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Identity on the fly Here is the startup for privacy-conscious. Two brothers, Arjun and Abhijay Bhatnagar, have founded Cloaked in Boston. Cloaked is a service working as an app or a browser extension that creates hidden, "cloaked" identities such as emails, phone numbers, passwords, and credit card numbers. The service works as a password manager, but instead of saving passwords, it replaces your personal information with "cloaked" data for any selected online service. For example, early service users create identifiers for online banking and dating or just don't give Facebook their actual mobile number. Users may personalize the created identities. For example, they choose which messages to forward from cloaked to personal emails and which will stay in the cloaked cloud. They can mute any person or company sending newsletters to their inbox, not bothering with the sometimes frustrating unsubscribe process. The same applies to getting off a call list - that one can actually be annoying: I get spam calls almost every day. I can also imagine girls giving cloaked phone numbers to guys at the party. Created emails and phone numbers can be turned on/off, snoozed, expired, or updated when compromised. Currently, the app is free to use but plans to switch to a freemium model. The team has just raised $25 million to finalize the product and exit the beta stage. The reasonable question a privacy-conscious audience may have is "why should I not give my data to all those online services but give it to Cloaked?" The team says each user has an encrypted database storing all their info and the keys to manage or delete it at any point. However, they all say something similar, don't they? Meanwhile, I think the idea is brilliant for an average user, and the startup has an excellent chance to find its audience. 🌐 Cloaked website showing app at work #software #privacy #apps #startups

Reinventing the electric panel Electric panels have been around for a century. Finally, we get some incredible innovations to those from California-based startup SPAN. The company's product, a SPAN panel, solves the challenges of home-grid balancing, adds visibility to how your home consumes power, why it does so, and allows you to make changes right from the smartphone. The app shows how much every electric circuit in your home consumes and allows switching them on/off instantly or on a selected schedule. For example, if you have an electric car or backup battery, you may choose to charge it when grid energy is cheaper or, if you have a solar panel - when sunshine is most active. SPAN connects with solar panels and lets you understand how much energy they generated and how the home used that energy. Connecting the device with a home battery increases flexibility and backup efficiency during power outages or when you don't need grid power. For example, when there is an outage, the app shows you how much backup time you have and which devices use that energy. Then it allows a simple drag&drop of the backup items you need and shows real-time how the backup time changes. SPAN gives you an understanding of how you use energy. For instance, you could see your energy spending versus the neighborhood or get a tip of your refrigerator consuming increased kilowatts, suggesting it may need a checkup. The app also shows the environmental impact expressed in gallons of oil or pound of coal saved from you optimizing your power usage. The SPAN's price tag is $3500. And it seems that investors strongly believe in the company's success: SPAN has just got a $90 million investment boost to continue developing its products and accelerate home electrification. #devices #startups

Let's have some Saturday's fun. This is one of the best Super Bowl tech ads that was shown in 2015. Mophie, the maker of smartphone cases that double as emergency batteries, created a special-effects-filled minute, imagining what happens when the Almighty's smartphone goes into low-power mode. Enjoy - https://youtu.be/1qI6OnzcW6I #fun

Is the fossil fuel age over? The current geopolitical situation is pushing the oil&gas prices to their previous all-time highs. That could accelerate switching to renewable energy sources in many parts of the world. I found an interesting Forbes article published last year exploring the potential of solar and wind power in replacing fossil fuels. The UK non-profit Carbon Tracker has prepared the report, and here are the key takeaways from it (some of them are quite insightful): 1️⃣ Solar and wind have the potential to produce thousands of petawatt hours (PWh) of electricity a year, while the world’s current electricity demand stands at just 27 PWh; 2️⃣ If humans chose to get all their energy from solar power alone, the land required would take up 450,000 km2—just 0.3% of the world’s total land area. That is less than the space currently taken up by fossil fuel industry operations; 3️⃣ The cost of electricity from solar photovoltaics fell 82% in the last decade, while the costs of onshore and offshore wind fell 39% and 29%, respectively; 4️⃣ We utilize only 0.01% of the world’s solar potential and just 0.16% of wind potential; 5️⃣ Each year we are fuelling the climate crisis by burning three million years of fossilized sunshine in coal, oil, and gas while we use just 0.01% of daily sunlight; 6️⃣ Fossil fuel investments are becoming an increasingly risky prospect: $640 billion in investments in fossil fuel firms had lost $123bn of their value between 2012 and 2020; 7️⃣ At the current 15-20% solar and wind growth rates, fossil fuels will be pushed out of the electricity sector by the mid-2030s and out of the total energy supply by 2050. The authors state that humans have crossed all economic and technological barriers for entering the new renewable era. And the only remaining wall to break is political. Well, the recent events may push that wall down very soon, will see. 💡 Article on Forbes 🧐 Full report here #renewables #solar #wind #basics

