#43 - Direct 2 Fridge delivery .. Autonomus tractors .. 2021 patents .. Meta's Dutch controversy

“It was either die or do this transplant. I want to live. I know it’s a shot in the dark, but it’s my last choice,”

-A 57 year old beneficiary of a pig heart transplant

In a medical first, doctors from US have done a successful transplant of a genetically modified pig’s heart into a human. I wish this brings hope to the endless list of patients who are waiting for various organ donations.

Some bits,

• PayPal is said to be working on its own stablecoin called PayPal Coin, and it may be backed against the US Dollar. Last year the company started ‘Pay with crypto’ feature.

  • Stablecoins are crypto currencies that are backed against certains assets such as real currency, gold or similar. This reduces the volatality and makes that crypto currency flexible for daily use.

• After extensive trials in 6 cities, Walmart has expanded InHome, a Direct-to-Fridge delivery service, to around 30 million homes across the US. The delivery person will be given a one time access to the home’s smart-lock and the body camera will be turned on, so that customer can watch the grocery being placed in the refrigerator.

• John Deere has introduced a fully autonomous tractor. It will have 6 cameras, whose images will be fed constantly into a system to decide whether to proceed ahead if there are obstacles. It can till a geo-fenced area upto 1 inch of accuracy.

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Facebook’s data center controversy

(via Buzzfeed News)

Facebook (now Meta) is caught in a controversy over setting up a data center in a small town of Zeewolde, Netherlands. The company got the permission by applying through a shell company. And it seems the citizens of the town are the last to know it.

Why are data centers controversial?

Typically data centers suck up lots of energy and takes huge tracts of land in the community where it is built, but provides very less local employment opportunities. So communities dont prefer data centers coming up in their area. With Facebook’s upcoming data center expected to suck twice the energy consumed by the whole town, and the need to set up extra windmills, the citizens of Zeewolde didn’t see any benefit.

Why set up a data center in Netherlands?

Netherlands is a tax haven country (remember Irish Dutch double sandwich) and is one of the landing points of transatlantic undersea internet cables.

What is Facebook’s stand on this?

The company has defended its strategy of using a shell company to hide its name, as it means it would not be favoured and this process is a standard operating procedure. Moreover the company has promised local employment opportunities and be a good neighbour.

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2021 Patent Data

The results of IFI CLAIMS patent survey is out. As usual US companies topped the list of US patent applications, but the interesting fact is the rise in the number of patents from Chinese companies lead by Huawei.

Countries granted the highest number of patents in 2021. Please do not ask where is India in this list.

1. US

2. Japan

3. South Korea

4. China ←Highest growth rate led by Huawei

5. Germany

Companies granted he highest number of patents in 2021.

1. IBM

2. Samsung

3. Canon

4. TSMC

5. Huawei

6. Intel

7. Apple

8. LG

9. Microsoft

10. Qualcomm

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How much we wish for Indian companies acquiring patents and leading in Science & Technology? I hope this edition was information. Till the next edition, Stay Safe & Stay Healthy.

Best,

Senthil