Even as the COVID-19 pandemic cripples the economy and kills hundreds of people each day, there is another epidemic that continues to kill tens of thousands of people each year through opioid drug overdose. Opioid analgesic drugs, like morphine and oxycodone, are the classic double-edged swords. They are the very best drugs to stop severe…
Nvidia, Harvard Researchers Use Artificial Intelligence To Find Active Areas In Cell DNA
Researchers from Nvidia and Harvard are publishing research this week on a new way they’ve applied deep learning to epigenomics — the study of modifications on the genetic material of a cell. Using a neural network originally developed for computer vision, the researchers have developed a deep learning toolkit that can help scientists study rare…
PayPal Acquires Curv To Further Its Push Into Cryptocurrencies
PayPal Holdings Inc. said it will acquire the cryptocurrency firm Curv as it seeks to beef up its talent pool for handling digital currencies. PayPal, which didn’t disclose financial terms of the deal, has been building out a new unit dedicated to furthering its efforts in cryptocurrencies after it began allowing consumers to buy, sell…
Norway’s $6 Billion Company Aker Establishes Bitcoin Unit Seetee
Aker ASA, an Oslo-based $6 billion public company, announced today that it has established a dedicated unit to invest in Bitcoin. The newly established entity, Seetee will actively partner with other companies working in the Bitcoin ecosystem. According to the official press release, Seetee is initially capitalized with NOK 500 million ($58 million). Aker ASA…
SpaceX Rockets Another 60 Satellites Into Orbit
On Sunday morning, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully took to the skies from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida carrying with it another 60 Starlink satellites. The two-stage rocket described by SpaceX as “the first orbital-class rocket capable of reflight’ has been making frequent trips shuttling Starlink satellites into low orbit as SpaceX founder…
Morgan Stanley To Offer Bitcoin Funds Access To Wealthy Clients
Morgan Stanley will offer its wealth management clients access to bitcoin funds, becoming the first major US bank to make such a move. In an internal memo on March 17, Morgan Stanley told its financial advisors it will allow access to three funds that enable ownership of Bitcoin, CNBC reported. The move could potentially help…
Drone Startup Skydio Hits $1 Billion Valuation
Skydio, a drone startup cofounded by former MIT and Google unmanned aircraft scientists, has become the latest member of the unicorn club of $1 billion-valued businesses. It comes after a $170 million Series D round led by Andreessen Horowitz, taking the company’s total funding to $340 million. Based in Redwood City, California, Skydio has built…
Joby Aviation Reveals Its Electric Aircraft In Flight For The First Time
Joby Aviation, the electric aviation company based in Northern California, is the latest futuristic mobility company to go public via a reverse merger with a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC. To celebrate, the company is releasing the first footage of its electric aircraft in flight. Joby, which is backed by Toyota and recently acquired…
Toyota, Denso Team With Aurora On Self Driving Cars For Uber
Toyota Motor Corp and longtime supplier partner Denso Corp will team up with self-driving car startup Aurora to develop and build autonomous minivans for ride hailing networks, the companies said on Tuesday. The deal gives San Francisco-based Aurora a clearer path to profitability as it competes with Alphabet Inc’s Waymo, General Motors Co’s majority-owned Cruise…
NASA Picks SpaceX Falcon Heavy To Launch First Gateway Station Pieces To The Moon
NASA has selected SpaceX to deliver the first two segments of the moon-orbiting Gateway space station for its upcoming Artemis program, which aims to put astronauts back on the moon. The elements will launch atop a Falcon Heavy rocket, sometime in 2024. The flight, which is the second to be awarded to SpaceX this week…
Jeff Bezos Steps Up Effort Into Blue Origin’s Project Kuiper
Freed from his daily obligations at Amazon, Jeff Bezos is expected to turn up the heat on his space venture, Blue Origin, as it faces a pivotal year and fierce competition from Elon Musk’s SpaceX, industry sources said. The 57-year-old Bezos, a lifelong space enthusiast and the world’s second-richest person behind Musk, said last week…
Gates, Bezos Invest In Brandon Sorbom’s Nuclear Fusion Technology Company Commonwealth Fusion Systems
After Brandon Sorbom graduated from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles in 2010, he decided to take the “couple of thousand dollars” he had saved and his credit card (he had 0% interest for a year) and fly to Boston. Sorbom wanted to get his Ph.D. in nuclear fusion but had been rejected from all…
