hi,
According to a recent article, medical science is at a turning point NatureMore than 100 clinical trials of stem cell therapies are underway for a variety of diseases, including cancer, Parkinson’s disease, and diabetes.
In fact, treatment for some of these conditions may be part of mainstream medicine in at least five to ten years.
It’s only been 26 years since pluripotent stem cells – which can become any type of cell in the body and can theoretically repair damaged tissue – have been cultured in the laboratory, the progress is remarkable.
Did you know John B. Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2012 for their groundbreaking work in stem cell research?
Speaking of scientific advancements, AI bots — even if they confuse or, in simple terms, make things up — are helping scientists get ideas and, possibly, make new discoveries.
Oh and frankly, AI chatbots not only confuse but also delay. In a rather amusing saga published in semaphoreFilmmaker Nenad Sisin-Sain talks about his experience enlisting ChatGPT’s help in writing the screenplay. His efforts reportedly ended in frustration as the bot kept extending the deadline!
It looks like bots are really turning into real writers!
Finally, on a serious note, it has been two decades since the Indian Ocean Tsunami – one of the deadliest natural disasters in modern history. The incident reshaped disaster management around the world.
Gone but not forgotten.
We will talk about it in today’s newsletter
- Fast Commerce: Fast and Furious
- Creating reliable AI agents
- Building a home gym
Here’s your trivia for today: Which state in the United States serves as the primary setting for many of Stephen King’s novels?
ecommerce
Fast Commerce: Fast and Furious
In 2024, the spotlight was on rapid commerce. The wind was behind its sails as the sector saw rapid growth with widespread consumer adoption in metros and a flood of capital to support innovation as investors discovered a new gold rush.
The sector’s exponential growth has attracted new ventures, and at the same time, brought scrutiny and competition checks.
Key measures:
- Zepto, Blinkit, and Swiggy Instamart are dictating the terms of growth in this sector.
- Zepto, which is aiming for an IPO in 2025, plans to expand Zepto Cafe, add more categories and double its food delivery by renewing it by tapping monetization to improve the unit’s economics.
- Categories like gourmet foods, premium beverages and small electronics are expected to grow as platforms refine their delivery capabilities, says Ninad Karpe, founder and partner at 100X.VC.
Startup
Creating reliable AI agents
Compositio, which was painted in June your story’s Tech30 2024 list, builds tools for developers. Its platform accelerates the process of building and connecting AI agents to external services, reducing development time from months to days.
The faster, the better:
- The San Francisco, California-based startup offers tools that enable developers to quickly create reliable AI agents that interact with external software such as CRM systems (eg, Salesforce, HubSpot) and services such as Gmail.
- Its platform has gained traction on GitHub with over 12,000 developers building on its framework, including engineers from Fortune 500 companies such as Meta Platform, Salesforce and Cisco.
- Like many other AI applications, Composio operates on a hosted platform with a usage-based pricing model. Developers and large enterprises can sign up, create an account and access Composio’s services using an API (Application Programming Interface) key.
Startup
Building a home gym
Hyderabad-based fitness and wellness startup Port leverages AI to help users stay on track with their fitness goals. Earlier this month, the company launched the Portl UltraGym—which it says is an all-in-one portable training system designed to make at-home strength training more accessible.
Get fit:
- Priced at Rs 59,990, the machine uses digital weighing technology and offers effects similar to professional grade gear in a compact design of 2.4 square feet, according to the portal.
- UltraGym can also be integrated and used with the company’s flagship Smart Mirror Portal Studio. The company sees its product entering gyms and hotels as a premium service.
- From sourcing components and creating initial prototypes to finalizing the hardware design and refining the UI/UX and software platforms for seamless integration, Portl faced various hurdles.
News and updates
- Falling Sales: Toyota Motor’s global output fell for a 10th straight month in November, the Japanese carmaker said on Wednesday, although its global sales rose for a second month in a row due to solid demand in the United States and China.
- AI exclusion: Blind and partially sighted people are being excluded from the benefits of artificial intelligence tools and face “new levels of discrimination”, the new president of the Royal Society for Blind Children has claimed as he calls for better design of everything from video games to AI. Agents.
Which state in the United States serves as the primary setting for many of Stephen King’s novels?
Answer: Maine.
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