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Trade Wars
Japan's Kenso Soai And France's Henri Kagan Win Nobel Chemistry Prize
Scientists Henri Kagan and Kenso Soai won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry on Wednesday for solving a long-standing riddle of asymmetric "mirror image" molecules, a discovery hugely important for pharmaceutical manufacturing. Soai, 76, is Japanese, and Kagan, 95, is French, and their work built on a discovery by the 19th-century French chemist Louis Pasteur. Many of the molecules essential to life exist in two forms that are mirror images of each other, like left and right hands. Yet living organisms almost exclusively use only one version, a phenomenon known as "homochirality" – from the Greek word for hand – that has puzzled chemists for more than a century.
This year's prize was awarded for discoveries that showed how chemical reactions can be driven to favour a single molecular mirror image, work that has been key for chemists who design reactions for the manufacture of pharmaceuticals. "The left-handed version of the drug can have one effect, and the right-handed version can have another effect, and then we need methods for selectively preparing them," Peter Somfai, a member of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry, said. "In developing such methods the findings of this year's laureates are important. They provided powerful tools for that."
Read more at Reuters
Manufacturability, Costing Cited As Key Areas Of AI Impact: Xometry Survey
Upstream” activities like manufacturability and costing are the leading use cases for artificial intelligence in manufacturing, a recent Xometry survey found. Slightly more than half of manufacturers said they expect AI to have its biggest impact in those areas in 2027.
- Forty-seven percent said AI would have the biggest impact on quality control and inspection, followed by production execution on the factory floor at 32% and supplier selection and qualification at 25%.
- 57% of manufacturers reported significant returns from AI investments, compared to 44% a year ago.
- Almost three-quarters said they are already applying AI to specific functions or have integrated it into their core operations.
- The aerospace and defense industries are leading the way, with 82% of manufacturers planning to invest more than $500,000 in AI in 2027. Manufacturers in the robotics and automation industries came in second at 62%.
- Although most survey respondents are seeing greater potential for AI in their operations, they are also encountering roadblocks. For example, 34% said AI and automation operators are now the hardest roles to fill.
Read more at Manufacturing Dive
Jaguar Unveils $130,000 Electric Vehicle Two Years After Controversial Rebrand
Luxury carmaker Jaguar has launched its new all-electric vehicle, two years after the famed British company’s controversial rebrand prompted a social media backlash. The automotive manufacturer, which is owned by India’s Tata Motors, unveiled the Type 01 model on Tuesday at an event in New York City, describing it as the “most technically advanced” and “most powerful and aerodynamic” Jaguar ever. It marks a radical new direction for the company, which was criticized in November 2024 when it revealed a series of changes ahead of becoming a fully electric brand.
Italy’s Ferrari and Britain’s Bentley have also launched their first EV models this year, seeking to test wealthy buyers’ appetite for going electric as luxury carmakers seek to compete with cheaper Chinese car brands. Jaguar confirmed to CNBC on Wednesday morning that the Type 01 model has a minimum price tag of $130,000 in North America. The four-door “Grand Tourer” has an ultra-long bonnet, low roofline, frameless doors and a camera instead of a rear window. It has a range of up to 450 miles and can accelerate from 0-62 miles per hour in 3.2 seconds.
Read more at CNBC
Boeing's Investment In Digital Design Drives F/A-XX win
Boeing has been selected by the U.S. Navy to build its next generation fighter jet, the F/A-XX, that will eventually replace its current fleet of F/A-18 Super Hornets. Boeing beat Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman in the competition. This is the company’s second major victory in the competition for combat aircraft programs after it received the contract for the F-47 fighter for the US Air Force last year. According to sources familiar with the course of the competition, Boeing spent years investing in production capacity, engineering capabilities, and digital design tools. The company also has many years of experience in building aircraft for aircraft carriers.
