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- DTN 043: An AI Just Expanded All Known Stable Materials by 10x
DTN 043: An AI Just Expanded All Known Stable Materials by 10x
Plus: an X Prize for aging, Neuralink quietly raises $43M, an enhanced geothermal system begins operations in Nevada, and more.
The Big Picture
“An AI program developed by Google DeepMind called GNoME was trained using data from the Materials Project, a free-to-use database of 150,000 known materials overseen by Persson. Using that information, the AI system came up with designs for 2.2 million new crystals, of which 380,000 were predicted to be stable—not likely to decompose or explode, and thus the most plausible candidates for synthesis in a lab—expanding the range of known stable materials nearly 10-fold. In a paper published today in Nature, the authors write that the next solid-state electrolyte, or solar cell materials, or high-temperature superconductor, could hide within this expanded database. Finding those needles in the haystack starts off with actually making them, which is all the more reason to work quickly and through the night. In a recent set of experiments at LBNL, also published today in Nature, Ceder’s autonomous lab was able to create 41 of the theorized materials over 17 days, helping to validate both the AI model and the lab’s robotic techniques.” (WIRED)
“On Wednesday, the X Prize Foundation, which funds global competitions to spark development of breakthrough technologies, announced a new $101 million prize—the largest yet—to address the mental and physical decline that comes with aging. The winners will have to prove by 2030 that their intervention can turn back the clock in older adults by at least a decade in three key areas: cognition, immunity, and muscle function. The intent isn’t to reverse aging per se, says Diamandis, but rather to restore some of the function we lose as we age. Although several high-profile billionaires have invested in longevity companies, “most investor dollars in the space go towards treating specific diseases, including the chronic diseases of aging,” said James Peyer, CEO of Cambrian Bio, in an email. When the focus is a single disease, there’s a clear path to regulatory approval. But many researchers believe that age-related diseases such as heart attacks, cancer, and Alzheimer’s are caused by the aging process itself. A therapy targeting that process could, in theory, prevent or delay the onset of those diseases. The X Prize purse could help fund a trial to demonstrate that, Peyer says: “That outcome trial is what the FDA and other regulators will ultimately require for an approval.” (MIT Technology Review)
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Deep Tech News
Fervo’s Enhanced Geothermal System Begins Operations in Nevada
Concr is using using astrophysics and AI to try to cure cancer
Tough battery-sourcing requirement for EV tax credit may be relaxed
A Cutting-Edge Cancer Treatment Is Under FDA Investigation—for Cancer Risk
Over 100 French startups, VCs and labs are coming together to lobby for deeptechs in Brussels
2023 has been another year with a record number of orbital launches
Michigan installs the US’s first wireless EV charging public roadway
GM to slash spending at Cruise by ‘hundreds of millions of dollars’
JPEG of the Week
This week Anduril unveiled Roadrunner, a reusable vertical take-off and landing drone powered by twin thrust-vectored turbojet engines that can execute a wide variety of missions including firefighting, search and rescue, and organ delivery.
One of the first variants introduced by the company was Roadrunner-M, a high-explosive interceptor variant of Roadrunner built for ground-based air defense that can rapidly launch, identify, intercept, and destroy a wide variety of aerial threats. “Roadrunner and Roadrunner-M are real vehicles that have been produced at scale for some time now,” Anduril’s CEO Palmer Lucky said on X alongside a video of the Roadrunner in flight. “Roadrunner-M has been operationally validated with an existing US Government customer.” (Anduril)
Peer Review
Funding x M&A
Drug discovery startup Pepper Bio raises $6.5M seed to challenge Eroom’s law
BlackRock nabs $1B for energy transition infrastructure fund
Pika Labs raises $55M, launches new AI video platform to take on Runway
Neuralink, Elon Musk’s brain implant startup, quietly raises an additional $43M
Rocket propulsion startup Ursa Major raised a $138M Series D-1
Mytos, a startup automating cell manufacturing, raised a $19M Series A
Eco-friendly lithium extraction startup ADIONICS raised a $27M Series B
Biolexis Therapeutics, a clinical-stage AI-enabled drug discovery company, raised a $10M Series A
Sono Motors, a Munich-based startup developing solar tech for cars, raised $126.6M
AI-powered protein programming platform Cradle raised a $24M Series A
Miscellanea
New research shows what NASA can teach organizations about strategic agility / South Korea to launch digital currency pilot with 100,000 residents next year / Mars Needs Insects / There is a scientific fraud epidemic / A new wave of founders are turning from fintech to climate tech / RIP Popular Science / The New Quest to Control Evolution / Astronomers stunned by six-planet system frozen in time / Why don't we see robotic civilizations rapidly expanding across the universe? / Founder of spyware maker Hacking Team arrested for attempted murder / Backlash over fake female speakers shuts down developer conference / U.S. Suicides Reached a Record High Last Year / Listen to the Center of the Milky Way Translated Into Sound / Spending the SETI Institute's $200 Million Gift / Green hydrogen: understanding the innovation and policy landscape / Can a Passenger Hack an Airplane? / Spanish agency created AI influencer and she's raking in up to $11,000 a month / Think You're Messaging an OnlyFans Star? You're Talking to These Guys / Amateur astronomers discover an asteroid's moon
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