On Our Virtual Route 66 This Week

 

As a new week and a new quarter dawns, our team pulled together comments courtesy Bloogmberg, the National, Peter Diamandis and fortune about a true vision of the future:

Turbocharging the clean energy transition | A power player that can help shut down dirty coal plants and stop the climate-driving emissions from fossil fuels. Find out how we're accelerating clean energy with our Beyond Carbon initiative and supporting clean energy in developing nations.

Accelerating local climate action | An assists leader helping partners hit their climate goals. Learn more about our work to support sustainable cities that are leading the way with local climate actions.

Stopping air pollution | A defensive powerhouse that allows everyone to breathe easier. See how we're not only cutting climate emissions but also working to track and reduce pollution that poses significant public health threats.

Protecting the ocean | This one brings real depth to our lineup. Protecting the ocean not only preserves a massive carbon sink to absorb future emissions, it also safeguards habitats that matter to the lives and livelihoods of more than three billion people around the world. Learn more about our work to protect the ocean.

Driving sustainable finance | In the Moneyball era, if you want to win you've got to focus on the numbers. To help mobilize private sector investments in game-changing climate solutions, we've launched efforts to increase transparency around the economic risks of climate change and boost sustainable finance.

Learn more about all of our Environment work here:

https://www.bloomberg.org/environment/

Mustafa Hanif at his Ramadan fruit stall. YouTube / screengrab People who cannot afford to buy enough food for Ramadan have been given a helping hand in the form of a fruit stall run by a famous YouTuber, in Pakistan's biggest city. Mustafa Hanif has set up the stall in a corner of Karachi, selling apples, bananas and melons for hugely discounted rates. Shoppers told reporter Tariq Ullah that they were relieved to have help among skyrocketing prices. “Everyone's heart is to take good things for their family and children in this blessed month, but it is not possible in today's inflation," 70-year-old Shafiq Ali said. “But with the help of this young man, it is now possible, which gives us peace of mind in Ramadan.” Hungry for more positivity? Read on for magnificence including baby cheetahs, rescues and cultural exchange. Do you know someone who is doing remarkable things to change the world? Tell me about it for a chance to be featured in the newsletter and our Impact Instagram account. You can reach me by email at theyman@thenationalnews.com Taylor Heyman Assistant Foreign Editor Climbing 28 floors a day to better health Thani Mohamed Alghafry, winner of Rak Hospital weight loss challenge. Pawan Singh / The National A hospital fitness challenge has helped a Ras Al Khaimah man lose over a third of his body weight. Thani Alghafry, from Tanzania, won more than a healthier existence after losing 37kg over the last few months. He was also awarded a $3,000 prize. So how did he do it? A drastic diet change to include more fruits and vegetables, walking the 28 floors to his apartment and incorporating cycling and skipping into his exercise routine. Find out more about the positive impact the challenge had on Thani's health here. QUOTED: "Our job from the moment they call us is to provide hope for these patients and a clear treatment path.” — Dr Stephen Grobmyer on the role the UAE's new cancer treatment centre, which hopes to become a centre of excellence in the region One of India's new cheetahs gives birth to four cubs Four cubs have been born to one of the cheetahs relocated to India. Photo: Ministry for Environment, Forest & Climate Change India's quest to reintroduce wild cheetahs 70 years after they went extinct got a boost this week as one of the cheetahs brought to the country gave birth to four cubs. Eight cheetahs were brought to India's Kuno National Park in central Madhya Pradesh state from Namibia last September as part of a programme to bring more than 100 of the animals over. South Africa is also taking part in providing some of the speedy beasts. Asiatic cheetahs were hunted out of existence in India by colonial British rulers and Indian kings. Only 70 now exist in the wild, in Iran. African cheetahs are slightly more abundant, with numbers hovering around 7,000 in the wild. Taniya Dutta has everything you need to know here. SNAPSHOT Tiraje Kestelli lies on a seat covered with cats at Macka park in Istanbul, Turkey. AP See more of this week's best pictures IMPACT ON INSTAGRAM Why not follow Impact on Instagram? HIGHLIGHTS Miners narrowly escape being buried alive in DRC Ancient UAE village at Masafi gives up its secrets Taraweeh prayers held in New York's Times Square ABOUT THIS EMAIL

Musk’s SpaceX to Take Semi-Autonomous Rover to the Moon Elon Musk’s SpaceX company has agreed to a deal to carry a semi-autonomous rover-style vehicle to the moon – possibly by as early as 2026. The vehicle – known as the Flexible Logistics and Exploration Rover, or FLEX – is made by a start-up called Astrolab, which is based in Hawthorne, California, close to SpaceX’s HQ.

Selected By Virtual Peter Scientists develop a robot to maintain plants grown under solar panels Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

Selected By Virtual Peter Meet DribbleBot: MIT's New Robot Can Dribble a Soccer Ball Under Real-World Conditions MIT's Improbable Artificial Intelligence Lab, part of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), has developed a legged robotic system that can dribble a soccer ball under the same conditions as humans.

