Quantic’s Weekly Roundup – September 2020 (2)

Quantic’s Weekly Roundup is a satisfying mix of the latest breaking news, business, STEM and social science stories. Here are your headlines for this week: 

The private New Zealand rocket company, Rocket Lab, may beat NASA back to Venus to search for extraterrestrial life. The company plans to dispatch its own atmospheric probe to Venus to scout signs for living organisms. Rocket Lab has been working on its Venus mission for months. They plan to have a spacecraft eject an 80-pound probe that will enter the planet’s atmosphere at over 24,000 miles per hour. During its brief descent, it will sample the atmosphere and relay that data back to its Photon mothership before it succumbs to the brutal conditions near the surface.

Buon appetito! Spain’s traditional cuisine is beginning to see more innovative food tech startups appearing on the scene. The CEO of Europe’s biggest startup accelerator, Eatable Adventures, José Luis Cabañero, believes it is due to the presence of “strong biotech research centres in Spain.” From 3D food printing to transforming food waste to packaging, here is a roundup of startups that are changing the food tech landscape. 

Singapore says it will now start paying people to exercise with Apple’s smartwatch. The city-state announced Tuesday that it would reward residents with hundreds of dollars if they use the new Apple health to track working out, health check-ups and immunization appointments. Apple described the partnership as “the first of its kind.” 

“Singapore has one of the world’s leading healthcare systems, and we are thrilled to be partnering with them,” said chief operating officer Jeff Williams.

The business of edtech and digital learning has been booming. Billions of dollars have been invested in tools and platforms that promise to improve the learning outcomes and lives of students. But for all the investments, headlines and flashy IPOs, edtech has little to show in terms of transformative outcomes. What is it about digital learning that has schools so keen on reopening despite the health and reputational risks? Why hasn’t digital learning lived up to its promise? Quantic President, Tom Adams, speaks about the future of high-tech learning solutions and emerging changes in pedagogy.