How would we survive out there? While some people continue to threaten humanity's existence by a nuclear catastrophe, others are bringing closer the childhood dreams of space exploration and taking the challenge of humans becoming a multiplanet species. Interstellar Lab, a Los Angeles and Paris-based tech startup, has just raised $5 million from several investors to accelerate the manufacturing of their BioPods. BioPod is a closed-loop sustainable living system for Earth and space combining space-grade food production systems and habitat modules. That is a modular, controlled-environment aeroponics farm, creating the ideal climatic and atmospheric conditions for plant growth. The tech allows cultivating species that cannot be grown in traditional agriculture, including high-value plants like vanilla, vetiver, or patchouli. BioPod is controlled by AI management and monitoring software. Maximizing efficiency and production, the farm reduces water consumption by 98% and energy (x20) while boosting yield (up to x300). The company's mission is to develop closed-loop life support systems for lunar missions of NASA's Artemis Program and in the future for Mars exploration. However, the system applications on Earth are not less significant. Sourcing natural ingredients for health, cosmetics, and perfume companies; growing plants locally, efficiently, and all year long, reducing environmental impact; food production in desert zones; protection of endangered plants; providing a solution for universities and scientists for crop and plant research — these are all the challenges BioPod helps to meet. 💡 Article on TechStartups 🌐 Interstellar Lab website #space #startups #AI #biotech

Make e-scooter great When I hear e-scooter, I immediately imagine a scooter-sharing service. I may bet that 90%-plus of the scooters we see in the streets belong to ride-sharing companies. That is why London-based Taur Technologies has drawn my attention. Carson Brown, Taur's co-founder and lead designer, intends to change how scooting looks to people: make it so cool that people actually want to own an e-scooter as a means of city commutes. Taur scooter is white, elegant, and has a foot-deck that lets riders face forward while riding. That "twin ski" ride position helps with stability; adjusting the weight you put on each deck steers the vehicle in addition to the handlebar. That position also gives riders an equal view of the road. Another feature is huge puncture-resistant Continental tires that are 50% larger than most e-scooters. Taur also comes with three lights. The front light gives excellent visibility, and other road users can see it from the side and behind the rider. In addition, there is a brake light and a projection light in the rear that shines upward onto the rider to make them fully visible. The scooter folds up for convenient traveling and storage. And last but not least, the Taur scooter was "built for ownership," which means a modular design to allow swapping out the five modules for easier maintenance. For example, you can change a tire yourself in under 5 minutes using a spoon if you don't have a tire lever. Of course, the scooter is priced on the premium end at $1495. However, Taur is launching in Los Angeles, where such a price tag probably won't look outrageous. The promo video below is well worth your time. It would be great to know your thoughts on the product - please share in the comments. 💡 Article on TechCrunch #urbantech #e-scooter #EV #startups

☀️ Here is the summary of the last week's posts: 1️⃣ The Interceptor - an autonomous, 100% solar-powered catamaran diverting plastic from rivers and preventing it from entering the ocean 2️⃣ Prove your address - an innovative addressing startup tackling the challenge of not having a physical address 3️⃣ A tactile display - an intelligent braille reader, allowing the display of text and tactile representations of imagery empowering people with vision impairments Have a safe week Your Tech for Good #weeksummary

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A tactile display People with vision impairments widely use the Braille language. However, there have been few tech innovations for braille-reader hardware until recently. Korean Dot startup is making a huge step forward with its Dot Pad device, an intelligent braille reader, allowing the display of text and tactile representations of imagery. The Dot Pad consists of 2,400 pins in a pixel-like grid that can quickly move to up or down positions, forming letters in braille or easily identifiable shapes. The core innovation is the "dot" itself. The company had to make dozens or hundreds of these little pins (6 per braille letter) extend and retract reliably and quickly (and not too loudly). The Dot's co-founder Ki Kwang Sung explains they picked the idea from the mechanism of speakers. The tiny electromagnetic actuator vibrates in smartphone speakers. Still, the team adapted it to move a pin up and down instead, using a magnetic ball rotor that locks easily in the up or down position and can unlock and disappear quickly. Voice-powered interfaces have been immensely empowering for people who can't use graphical interfaces, but braille remains an important option, especially for reading and learning. A child growing up with a visual impairment misses out on a lot. Being able to illustrate things like letters, shapes, and simple images others take for granted, like houses, cats, and so on, can be potentially a game-changer. The Dot Pad is neither cheap nor simple - the device uses thousands of tiny controllers, and their prices are through the roof right now. Fortunately, this is the type of device that no one should have to pay for, and for which there are numerous subsidies and other programs. Dot's founders noted that they're working with the Korean and U.S. governments and the blind community and advocacy organizations to integrate the Dot Pad with curricula and use existing funds and methods to pay for them. 💡 Article on TechCrunch #startups #devices

