What a long, strange trip ... it’s not gonna be?
N&O Innovation and Technology Newsletter: June 25, 2021
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The future of psychedelic drugs — at least as it pertains to their therapeutic use — could be shaped inside a lab in the heart of UNC-Chapel Hill’s campus.
That’s where Dr. Bryan Roth, one of the world’s preeminent researchers of psychedelics, is attempting to do something almost oxymoronic: make psychedelic drugs that don’t cause hallucinations.
Roth has gotten nearly $30M from the U.S. Defense Department to create the trip-less drugs, which could pave the way for more mainstream applications of the antidepressant effects of psychedelics.
Roth took us on a tour of his lab and told us what he considers a potential multibillion-dollar moonshot.
Philanthropy funds the Innovate Raleigh fellowship. Consider supporting philanthropy-funded journalism by going to www.newsobserver.com/donate
(AskBio scientists are working on a Parkinson’s disease treatment it says may reverse symptoms.)
Tech news from the Triangle
The records for N.C.’s recruitment of Apple finally dropped. Here are some key takeaways. [N&O]
RTP-based biotech firm AskBio tests a therapy that may reverse Parkinson’s disease. [N&O]
Epic Games submits rezoning of Cary Towne Center, will include 12 story hotel. [N&O]
ArchiveSocial is buying public records firm NextRequest. [WRAL]
SingleStore hiring in the Triangle after nabbing SAS exec. [TBJ]
What I’m reading
What the clean energy future looks like from a 262-foot wind turbine. [LA Times]
John McAfee, software entrepreneur with outlaw persona, dies in prison at 75. [WaPo]
How safe is your drinking water? Public could be left in dark under new NC bill. [N&O]
Apple Daily, one of Hong Kong’s most widely read and independent news outlets, was forced to shut amid mounting government pressure. [NYT]
Twitter is hiring tech’s biggest critics to build ethical AI. [Protocol]
In colorectal cancer hot spots, young men are dying at higher rates. [STAT]
Starlink dishes go into “thermal shutdown” once they hit 122° Fahrenheit. [ArsTechnica]
Biogen’s Azheimer’s drug Aduhelm will cost the U.S. government as much as its spends on NASA. [NYT]
Amazon and other tech giants race to buy up renewable energy. [WSJ]
Psychedelic VR meditation startup Tripp raises $11 million Series A. [Techcrunch]
Other Triangle business
UNC’s chief fundraiser has an outside gig. Experts say it could hurt the university. [N&O]
Cold brew coffee is on fire in the Triangle. [N&O]
Proposed highway for bicycles could parallel I-40 from Chapel Hill to Raleigh. [N&O]
Let me know what you’re seeing. Email me at zeanes@newsobserver.com. Tweet me @zeanes. Call me at 919-829-4516.
Zachery Eanes is the Innovate Raleigh reporter for The News & Observer and The Herald-Sun. He covers technology, startups and main street businesses, biotechnology, and education issues related to those areas.
This newsletter was produced with financial support from a coalition of partners led by Innovate Raleigh as part of an independent journalism fellowship program. The N&O maintains full editorial control of the work. Learn more; go to bit.ly/newsinnovate
