From TLDR 2024-12-31

NVIDIA'S NEXT MOVE: POWERING HUMANOID ROBOTS (1 MINUTE READ) [4]

Nvidia will be leaning more heavily into robotics in 2025. It will
launch a new generation of compact computers for humanoid robots
called Jetson Thor in the first half of next year. Nvidia aims to
provide robot makers with an underlying OEM as its largest customers
work to lessen their dependence on the company's AI chips by
developing their own.

CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM SURROUNDS PLANS FOR THE WORLD'S FIRST NUCLEAR
FUSION POWER PLANT (3 MINUTE READ) [6]

Commonwealth Fusion Systems has announced plans to build the world's
first nuclear fusion power plant. The plant will be located in
Chesterfield County, Virginia. If successful, the plant will infuse
400 megawatts power into the state's electrical grid starting in the
early 2030s. Fusion technology still hasn't been proven to be viable -
previous attempts by well-financed tech companies have failed.

WHY CHINA IS BUILDING A THORIUM MOLTEN-SALT REACTOR (4 MINUTE READ) [7]

China plans to start building a demonstration thorium-based
molten-salt reactor in the Gobi Desert next year. The 10-megawatt
reactor project is scheduled to be operational by 2030. Thorium-232 is
more abundant on Earth than uranium-235, but it isn't directly
fissile, so it must first be transformed into fissile uranium-233,
which is technically feasible, but it is unknown whether that is
economical and practical. If feasible, thorium, which is waste product
of China's huge rare earth mining industry, could reduce dependence on
uranium.

GENETICALLY EDITED MOSQUITOES HAVEN'T SCALED YET. WHY? (23 MINUTE READ) [10]

Gene drives are a clever genetic trick that forces a particular gene
to be inherited by nearly all offspring rather than the usual 50-50
chance in normal inheritance. They can propagate a desired mutation
through an entire population theoretically with only a few mating
events. Some iterations of gene drives have been demonstrated to work
in fruit flies, but mosquitoes are much more complicated and we don't
fully understand them yet. This technology is also being developed in
countries where malaria is not endemic - the countries that have
problems with mosquitoes may not want to deal with the potential
ecological issues that may result from the use of gene drives.

ROBOTS ARE LEARNING TO CONDUCT SURGERY ON THEIR OWN BY WATCHING
VIDEOS (4 MINUTE READ) [14]

Researchers from Johns Hopkins University and Stanford University
have trained robots to manipulate needles, tie knots, and suture
wounds using video recordings of human-controlled robotic arms
performing surgical tasks.

MONEY CAN BUY A LONGER LIFE-TO A POINT (4 MINUTE READ) [17]

People with high salaries and net worth tend to live longer lives due
to access to better healthcare, nutrition, and safer environments.

Links:
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[4] https://techcrunch.com/2024/12/29/nvidias-next-move-powering-humanoid-robot s/?utm_source=tldrnewsletter
[6] https://theweek.com/science/world-first-fusion-power-plant?utm_source=tldrn ewsletter
[7] https://spectrum.ieee.org/chinas-thorium-molten-salt-reactor?utm_source=tld rnewsletter
[10] https://eryney.substack.com/p/genetically-edited-mosquitoes-havent?utm_sou rce=tldrnewsletter
[14] https://gizmodo.com/robots-are-learning-to-conduct-surgery-on-their-own-by [17] https://links.tldrnewsletter.com/XwGPlh

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