Prove your address Here is another brilliant example of a software tech solution to a painful problem. More than 4 billion people globally don’t have a formal physical address, and it costs the world’s economy over $200 billion yearly. Getting delivery, registering a sim card, opening a bank account, getting the job - these are just a few examples of unresolved issues faced by people who don’t have a physical address included in the global address system. Timbo Drayson was part of the team that launched Google Maps across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. While working in Nigeria, he experienced firsthand the lack of physical address problem. He realized that this was a huge issue, not just for every Nigerian but also for half the world. So, in 2014, he founded OkHi, an innovative addressing startup tackling these challenges in Nigeria with its technology. Consumers go to OkHi’s website and create addresses by dropping a pin on their map with a virtual representation of their street. OkHi collects this address but uses location data from the consumer’s phone to actively check how long the phone spends at the address that the consumer saved. After a while, OkHi builds up a profile using its “AI-powered verification engine” to determine if the consumer resides at that address or not. At the starting point, OkHi is building for the financial service sector. Their service integrates into a mobile banking or fintech app and enables them to digitally collect the accurate addresses of their customers, verify them, and onboard their clients. The company claims a product pilot showing that its address verification product is 30% more accurate, 4x faster, and 50% cheaper than the industry standard of sending a physical agent to a customer’s door. OkHi charges its clients on a per transaction basis. So every time a business successfully verifies a customer’s address, it charges ~$1. OkHi claims to have “hundreds of thousands” of users. 💡 Article on TechCrunch 🌐 OkHi website #AI #software #identity

The Interceptor Dutch inventor Boyan Slat founded The Ocean Cleanup at 18 in his hometown of Delft, the Netherlands. The company's mission is to solve the oceans' plastic problem by doing two things - halt the trash entering from rivers and remove the existing plastics from the oceans. Today, we are talking about capturing plastic from rivers, the primary source of ocean pollution. The company's research shows that about 1000 rivers (1% of all rivers on the planet) are responsible for 80 percent of global ocean plastic pollution. The Ocean Cleanup's Interceptor is an autonomous, 100% solar-powered catamaran diverting plastic from rivers and preventing it from entering the ocean. Water passes through the center of the catamaran, moving plastic onto a netted conveyer belt. Water filters through and back into the river, and plastic goes from the conveyer belt into the shuttle. The shuttle automatically sorts the waste into six onboard dumpsters with a total capacity of 50 cubic meters each. Interceptor works without any human operator, collecting up to 100 tons of waste per day. Once the dumpsters are nearly at capacity, operators receive an automated text message, collect the barge with dumpsters, empty them, and return the barge to the Interceptor to continue picking up debris. The company has already built four Interceptors, two for Jakarta, Indonesia, and Klang, Malaysia. The other two will be installed in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam, and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Plus, two are in the works to be installed in rivers in Bangkok, Thailand, and Los Angeles. #recycle #plastics #ocean #solar

Green jobs on the rise LinkedIn published an insightful report on green jobs rising globally. Green jobs are defined as requiring green skills that enable the environmental sustainability of economic activities. Key takeaways from the report: 1️⃣ In the last five years, the number of Renewables & Environment jobs in the US has increased by 237%, in stark contrast to the 19% increase for Oil & Gas jobs; 2️⃣ The share of green talent increased from 9.6% in 2015, to 13.3% so far in 2021 (a growth rate of 38.5%); 3️⃣ While job postings requiring green skills grew at 8% annually over the past five years, the share of green talent has grown at roughly 6% annually in the same period. That means a rising deficit for green talent; 4️⃣ The fastest-growing green skills are in Ecosystem Management, Environmental Policy, and Pollution Prevention; 5️⃣ The top five fastest-growing green jobs between 2016 and 2021, in terms of annual growth, are Sustainability Manager (30%), Wind Turbine Technician (24%), Solar Consultant (23%), Ecologist (22%), and Environmental Health and Safety Specialist (20%); 6️⃣ The top 5 countries with the highest green skill intensity are the US, UK, Australia, Canada, and India. You may read the full report here #jobs

There is no place for politics on TFG, but I am feeling so embarrassed for what is happening with my homeland Russia these days. War can't be right.

Save on concrete 💨 Cement is the most significant carbon dioxide emitter globally: its production contributes 7% of all CO2 emissions. Making cement involves burning calcium carbonate, which separates calcium and releases carbon into the atmosphere. In addition, the construction industry uses carbon-intensive materials, such as concrete and steel, inefficiently. The study by Cambridge University revealed that most commercial buildings in the UK are overdesigned by up to 50 to 60 percent. ♻️ Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed an elegant FoamWork solution to reduce construction's carbon footprint, particularly cement. They used 3D-printed formwork elements made from recyclable mineral foam to create a pre-cast concrete slab, which is lighter and better insulated while using 70 percent less material. 🤖 An autonomous robotic arm 3D printed 24 mineral formwork elements in different shapes and sizes. Then they cast and left to cure concrete around them, creating hollow cells throughout the panel. The internal geometry optimized to reinforce the slab along its principal stress lines created the necessary strength while drastically reducing the amount of concrete needed to produce it. The FoamWork system uses an alternative material developed by Swiss start-up FenX made of a waste product from coal-fired power stations called fly ash. That helps to minimize the carbon footprint of the foam. The final FoamWork elements can either be left in place to improve the insulation of the pre-cast concrete slab or recycled and reprinted to create new formwork. The researchers say they can customize the shape and configuration of the internal cells to create a range of concrete building elements from walls to entire roofs. With FoamWork, emissions through material consumption would be reduced in the concrete slab. The lower mass would also have secondary effects on the dimensioning of the entire load-bearing structure and would reduce efforts for shipping and handling on construction sites. 💡 Article on DeZeen #robotics #AI #3dprint #construction