Metatrends & Moonshots Report by Peter Diamandis The technologies Peter thinks will have the biggest impact on humanity in the decade ahead Metatrends are the waves of exponential tech advancements that will revolutionize industries and redefine tomorrow’s generation of businesses. Understanding these Metatrends is a superpower for predicting what happens next and implementing your vision of the future. DOWNLOAD HERE

Transportation Robots and drones could replace humans in emergencies An army of robotic rovers, boats and drones could be sent into emergency situations to rescue lives without putting emergency responders at risk using technology developed by an Australian company. Sydney firm Advanced Navigation launched a mobile modem on Wednesday that will allow robots communicate with drones controlled by its software. Autonomous Trucks Will Be Cruising Down Highways Next Year, Startup Says If one company’s plan plays out, trucks without drivers will be cruising down highways by next year. On Monday driverless hardware and software specialist Aurora Innovation announced that its Aurora Driver—a system of sensors, software, and a computer designed to give any vehicle self-driving capabilities—is “feature complete.” This means all the product’s technical capabilities are in place and it’s entering its final phase of development. The company is planning to launch the Driver commercially next year.

Technology Meet Taikobot: The humanoid robot set to help Chinese astronauts Astronauts on the Chinese space station could soon have a new colleague on board — a free-flying humanoid robot that will help them with their daily tasks. A prototype of Taikobot, weighing 25 kgs and 1.7 metres tall, was assembled by Chinese researchers inside a mock-up of Tiangong, China's space station that was completed in December. Amazon enters generative AI space with AI startup accelerator Amazon has now entered the growing generative artificial intelligence (AI) market, with launching an AI accelerator to help startups working in the field. The Amazon Web Services (AWS) ‘Generative AI Accelerator’ is a global programme for 10 Generative AI startups that can demonstrate early-stage traction.

Space Musk's SpaceX to conduct maiden orbital flight of its future Mars vehicle Starship The details were revealed in a planning notice posted by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which states that the primary launch date is April 10. However, if the orbital test is not done on the day, backup dates of April 11 and 12 are also available with SpaceX for the orbital flight. Skyroot Aerospace test-fires 3D-printed cryogenic engine for 2024 rocket Private homegrown space startup, Skyroot Aerospace, on Tuesday announced a successful test-firing of its second fully 3D-printed cryogenic engine, Dhawan-II, for a 200-second duration. This is the second cryogenic rocket that has been successfully test-fired by Skyroot, following the Dhawan-I engine that was tested in November 2021. The engine will feature in a future rendition of the company’s 3D-printed, privately built rockets, the company confirmed in a press statement.

Health Self-Charging Battery Battles Tumors in Mice A self-charging implantable battery that sucks oxygen away from tumors makes some masses more vulnerable to destruction, according to a study published Monday (April 3) in Science Advances. When used in tandem with existing drugs, the implantable device shrunk mouse tumors by up to 90 percent, leading the study authors to suggest it could one day improve localized cancer treatments. Microbial nanowires create 'electronic nose' for health monitoring - Physics World A new nanowire structure that can be grown by a common bacterium could be used as an “electronic nose” to detect a variety of chemical tracers, including those exhaled by patients with medical conditions such as asthma and kidney disease. The device, developed by a team of researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, is more sensitive than conventional inorganic nanowire sensors, while being biodegradable and more sustainably produced.

Presented by Deloitte April 4, 2023

Good morning. Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For list is out this morning, and you can view it here. The list, now in its 26th year, has long been a favorite of the job-seeking set. But in a world where talent drives value, it has increasingly become a tool for sorting out the best companies…period. Great Place to Work CEO Michael Bush, our partner in preparing this list, notes in his opening essay that the companies on this year’s list saw an eye-popping 7% year-over-year increase in revenue per employee—productivity growth that dwarfs the averages. Says Bush: “Companies that care for their people and prioritize their well-being…outperform.” Top of this year’s list is Cisco, for the third year in a row. That’s no small accomplishment. The employee surveys we rely on for this ranking were largely done last year before Cisco and several other companies on the list (including #4 Accenture and #8 Salesforce) announced layoffs. It will be interesting to see if their rankings take a hit next year as a result. But even the best businesses have to make difficult decisions. And Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins told Fortune’s Susie Gharib that how you do it matters.  “Nobody likes it. I don’t like it. It’s the worst thing we ever have to do,” Robbins said. He says Cisco tried to redeploy workers where possible, and “we were just honest about why we had to do it.” Also out this morning is a new episode of our podcast Leadership Next, featuring Occidental Petroleum CEO Vicki Hollub, who not only talks about why she thinks direct air capture technology can help solve the climate crisis, but also how she never imagined becoming CEO until a year before it happened. And a transition worthy of note. The amazing Ellen McGirt, who has been my partner on Leadership Next for these last three years, is taking a break from our podcast to focus on some other projects. She has been the yin to my yang in these interviews, helping to make sure we view the business world from all angles, and I will miss her. But the good news is that Fortune Editor-at-Large Michal Lev-Ram is stepping in to take her place. Big shoes to fill, and an amazing talent to fill them. Michal and I also promise to bring back Ellen for guest appearances frequently! By the way, Ellen has a great piece in the new issue of Fortune magazine, which you can read this morning here.