⤴⤵ Up Wing/Down Wing #43

A curated selection of pro-progress and anti-progress news items from the week that was

In case you missed it ...

✨ Permissionless innovation in the Age of AI (Monday)

🌌👩‍🌾 Terraforming Mars: A Quick Q&A with … Edwin Kite and Robin Wordsworth on designing a new home beyond Earth (Tuesday)

🗽⤵ Why American growth falters despite abundant ideas (Thursday)

🗽 America's immigration edge: My chat (+transcript) with policy expert Alex Nowrasteh (Friday)

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⤴ Up Wing Things

🧲 Completion of super magnet brings us closer to fusion energy. The ITER fusion project has completed a crucial piece of its energy-producing reactor: a superpowerful magnet capable of lifting an aircraft carrier. This magnet will help contain plasma, a superheated gas, at temperatures 10 times hotter than the sun’s core. This represents a major step toward achieving nuclear fusion energy, which could one day provide a clean, endless power source. When fully operational, the reactor will generate far more energy than it uses, paving the way for a carbon-free future and even possibly powering spacecraft for long journeys in space. (The Debrief)

🤖 New humanoid robot from Boston Dynamics arrives on the factory floor. Boston Dynamics plans to deploy its all-electric humanoid, Atlas, in a Hyundai factory later this year — marking the robot’s first real-world manufacturing role. Designed to handle heavy, awkward tasks, Atlas is part of a growing wave of multipurpose humanoids entering the workforce:

The basic promise of humanoid robots is that they will be able to switch between multiple tasks, just like their human peers. It’s a fundamentally different approach from traditional assembly line automation, which builds an entire environment around the specific tasks required for manufacturing. Jonathan Hurst, cofounder and chief robot officer at Agility Robotics, expects its robots to sit alongside that process, not disrupt it.

Robots like these, powered by advanced AI, promise flexibility beyond traditional automation. Progress in large language models is making it easier for robots to adapt and take verbal commands. If successful, this could reshape how robots work alongside humans across industries. (Wired)

🐖 Crispy bacon from CRISPR pigs. A British company, Genus, has successfully created genetically edited pigs immune to the porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS), a virus that causes significant losses in the US pig farming industry. Using CRISPR gene-editing technology, Genus edited pig embryos to prevent the virus from infecting cells. The pigs have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, marking a significant step in the use of gene editing for livestock. While these pigs are poised to enter the food supply, further approval in major export markets is required before gene-edited pork reaches shelves, possibly as early as next year. (MIT)

🚛 Self-driving trucks hit the road in Texas. Aurora, a Pittsburgh-based autonomous vehicle tech startup, has launched its self-driving trucking service in Texas, making it the first company to operate commercial self-driving heavy-duty trucks. The trucks, equipped with a suite of sensors and AI, will handle deliveries between Dallas and Houston. Aurora's technology can detect obstacles and adjust driving in real-time, offering safer highway driving. The company has partnered with Volvo and PACCAR and plans to expand to more regions, including El Paso and Phoenix. While automation may reduce long-haul trucking jobs, it’s expected to be gradual, with job shifts to short-haul positions. (NA)