☀️ Here is the #weeksummary : 1️⃣ Paralyzed patients walk, swim, and cycle - a new spinal stimulation device allowing paralyzed men to regain mobility 2️⃣ iPhone Swap - a Finnish company offering its customers a sustainable choice to reduce waste by buying a professionally refurbished iPhone for less 3️⃣ Baloon satellites to space - a Canadian startup to deliver small satellites and payloads into space using rockets attached to balloons 🤜🤛 Please share with anyone who may be interested in our stories. Tech for Good

Baloon satellites to space Investments into space startups beat all records in 2021: $17 billion, up from $9 billion in 2020. And while there is a race to build bigger rockets for big payloads (hey, Starship), there is also the exciting tech on the other side of the payload spectrum. A Canadian Spaceryde aims to deliver small satellites and payloads into space. Smaller projects may not afford ridesharing on SpaceX rockets, and those who can still have to deal with narrow launch schedules. So instead of launching rockets from the ground, the startup uses balloons to carry them into the upper atmosphere before launching. That makes its services highly customizable and affordable. A hydrogen-filled balloon lifts the rocket to the outside edge of the atmosphere, where the air drag is not a problem. It also provides another benefit - the rocket design may be completely different. That's what Spaceryde is doing by building "fat" rockets with a perfect balance between structural integrity, fuel efficiency, and payload capacity. A big part of the SpaceRyde value proposition is that small satellite companies may choose when to launch and the exact orbit they want. The SpaceRyde attaches a carrier that looks like a quadrotor drone to the rocket. The carrier uses software calculations to ensure the rocket is aligned correctly at launch. The small payload space delivery market is growing incredibly quickly. We have already covered Indian Pixxel and Canadian Wyvern as consumer examples of these services. Spaceryde has already managed to get regulatory approval for launches and plans to carry live payloads for orbital and suborbital flights as early as 2023. #space

iPhone Swap Today we have another simple but powerful startup idea that works. Finland-based Swappie was co-founded in 2016 by Sami Marttinen (CEO) and Jiri Heinonen (CMO) with the simple mission to give their clients a way to upgrade their phones that is high quality, more affordable, and environmentally friendly. The startup refurbishes and resells used iPhones via its marketplace. It also gives a 12-month warranty. The smartphone industry has a significant impact on the environment, and 85-90% of it comes during the manufacturing process. Apple, for example, says that iPhone 11 creation emits more than 56kg of CO2. Swappie offers its customers a sustainable choice to reduce waste by buying a professionally refurbished iPhone for less. I've looked up the prices for the new and Swappie-refurbished iPhone 12 128Gb in Greece: 849 and 679 euro respectively. The smartphone market in Europe where the startup operates is worth over €100 billion but used or refurbished phones currently make up just over 10% of that, with only one in four pre-owned phones resold. In 2020, Swappie grew fivefold in revenue, proving it has rising demand and the ability to expand. The startup's potential attracted investor interest: the company raised $40.6 million in 2020, closing another $124 million investment round this month. 🎬 30-seconds video 💡 Article on TechCrunch 🌐 Website #startups #phone

Paralyzed patients walk, swim, and cycle Three men paralyzed in motorcycle accidents have become the first success stories for the new spinal stimulation device developed by Lausanne's Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. They took steps independently on a treadmill within a day of their device's activation; and could stand, walk, swim, and pedal a bicycle after five months of rehab. When trauma severely damages the bundle of nerves that make up a person's spinal cord, the brain's electrical signals no longer reach the body's muscles, resulting in paralysis. A wide implant, roughly the size of a pointer finger placed underneath the vertebrae, directly on the spinal cord, can re-create those signals and trigger leg movements. The team designed software to activate the electrodes in patterns that produce movements. For example, using different stimulation patterns, the participants in the new study could swim, cycle, do leg presses and sitting forward bends. With the stimulation off, the abilities remain limited. However, it is interesting that one patient regained some ability to activate leg muscles without the device. For now, sending commands to the device is cumbersome. Users must select their desired movement on a tablet, which sends Bluetooth commands to a transmitter worn around the waist. That device has to stay next to a "pulse generator" implanted in the abdomen, activating electrodes along the spine. But the next generation of devices should allow users to start the pulse generator by giving voice commands to a smartwatch. In previous studies, patients needed more than a year of intense therapy to achieve overground stepping, which is quite impractical in most countries' current health care systems. But in a present study, after 4 to 6 months, all three participants could walk across the ground using only a walker for stability, making such therapy meaningful. 🎬 2-minute video 💡 Article on Science.org #medtech

