// hardware

Source: Ars Technica

MIT researchers have demonstrated that infrasound waves can suppress cooking oil fires by disrupting the flame's chemistry, offering a novel alternative to water-based suppression in kitchens where sprinkler damage costs money and disrupts service. The mechanism—using low-frequency sound to cool flames and separate fuel from oxygen—works on grease fires that water actually worsens. Restaurants and equipment manufacturers face a straightforward adoption question: whether to retrofit when cheap sprinklers already exist and insurance already covers the aftermath.

Source: TechCrunch

SoftBank is collapsing the typically separate categories of AI infrastructure and physical automation by tasking robots to build the data centers that train AI models. The vertical integration lets Masayoshi Son capture value across the entire stack while addressing genuine logistics bottlenecks in data center deployment. The $100B IPO valuation suggests investors are pricing in both the near-term scarcity premium—construction workers cannot keep pace with data center demand—and a longer-term bet that roboticized facility building becomes a licensable service for hyperscalers globally. Owning a construction fleet is now strategically rational because building AI infrastructure has become sufficiently capital-intensive and constrained.