“I intend to live forever … So far, so good.”

Steven Wright

America Needs to Radically Rethink What It Means to Be Old

2025 Montana Legislature and Politics

• Bill to put guardrails around driverless vehicles gets pushback

  Sen. Loge said he’ll keep pushing because the problem isn’t going away

Montana’s Headwaters Tech Hub

• The Chaos in Higher Ed Is Only Getting Started – “This will halt science and devastate research budgets in universities,”

  Even more disruptive for universities, the committee meetings for reviewing NIH grant proposals have also been abruptly put on hold until at least February 1.

Come Home Montana

• Arrival Of 2 New Businesses Means There’s More Than A Bar In Tiny Pony, Montana

  “The people came to Montana and then once they’re in Bozeman, they’re like, ‘Wait, where did Montana go?’” said DeFrance. “But you hit the road for a little bit and it’s definitely still Montana in these little towns. I think Pony is definitely, to me anyway, it’s the quintessential little Montana town.”

• Bonner, Montana business growth highlighted by Posh Chocolat’s success

  The location of Bonner, just 10 minutes from Missoula and right off Highway 200, has been advantageous for the company. Willembrock, who moved to the area in the 1990s, remarked on the transformation Bonner has undergone, adopting a youthful energy that has benefited Posh Chocolat. “No question about it,” he said.

• Want to Work in Healthcare? New Education Options in Montana

  The $4-million investment announced this week will support startup programs at both schools for Physician Assistant (PA) and Occupational Therapy (OT) degrees. University of Montana will offer the OT doctorate, while Carroll College plans to launch a PA program.

Great Falls Development Alliance

• GFDA Top Ten (really 26) for 1-26-25

  The City of Great Falls is holding Growth Policy sessions the week of January 27th. It is important for the business and development community to be heard so please plan to attend.

• Great Falls seeks resident input for future growth policy on survey – Video

  Great Falls residents – help shape the city’s future! Participate in the Growth Policy Survey and share your thoughts on growth, development, and more. You could win a gift card to a local business! Check out upcoming community workshops too.

Montana Business

• Advancements in farming technology set to transform the agriculture industry

  Companies are leveraging cutting-edge technology to reduce operational costs and ultimately lower consumer prices.

Housing

• Private Equity Firm Plays Into Rural Identity – Finance mogul Blackstone styles itself “country.”

  The industrial history of the nation, begun in small towns and on farms, had many terrible results, from pollution to worker exploitation, but it is redeemed by the things it produced. Blackstone has none of that to offer.

• The U.S. just experienced its slowest annual sales of homes since 1995

  Meanwhile, prices on homes that did sell have been very high, as more sales at the high end of the market nudged median prices higher. The median home price reached $407,500 in 2024, a record high.

Biotech

• ‘Roulette wheel’: Bozeman author David Quammen, who predicted COVID-19 pandemic, on what’s next

  “We have all learned that anger and confusion and suspicion lead to a distrust of science, and a distrust of science leads to dead people,” Quammen said.

Incubators and R&D

• New concrete being developed at Michigan State can ‘self-heal’ and ‘self-heat’

  Experts said this new, bendable concrete is more expensive than traditional concrete, but it will payoff over time.

The Creative and Cultural Economy

• America Needs to Radically Rethink What It Means to Be Old

  As 100-year lifespans become more common, the time has come for a new approach to school, work, and retirement.

21st Century Education Initiative – “You Should Care…”

• How is AI impacting education?

  Whether or not you’re on board with it, it’s hard to ignore the impact that tools like ChatGPT are having in one sphere in particular: education. Rather than needing to produce things like essays and research papers from scratch, the chatbot can provide students with valuable jumping-off points and resources, as well as distil important scientific or mathematical concepts into easier-to-grasp summaries.

Careers

• OpenAI’s new anti-jobs program

  The company’s Stargate project will create lots of opportunities. But not for humans.

Transportation

• EHang Electric Air Taxi Completes Demo Flight in Shanghai — Autonomously

  The Plan specifically mentions the goal of achieving more than 100 low-altitude flight service applications in commercial scenarios such as logistics transportation, emergency rescue, cultural tourism, smart cities, and passenger transportation by 2027.

• How Barcelona’s Metro trains generate electricity

  It’s all down to hitting the brakes.

Energy and Climate Change

• How Much Energy Do Google Search and ChatGPT Use?

  With our increasing reliance on technology, every click, query, and response incurs an energy cost. But just how much energy is expended every time we turn to Google or ChatGPT to find answers? This post explores the energy and environmental impact of these digital tools, putting their usage into perspective.

VR/AR, Blockchain, Bitcoin, Artificial Intelligence and The Internet of Things

• 5 ChatGPT Prompts To Produce High Quality Content

  Here’s how to use ChatGPT to produce content worth reading, that builds your brand and attracts your dream customers. Copy, paste and edit the square brackets in ChatGPT, and keep the same chat window open so the context carries through.

• Google pushes global agenda to educate workers, lawmakers on AI

  Alphabet’s Google, already facing an unprecedented regulatory onslaught, is looking to shape public perception and policies on artificial intelligence ahead of a global wave of AI regulation.

• The Less People Know About AI, the More They Like It

  You might assume that tech-savvy people are the most open to using AI, but research suggests it’s actually those who are least familiar with it.

• OpenAI’s Operator Lets ChatGPT Use the Web for You

  The company that kicked off the AI chatbot craze now wants AI to do more than just talk.

MATR Newsletter Supporters: