Swimming Robots in Space
I’ve been delaying this newsletter ever since the COP29 conference went into overtime, only to deliver some less-than-happy results. If you remember, I wrote about the $1 Trillion dollar climate finance goal in my previous issue. Well, we’re now looking at a disappointing ~$300B deal, with the rest expected to come from “potential new sources of money.” Seriously... that’s what they said. 🤷🏽
For all the gritty details, check out the timeline of events at the conference.
If words could express frustration better than mine, I encourage you to listen to Mrs. Chandni Raina, India’s representative at COP29. Meanwhile, let’s move on to brighter, more spacey news! 🌠
(the one I wrote in the email subject ☝🏼)
The Robots That Swim Before They Fly 🐟🤖🚀
For all you space enthusiasts, NASA is diving into the cosmos with a project called SWIM—short for Sensing With Independent Micro-swimmers. This cutting-edge tech is designed to explore the mysterious Ocean Worlds of our solar system.
If you’ve been following along, you’ll remember that the Europa Clipper is headed to Jupiter’s icy moon Europa, where vast subsurface oceans might be hiding. 🌊🌌 Here’s what NASA has planned:
- These SWIM robots will be deployed as swarms—tiny, independent micro-swimmers covering vast areas of extraterrestrial oceans. This increases efficiency and improves the chances of detecting signs of life. 🤯
- NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is already testing these micro-robots in underwater labs to fine-tune their tech. 🔬🌊
The future of space exploration is swimming closer than ever! 🌟
Quick Bites 🍿
- 🛍️ Amazon’s “Haul”: Amazon has launched Haul, a rival to Shein/Temu where everything is under $20—because we definitely needed more reasons to shop. 🙃
- 🎥 Netflix’s “Buy Now”: Netflix released Buy Now, a documentary exposing modern consumerism and its environmental consequences. Coincidence? I think not… 😅
- 🦋 Bluesky Booms: Bluesky, the open-source Twitter alternative, has reached 20 million users! If you’re there, give me a follow. ✌️
- 🌍 Arctic Meltdown: Meltwater from Greenland and the Arctic is weakening ocean circulation and speeding up warming in the Global South. If only COP29 had delivered a better deal… 😩
For the Developers 💻
- React Router V7: Version 7 is here—and it’s basically Remix! 💿
- Tailwind 4: The beta release is out, and rumor has it you won’t need a JavaScript config file anymore. 🤯
- React Scan: A new tool to "scan" your React app for problematic renders—check it out! 🕵️♀️
- Vercel AI SDK V4: Major updates to an already powerful SDK. 🚀
- Tanstack Start: Now in Beta, and I heard the news first on Bluesky. 🦋
- Angular V19: Angular 19 is out. Still one of the best frameworks I haven’t tried yet. 🙃
🎥 Video of the Week:
The Physics That Doomed Amelia Earhart—The mistakes of Amelia Earhart’s final flight, and the physics that could have saved her, by Veritasium