Pollinating drone bees can’t replace honey bees, ecologists calculate

The successful demonstration of remote-controlled “drones-bees” by Netherlands’ Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) has been making news since Tuesday. But the buzz surrounding the drone’s applications could be much hyped, according to at least two independent estimates by biologists. Many popular news websites reported that the university’s drone-bees could successfully replace real bees in…

Teeth-straightening startup SmileDirectClub is now worth $3.2 billion – TechCrunch

SmileDirectClub, the at-home teeth-straightening startup, has just raised $380 million at a $3.2 billion valuation, the company announced today. Investors from Clayton, Dubilier & Rice led the round, which featured participation from Kleiner Perkins and Spark Capital. This funding comes on top of Align Technology’s $46.7 million investment in SmileDirectClub in 2016, and another $12.8 million investment…

Self-driving car startup Aurora becomes Pennsylvania’s first ‘authorized’ tester – TechCrunch

Aurora, the buzzy self-driving car startup, has become the first company officially authorized by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to test its vehicles on public roads. Aurora has been testing its autonomous vehicles on public streets in Pittsburgh since late 2017. And other companies such as Argo AI also test autonomous vehicles there. So receiving…