The Saturday Morning Newsletter #11
Uranium, 1.5 Threshold, Tariffs, Cancer, Protein, and More
Hello!
Welcome to The Saturday Morning Newsletter, a concise and casual digest of current events, optimistic news stories, and other interesting tidbits to round out your week. The concept is simple: 17 articles, essays, companies, ideas, podcasts, videos, or thoughts that caught my attention this week for their potential to significantly impact our future.
I want this to be a collaborative effort, so if you see examples of things that truly impact our future, let me know here. I’ll give you credit for sharing them.
If you enjoy this newsletter, please share it with friends, colleagues, and family.
Let’s get started.
#1: Glint Solar
Description: Glint Solar is a startup developing software to evaluate sites for solar energy projects.
Why Is This Company Interesting? Glint Solar recently raised $8M in venture capital funding. Currently, 73% of solar development hours are often wasted on stalled projects. Glint Solar’s software helps evaluate potential sites 10x faster than traditional means. Companies can swiftly analyze thousands of sites, identifying relevant opportunities without many red flags. Technologies like this can help spur solar energy to continue its exponential growth trajectory.
Description: Matter Intelligence is a company developing a detailed image of Earth’s surface.
Why Is This Company Interesting? Matter Intelligence recently raised $12M in venture capital funding. Matter is developing advanced sensors to capture detailed pictures of Earth’s surface and atmosphere for use in satellites, drones, and aircraft. These images are incredibly valuable for research and development as they are the highest-resolution commercial sensors on the market.
#3: SeaO2
Description: SeaO2 is a carbon removal startup.
Why Is This Company Interesting? SeaO2 recently raised $2M in venture capital funding. Their technology captures ocean water and then uses an electric current to separate acid and base, allowing them to isolate the CO2 and extract it using a vacuum. This is similar to other direct ocean carbon capture methods, yet where this technology shines is its ability to be portable—capable of being moved in a shipping container to address needs across the globe.
#4: Cold
Description: Cold is a startup helping consumers and businesses reduce their carbon footprint.
Why Is This Company Interesting? Cold recently raised $2.6M in venture capital funding. As regulators, investors, and other entities press on companies to increase their climate measures, reporting those measures to interested parties has been time-consuming and isn’t an area of expertise for most businesses. Cold helps automate climate reporting and compliance documentation, allowing companies to spend more time changing the world for the better and less time filling out reports.
RealCleanEnergy: Nuclear Power Is Poised for a Revival But Needs a Foundation to Stand
The increased nuclear attention from tech companies and other entities has raised questions about the United States’ uranium supply chain. Some claim that uranium is the most important element to our energy future, and, as such, needs to be secured as soon as possible. Yet, other issues are being posed with the current nuclear power revival. Nuclear power is expensive, and small modular reactor technology has yet to demonstrate its commercial viability, creating wide speculation about whether nuclear is a viable solution.
Reuters: Key US Wind Power Trends and Metrics to Track
Wind energy continues to reach new capacity records, remaining the second largest source of clean power behind nuclear energy in the United States. However, shortages of parts, jumps in labor costs, and extended development timelines have slowed the pace of wind farm construction in the last couple of years (and in the next few years to come). Recent decreases in development costs combined with lucrative tax credits set to be available in 2025 have increased demand in the last couple of months. Will wind energy return to its previous growth trajectory? Probably not, but there may be a resemblance of a reversion to past trends.
New York Times: 2024 Temperatures Are on Track for a Record High, Researchers Find
An assessment by the Copernicus Climate Change Service forecasts that 2024 would be the first calendar year in which global temperatures consistently rose 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre industrial levels (the current climate goal). This does not mean the Paris Agreement was missed as temperatures would need to stay 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels for a 20-year period. What this does mean, however, is that that 20-year clock has begun. Set your watches for 2044, we’ll check in then (hopefully sooner).
Wall Street Journal: Nuclear Energy’s AI Boom Blew a Fuse
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission rejected Talen Energy’s request to increase the amount of power it could provide Amazon from its nuclear power plant (going from 300 MW to 480 MW). The FERC has emphasized it would continue to prioritize grid reliability as the amount of energy continues to increase, however, this does put a slight damper on Big Tech’s AI nuclear power hopes.
TechCrunch: Founders Should Seek Sector Alignment When Looking for a Family Office Investor
Family offices were involved in 27% of venture capital deals in 2023, yet startups often have difficulties navigating the family office dynamics. Bruce Lee, the founder and CEO of Keebeck Wealth Management, said that when founders are looking to get connected with family offices, they should seek out families that made their wealth in the sector the startup is building in. By approaching family offices this way, startups have the greatest chance of a successful partnership.
