This week’s roundup of data news highlights from July 25, 2026, to July 31, 2026, features Google Earth’s new AI image-generation tool that lets users reimagine real-world locations and an AI-powered home-management platform that helps homeowners track maintenance and property risks.
1. Reimaging Cities
Google Earth has introduced a new image-generation feature called Nano Banana 2 that lets users reimagine locations directly within the platform. The AI tool creates visuals based on real-world areas, producing historical reconstructions, infographics, and real-estate concepts. By using location context to guide images, the feature offers new ways to explore and visualize places.
2. Discovering New Planets
Researchers at Princeton University have built a machine‑learning system that rapidly identifies potential planets outside the Milky Way Galaxy from NASA’s TESS telescope data. The system analyzes changes in starlight that occur when planets pass in front of their stars, filtering millions of signals to find promising planets. By automating early screening, it helps astronomers narrow searches and accelerate the discovery of new planets beyond our solar system.
3. Evaluating Sidewalks
U.S.-based robotics company Daxbot has built a robot that autonomously evaluates sidewalk conditions to help cities improve accessibility. The system uses onboard sensors to detect surface damage, uneven areas, and barriers that may affect people with disabilities. By collecting detailed measurements, Daxbot helps cities prioritize repairs, plan infrastructure improvements, and better understand accessibility challenges across their communities.
4. Monitoring Dogs’ Hearts
Connecticut-based pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim has created Eko Vet+ Caninebeat AI, an AI-powered tool that helps veterinarians detect heart murmurs in dogs. The system combines a digital stethoscope attachment with an algorithm trained on thousands of recordings to identify abnormal heart sounds linked to disease. Through an app, veterinarians receive reports and audio insights that support earlier diagnosis and treatment decisions.
5. Studying Farming Robots
Researchers at Harper Adams University in the UK have studied whether humanoid robots could take on a wider range of farming tasks. The team examined how human-shaped robots could perform jobs such as harvesting, planting, and pruning. These adaptable systems could work alongside farmers, sharing agricultural environments and assisting with changing workloads without requiring new machines for every task.
6. Managing Home Maintenance
U.S.-based home intelligence platform Hint has launched an app that uses an AI system to help homeowners manage maintenance, documents, and property risks. After users enter their address, the system builds a home profile using public records, environmental data, and uploaded documents. The platform then creates personalized maintenance schedules, sends alerts, and answers questions about home systems, insurance, energy use, and long-term upkeep.
7. Curating Running Playlists
Spotify has created a feature that automatically builds running playlists based on a user’s pace. The tool measures steps per minute and selects songs with matching tempos, adjusting recommendations as speed changes. It also offers tempo-based mixes and different intensity settings, turning Spotify into a personalized workout soundtrack designed to help runners maintain a consistent rhythm.
8. Enhancing Web Browsing
San Francisco-based software company Polar has developed an AI-powered browser that helps users automate web-based tasks such as research, analysis, and business operations. The browser lets users save prompts, create workflows, and assign AI agents tasks based on open tabs. By turning everyday browsing into repeatable processes, Polar helps users streamline work across areas like research, sales, recruiting, and operations.
9. Making Robots Faster
Researchers at MIT have tested a system called VLASH that lets robots plan future movements while completing current actions. Instead of waiting for each task to finish, the system predicts where the robot will move next and prepares future motions in advance. By planning around the robot’s expected position rather than its current one, VLASH reduces delays, creates smoother movements, and helps robots respond faster during complex, rapidly changing tasks.
10. Automating Laboratories
San Diego-based robotics company Tactus AI has built a two-armed robot called Elsie that uses physical AI to perform tasks inside clinical laboratories. The system combines touch, force, depth, and computer-vision sensors to handle existing lab equipment and complete hands-on workflows. By automating repetitive tasks without replacing current infrastructure, Elsie aims to help laboratories address growing workloads and staffing shortages.