The F/A-XX will provide advanced carrier-based power projection that extends the range of U.S. Navy carriers. In addition, F/A-XX will be interoperable with manned and unmanned platforms such as Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA). Construction continues on Boeing's secure manufacturing facility, the largest in the U.S. Located in St. Louis, the facility will be part of a new all-digital aerospace design and manufacturing system. The technical and programmatic details of F/A-XX remain classified under U.S. national security and export laws.
Read more at Mobility Engineering
Musk Welcomes German Backing For Tesla Driver Assistance Tech As Group Chases EU Approval
Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Wednesday welcomed Germany's backing for the US automaker's driver-assistance software system, as he seeks Europe-wide approval for the technology that traffic-safety researchers have warned carries inflated safety claims. As part of its discussions with Tesla, Germany agreed with the company that the system may slightly exceed the maximum speed limit by up to 10% – an approach Germany will also support within the European approval process, where speeding has become one of the main points of contention.
A Reuters report published Wednesday detailed how Tesla has mounted a pressure campaign to win FSD approval in the EU by casting safety regulators as feckless bureaucrats blocking its life-saving technology. Tesla has pushed regulators directly to reduce the rigour of safety reviews, submitted its own research making bold crash-reduction claims, and used social media to mobilize Tesla enthusiasts to demand speedy approvals.
Read more at Reuters
BD Strikes $19B Supply Chain Pact With Trump Administration
BD said Tuesday it has struck a partnership with the Trump administration to expand domestic manufacturing and strengthen the supply chain for medical consumables. BD, a maker of syringes, needles, infusion pumps and other medical products, said it will invest a total of $19 billion in the U.S. over several years. The pact includes investments in U.S. manufacturing, innovation and end-to-end production capabilities, the company said. The agreement provides relief from any future tariffs on BD products under Section 232, subject to BD achieving undisclosed milestones.
Under the agreement, the company said it will spend $3 billion to expand strategic production sites across the country and increase its annual U.S. output by about 5 billion essential medical consumables. The expansion is expected to boost BD’s share of domestically supplied essential medical technology to about 80%. BD’s U.S. manufacturing network includes sites in Columbus and Broken Bow, Nebraska; Canaan, Connecticut; Añasco, Puerto Rico; Sandy, Utah; El Paso, Texas; Covington, Georgia; and Sumter, South Carolina.
Read more at Manufacturing Dive
What Recent PLC Attacks Reveal About The State Of OT Cybersecurity
The recent series of attacks on the internet-connected programmable logic controllers within U.S. critical infrastructure garnered extensive media coverage. The headlines revolved around the reported connection to threat actors aligned with Iran and the national security implications. If these incidents reveal anything about the current state of OT cybersecurity, it’s that the industry is operating in a transitional period. Awareness is significantly higher than it was 10 years ago. Most operators understand that cybersecurity is important. The challenge is execution.
The difference between IT security and OT security is huge. A great IT/enterprise security specialist might be aware of how to manage authentication, cloud and enterprise networks. But he or she may not understand anything about:
- Protection of the control logic
- Operational safety
- Industrial communications
- Engineering workflows
- Maintenance
- Availability
It can be very hard to implement a cybersecurity recommendation without this knowledge. This expertise gap is especially problematic for small municipalities and utilities.
Read more at SmartIndustry
Home Heating Oil Prices Are Soaring — And Users’ Winter Bills Could Rise 21%, Federal Outlook Shows
Home heating oil prices are expected to average $5.26 a gallon during the winter heating season, up 34% from last winter, according to details in the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s annual Winter Fuels Outlook released Tuesday. But the agency also predicts a warmer winter, which may reduce consumption. Given that combination, the average household using heating oil is projected to spend $2,115 from November through March, about 21% more than last year.
The increase comes amid an unusually tight global market for distillate fuels, a category that includes heating oil and diesel, which generally are the same product, Lipow said. Refinery disruptions in Russia and the Middle East, along with reduced fuel exports from China, have constrained global supplies of distillate fuels and put upward pressure on prices — which some analysts expect to remain elevated through 2027.
Read more at CNBC
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