Congratulations to long-time friend of TTI/Vanguard Jordan Giddings on his new position as Chief Scientist at Improbable’s defence department, where he will be charged with leveraging the potential of multiparticipant simulations and synthetic environments for real-world applications. (Gilman Louis, Chicago, May 2011; Institute of Creative Technologies, field trip, Los Angeles, Mar 2018; William Swartout, Washington, D.C., May 2009; Richard LIndheim and William Swartout, Pasadena, Feb 2002) www.improbable.io/blog/improbable-appoints-professor-jordan-gidding-and-rob-solly 

Rutgers psychologist Randy Gallistel has a big idea, backed up by experiments conducted in ferrets: neurons (specifically, Purkinje cells) chemically store numerical memories (specifically, temporal durations). He describes the process as “performing the same function as the memory-registers in a conventional computer” and therefore underpinning a computational theory of mind. (Marvin Minsky, Atlanta, Feb 2008)  www://join.substack.com/p/is-this-the-most-interesting-idea

The biomimicking spiking neural network developed by researchers at KAUST in Saudia Arabia performs more quickly and energy efficiently than more conventional artificial neural nets. (Allan Jones, Seattle, Dec 2006; Henry Markram, Geneva, Sep 2005; James Gimzewski, Boston, Apr 2014) www.techxplore.com/news/2021-04-brain-on-a-chip.html Enabling a combination of bottom-up and top-down 3-D design capabilities, new software from Ohio State researchers is poised to accelerate the process of creating DNA-based nanoscale machines. (Andrew Hessel, San Diego, Feb 2015) www.scitechdaily.com/magicdna-tiny-complex-dna-robots-designed-in-minutes-instead-of-days/amp/ 

We were delighted when some community members described Tuesday’s session as one of the most mind-bending TTIV events of all. We certainly enjoyed it. If you missed the mysterious ways of collaboration between networks of all kinds - people, cells, molecules, even sheep – reach out to Kelly and she can *connect* you with the videos and material.

Coming up on Tuesday, March 9th, we’ll explore the powers of information. And we’ll be back to our normal Zoom direct link. So if you – like us – lost your patience with the beta system that we tested out this past week, the good news is that it is gone.

When the set of stakeholders comprises the entire global population and what is at stake is faster movement toward herd immunity from SARS-CoV-2, a collaboration between TTI/V member Johnson & Johnson and Merck to expand vaccine production is a wholly welcome development. (Joel Crutcher-Gershenfeld, virtual conference, Mar 2021)
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/03/02/merck-johnson-and-johnson-covid-vaccine-partnership/

Our collective hearts are with those suffering in Texas. We wish you a quick return to normalcy and safety.

Tuesday, Feb 23, TTI/Vanguard will be visiting Dresden, where Chrisoph Kögler of T-Systems Multimedia Solutions will serve as host for an IoT-focused event that will be part Germany startup forum, part TTI/V field trip, reminiscent of the before times. We’ll kick off with a bespoke virtual tour of the GlobalFoundries fab before spending time with a collection of firms that share an affiliation with the Smart Systems Hub Germany center of excellence. These startups span IoT sensor modules, associated machine learning, and municipal/industrial implementation support, as well as a blockchain transaction firm and one that democratizes the training of industrial robotics. Register here, and join us next week.

All of this is just a prelude to “The Power of Networks,” a series-of-Tuesdays conference (March 2, 9, 16, and 23) featuring networks of all sorts: physical mapping, social/informational, telecom, and security. Register here.

Continuing with the 2021 series of international startup forums, friend-of-TTI/Vanguard Mark Bregman will host a virtual visit to New Zealand on Tuesday, Feb 9. This event will cover a broad array of application areas. We’ll hear from
 

• Aider, a digital assistant for SMEs that communicates through natural language (with a Kiwi accent?) and integrates information across dozens of business apps.
• The founder of agritech firm BioLumic will then explain how the company exploits ultraviolet photomorphogenesis to accelerate the growth rate of seedlings and improve agricultural yields.
• Dawn Aerospace is setting its sights high by building space planes to take off and land at conventional airports, transporting payloads to and from near-Earth orbit.
• Mint Innovation, which relies on microbes to extract metals like copper, iron, tin, and gold from electronic waste—a win–win.