Intro

Good morning and welcome to the future 👋

You’ve no doubt realized: We believe in a better future. We believe that this planet is facing huge challenges. And at the same time we believe that technology and human inventiveness will help to master them.

To prove our point: In today’s Snippets you will find two examples where deserts are transformed through technology.

Have a great weekend! See you in the future (next week 🤓).

Babak & Simon

Today’s update is 326 words, 1.6 minutes

Snippets

🛸 Rainmaker: Can tech help reduce the effect of heat waves and improve land fertility? Dubai is using drones to unleash electrical charges into the clouds to force precipitation. Dive Deeper →

🏕 Oasis maker: Meanwhile, using a mix of advanced technologies, China is turning deserts into fertile croplands capable of producing fruits and vegetables. Dive Deeper →

🧠 Better life maker: A new wearable brain-machine interface has the potential to improve the quality of life for individuals with paralysis or motor dysfunction. Dive Deeper →

⛑ Healthy gut, healthy you: A German startup offers supplements to improve women’s gut health, hormone stability, temper, and sleep. Dive Deeper →

Startup of the day

Otolith Labs, Washington (USA)

Source: otolith

What’s the deal: Founded in 2015, Otolith Labs is developing a wearable device for treating vertigo (a sensation where sufferers feel their environment is spinning around them), virtual reality sickness and motion sickness, which affect around 40% of the population.

The medical device helps alleviate symptoms without any side effects.

The company, which has received FDA Breakthrough Designation, has raised $5.7M in recent seed funding to further advance its new technology.

Underlying trends: Medical Device, Therapeutics, Consumer Electronics

Why it matters: Motion sickness is a debilitating condition for many, preventing them from traveling or engaging in various work and spare-time activities.

Currently, therapy mainly consists of drugs to treat the symptoms, which can cause significant side effects, depending on frequency of use.

The Otolith headband device applies localized mechanical stimulation to the vestibular system, causing the brain to disregard the conflicting signals that cause motion sickness.

Although the device is still in the testing phase, 87% of participants reported a reduction in their vertigo within just a few minutes.

Our take: The initial trial has been very promising, but a lot more work is needed to prove the device’s effectiveness on a larger scale. A long road lies ahead before it can be made available on the market.