☀️ Here is the summary of the last week's posts: 1️⃣ The New Story of charitable organizations - the charity betting on tech and having a novel operational model 2️⃣ Tell friend from foe - Aigen, a US startup building solar-powered, autonomous robots that use computer vision to tell weeds from plants 3️⃣ Selfie made 1.5 million kilometers from Earth - The James Webb telescope with a photo of its mirrors ❗️ Guys, can you please tell me in the comments what you do for a living? I'd like to make a poll to get our audience insights and need some options for it. Have a great week, TFG #weeksummary

Selfie made 1.5 million kilometers from Earth The James Webb telescope filmed its hexagonal petal mirror with an infrared camera in the process of adjustment. We can consider it a selfie 1.5 million km from Earth! A special lens, designed to image segments of the primary mirror instead of images of the cosmos, has taken that photo. The bright mirror segment on the picture was pointed at the star, while the others had different position angles. The telescope will send the first scientific images in the summer of 2022. However, much remains to be done in the coming months to prepare the observatory for full-fledged scientific operations. 🧐 Let me remind you that James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a space telescope designed primarily to conduct infrared astronomy. NASA led the telescope's development in collaboration with the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency. The JWST was launched 25 December 2021 on an ESA Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou, French Guiana, and will succeed the Hubble Space Telescope as NASA's flagship mission in astrophysics. Scientists plan to use JWST to observe some of the oldest and most distant objects and events in the Universe (including the first stars and the formation of the first galaxies) and detailed atmospheric characterization of potentially habitable exoplanets. #space

Tell friend from foe TechCrunch reports a $4 million funding round for Aigen, a US startup building solar-powered, autonomous robots that use computer vision to tell weeds from plants. There are multiple cameras on the robot. First, an onboard pre-trained AI identifies plants and other objects, and then the robot either removes or propagates the plants with two robot arms underneath it covering up to three acres of farmland per day. The startup is not just making weed-whacking machines. Their vision is to make agriculture carbon negative by reducing diesel emissions, soil compaction, chemical usage, and land cultivation. Plants take CO2 from thin air and turn that into sugars -- carbohydrates, to be exact. In effect, the plants are taking carbon out of the air and sticking it back into the earth. Kenny Lee, the company's COO, argues for the company's smaller, lighter robots. "Heavy machinery compresses the soil, which means that the roots grow sideways, instead of down. That's a problem because you can't put the carbon the plants capture deep into the ground. By using fewer tractors and large commercial devices, you can change how agriculture works." The company's website states it has only 600k acres of land in the pipeline at the moment. To succeed and apply its technology at scale, I believe Aigen also needs to build a case for cost efficiency. Fighting humanity's most significant problems is good, but you have to show how your solution helps aim higher profit margins. 🌐 Website (they are hiring) #robotics #AI #startups #agriculture

The New Story of charitable organizations New Story is an interesting nonprofit startup from San Francisco focused on providing housing solutions to communities in extreme poverty. The firm was started in 2015, shortly after Brett Hagler, one of the New Story's founders, took a trip to Haiti and saw families still living in tents years after the 2010 earthquake. Many charitable organizations raised millions of dollars to help these specific people directly, but it was clear that those millions hadn't made it to the ones who needed it most. New Story's operational model is different from that of traditional charitable organizations. Donors know exactly where 100% of their donations are going and do not have to worry about the 20% or even 2% deducted for the charity's own expenses. The team invests in tracking data software solutions so donors can understand the impact they're making with each dollar: better sleep, higher income, or whatever the effects of a home may be. New Story has a group of generous donors completely covering their operating expenses. They call them "The Builders." Currently, the startup has 57 Builders who have pledged three-year commitments between $50k-$500k per year. These people make the 100% promise possible, enabling all other donations to build homes for families in need directly. Investing in technology also allows the startup to address homelessness better and faster by providing breakthrough innovations like 3D printed homes. For example, New Story has partnered with ICON to build the world's first community of 3D printed homes in a small village of Nacajuca, Mexico. 🎬 4-minute video about New Story 🌐 Charity website 🧐 Post about ICON's 3D printer #startups #nonprofit #3Dprint

☀️ Last week posts summary for your convenience: 1️⃣ First laparoscopic surgery without human hand - a robot has performed four successful laparoscopic surgeries on the soft tissues of pigs without any guidance from a human 2️⃣ The World's First Portable MRI Machine - an MRI device that you can wheel through a normal-width hospital doorway and plug into a standard wall outlet 3️⃣ Show me your scooter - the new and stylish Naon Zero-One German electric scooter #weeksummary

Show me your scooter I am driving a rented motorbike a lot these days. I like the feeling so much that now I do not skip any bike model around thinking whether I'd like to own it. But, unfortunately, the choice here where I live is pretty much limited, so I envy those who live, for example, in Germany. Just look at this beauty in the pictures (no, I am not talking about the mustache guy). The new Naon Zero-One German electric scooter differs so much from the classically designed mass-market models - the long and flat running boards, the exposed rear swingarm, the angular seat. Naon Zero-One is not only about the style: its L3e version offers a top speed of 100 km/h (62 mph) - quite enough for any shorter commutes, including those on highways. The removable batteries hiding under the rider's feet allow for the maximum range of 140 km (87 miles) and leaves the underseat area open for storage so that you can avoid needing a backpack all the time. The bad news is that you'll have to buy ($1145) or rent ($29 per month) the battery separately from the scooter. The scooter prices are certainly on the higher end of the market in Europe: $5,640 for the lower performance L1 version and $7,360 for the L3 version. So Naon will be counting on its differentiating features to draw in riders once the scooters eventually make it to market next summer. 💡 Article on Electrek #ev #electricbikes #startups

