Toggle light / dark theme

Saudi Arabian mining company Ma’aden, together with the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) Innovation Ventures Fund, are investing $6 million USD into Lithium Infinity (Lihytech). The KAUST startup’s battery-grade lithium will be a key component in driving the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s commitment to developing the entire value chain of electric vehicles (EVs).

Lihytech has patented a membrane-based lithium extraction technology developed by Professor Zhiping Lai at KAUST. The innovative technology can extract the alkali metal from sources such as seawater, brine, red mud and more. Based on KAUST research, the startup was funded through the KAUST Near Term Grand Challenge, a research translation program, and the technology is being developed on the campus.

This investment will take the technology from lab to commercial pilot scale. Ma’aden is leading the investment with $4 million and KAUST Innovation Ventures is investing $2 million. The University’s venture capital arm, KAUST Innovation Ventures, supports deep tech startups that look to offer solutions to pressing scientific and technological challenges, such as lithium extraction. Lihytech will use the infusion of capital to build a pilot facility at KAUST to extract lithium from the Red Sea and other in-Kingdom resources.

The “one-shot” process paves the path for cutting-edge 3D cell culture methods with biomedical engineering applications, claim the scientists.

German scientists have created a new technology that helps them print 3D objects with sound waves.

The design creates pressure fields using several acoustic holograms, which can be used to print solid particles, gel beads, and even living cells, according to the study released on Thursday.


Carloscastilla/iStock.

What’s next?

Increasingly it seems there is nothing that ChatGPT cannot do, even consulting judges in cases and boosting research. Now, the AI chatbot has been found to score at or around the approximately 60 percent passing threshold for the United States Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE), “with responses that make coherent, internal sense and contain frequent insights.”

This is according to a study published on Thursday in the open-access journal PLOS Digital Health.


AndreyPopov/iStock.

The design facilitates efficient land use and can even save water lost to evaporation.

Sunstall, a California-based company, has launched a vertical solar panel, Sunzaun, which can be used in existing fields and arable lands without sacrificing them for clean green energy. The installation is much like conventional solar systems, just that the system uses bifacial solar modules, and the entire array stands like a boundary wall in the field.

As countries look to move away from fossil fuels, the interest in solar energy has increased in recent years. Countries in Europe facing harsh winters are also finding new ways of tapping into solar energy, such as installing solar panels at high altitudes… More.


Sunzuan.

Its concept is maintenance-free, recyclable, and offers low rolling resistance.

The concept of airless tires is getting closer to production, with Bridgestone’s version going in for testing in February 2023. The firm’s product is based on its “Air Free Concept,” a technology that eliminates the need for tires to be inflated with air to support the weight using a unique structure of spokes stretching along the inner sides of tires.

According to DesignBoom, the testing will be done in association with Idemitsu Kosan Co, using one of its compact electric vehicles. More than 3 billion tires are produced around the world in a year, and the market for airless tires is expected to hit $77.


If you haven’t developed a coping mechanism for deeply human and heart-shattering experiences of grief and loss, Metaverse has something for you.

As per the recent claims made by the founder of Somnium Space, a top metaverse company, the launch of ChatGPT has accelerated the process of making one of his most ambitious and eccentric projects real.

“Honestly, it is progressing at a much faster pace than everyone’s expectations.”


Andrey Suslov/iStock.

CS India, a company that empowers the youth, made the ‘groundbreaking decision’ to appoint ChatGPT as the CEO to oversee growth.

Recently, a U.S. PR and digital marketing firm integrated two new interns into their team. The revelation? Aiko and Aiden were not real people; they were creations of artificial intelligence, the world’s first AI interns.

You heard it right.


Hapabapa/iStock.

The doctors explain it as a rare case of foreign accent syndrome.

A man suffering from prostate cancer started sporting an Irish accent in what is one of the few documented reports of the condition and the first ever associated with this type of cancer. Sadly, the man ultimately passed away from his disease.

A rare condition.


StudioM1/iStock.

So for those workers who have managed to hold on to their jobs, their working conditions are likely to get a little worse. For one, Github has announced that they’ll be switching to Microsoft Teams for their videoconferencing, and moving their laptop refresh schedule up to four years from the current three.

Could be worse, obviously, but still.

CEO Thomas Dohmke sent out an email to Github staff saying that “Although our entire leadership team has carefully deliberated this step and come to agreement, ultimately, as CEO the decision is mine. I recognize this will be difficult on you all, and we will approach this period with the utmost respect for every Hubber.”