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.

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#1: Acceleron Fusion

Description Acceleron Fusion is a developer of muon-catalyzed fusion technology.

Why Is This Company Interesting?? Acceleron Fusion recently raised $24M in venture capital funding. Muons are an unstable subatomic particle with a mass around 200x that of an electron, making up much of the cosmic radiation reaching Earth’s surface. Acceleron is developing a high-efficiency muon source to produce beams of muons using significantly less energy than current solutions on the market. This could allow for a larger number of fusion reactions, producing more energy.

#2: FibreCoat

Description FibreCoat is a startup developing the next generation of coating technologies.

Why Is This Company Interesting?? FibreCoat recently raised $20M in venture capital funding. Their new coating technology has a variety of different applications such as automotive, construction, defence, and space. It’s ideal for sectors requiring a balance of strength and reduced weight due to its lightweight and strong properties. As this material can be customized for a variety of industrial uses, this innovation may revolutionize many industries with lighter, more durable materials.

#3: FireDome

Description FireDome is a developer of autonomous cannons for wildfire prevention.

Why Is This Company Interesting?? FireDome recently raised $3M in venture capital funding. They consider their product “resiliancy-as-a-service”, where their autonomous cannons fire flame retardant at approaching wildfires, stopping their approach. It’s still unclear whether a fixed, autonomous solution vs. movable drone solution is better at fighting/preventing wildfires, but this shows how there is an increasing amount of startups and venture funding going towards stopping/preventing wildfires.

#4: SatVu

Description SatVu is a satellite thermal imaging provider.

Why Is This Company Interesting?? SatVu recently raised $10M in venture capital funding. Currently, visible imagery only provides information during the day and other commercially available thermal imaging has a much lower resolution (around 100 meters). SatVu’s new technology provides high-resolution infrared images, indicating activity inside structures during the day and at night, at up to a 3.5 meter resolution. This has potential implications for economic monitoring, climate resilience, national security, and more.

#5: Heirloom

Description Heirloom is a startup developing direct air capture technology using limestone.

Why Is This Company Interesting?? Heirloom recently raised $150M in venture capital funding. Limestone is an abundant and inexpensive rock that captures massive amounts of CO2 from the air using a process called carbon mineralization. Heirloom’s technology accelerates this carbon capture to a process taking just days. Heirloom built the first commercial direct air capture facility in the United States and plans to build many more in the coming years.

New York Times: Google Introduces AI Agent That Aces 15-Day Weather Forecasts

AI is coming for the weather too. A new AI tool by DeepMind is outperforming the world’s best forecasts. The new program is much faster and much more accurate than traditional methods, expanding on the progress achieved in late 2023 by the original DeepMind’s weather program (accurate 10-day forecasts). This has huge implications for predicting and being proactive to address and respond to extreme weather events.

CNN: Trump Might Nix America as a Climate Tech Leader. 5 Charts Show China Winning That Race

In recent years, China has been installing renewable energy projects faster than any other country on the planet. China currently accounts for around 1/3rd of global emissions, so their shift to renewable energy is critical to meeting climate goals. Experts estimate that China’s renewable capacities are expanding so fast that by the early 2030s, they will generate more power from solar energy than the total amount of electricity the United States will consume altogether.

CBC: Why Nuclear Power is so Hot Right Now

Efforts to electrify vehicles, homes, businesses, and industrial processes are driving up demand for electricity. This surge has majorly caught many utilities and governments by surprise and many are looking for solutions. This has led to “more openness to nuclear [power]”.

China has more than doubled its nuclear power capacity since 2015. Dozens of other countries are considering, planning, or starting nuclear power programs, with 6 more countries signing the COP29 pledge to triple nuclear energy capacity by 2050.

New York Post: $4.4B Wind Farm Project Off New York Coast ‘On Pause’ After Trump Election Victory

TotalEnergies, a French energy giant, is putting pause on a plan to build a $4.4B wind farm in New York after Trump’s victory earlier this month. The company has signalled plans to revisit the project in 4 years (or however long it takes US political winds to shift positively towards renewables). This is one of the first of many big blows that offshore wind projects are expected to take during the next couple of months.

