Lifeboat Foundation

LG Electronics may no longer be a household name in smartphones, but it still sees a big future in gadgets like robots. Today, the company confirmed a $60 million investment in Bear Robotics, the California startup that makes artificial intelligence–powered server robots (autonomous tray towers on wheels that are meant to replace waiters) for restaurants and other venues. With the investment, LG Electronics becomes Bear’s largest shareholder.

Bear’s last fundraise in 2022 valued the company at just over $490 million post-money, per PitchBook data. It’s not clear what the valuation is for this latest investment, but the last year has not been a great one for startups in the space.

On the other hand, the current vogue for all things AI, and the general advances that are coming with that, are giving robotics players a fillip — see yesterday’s Covariant news, for another example. Still, it’s not clear what Bear hopes to tackle next with the basic trays-on-wheels form factor that it has adopted for its flagship Servi robots.

Researchers have found a way to stop active cancer cells in their tracks – meaning they can then be eliminated by new drug treatments.

A collaborative research project between the University of Dundee’s Drug Discovery Unit (DDU) and Queen Mary University of London, has identified chemical compounds, called tool molecules, that can halt active cancer cells.

A 78-year-old man who had been living inside an iron lung since surviving polio in the 1950s has passed away.

As CBS News reports, Paul “Polio Paul” Alexander garnered a huge following on social media, getting millions of views on TikTok as he answered questions about his unusual life.

The medical device didn’t stop Alexander from becoming a lawyer and opening his own successful practice. He also published a book about his life.

Electronic states that resemble molecules and are promising for use in future quantum computers have been created in superconducting circuits by physicists at RIKEN.

Sourabh Shubham: “This area of Mars is known to have a wide variety of hydrated minerals spanning a long stretch of Martian history. A volcanic setting for these minerals had long been suspected. So, it may not be too surprising to find a volcano here. In some sense, this large volcano is a long-sought ‘smoking gun’.”

The planet Mars is known for its vast array of inactive shield volcanoes, and a new volcano could be added to the family with a recent study presented at the 55th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, as a team of researchers announced the discovery of a massive volcano on Mars that is buried underneath the surface and could even possess a base comprised of glacier ice. This study holds the potential to help scientists better understand past volcanism and glaciation on the Red Planet that could provide clues to Mars’ geologic history.

For the study, the researchers used images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera and data from the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM), which are both onboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), along with data from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) that was onboard the Mars Global Surveyor to analyze “Noctis Mons” (official name pending), which is located southeast of Mars’ Tharsis volcanic region and in the western region of Valles Marineris, known as the largest and deepest canyon in the solar system.

Continue reading “Unveiling Mars’ Hidden Giant: The Discovery of the Noctis Volcano” »

Scientists are unraveling how our organs talk to the brain—and how the brain talks back.

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Studies of interoception challenge distinctions between disorders of the brain and body—and may hold clues to the basis of consciousness.

Continue reading “Newly detailed nerve links between brain and other organs shape thoughts, memories, and feelings” »

Tesla is making construction progress on its upcoming lithium refinery in Texas, as shown in photos taken by one drone pilot this week.

Longtime Tesla construction observer Joe Tegtmeyer shared photos of Tesla’s forthcoming lithium plant near Corpus Christi, Texas, on Monday. The photos, as posted on X, show the foundations of what will eventually be Production Line 1, with other superstructure work and the beginnings of construction on Production Line 2, as Tegtmeyer explains.

Construction on the lithium plant was well underway by August, though Tegtmeyer’s latest photos show that the site has come a long way since then. He also points out that a new electrical substation has appeared at the site, while the installation of Rotating Kiln and Cooler Set 1 equipment has mostly been completed.

Automakers were once struggling to keep pace with demand for some new EVs, but now the opposite appears to be true.

Intersections reimagined: engineer-designed, light-free, and seamlessly efficient. 🤓

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