The Saturday Morning Newsletter #45
Your People, Air Purifiers, Hurricane, Heat, Airships and More
👋 Hello friends,
Thank you for joining this week's edition of The Saturday Morning Newsletter. I'm Drew Jackson, and today we're exploring 15 articles, essays, companies, ideas, podcasts, videos, or thoughts that caught my attention this week for their potential to significantly impact our future.
Before we begin: The Saturday Morning Newsletter by Brainwaves arrives in your inbox every Saturday, a concise and casual digest of current events, optimistic news stories, and other interesting tidbits about venture capital, economics, space, energy, intellectual property, philosophy, and beyond. I write as a curious explorer rather than an expert, and I value your insights and perspectives on each subject.
Time to Read: 5 minutes.
Let’s dive in!
#1: Sceye
Description: Sceye is a solar-powered airship developer.
Why Is This Company Interesting? Sceye recently raised $15M in venture capital funding. Their airships are designed to remain in the stratosphere for extended periods, providing telecommunications and Earth observation services. Their platform offers benefits that airplanes, drones, and satellites cannot.
#2: Skynopy
Description: Skynopy is a ground station provider.
Why Is This Company Interesting? Skynopy recently raised $18M in venture capital funding. They currently have 15 ground stations with plans to increase this number to over a hundred in the future, offering real-time connectivity across the globe. Their goal is to create the biggest ground station network, providing fast data to satellites and other space objects.
#3: Ignis Energy
Description: Ignis Energy is a geothermal startup.
Why Is This Company Interesting? Ignis Energy recently raised $14M in venture capital funding. They provide a balanced portfolio of different geothermal energy assets with the goal of reaching 1GW by 2030. They hope to provide a portfolio that is geographically, geologically, and geopolitically diverse.
#4: Woodchuck
Description: Woodchuck is a wood waste renewal service provider.
Why Is This Company Interesting? Woodchuck recently raised $4M in venture capital funding. They collect wood waste from construction and manufacturing sites and turn it into a renewable source of energy. Businesses are continually seeking innovative solutions to reduce waste, optimize resources, and contribute to renewable energy programs.
#5: Climeworks
Description: Climeworks
Why Is This Company Interesting? Climeworks recently raised $162M in venture capital funding. Their strategy combines nature-based solutions with man-engineered technologies, creating what they believe is the most reliable and durable way to remove carbon from the atmosphere. This new funding round will help bring down costs and scale existing plants.
The Conversation: Heat Trapping Surpasses Model Expectations
By measuring how much heat is entering and exiting Earth’s atmosphere, we can measure the effects of climate change over time. The energy imbalance has doubled from the mid-2000s to the early 2020s. These findings suggest climate change may accelerate in the future, surprising climate scientists whose models largely didn’t predict such a massive and rapid change.
Yahoo News: 3 Years to Limit Global Warming to 1.5 Degrees
60 of the world’s top climate scientists have released a new report, warning that countries are continuing to burn record amounts of fossil fuels and destroying millions of acres of forestland. This gives us around 3 years before we hit our target of 1.5 degrees Celsius (even though some are already claiming we’ve hit it).
Local 10 News: Critical Hurricane Forecast Tool Abruptly Terminated
This week, the Department of Defense announced it would stop ingesting, processing, and transmitting data for most hurricane forecasts. This will severely impede and degrade hurricane forecasts for this season and many years to come, potentially affecting millions of Americans who live in hurricane-related areas.
Ember: Solar All The Time Changes Everything
Batteries are now cheap enough to deliver a 97% constant electricity supply 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, cost-effectively in the sunniest places. The full potential of solar energy has been unlocked—most of the major drawbacks have now been addressed.
Recharge: Forecasting Offshore Wind Project Costs is Getting Harder
Costs for offshore wind projects have ‘skyrocketed’ in an unpredictable manner. A notable recent occurrence of this was Denmark’s Orsted Hornsea 4 array, which was forced to halt its project due to financial costs.
New York Times: Air Purifiers
Experts estimate that around 156M people in America (around 50%) are living with unsafe levels of air pollution. Are air purifiers the solution? In many cases, no. There are things that should be done before implementing an air purifier to alleviate air issues, such as vacuuming regularly and washing sheets.
Wall Street Journal: Temperatures Are High, But Companies Don’t Want to Talk About It
Even though climate-related events are happening more often, businesses are talking less about them than they did in 2024 (down around 30%). Companies across industries have been reframing how they divulge their climate and sustainability efforts to investors (if they even have any).
ArentFox Schiff: IP Protection Fuels Growth in Tech Startups
Intellectual property protections are critical to the success of many tech startups, often representing a large portion of the core value of the company. Given the competitive nature of technology sectors, protecting valuable intellectual property is essential to maintaining a competitive edge.
ABC: Philosophy Similarities Between The Three Main Abrahamic Religions
Muslims, Jews, and Christians all cite a common history with Abraham. Their philosophical inquiries over time didn’t agree about everything (as we’ve seen, this is quite impossible). Rather, it was the pursuit of a shared project (the project of philosophy itself) that brought them together, and where the value was derived.
Reddit: A Poem
Your people.
Not everyone will be your people. But when you meet them, you’ll know. They’re rare. They’re not everywhere.
One day, you might find yourself replaying the moments in your head. The way time slowed down when you were with them. The way you laughed so hard your face hurt. The way life felt full, simple, and enough.
Like that one afternoon when you split your chocolate after school. Or the nights when everything felt easy, like nothing else mattered.
They make you feel seen, safe, and home. They bring out the most joyful version of you. They’re gold. Treat them like gold.
____
I found this poem online this week and it reminded me of the value of the people in your life that are “your people.” Cherish them.
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.