New York Times: The Climate Crisis Is Bigger Than Any News Cycle

This is a great article by the CEO of Patagonia (would recommend a read). A quote is below:

“As I look back on 2024, I think the backlash against corporate responsibility — and sustainability in particular — has been overstated. But while some companies are talking less about their commitments, I’m heartened that many are still quietly setting ambitious targets to reduce emissions, care for their employees and create inclusive communities. They’re doing the work to get there, and they’re pressing ahead in the face of disgruntled pundits and social media trolls.”

New York Times: NASA Artemis Moon Missions Delayed Until 2026 and 2027

For those of you who are familiar with the space scene, this is not a shock. Trump has a goal of sending astronauts back to the moon during his first administration, but NASA is potentially going to put more money towards missions to Mars (another interest of Trump’s). Meanwhile, the Artemis program is planning to continue despite its delays and cost overruns. The new mid-2027 target for the moon landing would still beat plans by China (and other countries), yet it’s beginning to push the envelope closer and closer to the US losing this race.

Space.com: Voyager 1 Interstellar Spacecraft Finds its Voice Again as NASA Restores Communications

At 47 years old, Voyager 1 is 15.4 billion miles from Earth with its supply of plutonium dwindling. In October NASA’s Voyager 1 lost its voice. Recently, that’s been fixed. How? The engineers told Voyager 1 to switch on one of its heaters to give the faulty systems a jump. Communication resumed in November, with the spacecraft once again returning data from its four remaining instruments.

PitchBook: PitchBook VC Dealmaking Indicator

The venture capital environment has experienced many changes over the years, yet we’ve reached another peak in 2024 with the environment being extremely investor-friendly, with many venture capital firms sitting on mountains of capital ready to be deployed.

TechCrunch: Climate VCs are Cautiously Optimistic About a Second Trump Term - Here’s Why

It’s hard for climate investors to pinpoint exactly where Trump stands on climate change and the related technologies. Some investors are cautiously optimistic that policy changes won’t be universally detrimental to climate tech. This complex dynamic will work itself out in the next couple of months, but investors seem to be laying off current investments for fears of a future with no climate leniency.

UNESCO: Bridging Divides through Critical Reflection: World Philosophy Day 2024

For World Philosophy Day, UNESCO President, Ambassador Simona-Mirela Miculescu emphasized the role of philosophy in critical reflection and promoting global solidarity. She explained, “Philosophy compels us to ask urgent questions: Why do the divides that fracture our humanity exist? What kind of world are we building? Who is left behind?”

Given the universal nature of the challenges we face, people are encouraged to examine systems of exclusion and inequality to have a more equitable future.

TechCrunch: Meta Plans to Build a $10B Subsea Cable Spanning the World, Sources Say

Meta (parent of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, etc.) is the second biggest driver of internet usage globally, accounting for 10% of all fixed and 22% of all mobile traffic. Meta plans to build a new fiber-optic subsea cable around the world to provide better channels for their data traffic around the world (making their applications run better/faster). It’s a massive, $10B project that will be done over years, but it could be the first of major infrastructure developments by large tech companies.

Our World In Data: Nearly Half of Teenagers Globally Cannot Read with Comprehension

In the United States, around 75% of teenagers (age 12-15) can read with comprehension. Yet, across the globe, around 50% of teenagers cannot read with comprehension.

As someone who spends the majority of each day reading, I’ve realized the criticality of my reading ability in my life.

I would not be where I am today without my reading skills.

Yet, some countries, regions, families, and people are falling behind the curve, struggling to learn this critical skill.

If you’re reading this, you most likely don’t have this issue. My advice: Take some time to read something new today purely for the fact that you know how to read. Cherish that ability, it sets you apart in the world (even if you don’t know it).

See you Wednesday for Brainwaves,

Drew Jackson

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.