June 20th 2025

Author

Max Gray
June 20, 2025

The Daily Innovation Newsletter

Enjoying this newsletter? Know someone who would too? Forward this email to them!

June 20th 2025

⚡️ Energy

Form Energy, a US-based company, will install a 1.5 MW iron-air battery system in California by 2026, using reversible rusting to deliver 100-hour energy storage - far exceeding the performance of typical lithium-ion systems. Backed by a $30 million state grant, the system stores energy through the oxidation and reduction of iron, offering a low-cost, fire-resistant, and long-duration alternative. This project marks a critical step in California’s shift toward sustainable, grid-scale energy storage.

🚘 Transport

China’s Donghu Laboratory has achieved a maglev world record by accelerating a 1.1-ton test vehicle to 650 km/h (404 mph) in seven seconds over just 600 meters. This compact high-speed test, enabled by advanced electromagnetic propulsion and millimeter-precision control, bypasses the need for long tracks and allows for more efficient development of next-generation rail. The breakthrough may pave the way for 800 km/h trials later this year and supports broader ambitions for ultra-high-speed and space-launch maglev applications.

🦾 Robotics

A European tech consortium has introduced the world’s first fully 3D-printed autonomous ground robot built entirely from recycled materials. Created by Lemki Robotix (Ukraine), iSCALE 3D (Germany), and Zeykan Robotics (Czech Republic), the off-road robot features a sealed body, airless wheels, and reinforced rims, all fabricated from sustainable, high-performance composites. Designed for remote logistics, disaster response, and agriculture, it combines modular construction, Starlink connectivity, and neural network-driven autonomy to reduce costs, environmental impact, and manufacturing barriers.

Thales (France) and Skydweller Aero (US) have developed the first solar-powered drone capable of flying for a month while carrying substantial payloads, thanks to a wingspan larger than a Boeing 747. Known as MAPS, the aircraft integrates Thales’ AI-enabled AirMaster S radar, providing real-time surveillance and target classification over vast maritime areas without carbon emissions. Designed for persistent intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR), it offers a strategic, cost-effective alternative to satellites and manned aircraft.

🌎 Sustainability

Researchers at Colorado State University have developed a light-powered catalytic system that transforms fossil fuel-derived compounds into industrial chemicals at room temperature, without heat. Using a dual-photon photoredox process inspired by photosynthesis, the method efficiently breaks strong bonds in arenes, common in plastics and pharmaceuticals, dramatically reducing energy use and emissions. Published in Science, this breakthrough offers a cleaner, scalable alternative for chemical manufacturing.

💊 Healthcare

Researchers in China have created an AI-powered olfactory system that identifies Parkinson’s disease by analyzing scent-related compounds in earwax, achieving 94% diagnostic accuracy. Developed by Hao Dong, Danhua Zhu, and colleagues, the method uses gas chromatography and mass spectrometry to detect specific volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that differ significantly in people with Parkinson’s. Published in Analytical Chemistry and supported by the American Chemical Society, this low-cost, non-invasive approach could enable early intervention and transform how the disease is diagnosed.

That’s all for today, please reply to this email if you have any comments or feedback, we’d love to hear from you about what we can do better!

Have you enjoyed this email? Make sure to share it with your friends and colleagues.

See you soon,

Max

Reply

or to participate.