TechCapsules

India is transitioning from a technology importer to a creator, with public research institutions, corporate R&D, and deep‑tech startups driving growth in semiconductors, communications, space, and healthcare. Patent filings have risen, and indigenous products are emerging, yet R&D spending remains low and commercialisation weak. Talent shortages and limited research capacity hinder full market penetration. Government policy pushes for innovation, but stronger industry‑research links, technology transfer mechanisms, and support for frontier technologies are needed to close gaps and [...]

VIT’s annual technology festival, graVITas’26, opened its second day with 227 events and an expected 40,000 participants. Students from mechanical, electronics, electrical, and communication engineering showcased projects in robo wars, drone racing, toycathon, big band theory, and map quest. Robo wars featured 15‑kg and 60‑kg categories, requiring teams to repair damaged robots within 20 minutes. Drone teams navigated obstacle courses over 200 m, with speed and precision determining winners. The fest also hosted a capital‑hunt startup pitch, attracting [...]

Vals, a San Francisco AI‑benchmarking startup founded in 2024, raised $40 million in a Series A led by Andreessen Horowitz after an earlier seed round from 8VC and Bloomberg Beta. Co‑founder Rayan Krishnan, a former Palantir intern and Stanford AI lab student, says the company was created to address outdated public benchmarks that can be gamed by model developers. Vals offers private, industry‑specific tests—covering law, finance, coding and emerging areas such as mental‑health, cybersecurity and the law of armed [...]

Justin Fanelli, the U.S. Navy’s chief technology officer, has spent three and a half years reshaping how the service engages with commercial innovators. Moving from a “spaghetti chart” of entry points to a funnel‑like model, the Navy now pulls proven startups into its technology base as enterprise services. This week Fanelli, en route to a secret, overnight flight, announced a refreshed list of the Navy’s multi‑year technology priorities, vetted by a small group of venture investors before [...]

GasPulse, a free iOS app, delivers weekly gas price averages from the Energy Information Administration, offering state‑by‑state charts, up to five years of historical data, and forecast outlooks. Users can compare regional trends, set price alerts for up to six areas, and view updates via home‑screen and lock‑screen widgets or Siri. The app runs on iOS 18+, is ad‑free, and requires no subscription. It provides a comprehensive, data‑driven view of fuel costs without locating the cheapest station. [...]

Qtonic Quantum Corp unveiled QShield, a software‑only post‑quantum cryptography runtime that secures active Linux network connections. The solution creates encrypted overlay tunnels using NIST‑approved algorithms—ML‑KEM‑1024 for key exchange, ML‑DSA‑87 for authentication, and AES‑256‑GCM for payload encryption—without hardware appliances or pre‑shared keys. A 72‑hour AWS endurance test logged 4,107 continuous checks with zero failures, demonstrating reliability. QShield aligns with upcoming federal mandates, including CNSA 2.0 and Executive Order 14412, targeting data‑center interconnects and high‑value financial channels. [...]

Korean studio Nirvanana has unveiled Project Zeta, a MOBA‑battle royale hybrid that blends four‑player team skirmishes with hero‑shooter mechanics. At Gamescom 2026, executive producer Namseok Kim highlighted the game’s emphasis on high‑volume multi‑kills, citing moments of 11‑to‑12 kills per round—far exceeding the traditional five‑kill pentakill. The team has iterated on characters, terrain, and map layout through public tests, aiming to deliver fluid, satisfying combat and a clear sense of player positioning. Global playtests are now open on Steam, inviting [...]

USA Rare Earth, Pasqal, and Riven Systems announced a partnership to develop quantum machine learning (QML) models for separating heavy rare earth elements (REEs). Pasqal will supply neutral‑atom quantum processing units and QML algorithms, Riven will generate empirical training data through its autonomous chemistry lab, and USA Rare Earth will provide feedstock flowsheets and validate candidates at its Wheat Ridge, Colorado facility. The collaboration targets high‑selectivity extractants for dysprosium, terbium, and yttrium, aiming to reduce equipment, stages, [...]