SPACE

How a Smartphone Chip Made It All the Way to Mars

For six decades, humans have courted the Red Planet—and as tech advanced, so did the Martian milestones. The first flyby mission? 1965. First landing? 1971. First rover? 1997. But the public hasn't had a big-time mission to celebrate in more than twenty years. 

Until this week. On Monday, NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter made history as the first-ever aircraft to take flight on another planet. NASA’s Perseverance rover helped act as a communication guide for the $85 million helicopter’s autonomous remote flight, signaled by a crew 181 million miles away.

• Until now, our knowledge of Mars has been limited by where rovers can drive. Scientists haven’t been able to get up close and personal with the planet’s canyons, volcanoes, and more. Rovercrafts like Ingenuity will change that. 

From smartphone to space flight

The most important interplanetary development in two decades hinged on a host of emerging technologies, both familiar and far-out. From chips and battery tech to robotics, drones, and autonomous flight algorithms, Ingenuity’s flight shows how the most cutting-edge tech advancements are made possible by steadily building on existing technologies. 

The kicker: Both helicopter and rover use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chip—the same semiconductor that powers 40% of the world’s smartphones (and nearly all Androids). 

So how did the chip powering green texts worldwide make its way to Mars?

All in all, it took a standout CES presentation from Qualcomm’s drone and robotics team, years of heads-down problem-solving from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL), and software and hardware that could operate amid Mars’s thin atmosphere, radiation, wind, shock, and extreme cold. 

• Plus, just before launch, the JPL team had to find a creative fix for a hardware bug that would prevent Ingenuity from taking off—a tough ask when said hardware was already on Mars.

Bottom line: Tech breakthroughs that make history—like Ingenuity’s flight on Monday—are often the product of decades of smaller, seemingly unrelated advancements. It’s also a key reminder of the critical role semiconductors, which are in short supply these days, play in the biggest tech innovations.

Click here to read the full feature story (and see the robotic space helicopter’s successful takeoff). —HF 

5G

AWS Is Eating the World, Telco Edition

Dish is partnering with Amazon Web Services to deploy 5G, starting in Las Vegas later this year. 

This will be the world’s first wireless network to run on a public cloud, rather than private data centers. Dish says cloud 5G (buzzword bingo) lets developers easily check network attributes like latency, bit rate, and equipment location—and build more responsive 5G services as a result. 

• Dish’s shortlist of ideas: AR gaming “experiences,” contextual advertising, and controlling “the movements of a robot at a disaster site.”   

Less robot talk, more context 

Back when they tied the magenta knot, T-Mobile and Sprint cleared the way for Dish to enter the US wireless market. The merging carriers had to divest some spectrum to Dish and let it piggyback on their network for a bit. 

This gave Dish leeway to make good on its commitment to build a nationwide 5G network by mid-2023. Easy peasy. Really the only problem there is that Dish has to build a nationwide 5G network. 

• Running a software-defined show on the cloud could be more efficient and cost-effective. We’ll also be able to see if there are any pain points, from bandwidth to security, with this new technology stack.  

Time travel: 14 months ago, we wrote that “5G buildouts now lie in the hands of three major US carriers and Dish in a distant fourth.” Still a similar story today. —RD

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The End of the Awkward Desk Search Is Nigh

You know the awkward desk search. Sidling through a workspace, glancing around for a free space, gesturing at strangers to remove headphones so you can ask if the spot next to them is available. It’s not great—so Eden Workplace is here to banish it. 

With Eden Workplace’s software, you can book a seat in a hybrid office—no more guessing whether that coffee at the corner desk was briefly or permanently abandoned. 

It doesn’t stop there. Eden Workplace has a whole suite that makes managing the hybrid workplace the opposite of the awkward desk search—easy and stress-free. It handles:

• Visitor Management 
• Modern Ticketing 
• Room Scheduling 
• Team Safety 

And right now, you get a Patagonia duffel just for setting up a call with Eden Workplace. That way, you’ll look stylish while summiting Denali, and you can reserve a desk without breaking a sweat. 

