The week's developments in AI, quantum, and biotech, explained | 19.06.24

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This week, a new startup is using NASA tech to stop school shootings, wearables have gotten even smaller, and bigtech ventures into biotech. Plus, researchers successfully measured the Earth's rotation using quantum entanglement, and scientists developed a 3D printed vacuum to trap dark matter.

We cover this, plus the latest tools for upscaling images, turning text into video, and DIY karaoke.

— Charlie and the Research & Intelligence Team 

🚀You are now able to sign up for the super early bird offer (75% off) to the CogX AI Summit in London on October 7th here.

The Top Story

💉Silicon Valley Sets its Sights on Curing Diseases with AI: Nvidia, alongside Google, Microsoft, and Amazon, is leveraging AI to revolutionise drug discovery. For an industry notorious for high failure rates and skyrocketing costs, could big tech be the long-awaited disrupter? 

• AI promises to cut drug development time and costs significantly, and has attracted over $9 billion in venture funding from 2019 to 2022. However, the complexity of the biopharma industry presents challenges, for even the most advanced AI systems.

  
  
  
  

• Big Tech's foray into medicine could lead to faster, more efficient treatments, but success depends on navigating regulatory hurdles and maintaining patient privacy.

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… Want to learn more? Read the full piece here on the CogX Blog

Innovation and Releases

🚸New startup 'Cover' uses NASA tech to stop school shootings. Their AI scanners can detect weapons from 10-15 feet away with high accuracy. The system focuses solely on identifying threats like guns and knives, without storing images, ensuring student privacy. 

🚀SpaceX debuts portable Starlink Mini for $599. It’s small enough to fit in a backpack, weighs only 2.5 pounds, and offers over 100 Mbps download speeds. Early customers can add Mini Roam service for $30 per month, capped at 50 GB.

🛡UK cybersecurity startup raises $37M for post-quantum cryptography: PQShield develop cryptographic systems resistant to quantum computer attacks. Their tech caters to sectors with sensitive data and long product lifespans, like semiconductors. 

💍The world’s thinnest smart ring: Circular's Ring Slim is 2.2mm thick and weighs only 2 grams. New features include enhanced sleep and heart rate tracking, and AI wellness assistant Kira+ for personalised recommendations. Plus it's waterproof and scratch resistant.

AI Tools of the Week

🖼️Upscale images: Let's Enhance.io uses AI to generate images from text, resize photos, and boost image resolution up to 500MP with 300+ DPI density.

🎥Create videos: Luma Dream Machine is the new text/image-to-video tool, creating dynamic 5s shots with smooth motion and cinematic camera moves.

🎤DIY karaoke tracks: Vocal Remover uses AI to separate vocals from instrumentals in songs, creating karaoke versions in 10 seconds.

Latest Research

🔬This molecular sponge could be the future electronics: Researchers have developed a dynamic 2D polymer that can switch its properties from compact to porous, moving closer to switchable quantum states (meaning devices that can turn certain properties on and off)

🌎Quantum entanglement measures Earth rotation: Researchers have successfully measured Earth's rotation using quantum entangled photons, using an advanced Sagnac interferometer. This achievement could lead to more sensitive quantum-based sensors.

🎾AI can recognise athletes' emotions: Researchers have developed a model that accurately identifies tennis players' emotions based on body language during games with a 68.9% success rate. The tech could enhance sports training and performance.

🌌Scientists develop 3D printed vacuum system to trap dark matter: The system uses ultra-cold lithium atoms to trap dark matter by detecting domain walls. The team hopes to observe how dark matter affects particle paths. Results are expected within a year.

In case you missed it

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🚀 You are now able to sign up for the super early bird offer (75% off) to the CogX AI Summit in London on October 7th here.