AI accelerating medical research; Solving pain points in sales

Hello,

It’s one thing to endlessly scroll through food reels, but what if you could virtually taste the food too?

Scientists have developed a device to recreate the flavours of food and drink, allowing them to be shared remotely in a matter of seconds. However, they have not yet cracked spicy food, reports The Guardian.

While the device sounds impressive, unfortunately, its name doesn’t score high on creativity as its makers have decided to call it e-Taste. 

“Potential applications include immersive gaming, online shopping, remote education, weight management, sensory testing, physical rehabilitation and others,” the researchers write.

Elsewhere, Chinese robotics company Unitree has shown off its G1 humanoid robot pulling some impressive kung fu moves. In a video released last week, the robot can be seen performing smooth dances and precise footwork.

The video appears to be inspired by the Will Smith-starrer science fiction film, I-Robot.

Not all science fiction-inspired devices become successful though. Case in point: the $700 Humane AI pin. The wearable gadget was supposed to be a personal AI assistant, helping users make calls, send messages, take notes and more. 

However, Humane announced last week that it is being acquired by HP and that it will stop selling the pins. The company has also bricked existing devices. 

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• AI accelerating medical research
• Solving pain points in sales
• Awadhi cuisine beyond the classics

Here’s your trivia for today: Which country contains Lake Assal, the lowest point on mainland Africa?

DevSparks

AI accelerating medical research

Speaking at DevSparks 2025, Gaurav Tripathi, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of InnoPlexus, emphasised how AI-driven advancements in computational biology are enabling scientists to make discoveries at an unprecedented scale.

Leveraging the immense computational power of GPUs (Graphics Processing Units), researchers are accelerating the pace of medical breakthroughs, reducing the time and cost required to analyse complex biological data.

Into the future:

• The human genome consists of approximately three billion base pairs, and sequencing this data traditionally took weeks or even months. However, with the use of GPUs, the process has been drastically accelerated.
• Beyond speed, AI has also helped reduce costs. Conventional methods required nearly $35,000 per genome analysis, but AI-driven models running on GPUs have lowered the cost to under $2,000, making high-quality genomic research more accessible.
• AI’s impact extends beyond genomics into drug discovery, where it is streamlining the identification of potential new treatments. Tripathi shared how AI-assisted research has been instrumental in analysing the effectiveness of Alzheimer’s drugs.

Interview

Solving pain points in sales

SurveySparrow, which has transformed boring surveys into engaging chat experiences, now hopes to change one of the tedious processes in enterprise sales—Request for proposals. 

The startup’s latest innovation, SparrowGenie, uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to help sales teams that traditionally spend countless manual hours coordinating with various departments to craft the responses. YourStory spoke with Chief Customer Officer Vipin Thomas to know more. 

Key takeaways:

• Organisations usually issue formal Request for Proposal (RFP) documents when they need suppliers for major purchases.
• Having carved out a distinctive edge in the customer experience space with their conversational surveys, SurveySparrow has grown to 320 employees since raising a $1.4-million seed round.
• By using AI to help companies respond to RFPs, generate proposals, and support sales teams with instant expertise, SurveySparrow is expanding beyond its core area of customer experience.

Food

Awadhi cuisine beyond the classics

Kakori kebab, kareli ki nihari (a rich, spiced curry that once graced the royal table) and lahsun ki kheer (garlic pudding)–it’s rare to come across these dishes in a culinary festival dedicated to Awadhi cuisine. But Chef Ishtiyaque Qureshi, son of the late Imtiaz Qureshi, was clear about offering diners a taste of the cuisine beyond the classics at the ‘Jashn-e-Lucknow’ at JW Marriott Hotel New Delhi Aerocity.

Food for thought:

• “It's important to understand that Lucknawi cuisine isn't confined to biryani and gosht ka salan. If you want a cuisine to evolve, you must have the gumption to create and work hard. There are very few people who have that fire in their belly today,” he tells YS Life.
• Chef Ishtiyaque’s foray into the hospitality industry began with a stint at ITC Maurya, A Luxury Collection Hotel, New Delhi, where his father established the legendary restaurants, Dum Pukht and Bukhara.
• As the founder of the two-decade-old Kakori House, Chef Ishtiyaque has been trying to honour the roots of his legacy.

News & updates

• AI upgrade: Google is giving Sheets a Gemini-powered upgrade that is designed to help users analyze data faster and turn spreadsheets into charts using AI. With this update, users can access Gemini’s capabilities to generate insights from their data, such as correlations, trends, outliers, and more.
• Spaceflight: Elon Musk’s SpaceX has attained authorization from the Federal Aviation Administration to fly its massive Starship rocket once again, the space regulator announced Friday. The Starship rocket broke up during the company’s seventh test flight in January.

Which country contains Lake Assal, the lowest point in mainland Africa?

Answer: Djibouti

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