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Join Anthropic, Kalshi, and Clay at Pioneer on October 7th
Pioneer, the summit where CX leaders redefine what’s possible, is on October 7th.
Join leaders from Fin, Anthropic, Clay, and Kalshi for an insightful conversation on the state of AI transformation.
You’ll discover how some of the most innovative minds in CX have transformed their organizations, learn how they think about CX, and hear how they're planning for what's next.
Join the conversation in San Francisco, or tune in virtually.
SCIENCE SUNDAY
Four findings that will still matter in 20 years
1 The FDA approved a pill that nearly doubles median survival for advanced pancreatic cancer, once considered nearly untreatable.
The FDA approved daraxonrasib, a twice-daily pill that helps advanced pancreatic cancer patients live a median of over 13 months, compared to less than 7 months on chemotherapy. It works by targeting KRAS, a mutated protein once thought impossible to drug. Pancreatic cancer kills over 50,000 Americans a year with brutal survival odds, so a treatment nearly doubling life expectancy marks a genuine turning point for a disease long considered nearly hopeless. "Impossible to drug" targets falling one by one has been one of the quieter, more consequential trends in oncology, and KRAS was one of the most stubborn holdouts.
2 MIT startup Electra landed $850 million to build a hybrid aircraft that takes off in the space of a soccer field.
Electra has unveiled designs for a new hybrid aircraft that uses eight electric motors and a gas-powered generator to take off and land in about the size of a soccer field. With a 1,200-mile range and 200 mph cruising speed, it is built for the 50- to 250-mile trips that are often too short to fly commercially and too long to drive comfortably, a travel gap that has never really had a good answer. The company just landed $850 million to scale production in Ohio, aiming to build 800 aircraft a year, a real production target rather than a prototype-and-hope plan.
3 A cloud-seeding startup claims it generated 19 million gallons of rain over Alaska in three hours, though the number comes from modeling, not direct measurement.
Rainmaker flew drones over the Kenai Peninsula, releasing silver iodide into clouds to trigger rain and snow formation, then used radar analysis to estimate that the flight generated roughly 19 million gallons of rain in three hours. The figure comes from modeling, not direct measurement, and the company admits real uncertainty around it. That caveat matters more than the headline number: a modeled estimate this large is a promising signal, not a settled fact. Rainmaker hopes to eventually apply the technique to drought-stressed regions like the Colorado River basin, where even a partial version of this result would matter enormously.
4 A new brain map traced how autism-linked mutations disrupt protein partnerships, giving researchers concrete drug targets that 20 years of gene research hadn't produced.
Researchers at UCSF mapped 100 proteins linked to severe autism and traced more than 1,000 other proteins they interact with, revealing how mutations disrupt these partnerships. In one case, a mutation broke the bond between two proteins, letting one "go rogue" and interfere with normal brain cell division. The discovery gives scientists concrete new targets for drugs, something two decades of gene-focused research hadn't managed to deliver. Knowing which gene is mutated has never been the same as knowing what to do about it, and this map is a real step toward closing that gap.
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NEW TECH
Four gadgets that landed this week
Xteink X4. A tiny magnetic E Ink e-reader that snaps onto the back of your iPhone, letting you read distraction-free without apps, notifications, or social media.
FitBit Luffu Link. A screenless health band to help families keep track of aging parents, kids, partners, and loved ones without turning it into another fitness tracker.
Speedo iQ Vanquisher. Racing goggles with a tiny tracker built into the side to give swimmers stroke data after practice or competition, without wearing a watch or staring at a screen in the pool.
Ninja HydraSense. An intelligent water filtration system built to clean tap water faster, track filter life automatically, and keep the minerals that make water taste good.
Five things people are actually watching and sharing
💰 Lost fortune. Imagine knowing you're a millionaire but being unable to touch the money. One man spent 12 years locked out of his Bitcoin wallet, until he finally found a way back in.
🧠 Mind canvas. Neuralink is showing what brain-computer interfaces can look like beyond the lab. Audrey is now creating digital art using nothing but her thoughts.
📱 Drop test. An iPhone was dropped from 100,000 feet above the Earth, fell for 25 minutes, and endured temperatures of -60°C. It landed without a scratch, and one piece of gear apparently deserves the credit.
✋ Hand signal. Huawei's latest phone quietly solves one of big-screen smartphones' most annoying problems. Its UI rearranges itself depending on whether you are holding it in your left or right hand.
⚡ Power play. The fight over America's AI infrastructure may have had some very artificial participants. X says it has uncovered hundreds of accounts tied to a massive Chinese bot network, pushing narratives around data centers and power.
SOCIAL SIGNALS