The World's First Portable MRI Machine Sometimes new technologies have the potential to disrupt the industry standards. Hyperfine's portable MRI Machine, Swoop, is such a tech. Traditional MRI systems are massive, costly, and usually placed in a basement surrounded by concrete walls - they require radio frequency shielding. As a result, only about 10% of the world's population currently has access to MRI technology. Hyperfine's vision was to create an MRI device that you can wheel through a normal-width hospital doorway and plug into a standard wall outlet. Having such requirements meant the team had to throw all existing solutions out of the window and start with a blank paper. Rethinking the physics and the engineering challenges, Hyperfine developed and achieved its vision. Instead of radio frequency shielding, they used noise cancellation technology, similar to noise-canceling earbuds. In addition, the Swoop system uses permanent magnets rather than electromagnets. The device also has a lower field strength than standard MRI systems, which significantly enhances patient safety and shortens the time required for each MRI. Imagine a nurses' team no longer transporting a critically ill patient to an MRI room on a different floor. Instead, in 30 seconds after a Swoop scan, advanced AI applications analyze and return annotated, segmented brain images, providing clinicians with quantitative markers for decision support and immediate feedback for diagnostic insight. FDA cleared the Swoop in 2020. Last year, the company began its commercial execution with the devices working in four major US hospitals and some pediatric clinics. 💡 Article on MDDI #medtech #AI #startups

First laparoscopic surgery without human hand A robot has performed four successful laparoscopic surgeries on the soft tissues of pigs without any guidance from a human. The Smart Tissue Autonomous Robot, or STAR, was developed by Johns Hopkins University researchers. The team lead, Alex Krieger, says that they managed to automate one of the most intricate and delicate tasks in surgery: the reconnection of two ends of an intestine. Moreover, the STAR performed the procedure in four animals much better than humans performing the same surgery. A structural light-based three-dimensional endoscope and machine learning-based tracking algorithm guides STAR. Soft-tissue surgery is challenging for robots because of its unpredictability, forcing them to adapt quickly to handle unexpected obstacles. The STAR has a novel control system that can adjust the surgical plan in real-time, like a human surgeon. Using robots to perform surgical tasks requiring high precision and repeatability can provide more accuracy and consistent outcomes for patients independently of surgeon skill. The researchers believe that could result in a democratized surgical approach to patient care. 🎬 3-minute video with details (not for the faint-hearted) #robotics #medtech #AI

☀️ Here is the summary of the last week posts: 1️⃣ Autonomous railways? - former SpaceX engineers with a startup to automate railroad transportation 2️⃣ The next era of access to space - an orbital spaceplane with horizontal takeoff and landing trying to revolutionize access to space 3️⃣ A startup that embarrassed Tesla - an EV making 752 miles (1210 km) on a single charge with the help of ONE startup's hybrid battery Take care and have a wonderful week Your Tech for Good #weeksummary

A startup that embarrassed Tesla The worst thing about electric vehicles is worrying about range. Despite having 400 mile-per-charge Teslas (650 km) and a vast network of charging stations in the US, the EV owners still have concerns about making it to the nearest charger. Especially true when you've done a bit of spicy driving or have chilly weather outside. Both cases could reduce the range unpredictably. ONE (Our Next Energy), a startup backed by BMW and Bill Gates, has developed an ingenious solution. The recent independent test of their hybrid battery has shown results that could embarrass all major EV-makers, including Tesla, Lucid, and Rivian. They took a Tesla Model S Long-range, ripped out the Panasonic battery pack, and installed their experimental pack called "Gemini." This swap was straightforward as the Gemini pack is the same size as the old Panasonic pack. Then, on a cold December day in less than ideal conditions (freezing temperatures reduce EV range), they took this Frankenstein car out for a drive and did 752 miles (1210 km) on a single charge. How does a hybrid battery beat a standard one? Almost all EVs use thousands of identical cells to make their massive batteries. These cells are optimized to charge quickly and have enormous output. Unfortunately, the flip side of that ability is a reduced battery capacity. The Gemini battery pack has a primary and a secondary pack inside it, and they work together to get the best of both worlds. The primary pack is the high-performance pack. It drives the car and is optimized for fast charging and high output but reduced capacity. So you still get the same Tesla level performance for 0–60 mph and initial charge speeds. Then there is the secondary pack, which charges slowly and has a relatively low output, but is optimized for massive capacity. It doesn't directly drive the wheels but instead acts as a range extender and charges the primary battery pack. ONE is not a carmaker; it is a battery company that probably will operate similarly to Panasonic and make battery packs for many companies. Tesla may be worried because whoever uses these new packs could take a significant technological advantage and dethrone Elon Musk's company. 💡 Article on Medium #EV #battery #startups

