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MEGABOTS used by Rio Tinto copper company in Australia save humans from dangerous work. "Imagine Google's self-driving cars, except gigantic: each 210-metric-ton truck is 27 feet wide and 51 feet long, and can carry 320 metric tons. Although 15 of the dump trucks work in Australia's iron-rich Pilbara region, they are controlled from a Rio Tinto headquarters in Perth, Australia—930 miles away. Key to the trucks' success is their ability to operate 24 hours a day." Autonomous drills are next at Rio Tinto. " " http://lnkd.in/dqmktKa View in LinkedIn

THE 710 WARRIOR ROBOT, the dark side of robotics. "The newest prototype, which is also designed for explosive ordnance disposal on the battlefield, can lift up to 220 pounds... and carry loads of 150 pounds over rough terrain. Built with an electric motor strong enough to pull a car, the hulking 710 Warrior weighs 346 pounds and can travel at 8 miles per hour...its cameras beam what they see to operators who watch in real time."" " http://lnkd.in/dkPuBiJ View in LinkedIn

$2.1 BILLION PHARMA SETTLEMENT. Teva and Sun Pharma will pay $2.15 billion to settle a patent suit related to its acid-reflux drug. "This is the first instance of generic drugmakers paying damages for marketing a copy of an existing drug for which patents have yet to expire (an 'at-risk' launch)." ""It is an important milestone, setting a 'book-end' case for the industry. It will serve to encourage patent settlements," " " http://lnkd.in/dHi9MEX View in LinkedIn

BOTS TO THE RESCUE. "The DARPA Robotics Challenge, by far the most ambitious and exciting large-scale robotics competition the world has ever seen, was largely inspired by the inability to avert disaster at Fukushima; that is not to say the response is due exclusively to Japan’s failure to secure a vital energy source, prevent a meltdown, or limit structural and environmental damage."" " http://lnkd.in/dxJwqhh View in LinkedIn

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FUKUSHIMA AND ROBOTS. "When the radiation levels coming from the ruined Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan were too high to safely allow humans to enter, robots went in first." " " http://lnkd.in/dkPuBiJ View in LinkedIn

Excellent summary. The viral brand of Silicon Valley has mutated and evolved, with new solutions and new ecosystems. There is not just a single path. http://lnkd.in/dttN63V View in LinkedIn

FUKUSHIMA'S ROBOT RENAISSANCE. "Events at Fukushima propelled practical development and funding almost immediately. Private companies such as Mitsubishi, Toshiba, Honda, Panasonic, and Toyota, most of which were already working with robotics, have now increased funding and investments of their proprietary expertise. Government agencies, including JAXA, NEDO, METI, have also increased or refocused support toward university robotics laboratories and private-public partnerships."" " http://lnkd.in/dxJwqhh View in LinkedIn

This simply proves that big companies with huge overheads are poor at innovation when measured by carrying costs. Small VC funded companies innovate successfully for a tiny fraction of the costs of big pharma. The urban myth perpetuates and big pharma likes that to support pricing decisions. http://lnkd.in/dWU3hVf View in LinkedIn

JC VENTER'S NEW BOOK: Venter, 'Life at the Speed of Light', where he discusses the creation of the first synthetic life form. View in LinkedIn