomous drone tech
- Biotech startup M&A is reliably delivering some big exits
- New York hits the brakes on robotaxi expansion plan
- Google’s new Gemini Pro model has record benchmark scores—again
- TRISO-X receives first-ever part 70 HALEU fuel fabrication license
“The Microsoft researchers estimated that the glass could survive for more than 10,000 years at a blistering 290 degrees Celsius, which suggests the data could last even longer at room temperature. One day, a single piece of glass might carry the torch of human culture and knowledge across millennia." (via Tech Xplore)
- AI robot vehicles learn to team up and extinguish fires in early trial
- Miniaturized radar chip developed for next-generation wireless networks
- Elusive lithium-ion anode binder finally seen with pioneering technique
- Robot hand approaches human-like dexterity with new visual-tactile training
- Safer batteries for storing energy at massive scale: A new electrolyte with proton-hopping conductivity
- Dry-processed battery electrodes skip slurry and deliver better high-voltage cycling
- Wind turbines combined with tidal–wave installations increase power generation by up to 70%
- New gel electrolyte points to stronger, safer anode-free lithium batteries
- Cyber-attacks could disrupt smart factories by targeting time itself
- LanzaJet raises $47M to scale sustainable aviation fuel production from ethanol
- China’s iSpace launch firm raises record $729 million for reusable rockets
- SatVu raises £30M to accelerate its constellation
- Agile Space Industries raises $17M to scale in-space chemical propulsion systems
- Resurrect Bio raises $8.1M to engineer genetic disease resistance in crops
- Code Metal raises $125M to rewrite the defense industry's code with AI
- Stoke Space raises $860M to advance fully reusable Nova rocket
- Breaker raises $6M to turn any robot into autonomous teammates for defense operations
- GelMEDIX raises $13M to develop regenerative cell therapies for vision restoration
- Realta Fusion secures $9.5M debt facility to advance magnetic mirror fusion
- Seasats raises $20M to scale autonomous surface vessels for defense and maritime operations
- Utility Global raises $100M to scale hydrogen production from industrial off-gases
- Temporal raises $300M to scale open-source platform for agentic AI applications
- ChipAgents raises $50M to automate semiconductor design with agentic AI platform
- SpaceX vets raise $50M for data center links
- Pharmacelera raises €6M to accelerate drug discovery using quantum mechanics and AI
- Vervesemi raises $10M to scale high-performance semiconductor IP for space, defense, and motor control
- Rainfall Health raises $15M to automate compliance and reimbursement for value-based care models
- Synchrony Medical raises $5M to expand FDA-cleared at-home airway clearance system for chronic lung disease
- Korsana Biosciences raises $175M to develop brain-penetrant antibody therapies for Alzheimer's and neurodegenerative diseases
- DG Matrix raises $60M to scale solid-state transformer platform for AI datacenters and grid electrification
- Heron Power raises $140M to build 40-gigawatt manufacturing facility for solid-state transformers
- ARCYN Defense raises undisclosed seed to develop edge AI-powered air defense and counter-threat systems
- Sensei Biotherapeutics acquires Faeth Therapeutics and raises $200M to advance PI3K/mTOR cancer therapies
- Efficient Computer raises $60M to scale energy-efficient processors for AI, space, and embedded applications
- Sift Biosciences raises $3.7M to develop peptide immunotherapies activating pre-existing immune memory
- PolyGone Systems raises $4M to deploy microplastic filtration systems for municipal and industrial water
- Freeform raises $67M to scale up laser AI manufacturing
- NuCube Energy raises $13M to develop modular microreactor for high-temperature industrial heat and distributed power
- xAI raises $3B to scale AI infrastructure and integrate with SpaceX following merger
- Altesa BioSciences raises $75M to advance oral antiviral therapy preventing COPD exacerbations
- India approves $1.1B state-backed fund-of-funds to finance AI, deep tech, and advanced manufacturing startups
- Onodrim Industries raises €40M to build defense manufacturing and networked platforms for European security
- African defense tech Terra Industries raises $22M in a month
- Apptronik raises $520M Series A-X to scale Apollo humanoid robot for manufacturing, logistics, and healthcare
Japan is what late-stage capitalist decline looks like / California's new bill requires DOJ-approved 3D printers that report themselves / Mystery donor gives Japanese city $3.6M in gold bars to fix water system / A new space race—The U.S. looks to lunar nuclear power / The war over prediction markets is just getting started / Welcome to the dark side of crypto’s permissionless dream / Inside the gay tech mafia / How uncrewed narco subs could transform the Colombian drug trade / A psychedelic medicine performs well against depression / ‘Pew pew’: The Chinese companies marketing anti-drone weapons on TikTok / Are the mysteries of quantum mechanics beginning to dissolve? / If AI discovers a drug, who gets the money? / SpaceX’s Starbase city is getting its own court / FBI says ATM ‘jackpotting’ attacks are on the rise, and netting hackers millions in stolen cash
