DTN 163: The race to develop American-made nuclear fuel
Plus: Biomanufacturing to reshape organ transplants, grid batteries are booming, quantum's make-or-break moment, growing chickens in 3D printed eggs, Japan sells out of robot wolves, in-space refueling demo, and more.
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The race to develop American-made nuclear fuel
"Nuclear power companies and the U.S. government are approaching a cliff — a gradually emerging shortage of enriched uranium to fuel new reactors and the backbone of America’s military deterrence.
Two companies, BWX Technologies and Centrus Energy, with help from the Department of Energy, are racing to build factories and enrichment capabilities in an effort to stand up an industry that the United States abandoned at the end of the Cold War.
If it fails, according to DOE reports and interviews, developers of next-generation reactors that hope to deploy power plants this decade might not have what they need. And naval ships and warheads could see shortages of highly enriched uranium and tritium in the 2040s and 2050s." (via E&E News)
- Biomanufacturing Could Reshape Organ Transplantation
- US is starting to see heavy job losses in roles exposed to AI
- Grid batteries get record boost from data centers
- After Struggling With EVs, US Automakers Pivot to Energy
- Quantum computing is reaching its make-or-break moment
- Colossal Biosciences is growing chickens in a 3D-printed container
- Breakthroughs for batteries could soon make them much better
- The Enhanced Games fit right in with the rest of 2026's longevity vibes
- The China question is tearing biotech apart
- Space Force eyes 2027 demonstrations of in-space refueling and satellite servicing
- General Atomics resumes drone-wingman flights after mishap
The Droid TW 12.7 armed ground robot from DevDroid. Via DEVDROID
“A single remote-controlled Ukrainian ground combat vehicle defended a “key intersection under constant adversary attack” for 45 days last summer, according to a 3rd Army Corps spokesperson who called it “Ukraine’s first fully robotic defensive operation of a position.” It likely won’t be the last.
The robot—a Droid TW 12.7 armed with a machine gun—and its operator, some 10 kilometers away, “disrupted every attempted breakthrough and prevented enemy infiltration,” with no loss of Ukrainian life, the spokesperson said in a recent interview. ” (via DefenseOne)
- Scientists "bottle the sun" with a liquid battery that stores solar energy
- AI companies introduce new agent-based tools for scientific discovery
- HELIX AI Model Accurately Predicts RNA Splicing, Unlocks Precision Medicine
- Researchers establish minimum effective coating thickness for longer-lasting solid-state EV batteries
- Building the future with robotic construction
- Holographic light engine boosts tissue-like 3D printing efficiency by 70 times
- Robotic collective flows like matter, adapting without centralized control
- Perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells reach 32.89% certified efficiency with peak-selective passivation strategy
- AI-powered stretchable computing patch can run algorithms directly on the body
- Hark raises $700M Series A for agentic AI with integrated models, software, and hardware
- Decart raises $300M for real-time interactive AI world models and ultra-optimized inference infrastructure
- Armada raises $230M Series B for edge computing and AI in remote and extreme environments
- cAMPfield raises $180M Series A for inflammation and immunology drug development
- Full-Life Technologies raises $150M Series D for radiotherapeutics treating cancer and inflammatory diseases
- MidOcean Energy raises $120M for a diversified global LNG asset portfolio
- Convective Capital raises $85M Fund II for disaster resilience venture investing
- Boston Metal raises $75M for molten oxide electrolysis production of niobium, tantalum, and nickel
- Accro Bioscience raises $50M Series C for RIPK2 inhibitor targeting inflammatory and autoimmune diseases
- Quartermaster raises $43M Series A for a distributed ship-mounted sensor network replacing AIS
- Tomorrow.io raises $35M Series F extension for AI-integrated weather intelligence and satellite forecasting
- Nord Quantique raises $30M for superconducting bosonic qubit quantum computing architecture
- Oorja Bio raises $30M Series A for therapies targeting idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and fibrotic diseases
- CircuitHub raises $28M for automated, software-driven on-demand electronics manufacturing
- Zenk Space raises $26M for a kerolox orbital rocket with engine recovery
- Arkeus raises $18M Series A for AI-powered sensing systems for autonomous platforms
- Xpanner raises $18M Series B bridge for construction site automation via robotics and Physical AI
- Forlong Biotechnology raises $17.5M pre-B for cytokine therapies targeting tumors via synthetic immunology
- Vital Signals raises $15M for blood pressure and hypertension tracking software and hardware
- Dandelion Health raises $14M Series A for a clinical intelligence platform helping pharma design trials and discover biomarkers
- Hellbender raises $12.5M seed for edge-native AI perception platforms for physical environments
- Vortex Imaging raises $12M for a compact 3D volumetric ultrasound imaging system
- Quantum Bridge Technologies raises $8M Series A for quantum-safe key distribution protecting critical infrastructure
- Neurosoft Bioelectronics raises $7.5M seed for soft, stretchable brain-computer interfaces without penetrating brain tissue
- Blank Bio raises $7.2M seed for AI foundation models training on RNA to capture patient heterogeneity
- Furientis raises $5M pre-seed for cost-effective ship-based interceptor systems
- Imperagen raises $5M seed for AI and quantum physics-powered enzyme engineering
- Violet Therapeutics raises $4.75M seed extension for small-molecule therapies targeting neurodegenerative disease cell signaling
- Shatterdome Energy raises $3.5M pre-seed for AI-driven virtual power plant trading and optimization
- Gradiant raises undisclosed Series E for end-to-end industrial water and wastewater treatment
Japan's robot wolf sells out as record bear attacks drive demand / An AI Hate Wave Is Here / Iran starts Bitcoin-backed ship insurance for Hormuz strait / Earth's Radio Bubble: Every signal we've ever sent into space / Minnesota becomes first state to ban prediction markets / Japan is gripped by mass allergies. A 1950s project is to blame / Anna's Archive Hit with $19.5M Default Judgment and Global Domain Takedown Order / SpaceX S-1 / Archaeologists find Egyptian mummy buried with the 'Iliad' / Deepfakes Tore a High School Apart / China's grip on metals puts US on defensive, report says / The First Atomic Bomb Test in 1945 Created an Entirely New Material / Which problems will quantum computers solve—and when? / A Hacker Group Is Poisoning Open Source Code at an Unprecedented Scale / The Gulf's AI Boom Has an Undersea Cable Problem / Bixonimania'—the fake illness that AI fell for / #ASGCT26: A Zillow-like marketplace for abandoned gene therapies goes live / Not alive, but not dead: disembodied human brains used for drug testing / US orders travelers on Air Force One to throw away gifts, pins, and burner phones after China trip / Google Search as you know it is over / OpenAI claims it solved an 80-year-old math problem — for real this time / US soldiers learn to identify drones by sound / Boots on the moon needed to beat 'belligerent' China: Mitchell Institute
