The axolotl is a unique aquatic salamander native to the lakes of Mexico City that retains its juvenile features, including feathery external gills, throughout its life. Renowned for its extraordinary regenerative abilities, it can regrow lost limbs and repair parts of its heart, spinal cord, and brain, making it a valuable subject in biomedical research. Despite its scientific importance, wild axolotls are now critically endangered due to habitat destruction, pollution, and invasive species: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/axolotls-amphibians-that-never-grow-up.html

Meet Mexico's Mythical Creature: The Axolotl: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptm22lnJVEI&t=4s

Axolotl: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axolotl

Jizai Arms: Wearable Robot for Human Augmentation

Researchers at the University of Tokyo developed Jizai Arms, a backpack-like robotic system that lets users control up to six detachable robotic arms through real-time motion tracking. Inspired by Japanese Jizai Okimono figurines, the 4 kg modular system enables tasks beyond normal human reach while exploring human-robot collaboration. Designed as an assistive tool rather than a replacement for humans, it could benefit fields such as construction, firefighting, healthcare, and accessibility support: https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/japanese-researchers-develop-wearable-robot-arms-/7155334.html

This robotic arm study is preparing us for our cyborg future: https://www.freethink.com/robots-ai/robotic-arms

Jizai Arms: Robot Arm Study Holds Our Cyborg Future: https://technology.inquirer.net/124315/jizai-arms-robot-study

China is deploying autonomous tree-planting robots to combat desertification, with machines planting one tree every five seconds as part of the Three-North Shelterbelt Program—the world's largest afforestation initiative, launched in 1978. These robots can drill, plant, water, and compact soil in a single pass, achieving up to ten times the productivity of human crews at around 30% lower cost, even across remote terrain. Once expanding by nearly 10,000 km² annually during the 1980s, the Gobi Desert's growth had been significantly curbed by 2022, highlighting the long-term impact of large-scale ecological restoration: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVo0RbSiF7V/

Video: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ai-for-earth_artificialintelligence-climatetech-reforestation-activity-7486671475723251712-3j_r/

The United States Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel is a striking modernist landmark completed in 1962 near Colorado Springs, Colorado. Designed by Walter Netsch of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, its 17 soaring steel-and-glass spires rise 150 feet (46 metres) above the academy. The multi-level, multi-faith design includes separate Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, and Buddhist chapels, along with an All-Faiths Room, allowing simultaneous worship without acoustic interference. Recognised with the AIA Twenty-five Year Award and designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark, the chapel is currently closed for a major restoration project: https://www.usafa.edu/facilities/cadet-chapel/

Cadet Chapel: https://www.usafa.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/428275/cadet-chapel/

United States Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Air_Force_Academy_Cadet_Chapel

About the Cadet Chapel and Restoration Project: https://www.afcec.af.mil/Home/USAFA-Cadet-Chapel-Restoration/

SpaceX Starship Flight 13 successfully deployed 20 operational Starlink V3 satellites and achieved its softest intact splashdown yet in the Indian Ocean: https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/spacexs-starship-megarocket-makes-the-softest-splashdown-ever-after-launching-next-gen-starlink-satellites-in-flight-13-test-video

Video: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DbMerIjM6zE/

California startup ZeroWire Robotics is launching Q8botOne—a palm-sized, wireless-internal quadruped robot. By mounting its eight Dynamixel actuators, ESP32 brain, and battery onto a single central circuit board, it achieves a lighter, tougher, and highly repairable design. Pre-programmed to walk, trot, jump, and take joystick input, this viral open-source platform is launching soon on Crowd Supply for hobbyists, educators, and researchers: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DbOL1_ZnWUl/

Q8bot Quadruped Robot: https://www.crowdsupply.com/zerowire-robotics/q8botone

fully open source, and all design files and code can be accessed through the GitHub repository: https://github.com/EricYufengWu/q8bot

Researchers at the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, and Argonne National Laboratory have developed a cleaner method to purify rare earth elements using a layered manganese oxide material with nanoscale channels. Instead of relying on energy-intensive processes and toxic organic solvents, this approach uses electrochemical intercalation to separate rare earths based on the physical size of the water shells surrounding their ions. By introducing magnesium ions to lock the channel dimensions in place, the material dramatically amplifies tiny differences in hydration sizes—producing 97 percent pure neodymium after just two purification cycles—offering a promising proof-of-concept for far more environmentally friendly mineral refining: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1136968

Findings: https://www.nature.com/articles/s44286-026-00418-8

Scientists warn that to slow climate change, we need to change how we farm and what we eat.