The next era of access to space After staying in stealth mode for five years, Washington-based Radian Aerospace reports a $27.5 million seed funding round. The company is building an orbital spaceplane with horizontal takeoff and landing called Radian One. The spaceplane powered by three cryogenic-liquid-fueled engines would carry up to five people and 5,000 pounds (4500 kg) of cargo into orbit. The idea is to get as close to airline operations as possible by flying, landing, refueling, and flying again in 48 hours. The company will need much more than $27.5 million to succeed: In the late 1990s, NASA spent nearly a billion dollars on Lockheed Martin's X-33 single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO) concept before canceling the project in 2001. But Radian's executives argue that technological advances have now brought the SSTO vision within reach. Richard Humphrey, Radian's CEO and co-founder, says, "We are not focused on tourism, we are dedicated to missions that make life better on our own planet, like research, in-space manufacturing and terrestrial observation, as well as critical new missions like rapid global delivery right here on Earth." The startup plans to bring this spacecraft into service in the current decade. The company already has several contracts with its clients: they include maintenance missions for future low-orbit space stations and the launch of various payloads for commercial and government customers. 💡Article on GeekWire 🌐 Radian's website #space

Autonomous railways? It is tough to break into the railway business. A few giants are sitting on their railroad rights and making minimal investments to maximize profits. They often close smaller railroads, not finding a way to make money out of them, and focus on the most profitable routes with longer trains – often as long as 3 miles (7.8 km). Long trains are profitable for the train companies, but they're not efficient for anyone else. We have to use semi-trucks to deliver goods to all sorts of places as soon as a long train reaches a depot. Not to mention that parking a 3-mile-long caravan vastly limits where it can go. Furthermore, train cars are often parked for days while they wait for other cars to be loaded and unloaded so that they can move, as this giant caterpillar, to their next destination. Matt Soule, a former long-time SpaceX engineer, has partnered with former colleagues at Elon Musk's space company to launch Parallel Systems startup, transforming individual freight train cars into autonomous electric vehicles. Parallel Systems' invention is a modular, motorized set of train wheels. A crane places cargo containers on the wheels that can drive this train car up to 500 miles (1300 km) to anywhere on the track. Such autonomous car has no limitations traditional long trains have: 1️⃣ Once it is loaded, it can simply drive to its destination; 2️⃣ With shorter lengths, train yards themselves can be re-architected to have smaller footprints and fit more places in our infrastructure; 3️⃣ Parallel's platoons can also split themselves in half and let road vehicles pass through their middle; 4️⃣ They can drive right into a city or even a factory, using previously abandoned rail lines. 5️⃣ You can take a container from a port to a warehouse without putting it on a truck. And that means you can load more weight (Parallel's cars can carry almost three times more than a semi-truck) 6️⃣ The cars recharge in one hour to drive another 500 miles. The technology sounds too good to be true, and it is not ready for market yet. However, building and managing autonomous electric trains is far simpler than building autonomous EVs for highways. Rails are simpler. Trains stay on a track without a steering wheel. They don't need to worry about responding to random traffic. Unlike roads, where pretty much anyone can drive anywhere, railways are tightly controlled and scheduled. Truthfully, some passenger trains have moved autonomously since the 1960s. Parallel Systems is simply pushing that autonomy to the individual car level. 💡Article on FastCompany #railroads #EV #autonomous

☀️ Let us continue keeping the content organized. You may use the #weeksummary hashtag to quickly navigate the channel. Here is the summary of the last week posts: 1️⃣ Volkswagen's legend Microbus is back - an electric reincarnation of the legendary Volkswagen Minibus 2️⃣ Let the doctor do the doctor's job - an AI-powered medical transcription platform to help doctors cope with their time-eating medical notes 3️⃣ The right to see the Earth - a space hyperspectral imaging startup to help farmers and others to see what is going on on the Earth in the same way that we understand what is going on in our bodies. 4️⃣ A chart showing where the US unicorn founders were born 5️⃣ "iPhone's moment" in the recreational vehicle industry - a travel trailer making all other travel trailers, well, "other travel trailers" Your Tech for Good

"iPhone's moment" in the recreational vehicle industry American Thor Industries has just revealed its new electric Airstream travel trailer concept. It is so good that every other recreational vehicle (RV) now looks like any other phone looked when Apple unveiled the iPhone in 2007 - a relic of the past. The trailer has two electric motors and can power itself, moving in harmony with the tow vehicle and reducing the pulling effect required from it. That means a dramatic travel range improvement. If the tow vehicle has an internal combustion engine, it will enjoy significant fuel economy. Another jaw-dropping feature is that the trailer's electric motors can move it around without a tow vehicle, using the Airstream's developed app. That makes previously tricky (if not impossible) trailer parking maneuvers as easy as parking your car. Thor also showed their new trip planning app to help travelers find high-speed charging stations and points of interest along a route to their destination. You may ask what good this vehicle does to humanity, and you will be correct. But I don't care - the tech is fantastic and deserves our attention. 🎬 1.5-minute video with the trailer 🎬 Another 1.5-minute video 💡 Article on Electrek #EV #RV

