🚀 Chinese scientists have created a DNA cassette tape with a staggering 36 petabytes of storage!

Instead of magnetic tape, this breakthrough uses synthetic DNA molecules to encode digital data through sequences of A, T, C, and G — the letters of life itself.

Highlights:
• Up to 1,570 addressable sections per second
• Rewind & fast-forward functions, just like classic cassettes 🎶
• Built-in error correction with Reed–Solomon codes for data integrity
• Market forecast: from $93M in 2024 to $3B by 2030

The future of storage may fit inside a strand of DNA — and yes, one day our smartphones might carry genetic labs just to keep all our memes safe. 🧬💾

#DNA #Storage

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@science

⌚ Old-school Casio, new tricks!

A startup called Olee Watch has released a smart module that turns classic Casio F-91W and A158W into fitness trackers.

💡 What it adds:
• Step counter 👣
• Heart rate monitor ❤️
• Even simple games 🎮

All functions are controlled via a companion app with just a few taps. The module costs $55

@gadget

🤖 Robots don’t have to look like clunky metal machines — and soon, they won’t.

Meet the AI-powered robotic head from Chinese company AheadForm. Its facial expressions are driven by a dedicated artificial intelligence, making interactions far more natural.

And here’s the twist: a robot’s “intelligence” doesn’t even need to live inside its head. In many cases, robots are controlled directly from the cloud, tapping into vast computing power far beyond what fits in hardware.

The future of robotics may look — and think — very different from what sci-fi once imagined.

🚨 China surpasses the world in robot installations!

According to the latest report by the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), China installed nearly 300,000 industrial robots in 2024 — more than the rest of the world combined. 🤖🌏

🔹 Total operational robots in China now exceed 2,027,000 units.
🔹 China’s share of global installations has reached 54%.
🔹 It took just 3 years for China to go from 1 million to 2 million robots on its factory floors.
🔹 For comparison: the U.S. installed about 34,000 robots in 2024, while Japan added around 44,000.

China’s rapid automation is reshaping global manufacturing and accelerating the future of smart factories.

#robotics #China #automation #industry40 #science

🤖 A robot that feels touch with its whole body

German Aerospace Center (DLR) engineers have created SARA — a robot that can sense touch across its entire surface — without any external tactile skin or sensors.

How it works:
SARA uses only the force sensors built into its joints plus clever math.
When a person touches the robot’s body, the system calculates where and how strongly it was touched by analyzing subtle mechanical changes in the joints.

What it can do:
✍️ Recognize letters or numbers traced on its body — with 90–95% accuracy
🔘 Create “virtual buttons” anywhere — place a sticky note and the robot will remember that spot
🎚 Adjust settings — swipe across its arm like a slider to change speed or grip strength

Why it matters:
Traditional tactile robots rely on expensive, fragile “electronic skin.”
SARA skips that — turning its entire body into an interactive surface, like a smartphone screen.

Limitations:
Currently it can detect only two simultaneous touches, and sensitivity is lower than dedicated sensors.
But for most human–robot collaboration tasks, this minimalist design is a breakthrough.

#robotics #AI #DLR #innovation #HRI #sensors

Cyberpunk remote work, IRL.

Operators in the Philippines—paid about $250/month—are remotely piloting shelf-stocking robots in Japanese stores.
Today it’s teleoperation; tomorrow it’s training data. The real question: how fast until the robots learn enough to cut humans out of the loop?

#robots #teleoperation #retailtech #AI #futureofwork #science

🚀 Starcloud wants a 4-km, 5-GW GPU data center… in space

NVIDIA-backed startup Starcloud is about to put a data-center-class GPU in orbit: their Starcloud-1 satellite launches in November with an NVIDIA H100 onboard — roughly 100× more GPU compute than any prior space system. The 60-kg, fridge-sized sat is a first step toward orbital GPU clouds.

Why it matters: today, satellites downlink raw data to Earth for processing. With an H100 upstairs, AI runs where data is born — cutting response times from hours to minutes. That’s big for sensors like SAR, which can spit out ~10 GB/s; instead of shipping it all home, the model can filter, segment, and alert in orbit.

Power & cooling: sunlight is (nearly) constant in orbit and space is an “infinite heat sink” via radiators, so no water-hungry chillers. Starcloud’s roadmap sketches a ~5 GW orbital data center fed by solar + radiator panels about 4 km × 4 km. Future birds aim to integrate Blackwell GPUs for up to 10× more performance versus Hopper.

Biz timeline: Crusoe (the “energy-first” cloud) plans to deploy capacity on Starcloud’s platform from 2026–27. Starcloud projects ~10× lower energy cost than Earth data centers long-term. A white paper even models a 40 MW cluster with a ~$8.2M launch cost — if Starship-class launch prices fall to ~$30/kg (a big if).

CEO Philip Johnston’s bet: within 10 years, most new data centers get built in space. Gamers, rejoice — astronauts might finally run DOOM at ultra.

#Starcloud #H100 #Blackwell #OrbitalCompute #SpaceDatacenter #SAR #EdgeAI
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@science

AI-powered parking never looked like this in my head.

A 35-kg Unitree G1 running BAAI’s THOR whole-body control just dragged a 1.4-ton car — ~40× its own weight. It’s a stunt, but it shows how fast balance, traction, and whole-body control are improving. Next stop: factory logistics, recovery, and precision vehicle positioning.

#Unitree #BAAI #THOR #Robotics #AI #Humanoids
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@science