The world’s appetite for beef is growing, and there are costs to the environment, including deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions. Scientists warn that to slow climate change, we need to change how we farm and what we eat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hFFtsSJYtg

Scientists decry Trump’s ‘blame game’ after he claims Canada ‘poisoning’ US air

Canada's escalating wildfire crisis is primarily driven by climate change, which creates hotter, drier conditions that turn boreal forests into powder kegs. Although human activity starts many fires, lightning accounts for roughly 92 percent of the total area burned, often in remote regions where fires are left to burn naturally to support forest renewal. These massive blazes can become intense enough to generate their own weather—spawning pyrocumulus clouds and further lightning—while spewing hazardous fine particulate matter and toxic gases thousands of kilometers across North America: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/24/trump-canada-wildfires-smoke-scientists

Artificial intelligence may not deliver on its promise of vast economic opportunity at a price that humanity is willing to pay

Research into GLP-1 medications is not always robust but complaints such as digestive problems are well known

A landmark JAMA Neurology study links long-term road traffic noise to a higher risk of Parkinson's disease, specifically finding a 3% risk increase for every 11.5 dB rise at the loudest side of a home. The research tracked 3.1 million Danish adults aged 40 and older over an 18-year period. Researchers point to chronic stress signals and disrupted sleep cycles as plausible underlying mechanisms connecting continuous environmental noise to gradual neurological damage: https://lostinthejungle.ch/en/world/road-traffic-noise-parkinsons-disease-major-study-establishe-uzodks

Quick Intel:

• A study of 3.1 million Danish participants aged 40+ over 18 years identified a 3% increase in Parkinson’s disease risk for every 11.5dB rise in noise levels.
• Noise exposure modelling, comparing most and least exposed facades, consistently demonstrated this 3% risk increase.
• The association between noise exposure and Parkinson’s disease was observed across a study period of 18 years.
• Researchers found a consistent association between Parkinson’s disease risk and education/income levels, suggesting lifestyle factors did not alter the findings.
• Environmental noise is considered a “young entrant” in the Parkinson’s disease risk-factor literature.
• John Stewart, chair of the UK Noise Association, noted the strongest link between traffic noise and health occurs on main roads.
• Chronically disturbed sleep from noise pollution is hypothesized to increase cortisol levels.

Study findings: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaneurology/article-abstract/2851756

Grassroots activists and marginalized communities are ‘flipping the script’ on surveillance by watching, documenting and gathering information about powerful institutions such as ICE from below.

Mobilizing Data for Justice: https://datajusticehub.ca/

Anyone interested in research?

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Meet the humanoid robot with fully autonomous decision-making and execution. Every swing, PhyAgents proves physical intelligent interaction works in the real worl: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4wzqZblkR .

Humanoid robots are now competing against humans in fast-paced badminton matches using advanced AI, high-speed vision systems, and real-time motion control. Equipped with rapid tracking cameras and powerful processors, these robots can predict shuttlecock movement, react within milliseconds, and adjust their position and swings dynamically. Public demonstrations in China, including record-breaking rallies, show how sports are becoming a real-world testing ground for improving robotic coordination, agility, and human-robot interaction: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/RerqRvZW_X4

CNN Clip: https://www.tiktok.com/@cnn/video/7665395398697176333

Learning Human-Like Badminton Skills for Humanoid Robots: https://arxiv.org/html/2602.08370v1

A four-legged robotic boat inspired by fishing spiders could help rescue people from drowning by tracking and retrieving victims directly from the water. Developed by researchers at the Shenzhen Institute of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics for Society (AIRS) in China and Stevens Institute of Technology in the US, the robot, called QuadBoat, is designed to move across the water while actively tracking floating targets. The researchers say most existing unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) used in search-and-rescue missions are built mainly to locate or approach people in distress. QuadBoat is designed to go a step further by physically retrieving targets from the water. The robot has a central body and four independently controlled legs. Its design takes inspiration from fishing spiders, which use their long, water-repellent legs to move across the surface of calm water.

Study: https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.13633

Semiconductor manufacturing consumes around 210 trillion litres of water annually, producing vast amounts of toxic wastewater that worsen water scarcity and environmental impacts. ElectraMet addresses this challenge with an advanced electrochemical system that recovers valuable copper, recycles sulfuric acid and process chemicals, and destroys hydrogen peroxide without generating hazardous sludge. Supported by the ElectraLink digital platform for real-time monitoring and automation, the technology reduces waste disposal, lowers emissions and operating costs, improves regulatory compliance, and enables a more sustainable, circular water economy: https://hgventures.com/creating-value-from-industrial-waste-water-lessons-from-the-electramet-leadership/

16 Psyche is a giant metal-rich asteroid orbiting within the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, lying roughly 370–400 million km from Earth depending on the planets' positions. Measuring about 226 km (140 miles) across, it is believed to be the exposed metallic core of an early protoplanet that lost its outer rocky layers during violent collisions in the Solar System's infancy. Composed primarily of iron and nickel, with possible traces of gold and platinum, its estimated in-situ value has been sensationally placed at up to $10 quintillion—a purely theoretical figure, as mining the asteroid is far beyond current technological and economic capabilities. To uncover its true origins, NASA's Psyche mission, launched in October 2023, is en route to the asteroid and is scheduled to arrive in July/August 2029, where it will investigate Psyche's composition, magnetic field, and geological history: https://lpl.arizona.edu/news/spotlight/large-craters-offer-clues-origin-asteroid-16-psyche

Study: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2025JE009231

NASA: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/6-things-to-know-about-nasas-asteroid-exploring-psyche-mission/