"iPhone's moment" in the recreational vehicle industry American Thor Industries has just revealed its new electric Airstream travel trailer concept. It is so good that every other recreational vehicle (RV) now looks like any phone when Apple unveiled the iPhone in 2007 - a relic of the past. The trailer has two electric motors and can power itself, moving in harmony with the tow vehicle and reducing the pulling effect required from it. That means a dramatic travel range improvement. If the tow vehicle has an internal combustion engine, it will enjoy significant fuel economy. Another jaw-dropping feature is that the trailer's electric motors can move it around without a tow vehicle, using the Airstream's developed app. That makes previously tricky (if not impossible) trailer parking maneuvers as easy as parking your car. Thor also showed their new trip planning app to help travelers find high-speed charging stations and points of interest along a route to their destination. 🎬 1.5-minute video with the trailer 🎬 Another video 💡 Article on Electrek #EV #RV

📈 Interesting chart showing us the top countries where US unicorn founders were born. According to Investopedia, startup companies get a unicorn status if they are privately held and have a value of over $1 billion #startups

The right to see the Earth The space industry is seeing a revolution driven by cube satellites. Those are miniaturized satellites made of multiple cubic modules of 10x10x10 cm size. They are much more accessible than traditional satellites to design, build and launch. Companies may access space with their cube satellites by hitching a ride on a rocket launch alongside other clients. One of such companies is a Canadian-based Wyvern. They provide a specific service of hyperspectral imaging taken from low-Earth orbit. Hyperspectral imaging is a method for capturing image data of Earth across many more bands than we can see with our eyes or traditional optics. Wyvern's first target market is agriculture. Farmers can log in to the system and see up-to-date hyperspectral imaging data of their fields. Previously hidden info like the chemical makeup of soil or invasive species becomes visible, helping farmers to make decisions and increase efficiency. Hyperspectral imaging is a proven technology already, but the primary way to capture is via drone airplanes. Wyvern says they can provide it for ten times less than many of these drones currently in use. The company has just raised $4.5 million and is ready to launch its first satellites to orbit this year. Christopher Robson, co-founder and CEO of Wyvern, says the company wants to allow people to see what is going on on the Earth in the same way that we understand what is going on in our bodies. "You have the right to see how other humans are treating the Earth, and to see how you're treating the Earth and how your country is behaving." These are the right words. However, any coin has a flip side. And I would be surprised if the military forces are still not using similar tech for their "special" purposes. However, making such data available for a wider audience should help mitigate the risks associated with a limited number of people controlling it. 💡Article on TechCrunch #space #startups #imagery

Let the doctor do the doctor's job We have all been to a doctor, right? And I am sure everybody had the experience of seeing the doctor care about the patient for 5 minutes and then write his medical notes for 15 minutes out of a 20-minutes session. The burden of clinical documentation makes a lot of bad things. Spending half of the day writing medical notes negatively impacts the doctors' work/life balance and our perception of medical care. But the main issue is that patient does not receive enough attention to his problems, and the quality of medical help suffers as a result. DeepScribe, an AI-powered medical transcription platform, has raised $30 million in Series A funding to solve the issue. Their software listens to a natural doctor-patient conversation, records, summarizes and integrates it into the physician's health record system of choice. For example, the application records patient exams while listening and preparing clinical notes. DeepScribe then uploads the notes directly into Electronic Health Records (EHR) fields. That enables physicians to review and sign their fully equipped notes in the appropriate EHR fields. DeepScribe says its platform saves physicians an average of three hours a day and costs around one-sixth the cost of human medical scribes. The company has saved physicians over 2.5 million minutes of documentation to date. In terms of reliability, DeepScribe says physicians encounter less than one correction per note on average after 20 days of usage. As for the future of its tech, the company hopes to go beyond providing efficiencies for the physician. Their ultimate goal is to improve outcomes for patients. 💡 Article on TechCrunch #AI #medtech #startups

Volkswagen's legend Microbus is back The Verge reports that VW is production-ready with its reincarnation of the iconic Microbus. The company CEO Herbert Diess tweeted that the "legend returns" on March 9th, along with a gif of the long-awaited vehicle. VW revealed the concept of ID Buzz (a strange name for a vehicle) 5 years ago. The legendary Microbus returns fully electric. And I am afraid we do not know any other tech details about the new EV. Another interesting point is that VW plans to use the autonomous ID Buzz as a platform for the automaker's full-scale commercial ride-hailing and delivery operation in Germany in 2025. For that purpose, the carmaker partnered with and invested a staggering $2.6 billion in Argo AI - a Pittsburgh-based startup that Ford also backs. Argo has been testing its vehicles in the US with Ford for the last few years, and now it provides hardware and software for VW's autonomous EVs. 📷 Photos of ID Buzz outfitted with a high-tech suit of sensors and computing smarts. #EV #AI #autonomouscars