New York Times: Tariffs
“Two economists, Alexander Klein and Christopher Meissner, tried to find out if those high tariffs were responsible for the rise of American manufacturing in [America’s Gilded Age]. They downloaded reams of PDFs of old tariff schedules from the Library of Congress and typed the data by hand into a database for analysis, cleaning it up and coding it as they went along. Because they broke the tariffs down by detailed product, and had state-by-state data on the performance of domestic manufacturers, they were able to detect effects that had been invisible in previous analyses. Their conclusion: “The era’s high tariffs are unlikely to have helped the United States become a globally competitive manufacturer.”
Center for Strategic & International Studies: Intellectual Property Rights and the Future of U.S. Technological Leadership
The intellectual property system is crucial for incentivizing and enabling the innovation necessary for technological leadership. This system is designed to incentivize innovation by granting the investor temporary property rights for an invention or a creation.
“If the United States has an innovation agenda—that is, if it aims to invest and lead in critical emerging technologies to bolster U.S. economic and national security—IP must have a prominent role. A strong IP enforcement regime, with clear boundaries around IP rights and which can ensure quality inventions are granted those rights, helps the inventors and implementers, who are both needed for an innovation ecosystem to thrive.”
IP Watch Dog: What Intellectual Property Policy Should Look Like in the Age of AI
There are many policy discussions currently surrounding AI and intellectual property. By adhering to the established laws and precedents, having governing entities clarify the concepts of fair use in copyright and subject matter eligibility with patents, advocating for licensing agreements, and implementing safeguards against infringement, the United States can create a framework that fosters creativity and innovation while respecting the contributions of human creators and innovators.
“The future of AI should be one where technology and creativity coexist harmoniously, driving progress and enhancing our cultural and economic landscape without compromising the rights of those who pave the way for that progress. Only through such a balanced approach can we ensure that the benefits of AI are shared equitably among all stakeholders in the creative and innovative economies.”
Scroll: What is the job of philosophy? Is it to make human beings better?
“All of us, whether we have studied philosophy or not, have opinions and views on human nature. Most of our actions are dictated by these views. The way we treat people, talk to others, support or oppose somebody, decide on what our children should do – these are all dependent on strongly held positions on what it is to be a human being. These may not be articulated specifically as “being human” but through ideas such as what it is to be an individual, to be a member of family, of society, what we should do, and how we should act.”
Scimex: Worldwide Cancer Deaths Could Increase by 90% by 2050
Worldwide cancer rates and deaths are projected to increase by 77% and 90% respectively by 2050, according to researchers. In lower- and middle-income countries, the number of cancer cases is expected to triple, and deaths will subsequently rise. In higher-income countries, there will be an increase, yet this increase will be much smaller. Many ways have been theorized to prevent some of this increase, but the presiding theory is that, no matter what, there will be at least some increase in cancer rates and deaths in the coming years.
Stanford Medicine: Scientists Glue Two Proteins Together, Driving Cancer Cells to Self-Destruct
It’s the week for medical articles.
Stanford Medicine researchers may have found a new way to get rid of cancer cells. Their method artificially brings together two proteins in such a way that the new compound switches on a set of cell death genes, ultimately driving the tumor cells to turn on themselves. Proven to work, this technology could revolutionize how we treat certain cancers and could save many lives.
Futurism: Study Finds Waymos are More Expensive Than Taxis, Take Twice as Long to Get to Destination
A recent Forbes study of over 50 rides concluded that not only were Waymo rides more expensive, but they also took twice as long compared to Uber. Across the rides, the average time to pick up for Waymo was 7.2 minutes while rideshare apps were 3.4 minutes. What’s more, the average trip time in a Waymo was 33:58 minutes, while an Uber or Lyft would take you only 15:20 minutes. Robotaxis may be here to stay, but there is much room for innovation still.
Reddit: It’s Super Easy To Permanently Change Your Life
The premise of the post is simple: It's super easy to permanently change your life for the worst, but not for the best.
I think there’s some solid backing to this idea. Progression in a positive direction takes months, years, or decades, yet it’s incredibly easy to ruin your life. It’s similar to the thought that it takes a lifetime to build trust, but one time to destroy it.
I liked this comment:
“Climbing a mountain is challenging and exhausting. Falling down a mountain is as easy as lying down and letting gravity take over.
Just like gravity, life is exerting a constant downward force on you. If you're not exerting a minimum amount of effort just to stand up and a certain amount of effort to keep moving, life, like gravity, will pull you down.”
Moral of the story: keep up the good work, it keeps you going in the right direction.
See you Wednesday for Brainwaves,
Drew Jackson
Website: brainwaves.me
Twitter: @brainwavesdotme
Email: brainwaves.me@gmail.com
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Disclaimer: The views expressed in this content are my own and do not represent the views of any of the companies I currently work for or have previously worked for. This content does not contain financial advice - it is for informational and educational purposes only. Investing contains risks and readers should conduct their own due diligence and/or consult a financial advisor before making any investment decisions. Any sponsorship or endorsements are noted and do not affect any editorial content produced.