To get your Patagonia duffel, just sign up for a meeting with Eden Workplace.  

POLICY

Rules and Regulations

On Wednesday, the EU introduced a sweeping bill to regulate AI systems. It’s considered to be the most significant proposal of its kind, and would apply to any company offering AI systems in the EU. Among other things, the proposal suggests:

• Increasing oversight of and standards for the creation and application of high-risk AI systems, like hiring algorithms and self-driving cars.
• Banning social credit systems and dark patterns, and requiring police to obtain judicial approval for the real-time use of biometrics like facial recognition.
• Establishing penalties of up to 6% of a company's annual global revenue for non-compliance. 

Challenges ahead: For one, the bill needs to be finalized before it can be signed—that process took four years for the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) privacy law, for example. And while the commission wants its proposal to be “future-proof,” it won’t be easy to create a regulatory framework dynamic enough to keep pace with AI. 

Big picture: Amy Webb, who is CEO of the Future Today Institute and also literally wrote the book on AI and geopolitics, told us that while the US and China jockey for leadership, “The EU just positioned itself as the global rulemaker.” Webb said the current proposal is “murky and vague, creating space for exceptions,” and that enforcement will be key. —DM, RD

BITS & BYTES

Stat: Virginia Tech researchers surveyed residents of Christiansburg, VA, where Alphabet’s Wing runs a drone delivery service. 87% of respondents indicated a positive view of drone delivery; 89% said they’d use the service. 

Related quote: “The town we’re in, they’re all over Facebook and Instagram talking about it. There’s nothing we can hide. 98.5% of the town is positive on this and 30% use us frequently.”—Bobby Healy, CEO of Irish drone delivery startup Manna, speaking with Ryan

Read: The NBA detailed how it’s using Microsoft Azure for machine learning-based player and game analysis. 

Learn: In collaboration with Esme Learning, MIT is offering two online courses aimed to help entrepreneurs and executives level-up their careers. Put your smarty pants on and register—they’re giving one lucky Brew reader free tuition.*

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SPONSORED BY HPE

Mentors are crucial for women in tech—finding them is the challenge. One survey found 56% of female respondents believe the lack of women role models in the tech sector is the main reason for underrepresentation of women. Successful mentorships can change that. Learn how to make mentors a career lifeline. 

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• Ethereum hit an all-time-high above $2,600, and bitcoin’s share of overall crypto market cap fell below 50% for the first time since 2018. 
• Coinbase is committing 10% of its resources to “innovation bets.” 
• Beam Therapeutics, a biotech company, unveiled a CRISPR base-editing tool to target sickle cell mutation. 
• China is testing “future internet technology infrastructure” that could dramatically boost bandwidth and reduce latency.
• Walmart has soured on the robots, part deux. 
• Apple plans to expand its ad business, the FT reports. Live look at Facebook:

GOING PHISHING

Three of the following news stories are true, and one...we made up. Can you spot the odd one out?

1. “I think NFTs are the future because it gives power back to the creators,” Paris Hilton told Coindesk. 
2. FIFA may use an automated system for offside calls at the next World Cup. 
3. You can now spend your bitcoin directly at Nintendo’s eShop. 
4. Apple wants to make iMessage more like a social network. 

PATENTS ARE A VIRTUE

Sony published a patent for artificial intelligence that can observe a gamer’s actions and decisions while playing—and eventually learn to imitate them. As PCGamer put it: “Basically, Sony has patented a bot that can play the way you play.” 

Eventually, this could lead to a human having AI take over when they need to take a brief break from gaming. Or, you know, it could just give more leisure activities to our robot overlords. 

ICYMI

Catch up on the top Emerging Tech Brew stories from the past few editions: 

• Amazon opens an AR hair salon in East London
• Survey: Southern US adults are more skeptical of AVs
• Coinbase’s president on its plans after going public

GOING PHISHING ANSWER

Nintendo’s eShop doesn’t accept bitcoin yet. You’ll have to buy your Super Smash Bros with a credit card.