The Leftovers: War Bots, Space Junk, and Science on Sale

Grab bad of other topics from the week of 21 April

Coming in late off a birthday weekend with a grab bag of other topics. Enjoy!

Science

• Global Race to Lure US Researchers Intensifies as Trump Slashes Science Funding

• Why the green-technology race might not save the planet

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Robotics

• Brewhaha: Turns out machines can't replace people, Starbucks finds

• 2025 Is the Year of the Humanoid Robot Factory Worker

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Space

• Tumbling Russian Sat Highlights Counterspace Threat

• Starlink’s got company — and orbital overcrowding is a disaster waiting to happen

• Giant radar ‘umbrella’ launches into space on mission to transform climate science

• NASA just swapped a 10-year-old Artemis II engine with one nearly twice its age

• Amazon deploys the first Project Kuiper internet satellites

• True Anomaly Raises $260M Series C

• Rocket Report: Starbase the city is coming soon; Alpha remains in beta

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Surveillance

• Sam Altman's eyeball-scanning ID technology debuts in the US

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Transportation

• Feds ease rules for autonomous vehicle testing to compete with China.

• Google details plans for 1 MW IT racks exploiting electric vehicle supply chain

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Conflict & War

• Ukraine Pinning War Hopes on Expanded Drone Program

• Iran rebuffs Israel’s demand for giving up nuclear programme in US talks

• Radian Plans Re-entry Vehicle For Hypersonic Tests

• France accuses Russia of a decade’s worth of high-profile cyberattacks

• ARX Robotics rides defence tech wave with €31M for battlefield robots

• Maryland man pleads guilty to outsourcing US govt work to North Korean dev in China

• Army Will Seek Right to Repair Clauses in All Its Contracts

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Energy

• China amps up nuclear ambitions with 10 new reactor approvals for fourth straight year

• Is China Pulling Ahead in the Quest for Fusion Energy?

• Breakthrough extends fuel cell lifespan beyond 200,000 hours, paving the way for clean long-haul trucking

• China leads global hydrogen production amid clean energy race