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Oratomic raises $300M to build a viable quantum computer that needs only 20K qubits

A number of companies, betting on various architectural approaches, are trying to build the first commercially viable quantum computer capable of significantly outperforming current systems.

Oratomic, which entered the race earlier this year with the goal of developing the first utility-scale quantum computer by the end of the decade, said this week that it has raised $300 million. The massive Series A round was co-led by ARCH Venture Partners, Spark Capital, and Khosla Ventures, with participation from Bezos Expeditions, Index Ventures, General Catalyst, Lowercarbon Capital, Bain Capital, and others.

Founded by Caltech physicists, Oratomic uses lasers, which act as optical tweezers, to hold individual atoms in place as the basis for its quantum computer.

Apolink makes contact with first relay satellite

TAMPA, Fla. — Apolink has made contact with its first satellite after launching on SpaceX’s July 7 rideshare mission, clearing the way for a data relay demonstration using a novel experimental license from the Federal Communications Commission.

“We’ve got a first-of-its-kind experimental license for S-band inter-satellite link operations from the FCC,” Apolink CEO Onkar Batra told SpaceNews, enabling the IPoS-TDsM cubesat to receive signals from other satellites in low Earth orbit.

The license clears the 3U cubesat to receive S-band signals from designated partner satellites on an unprotected and non-interference basis, before storing and forwarding them to approved ground stations.

Fossils found decades ago reveal extinct 3.5 million-year-old giant salamander species

In the late 1990s in the Ajimu region of Japan’s Oita Prefecture, researchers discovered three fossilized vertebrae belonging to the Cryptobranchidae family of giant salamanders. These were embedded in the Tsubusugawa Formation, Pliocene-era strata of lake deposits dating back approximately 3.5 million years. The strata have also yielded fossils of animals that no longer roam Japan, such as elephants and crocodiles, revealing a glimpse of an era much warmer and more humid than Japan’s current climate.

Researchers originally assigned the three Ajimu specimens to the genus Andrias, which includes the world’s largest living amphibians, but at the time, a lack of comparative specimens and research prevented their precise taxonomic identification. Now, more than two decades later, a new research team at Kyoto University has succeeded in shedding more light on these mysterious fossils.

After comparing the Ajimu specimens with the skeletons of extant Cryptobranchidae species, the team found that the three fossils belonged to an anterior trunk vertebra, a mid-trunk vertebra and a sacro-caudal vertebra. Further comparisons revealed that the mid-trunk vertebra possessed unique morphological characteristics not seen in other Cryptobranchidae species. This led the researchers to conclude that the Ajimu specimens represent a new species and genus.

Astronomers Have Now Spotted Galaxies So Far Away, It Raises Troubling Questions

Recent observations from the James Webb Space Telescope have revealed a massive galaxy cluster and an extraordinarily ancient galaxy that directly challenge the standard model of cosmology. The standard model suggests gravity acts as a patient engine that takes billions of years to slowly assemble raw gas into cosmic structures. But JWST data shows a gargantuan, tightly packed galaxy cluster existing just a few billion years after the Big Bang, warping space with a highly organized dark matter core that should not exist so early.

Looking even further back to a mere 280 million years post-Big Bang, astronomers found MoM-z14, a galaxy that is far brighter and more chemically evolved than early formation models predict. Finding such heavy and mature structures so early indicates that the fundamental timeline for how the universe assembled its mass is missing a critical piece of the puzzle.

0:00 Discovery of Galaxy Cluster XLSSC 122
2:50 Mother of Miracles.
3:26 The Cosmic Dawn.
4:26 The Farthest Galaxy Candidate.
8:32 Distribution of Galaxy Rotation.
9:38 Black Hole Cosmology.

