Startup Talk: Honeywell, NASA to begin hip-hop STEM tour this fall, including in Arkansas

Editor’s note: Each Thursday, Talk Business & Politics provides “Startup Talk,” a round-up of startup, technology and entrepreneurial news.

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HONEYWELL, NASA TO BEGIN HIP-HOP-THEME STEM TOUR THIS FALL, STOP PLANNED FOR ARKANSAS SCHOOLS
Multi-national conglomerate Honeywell and NASA will soon begin the hip-hop-themed FMA Live! Forces in Motion education roadshow to 30 schools during the fall, beginning with a visit to Stone Mountain, Ga. this week starting at Dekalb Academy of Technology and Environment. This year, performances are planned at public, private and military-connected middle schools in nine states – Virginia, Maryland, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas.

Since the program’s 2004 launch, FMA Live! has traveled nearly 110,000 miles to more than 1,200 schools and performed for 460,000 students in 48 contiguous U.S. states, as well as in Mexico and Canada. The one-of-a-kind show incorporates hip-hop music and dancers, student volunteers, and on-stage, interactive science experiments to demonstrate how physics is part of everyday life.

Each performance focuses on Newton’s Universal Law of Gravity and Three Laws of Motion. FMA Live! is named after Newton’s Second Law of Motion [Force equals Mass times Acceleration] and uses music videos and interactive scientific demonstrations to teach and inspire students to pursue STEM careers.

MUNICH CONSULTING FIRM SAYS AI TECHNOLOGY HAS GROWN TEN-FOLD IN PAST 5 YEARS
European technology consulting firm Zinnov released a study on Wednesday (Oct. 5) showing that the investor interest in artificial intelligence, or AI, has grown ten-fold globally over the past five years, from $94 million in 2011 to $1.04 billion in 2016.

The report, called “The AI Spring: Innovations for the next decade,” shares insights into the technology growth and development of artificial intelligence in the last 20 years, including its influence on traditional vertically companies in the auto, manufacturing and financial sectors.

The study by Munich, Germany-based Zinnov also pointed out there are 2,277 AI startups across the globe with a current market value of $14.2 billion. The U.S. currently dominates the global AI startup landscape, the report says. Go here to learn more.

GE HEALTHCARE TO SEED GLOBAL HEALTH STARTUPS WITH $50 MILLION IN NEW FUNDING
GE Healthcare, the $18 billion healthcare technology division of industrial giant GE, announced the launch of the company’s first healthcare accelerator, five.eight, aimed initially at 10 startups that are looking to improve healthcare outcomes for the world’s developing economies.

The accelerator will target global health startups with a vision to improve healthcare quality and accessibility in developing or low-resource settings – from education and training to disruptive, low-cost technologies and digital applications. Through the program, GE Healthcare and each startup will focus on commercially scaling healthcare innovations for emerging economies. In addition, potential funding of up to $5 million per startup will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis as the collaboration between GE Healthcare and each startup evolves.