Tristan Brown, an MIT history professor, spent a year investigating a Chinese tea chest label held at Old South Meeting House, long believed to be debris from the 1773 Boston Tea Party and donated by descendants of blacksmith Thomas Wells in 1987. By reading the inscription as Cantonese rather than Mandarin, Brown determined the characters phonetically spelled out Smith, Archer & Co., a US tea trading firm active in the 1860s and 1870s, meaning the label postdates the Tea Party by nearly a century.
technologyreview.com
· 2026-10-20
Robotics startup Tuesday Labs has opened reservations for Voxel, a bipedal household robot with articulated arms, gripper hands, and a dual-camera vision system. A $200 deposit secures a spot for the Series-1 model, which is expected to cost around $20,000 and ship in 2028.
theverge.com
· 2026-10-20
TechCrunch has published its complete lineup of Side Events accompanying Founder Summit 2026, running November 3–6 in Boston. The events, including workshops and networking mixers such as PrincipiumX's product-strategy breakfast session, are independently organized by third-party hosts rather than TechCrunch itself. Attendees must register separately for Side Events, which do not include access to the main conference on November 4.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-10-08
TechCrunch is accepting volunteer applications for the upcoming Founder Summit in Boston on November 4. Interested individuals must apply by October 19 to secure a role that offers behind-the-scenes access, event tickets, and workshops on startup topics. Volunteers will assist with various event tasks to help ensure a smooth experience for approximately 1,100 attendees.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-10-08
Rohit Prasad, a veteran Amazon AI executive instrumental in developing Alexa, has been appointed as the new CEO of Boston Dynamics. His leadership comes as the robotics company prepares to scale up the production of humanoid robots.
fastcompany.com
· 2026-10-08
Christos Cassandras, a Boston University professor and IEEE Life Fellow, has built mathematical models and algorithms that use vehicles' speed, mass, and distance to coordinate self-driving cars without traffic signals. He received this year's IEEE Intelligent Transportation Systems Society Outstanding Research Award for the work, which builds on his 1990s theory describing cars as both physical objects and information-processing systems, now known as cyber physical systems.
spectrum.ieee.org
· 2026-10-02
TechCrunch says applications to host an official Side Event during its Founder Summit 2026, taking place in Boston from November 1-7, close tonight at midnight PT. Approved hosts can run meetups, panels or workshops tied to the conference week, with organizers responsible for their own logistics and costs.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-10-02
Boston Consulting Group research cited by WIRED found 22% of surveyed managers say their organizations have already added AI agents to corporate org charts, treating them as coworkers rather than mere tools. The trend follows platforms like Microsoft's Copilot and Google's Gemini for Workspace, and Microsoft's June launch of an agent called Scout, designed to autonomously handle tasks such as rescheduling meetings and drafting emails.
wired.com
· 2026-09-28
A federal procurement notice reviewed by ABC News shows Immigration and Customs Enforcement intends to spend up to $2 million on Boston Dynamics' SPOT robots, each priced around $120,000 with an extendable arm. The filing states the robots would provide remote inspection, situational awareness, and hazard assessment capabilities in risky environments. This follows earlier reporting that ICE sought $20 million worth of electric shock gloves.
futurism.com
· 2026-09-27
TechCrunch announced its Founder Summit 2026, a one-day event for founders at all stages set for November 4 at the SoWa Power Station in Boston. The agenda focuses on fundraising, AI-native company building, and leadership, featuring speakers such as Underscore partner Brian Devaney. Tickets are discounted by $200 for investors and founders.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-24
Boston Longevity Week, an 11-day series of events including biomarker conferences, an AI hackathon and an investor pitch night with over 30 venture firms, culminates in a Translational Longevity Summit. The event's organizers argue the longevity field's core challenge isn't a lack of innovation or even regulation, but a failure to translate promising research into validated, clinically usable treatments.
entrepreneur.com
· 2026-09-18
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu confirmed the city has ended its use of Flock Safety's automated license-plate reader cameras after a vendor error let outside law enforcement agencies access BPD-collected vehicle data nationwide, despite a contract requiring the sharing feature be disabled. The city's 2025 surveillance report says the breach occurred within days of launching a pilot with about 45 cameras and was corrected once discovered, but Boston has since moved on to trials with Motorola and Axon instead.
arstechnica.com
· 2026-09-15
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