Robotics, Education, FIRST Juha-Pekka Tikka wrote: Most of the teams that gathered at the San Diego Sports Arena last week came from the American Southwest—from places like Flagstaff, AZ, and El Centro, CA. One team came all the way from Pennsylvania. Another came from Brazil. But these teams ...

Roundup, deals, Life Sciences Bruce V. Bigelow wrote: It’s hard for any company to raise capital in this recession, but several San Diego life sciences startups disclosed last week they had done just that. A few bright spots also appeared during a local seminar on mergers and acquisitionsR...

Biotech, cancer, Drugs Luke Timmerman wrote: Off the coast of the Bahamas, in sea grass more than a half-mile deep, San Diego-based Nereus Pharmaceuticals found a fungus that may be the key ingredient for an innovative new cancer drug. This will be a key year for gathering evidence that will either ...

wwwade, IT, Web Wade Roush wrote: If you feel it’s time to share something online but can’t think of anything to say, it might be a sign that you’re dull. If you try too hard to craft a bon mot for your blog or some table talk for your Twitter stream, in other words, you might just...

Network Security, IT, Software Bruce V. Bigelow wrote: When Websense (NASDAQ: WBSN) announced a couple of weeks ago it had acquired Defensio, a Canadian spam filtering Web service, I realized the San Diego software developer had morphed into something bigger and more robust than I remembered. ̶...

Biotech, obesity, Life Sciences Luke Timmerman wrote: Fen-phen was the wonder drug for weight loss in the 1990s, until it was found to damage heart valves and yanked off the market. Now the folks at San Diego-based Arena Pharmaceuticals are eagerly waiting clinical trial results that will show wheth...

people, Richard A. Muller, energy Bruce V. Bigelow wrote: The President of the United States is supposed to know the differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims. But somehow, as Richard Muller points out, nobody expects America’s commander in chief to know the differences between uranium and pl...

Software, IT, startups Seth Hettena wrote: A private software company that arose following the implosion of San Diego’s scandal-ridden Peregrine Systems says its business is booming despite the recession, because its innovative model for offering Software as a Service can help customers shav...

deals, Life Sciences, VC Bruce V. Bigelow wrote: During a recent discussion on the outlook in San Diego for venture funding in biotech, Sofinnova Ventures’ David Kabakoff noted that one way VCs are coping with the downturn is by broadening the syndication of their deals. That’s apparent...

VC, NVCA, Economy Bruce V. Bigelow wrote: The venture capital model might not be completely broken, but the chairman of the National Venture Capital Association says it needs to be fixed. With only six venture-backed IPOs in 2008—the worst showing since 1976—NVCA chairman Dixon Doll says...