Important Innovations

  Jupiter and Saturn Will Align Source:  Image of the Christmas Star Christmas Light Show On this year's winter solstice December 21, Jupiter and Saturn will align so closely that, from Earth, they will appear as though they have merged.  This radiant point of light from the two planets hasn't been seen in 800 years or since March 4, 1226.  The celestial phenomenon is known as the Christmas Star and The Star of Bethlehem. Space Phenomena According to astronomers, alignments between Jupiter and Saturn are very rare.  The alignment is known as the Great Conjunction and happens every twenty years.  But this year's light show is exceptionally rare and was last seen in the Middle Ages. As one astronomers put it, the two planets will appear to have a distance between them of less than the diameter of a full moon.  From Earth, they will look as though they have converged into a brilliant flash of light. Viewing Venue Experts say check out the southwest sky about 45 minutes after s

  Roboats Loaded with Tech to Communicate and Connect                                             Source:  MIT C-SAIL In Service, Self-Navigating Amsterdam Canals From the world famous MIT C-SAIL a team of engineers and roboticists created the Roboat, a robotic boat that uses the same autonomous self-driving technology for cars but adapted for the water. That adaptation was extremely innovative.  Roboat II has been under development for five years.  It is now large enough to carry passengers through the tricky canals in Amsterdam. It does so autonomously.  Importantly, the Roboats are capable of communicating and connecting with each other because of greatly advanced control algorithms and navigation systems.  That capability opens up new forms of transportation possibilities on water. Tremendous Tech Layered In The Roboat has four propellers that enable it to move in any direction.  It contains GPS, Lidar and inertial sensors.  At the moment, it is six feet long and can carry two pass

  Airbnb With a Possible $35 billion Valuation                                                       Source: Airbnb Fast, Dramatic Turnaround from COVID-19 Business Hit Airbnb, the San Francisco based home rental company, will debut on the Nasdaq on December 10, aiming for a valuation of $35 billion.  It along with DoorDash (my blog 10/30) are expected to be blockbuster U.S. IPO's to close out the year.  Airbnb was devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic.  As travel came to a halt, Airbnb had to layoff 25% of its workforce and get $2 billion in emergency funding from investors.  As people started traveling again in Q3 2020, the company's business turned around and it scored a surprise profit for Q3.  Two new trends moved the company forward.  People opted to book homes rather than hotels.  And, they preferred to book a home away from major cities. Entrepreneurial Success Story Airbnb was founded as a website in 2008 by two entrepreneurs:  Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia. They started t

  New Tech Making Electric Cars A Lot Easier to Use                                                                                           Source:  WiTricity New Global Standard Operating an electric car is about to get a lot easier.  New technology has been developed that allows a driver to charge their EV without plugging into an outlet.  The baseline technology has been developed by WiTricity, an MIT spin-off company that designs wireless charging for vehicles and appliances.  Automakers and suppliers have signed on to developing it as a universal standard.  Luxury vehicles like the BMW53oe hybrid are ready to use the system with moderately priced EVs expected to follow suit. Pad and Receiver The wireless power transfer (WPT) system is composed of a pad and a receiver.  The system delivers DC current from a pad mounted on the floor to a receiver on the vehicle.  Charging efficiency is 94%.  The SAE International engineers' association has brought in a large,  number of automa

  December IPO To Raise $2.8 Billion                                             Source:  DoorDash Hot Food Delivery US Startup San Francisco based startup DoorDash is expected to raise nearly $3 billion in a December IPO on the NYSE.  That would double the value of the food delivery startup.  DoorDash is expected to be one of the biggest IPO's of 2020. COVID-19 Driving Restaurant Meal Take-Outs COVID-19 has greatly accelerated demand for meal delivery services as people try to avoid going into restaurants and stores.  That has driven up business for Door Dash, which is the biggest, 3rd party delivery service for restaurants in the US. Millions of IPO Shares DoorDash is pricing 33 million shares at between $75 and $85.  At $85 per share that would give DoorDash a market cap of $27 billion.  In June during a private fundraising round, the company was valued at $16 billion.  DoorDash's backers include VC firm Sequoia Capital, Japan's Softbank and the Government of Singapore&#

  COVID Vaccines Very Close to Market                                             Source:  Moderna Hope For a COVID Weary World Moderna, headquartered in Cambridge, MA, is seeking US, EU and UK emergency authorization for their COVID vaccine.  The vaccine has proved to be 94% effective.  The company adds it has no serious side effects. Highly Effective More than 1.5 million people have died from COVID.  Moderna says the vaccine is 100% effective in preventing severe cases of COVID.  It also works across demographic groups, including age, gender, ethnicity and race. Second COVID Vaccine Close to Market This is the second vaccine that is now under review for emergency authorization.  The other vaccine was developed by Pfizer and its German biotech partner BioNTech.  That vaccine is 95%.  Both the Pfizer and the Moderna vaccines could be on the market within two weeks.  Both vaccines were developed with a new technology called messenger RNA (mRNA).  Moderna says it will have 20 million do

  Singapore Ranks #8 on Global Innovation Index                                               Source: Singapore Stock Image City-State Investing Heavily in Technology and Innovation Singapore is investing heavily in technology and innovation,  It hopes to become the world's first smart nation.  And, its investments are paying off.  The funding it put into digital innovation helped it to continue to do business during the COVID pandemic.  COVID has devastated its tourism business.  So, Singapore is using AI to help bring tourists back safely to its MICE economy.  Singapore is a global leader in meetings, incentive travel, conventions and exhibitions otherwise known as MICE. AI "Chat Bots" on Duty From Vouch Tourism and business travel to Singapore this year took a very hard hit.  From January - July 2020, it was down 76%.  In July alone, visitor arrivals were down 99%.  Now reopening its borders after months of restrictions, Singapore is using advanced, innovative technolo