Virgin Galactic Partners with Omaze to Offer 2 Tickets to Space to the Public

Virgin Galactic is teaming up with charity fundraising platform Omaze to offer a free ride to suborbital space to two contest winners from the general public. The company stated that it would put two people on a spaceflight expected to launch in early 2022. This news came in shortly after billionaire Virgin Group founder Richard Branson and five other people safely landed from a trip to suborbital space aboard Virgin Galactic's VSS Unity spaceliner.

People interested can enter the contest, and payment is not necessary to participate. In a pre-recorded video released by Virgin Galactic, Richard Branson detailed how he had the greatest experience of Earth from above and thrilled to allow common people. Based on Branson's experience, you'll experience about four minutes of weightlessness aboard VSS Unity, which particularly lifts off beneath the wings of the carrier plane.

People who apply for the contest must meet numerous conditions on the Omaze website; the most important ones include being at least 18 years of age, coming from a worldwide jurisdiction without being prohibited from participation, and providing proof of a coronavirus vaccination. If the criteria mentioned above are fulfilled, then people can take part in the contest.

 

The Big Blue has acquired Bluetab to expand its hybrid cloud services

Just a week after acquiring BoxBat, tech giant IBM has made an announcement that it has acquired Bluetab to expand its portfolio in analytics, data, and cloud services. With Bluetab, the company is looking forward to advancing its AI and hybrid cloud strategy in Latin America, Europe, and North America. It is a well-known fact that organizations have now turned towards the cloud for better flexibility as they want to progress ahead of others in digital transformation. IDG, in its report, has stated that companies have expanded their average cloud budget from $1.62 million to $2.2 million today. Even though the global market is recovering slowly from the covid wave, the data services segment has continued to grow both in size and revenue.

Gartner has predicted that data services will reach a whopping $232 billion in value in the next five years. Bluetab is an enterprise software provider with offices in Spain, the U.K., and Mexico. The company specializes in offering products for hybrid multi-cloud platforms. José Luis López, Co-Founder of Bluetab, has stated that they managed to solve the data challenges of their clients with an extremely talented and experienced team.  He furthermore added that he is excited about the latest acquisition and is looking forward to work with IBM.

 

Walmart to Bring All-New Symbotic Robots to 25 Distribution Centers

The retail giant, Walmart has announced its latest robotics partnership. The c retail firm will be teaming with Massachusetts-based automation company Symbotic. Both the companies have stated thatthey will extend their relationship to bringrobots to around 25 regional Walmart distribution centers. This rollout will take several years to complete.

Both the companies have embracedautomation to reshape the retail industry. The robots will increase freight sorting, stocking, and unloading. Both Walmart and Symbotic aims to serve customers now, and in the future, by providing the right tools and training to its customers and associates so they can deliver the items customers want, when they want them, with unmatched convenience. Both firms are investingon supply chain at an unprecedented scale in to optimize that process end-to-end.

Walmart is focusing on piloting robots over the last several years, in hopes of expediting some of its processes. Besides, Walmart is also exploring ways for these machines to double up and perform in-store inventory checks and if successful it will be extended to various Walmart stores as well.Symbotic has a significantly stronger track record, in robotics sector. The company lists among its partners one of Walmart’s biggest competitors.

 

Spain invests big to boost the production of Electric Car

The Spanish government has said that it will be investing 4.3 billion euros ($5.1 billion) from its share of European pandemic recovery funds to revamp and boost its automobile industry. Spain aims to steer the manufacturing of electric vehicles (EV) and their components, Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez stated. He also said that this investment will be a real revolution for the Spanish economy, which will bring an estimated 19 billion euros ($22.5 billion) in additional private investment.

Spain’s left-wing coalition government is aiming to inject the money in various automobile segments like the car manufacturing chain, from lithium extraction to electric battery cell assembly lines. The country plans to transform Spain's automobile sector with the 140 billion euros ($166 billion) that the country is expected to receive in the next six years from the EU's Next Generation funds.

The Spanish Cabinet is set to approve the automobile plan. With this the automobile companies will be able to apply for funding immediately after, with the first disbursements, which is expected to arrive in September.The Prime Minister also said that the country is investing one billion euros in electric vehicle manufacturing unit and another billion euros will go to install new public electric plug-in points.

 

Aidoc Raises $66 Million in Series C

The leading provider of AI solutions for medical imaging Aidochas raised $66 million in Series C funding. The round was led by General Catalyst. The company has raised $140 million in funding to date.

Aidoc helps medical specialists to help flag acute anomalies in real time, expediting patient treatment and improving quality of care. Aidoc’s healthcare AI platform is currently used by radiologists in health networks, hospitals and radiology groups worldwide and has analyzed over 8M cases to date.

“This investment comes after significant milestones; expanding our product lines, doubling our FDA clearances and quadrupling our customer base,” said Aidoc co-founder and CEO EladWalach. “We are experiencing a huge expansion, which is also a direct result of C-level executives adopting an AI strategy and integrating our platform as a must-have solution across clinical pathways. It is truly rewarding – and a great responsibility – to be the trusted partner of the most innovative health systems and physician practices across the globe.”

There has been a surge in demand for Aidoc’s AI-driven solutions, including the largest clinical deployment of AI in healthcare through its partnership with Radiology Partners. The company will expand its comprehensive platform post this funding round.