The R&D World Index (RDWI) for the week ending October 25, 2024, closed at 3962.81 for the 25 companies in the RDWI. The Index was down -1.49% (or -60.14 basis points). Seven RDWI members gained value last week from 0.27% (Toyota) to 5.88% (General Motors). Eighteen RDWI members lost value the previous week from -0.27%…
Oak Ridge National Lab leads R&D 100 Awards with 218 wins since 1979
An analysis of 45 years of R&D 100 Awards reveals a clear leader: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), with more than two hundred winning products. National labs dominate the top ranks, demonstrating the staying power of consistent government investment in R&D. All of the top 10 organizations since 2010 are federally-backed entities. ORNL Frequently featured…
Elsevier: 96% of researchers weigh genAI’s benefits and misinformation risks
While corporate researchers in the pharmaceutical, material, and chemical industries hail AI as a game-changer for accelerating knowledge discovery and transforming industries, they are not blind to its potential downsides, according to a new research study from Elsevier. This apprehension centers largely on AI’s capacity to fuel misinformation, a concern 96% of respondents shared. That’s…
Y Combinator-backed Stempad tackles challenges in scientific note-taking
What began as a personal project by Ralph Rouhana to accelerate his own note-taking while studying computer and electrical electronics engineering at the University of Waterloo has blossomed into a Y Combinator–backed startup. Stempad, now part of the YC S24 batch, is developing an online text editor and platform designed for fast scientific writing and…
Insilico Medicine launches DORA, an AI tool for drafting scientific papers in about 20 minutes
Forget writer’s block — Insilico Medicine’s new AI tool, DORA, unleashes an “army of [AI] agents” to churn out a scientific research paper draft in roughly 20 to 25 minutes. Insilico Medicine’s new AI tool, DORA (Draft Outline Research Assistant), is a prime example of this new wave of AI assistants. I recently took the…
Microbial powerhouses harness cellular energy fluctuations for bioproduction
Engineers at Washington University in St. Louis are tapping microorganisms to produce sustainable fuels, chemicals, materials, and medicines. Their latest research, published in Nature Communications, focuses on the role of ATP (adenosine-5′-triphosphate) in microbial metabolism and its role on bioproduction. Recognizing that ATP, the primary cellular energy currency, fluctuates significantly in microbes used for biomanufacturing,…