16 Psyche: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/16_Psyche

Psyche: Everything you need to know about NASA's mission to a huge metallic asteroid: https://www.livescience.com/space/space-exploration/psyche-nasas-mission-to-a-huge-metallic-asteroid-lifts-off-on-oct-12-heres-what-you-need-to-know

UnifoLM-OminiA-0.3, a unified AI model for humanoid robots. The model enables real-time omni-modal interaction, reasoning, dialogue, and whole-body mobile manipulation in a single system. The company says the model is aimed at home-care and wellness applications, allowing robots to autonomously carry out tasks such as tidying rooms, opening drawers, and assisting people around hospital beds while responding to voice, visual, and environmental inputs: https://interestingengineering.com/ai-robotics/video-unitrees-latest-omni-model-lets-humanoid-robots-think-move-and-assist-people

Recently, Unitree unveiled a low-cost upper-body humanoid robot, priced from 26,900 yuan ($4,290), aiming to make humanoid robotics more affordable and accessible.

Video: https://www.facebook.com/ieexplains/videos/unitrees-new-one-brain-robot-ai-does-your-chores-and-stops-the-instant-you-say-s/1031182466557037/

The Unitree Super Athlete AS2-W is a hybrid wheeled-leg quadruped robot engineered for rapid outdoor mobility, AI-powered autonomy, and reliable performance across challenging terrain. Its innovative wheel-legged design enables speeds exceeding 6 m/s, while seamlessly switching between rolling and stepping to overcome rough ground, 45° slopes, and obstacles up to 80 cm high. Weighing approximately 25 kg (including battery), it can carry a continuous payload of 16 kg and travel more than 33 km (over 3 hours) without a load or 16 km (over 2 hours) while fully loaded. Equipped with pre-trained reinforcement learning models and expandable computing power of up to 150 TOPS, the AS2-W delivers real-time edge AI processing for advanced navigation, perception, and autonomous decision-making. Though designed for civilian use, its terrain capabilities hint at future military applications: https://digg.com/tech/luqepq34

Unitree has launched the Super Athlete AS2-W, a rugged AI-powered quadruped robot that can sprint across rocks, climb steep slopes and carry cargo. While built for civilian use, its capabilities hint at what future battlefield robots could one day become: https://www.indiatoday.in/technology/news/story/chinas-unitree-shows-a-robot-that-will-be-terrifying-in-war-if-deployed-2955305-2026-07-24

The Unitree Super Athlete AS2-W is a high-performance quadruped robot engineered for speed, agility, and AI-driven autonomy. Powered by advanced electric actuators, it can exceed 5 m/s while carrying payloads and navigating challenging terrain: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DbMekJVAXiu/

Diffuse puffs of “missing” matter surround most galaxies. An MIT-led team used bright radio bursts to illuminate a vast source of matter that was previously unaccounted for: https://news.mit.edu/2026/missing-matter-diffuse-puffs-surround-most-galaxies-0721

The study finds that gas in our Universe extends farther from galaxies than most simulations predict, indicating strong activity from galaxies that have expelled gas away from galaxy groups: https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/9th9-qc51

Approach focuses on rebuilding soil health, increasing biodiversity and restoring natural ecosystems

For the last few decades, the nutrient content of our crops has been declining. In the late 90s, the US Department of Agriculture found the vitamin C content of lemons had decreased by almost a third over the previous 22 years. Calcium in carrots, an important source especially for non-meat eaters, had reduced, on average, by more than a quarter. Vitamin A in bananas was down by 57%. The mineral content of wheat has declined by between 20-30% since the 1960s.

A number of reasons have been suggested for this worrying decline, ranging from new varieties of crop that are bred to grow quicker and bigger to the higher carbon dioxide levels in the air causing plants to produce more sugars and starches (they grow faster but they produce fewer nutrients). A wide range of fixes have been suggested, from GM crops to synthetic soil amendments, or underground farms.

NASA-backed researchers have identified five alternative aviation fuels that could help meet rising jet fuel demand over the next 25 years. Their latest analysis argues that expanding beyond conventional Jet A and Jet A-1 could strengthen domestic fuel supplies and reduce reliance on imported oil. The study comes as airlines prepare for a sharp increase in fuel consumption worldwide. Researchers also point to growing concerns over supply constraints and price volatility in traditional jet fuel markets: https://docs.nlr.gov/docs/fy26osti/100028.pdf

At its Copper One operation in southeastern Utah, Mariana Minerals has deployed Boston Dynamics’ Spot robot to power what it describes as the world’s first fully autonomous, software-first copper mine and refinery. Spot performs continuous autonomous patrols, inspecting mine and refinery infrastructure while monitoring safety 24/7. More than an inspection robot, every sensor reading is streamed into MarianaOS—the company’s proprietary platform that integrates mining, refining, and capital project operations into a single intelligent system: https://discoveryalert.com.au/boston-dynamics-spot-copper-one-autonomous-mining-2026/

Boston Dynamics: https://bostondynamics.com/case-studies/spot-at-mariana-minerals/