Source:
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10… https://academic.oup.com/mnras/articl… Music: Artlist Ltd Voice Over: Mathew McQuinn Buy us a cup of coffee: / @territoryspace When you buy from our store, you support us: https://my-store-10522d3.creator-spri… Visit our website: https://www.territoryspace.com/ Subscribe to Territory — / @territoryspace Instagram — instagram.com/territoryspace.
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2505.11263v2
https://academic.oup.com/mnras/articl…

Music: Artlist Ltd.

Voice Over: Mathew McQuinn.

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Stem cell-derived dopaminergic cell transplantation shows encouraging results for Parkinson’s disease

The International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) today announced the presentation of new clinical data from the STEM-PD Phase I/II clinical trial at the ISSCR 2026 Annual Meeting. The study reports 12-month outcomes evaluating a cryopreserved, off-the-shelf dopaminergic progenitor cell product derived from human pluripotent stem cells for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease.

The findings provide new insights into the safety, feasibility, and biological activity of stem cell-derived dopaminergic cell transplantation in patients with Parkinson’s disease and represent another important step in the clinical translation of regenerative medicine for neurodegenerative disease.

“These data represent the culmination of decades of research aimed at translating stem cell biology into a clinically viable therapy,” said Malin Parmar, Professor in Cellular Neuroscience at Lund University, Sweden, who presented the findings today at the ISSCR 2026 Annual Meeting. “They demonstrate that a stem cell-derived dopaminergic cell product can be manufactured, delivered, and evaluated within a rigorous clinical trial framework. More broadly, they show that regenerative medicine is moving beyond proof-of-concept and into a stage where stem cell-based therapies are being tested in patients for complex neurodegenerative diseases.”

ElevationSpace advances work on commercial reentry vehicle

TOKYO — A Japanese startup developing reentry vehicles is signing up customers and preparing for its first mission while keeping a watchful eye on SpaceX’s entry into the market.

ElevationSpace announced July 9 a memorandum of understanding with Space Cargo Unlimited, a Luxembourg-based space manufacturing company. Under the agreement, the companies will study flying Space Cargo Unlimited’s experiment platform, called BentoBox, on ElevationSpace’s reentry vehicles.

“By combining Space Cargo Unlimited’s microgravity production platform with ElevationSpace’s innovative return capabilities, we ensure that highly sensitive payloads, such as pharmaceutical and biotechnology samples, can be returned safely to Earth, creating a stronger foundation for the next generation of commercial space services,” Nicolas Gaume, chief executive of Space Cargo Unlimited, said in a statement.

Iridium folds Aireon aviation safety service into Rocket Lab-bound business

TAMPA, Fla. — Iridium Communications has completed its takeover of Aireon, bringing the aircraft-tracking venture fully in-house ahead of the satellite operator’s planned $8 billion sale to Rocket Lab.

McLean, Virginia-based Iridium said July 6 it had bought the remaining 61% of Aireon it did not already own from air navigation service providers in Canada, England, Denmark, Ireland and Italy.

Aireon, which has provided an aviation safety service since 2019 using Iridium satellites and the Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) signals aircraft broadcast, will continue to operate as a wholly owned subsidiary following the $367 million deal.

Hugo de Garis on AI: Are We Building Gods or Terminators?

In 2012, I sat down with Hugo de Garis, and he told me billions of people could die this century over one question: should we build machines smarter than ourselves?

Back then, it sounded like pure science fiction. He called the coming conflict the Artilect War. On one side, the Cosmists who want to build godlike machine intelligence. On the other hand, the Terrans who would rather go to war than gamble on human extinction. In between, the Cyborgists who just want to become gods themselves. He even had a word for the body count:

Gigadeath.

Fourteen years later, the war he predicted hasn’t arrived. The question underneath it has moved to the center of the room.

Because de Garis got one thing profoundly right, even if the timeline was lurid. The hard part was never whether we could build these systems. It’s whether we should, and who gets to decide. That is not a #technology question. Technology is only ever the How. This is a Why and a What, a question about power, values, and what kind of species we choose to become.

He was asking it when almost nobody else was. That is why this conversation still holds up.

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