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Human Progress Logo Human Progress

01 / 05
AI Robots Carve Stone Statues. Entire Buildings Are Next

Fast Company | Science & Technology

AI Robots Carve Stone Statues. Entire Buildings Are Next

“Inside a cavernous 1930s-era warehouse on the northern edge of Brooklyn, the ancient and all-but-extinct art of stone carving is having a 21st century rebirth. This is the new headquarters of Monumental Labs, a quirky but audacious startup that is combining the meticulous chisel-and-hammer craft of stone carving with the prowess, speed, and efficiency of robotics and artificial intelligence.

Using an $8 million round of venture capital funding, the 2-year-old company is turning this aging warehouse into a modern stonecutting factory capable of quickly producing highly detailed decorative facades, museum-grade marble sculptures, and towering stone monuments. And if founder Micah Springut gets his way, the company will soon be trying its robotic arms at an even grander project: reinventing the way buildings get built.”

From Fast Company.

Bloomberg | Space

Space Startup Beams More Laser Energy to Panels than Ever Before

“Aerospace startup Star Catcher Industries Inc., which is developing technology to beam solar power to orbiting satellites, said it wirelessly transmitted more electricity in a ground test than ever before, marking another step toward creating the equivalent of a space grid.

Using a suite of lasers, the company successfully sent energy to off-the-shelf solar panels positioned more than 1 kilometer (0.62 miles) away. The tests took place at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida last month.

The 1.1 kilowatt of converted electricity delivered at once exceeded the previous record set by the US government’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or Darpa. During Star Catcher’s multiday campaign, it beamed more than 10 megajoules of energy, according to the company.”

From Bloomberg.

Reuters | Motor Vehicles

pony.ai Granted Citywide Driverless Robotaxi Permit in Shenzhen

“Chinese autonomous driving firm Pony.ai has been granted the first citywide permit for driverless commercial robotaxi operations in the city of Shenzhen in southern China, it said on Friday.

The permit was jointly granted to Pony.ai and the city’s largest taxi operator Xihu Group, the company said in a statement.”

From Reuters.

NASASpaceflight | Space

Vast Completes Haven-1 Structural Testing, Launches Mission

“Vast is a space station company founded in 2021 by Jed McCaleb. It launched its pathfinder, Haven Demo, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 Bandwagon-4 mission on Sunday, Nov. 02, at 01:09 AM EDT (05:09 UTC) from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

Vast’s first station, Haven-1, is due to launch NET May 2026, also aboard a Falcon 9.

Haven-1 isn’t just any payload; it aims to help Vast beat other contenders for NASA Commercial LEO Destinations Phase 2 (CLD) funding. These companies include Axiom Space (Axiom Station) and Voyager Space/Airbus (Starlab), among others…

Vast’s Haven Demo will test out key capabilities, such as Reaction Control Systems (RCS), power systems, and propulsion, in preparation for Haven-1.”

From NASASpaceflight.