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- June 9th 2025
June 9th 2025
Max Gray
June 09, 2025
The Daily Innovation Newsletter
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June 9th 2025
💻 Technology
🇪🇪 Estonian researchers turn old phones into micro data centers for smart cities and ocean monitoring
Researchers at the University of Tartu have transformed outdated smartphones into low-cost micro data centers to reduce electronic waste and support sustainable data processing. By removing batteries and connecting phones with 3D-printed mounts, the team built an €8-per-device system that tracks urban transit data and monitors marine life in real time - without needing divers or new hardware. Published with support from the Estonian Research Council, the project offers a scalable, eco-friendly alternative to landfilling aging electronics.
⚡️ Energy
Astral Systems, in collaboration with the University of Bristol, has successfully bred tritium, a critical fusion fuel, using its own operational fusion reactor, marking a world-first for a private company. The breakthrough occurred during a 55-hour experiment using the firm's Multi-State Fusion technology, which combines plasma and solid-state lattice confinement to boost efficiency and lower fusion temperatures. This achievement addresses a major bottleneck in scaling nuclear fusion energy by demonstrating an in-reactor method to sustainably produce tritium.
🦾 Robotics
🇨🇳 Chinese engineers use 432 AI-guided robots to relocate 7,500-ton heritage complex for urban upgrade
In Shanghai, engineers have temporarily relocated a 7,500-ton historic building using 432 small walking robots to enable underground construction beneath the dense Zhangyuan district. AI-powered 3D modeling and deep learning guided the movement and site excavation, overcoming tight alleyways and complex terrain. Once new cultural, commercial, and transit infrastructure is completed, the building, part of a nearly century-old shikumen complex, will be moved back to preserve its heritage.
The Beijing Academy of Artificial Intelligence (BAAI) has released RoboBrain 2.0, an open-source AI model designed to significantly improve humanoid robots’ spatial awareness and task planning capabilities. Claimed to be the most powerful robot AI model of its kind, RoboBrain 2.0 boosts accuracy by 74% over its predecessor and enables more autonomous and efficient robot behavior. This innovation positions China to accelerate robotics adoption across industries while strengthening its leadership in embodied AI.
🌎 Sustainability
Researchers from the RIKEN Center and the University of Tokyo have developed a durable plastic that dissolves in seawater within hours, breaking down into harmless components without releasing microplastics or carbon dioxide. The non-toxic material is also fire-resistant and biodegradable in soil, offering a promising solution to the global plastic pollution crisis. Though not yet commercialized, industry interest is growing as the team works to optimize its application.
💊 Healthcare
Researchers at Fudan University have developed tellurium nanowire implants that restored vision in blind mice and a monkey, and even gave infrared vision to a sighted monkey, an ability normally impossible for mammals. The nanowires mimic natural photoreceptors by converting light, including infrared, directly into electrical signals without external devices. Published in Science, this breakthrough could lead to advanced artificial retinas and marks a major step toward bionic eyes with enhanced human vision capabilities.
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Max
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