-
Robot surgeon outperforms human colleagues doing same procedure
It’s another victory for the machines: a robotic surgical system outperformed humans and robot-assisted human operators in a soft-tissue procedure, bringing us that much closer to automated medical care (and the robocalypse). Read More
-
EchoPixel’s breakthrough VR tech lets doctors look inside your body
Think of EchoPixel’s tech like InnerSpace but instead of actually minimizing scientists and shooting them into your body to find disease, the medical imaging startup lets doctors pinpoint problem areas from CT scans using 3D glasses and a special display. Most doctors view CT scans in 2D, meaning they can’t see in and around all the details of your body, so it’s harder to… Read More
-
SpiroCall measures lung health over any phone — no app necessary
Sometimes you see an application of technology that’s so innovative and helpful you can’t believe it exists in this age of narcissistic and short-sighted startups. SpiroCall, a service that lets anyone in the world call a toll-free number and have their lung health evaluated over the phone, seems too good to be real — but it’s real, and it’s good. Read More
-
High schooler’s 3D printed ‘mini-brain’ bioreactor accelerates Zika research
What are you planning on doing this summer? Probably not designing a revolutionary new bioreactor in which a thousand “mini-brains” can undergo testing. You’re probably not designing a bioreactor at all! But New York high schooler Christopher Hadiono did just that, and his powerful and efficient 3D-printed machine is now beginning to make waves. Read More
-
The first official Snowden trailer is a bit over the top, also has a bit of Nic Cage
After months of anticipating what the hell Nic Cage was going to be doing in the new Snowden movie, we finally get to see him in the first official trailer! Sadly, Cage’s role is only that of a random NSA guy urging Snowden to “find the terrorist in the Internet haystack.” This is the first we’ve seen of the new movie chronicling the plight of Edward Snowden since… Read More
-
Genetics startup Twist Bioscience is working with Microsoft to store the world’s data in DNA
Twist Bioscience, a startup making and using synthetic DNA to store digital data, just struck a contract with Microsoft and the University of Washington to encode vast amounts of information on synthetic genes. Big data means business and the company able to gather a lot of it is very valuable to investors and stockholders. But that data needs to be stored somewhere and can cost a lot for… Read More
-
It isn’t just Uber: Carnegie Mellon’s computer science dean on its poaching problem
Andrew Moore was a professor of computer science and robotics at Carnegie Mellon University for a dozen years when Google hired him away in 2006 to lead some of its efforts around ad targeting and fraud prevention. CMU lured Moore back in 2014, making him the dean of its computer science school. But he still understands well what goes through his colleagues’ minds when industry… Read More
-
Theranos continuously failed to comply with CMS on several counts, documents show
We now know the full extent of the concern over compliance issues at Theranos’ Newark, California lab thanks to new documents TechCrunch has obtained under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) began a federal investigation into the practices at Theranos’ main facility in Newark last fall involving erratic test results and… Read More
Latest Crunch Report
-
Theranos under criminal investigation
Piling on to Theranos woes, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California have started probing into the blood analysis startup for possible criminal activity. The microscope under which Theranos found itself for regulatory health and safety issues over the last year prompted both agencies to question operations. Theranos sent… Read More
-
Bill Campbell, go-to advisor for Silicon Valley’s brightest, receives loving tributes after his passing
There’s an old saying in football: It isn’t the hours you put in but what you put in the hours. Apparently, Bill Campbell — a widely revered former Columbia University football coach who went on to run Intuit for four years in the 1990s and only retired as its chairman in January — put something magical into his hours with entrepreneurs. A great many of them… Read More
-
CRISPR creates a way out of regulation for GMO food
Genetically modified crops are in the midst of a metamorphosis thanks to new gene-editing technology. The latest example is a white button mushroom genetically edited using CRISPR, or the ability to snip out and rearrange parts of an organism’s DNA. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says it won’t regulate the mushroom because it doesn’t pose a possible threat like GMO… Read More
-
13 women leading the life sciences movement in Silicon Valley
Breakthroughs in genetic engineering, 3D printing, cloud-based science experiments, A.I. and machine learning technology have created a weird and cool new kind of cutting-edge biotech that goes beyond pharma into what just a few decades ago seemed like magical thinking. And women are leading the charge in this brave new world, especially in Silicon Valley. While there are plenty of women… Read More
-
Theranos adds a bunch of qualified medical experts and scientists to the board
Theranos has taken a pretty damning hit in a string of bad news reports over the past year but it looks like the one drop blood analysis company is trying to turn things around. Theranos announced this morning it would add eight medical and lab experts to its scientific and medical advisory board. The new members include: Susan A. Evans, PhD, FACB, former president of the American Association… Read More
-
The top 5 startups from Y Combinator Fellowship’s Virtual Demo Day
Pre-natal genetic testing, VR drones, and fracking nanoparticles were a few of the products featured in Y Combinator’s first Virtual Demo Day. They come from the YC Fellowship, a program designed to let the startup school help idea- or prototype-stage companies, beyond the full-fledged businesses in its main accelerator. The 8-week full-time fellowship mostly offers remote guidance… Read More
-
Government report details Theranos quality control issues
A government report released late Thursday accuses Theranos of producing inaccurate test results, of failing to meet its own lab standards and hiring unqualified personnel. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service visited Theranos’ main facilities in Newark, California last November and found the one drop blood test startup’s machines produced wildly inaccurate test… Read More
-
Scientists create living ‘insect-computer hybrid’ with user-adjustable speed and gait
“Nature’s ready-made robot platforms.” That’s how a new paper from researchers at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University describe insects — it’s excellent shorthand for the level of “playing god” we have attained, whether you find it fascinating or abhorrent. Read More
-
Citizen scientists, you can now DIY your own DNA analysis with Bento Lab
Want to know if you have the “athlete gene” or if you’re actually related to the weirdos who claim you as a family member? Get your collection tubes ready, citizen scientists, Bento Lab’s DIY DNA analysis kit is here and ready for the in-home lab. Normally you’d order a kit somewhere like 23andMe, spit in a tube and mail it off for results in six to eight weeks. Read More
-
Rythm raises $11M to pursue sleep-improving neurotechnology
French startup Rythm, which makes a tech-infused headset it claims improves sleep quality, announced Tuesday that it’s raised over $11 million from private investors and public grants. Read More
-
The top 8 startups from Y Combinator Winter ’16 Demo Day 2
Supersonic planes, food harvesting robots and instant HIV diagnosis were some of the ideas that wowed us on Demo Day 2 for Y Combinator’s Winter 2016 batch. We queried investors and TechCrunch’s writers to come up with our top 8 picks from all 59 startups that presented. Check out our coverage of the 60 YC startups from Tuesday, plus our 7 favorites. Additional reporting by Megan… Read More
Message Us