👋 Hello friends,

Thank you for joining this week's edition of The Saturday Morning Newsletter. I'm Drew Jackson, and today we're exploring 18 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: 6 minutes.

Let’s dive in!

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#1: Novatron Fusion

Description: Novatron Fusion is a developer of fusion reactor technology.

Why Is This Company Interesting? Novatron Fusion recently raised $11M in venture capital funding. They are designing a new reactor capable of maintaining stable plasma confinement, providing a solution to problems faced by previous and current reactor designs. Seems like I’m writing about a fusion startup almost every week on here - there’s much progress in this sector this year.

#2: Theion

Description: Theion is a developer of lithium-sulfur batteries.

Why Is This Company Interesting? Theion recently raised $16M in venture capital funding. Their new battery is capable of providing 3x the energy density compared to lithium-ion batteries at 1/3rd of the cost. Given the prevalence of lithium-ion batteries, a major (10x better) disruption like this could revolutionize the industry.

#3: Terabase Energy

Description: Terabase Energy is a developer of robots for solar plant construction.

Why Is This Company Interesting? Terabase Energy recently raised $130M in venture capital funding. Their robots transform the solar power plant process with the modern factory approach - high efficiency, 24/7 operation, modularity, and more. They are helping developers further unlock the scale present in solar energy panels, dramatically affecting time to market.

#4: Uranium Digital

Description: Uranium Digital is a developer of a uranium trading platform.

Why Is This Company Interesting? Uranium Digital recently raised $6M in venture capital funding. Their platform, which is still under development, promises a blockchain-backed uranium trading marketplace where buyers and sellers can meet to buy and sell their physical products. As this is currently mainly run through governments, it’s intriguing to see private entities branch out into this segment, we’ll see how successful they’ll be.

Science Alert: Scientists Reveal Battery That Can Be Powered by Nuclear Waste

Using the ambient gamma radiation given off by spent nuclear fuel, researchers have developed a new battery with high prospects for utilizing spent nuclear waste. The power is currently only limited to small sensors, but the researchers hope that it can be scaled up in the future to power larger, more advanced batteries.

Scientific American: Wind Energy Is One of the Cheapest Sources of Electricity, and It’s Getting Cheaper

A new Department of Energy report found that U.S. wind energy will continue to be one of the lowest-cost electricity generation technologies available. Long-term wind prices are around half the expected cost of running a natural gas power plant. Turbines are expected to get cheaper, bigger, and more efficient, dropping this cost even lower over time.

Columbia Business School: Can Wind Energy Compete? Three Key Takeaways on Its Future

Wind energy faces very strong headwinds. The price of solar energy has fallen much faster than wind energy - promoting a shift to solar energy for those who were considering wind. Permitting delays and interconnection queues have thrown up obstacles, with 40% of all U.S. projects being held up in the permitting phase.

The Verge: Solar and Wind Beat Coal

A new report from Ember estimates that coal generated 15% of the United States’ electricity, compared to 17% from solar and wind combined. Despite the federal government turning away from renewable sources, market forces could keep a large percentage of the momentum going.

Reuters: Solar and Storage Accounted for 84% of New U.S. Power Added in 2024

A new report by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) estimates that 84% of the new electricity generation capacity added to the U.S. power grid in 2024 was due to solar energy. That’s a huge growth for renewables, and a significant market share taken of new electricity capacity.

The New York Times: Here’s What the Rise of Clean Energy Looks Like From Space

Researchers created Global Renewables Watch, which maps all large-scale wind and solar farms in the world. This collaboration is designed to track the spread of wind and solar over time so that potential planners can better understand where and how to build new clean-energy projects.

Ars Technica: After Less Than A Day, the Athena Lander is Dead on the Moon

Unfortunately, Intuitive Machines’s Athena moon lander landed on its side. Given its direction, it won’t be able to recharge and move. The company is resigned to analyze the data that they received, without further success. This is twice the company’s lunar missions haven’t gone to plan - maybe the third time is the charm?

The New York Times: Blue Ghost’s Long Day on the Moon

Built by Firefly Aerospace, the Blue Ghost landing just completed its 2-week mission on the moon. The spacecraft dug into the surface, took X-ray images of the magnetic bubble, and investigated a mysterious yellow glow at sunset. In addition, Blue Ghost witnessed and photographed a total solar eclipse.

The New York Times: ‘More Than a Hint’ That Dark Energy Isn’t What Astronomers Thought

New research evidence suggests that dark energy (“a mysterious phenomenon pushing our universe to expand ever faster) is not a constant force of nature but one that ebbs and flows through cosmic time. Dark energy’s expansion could wane, eventually leaving the universe stable.

Wall Street Journal: Stuck No More: NASA Astronauts Return Home

After 9 months in orbit, the two stuck astronauts returned to Earth this week. Supposed to last 8 days, this saga brought on some of the most contentious debates regarding humans in space and the effects of prolonged space exposure.

Pitchbook: Well-Connected VCs See Lower Failure Rates, Better Returns

Companies with well-connected lead investors have failure rates at least 10 percentage points lower than those of peers backed by peripheral investors. Companies with well-connected lead investors also had better annualized returns, 25.6% compared to 3.1% for companies backed by peripheral investors.

The Street Roundtable: Intellectual Property is Crypto’s $70T Opportunity

The use of blockchain technology outside finance is still limited. A new company is trying to implement tracking and licensing protocols for intellectual property on the blockchain, what they deem as a “$70T” opportunity (in my opinion, a drastically overstated number). This isn’t a bad idea as the intellectual property system could use a 21st-century technological revival.

Financial Review: The Ultimate German Philosophy for a Happier Life

Georg Wilhelm Freidrich Hegel is a German philosopher who believed that human history tends toward progress (via a supernatural force for good). We just need to take a very long-term perspective to see these trends - they aren’t always visible in the day-to-day workings of life.

I was reading on Reddit the other day and one of the users said the following:

“If it doesn’t bring peace, profits, or purpose, then don’t give it your time, energy, or attention.”

I thought it was an intriguing viewpoint.

I'm not exactly sure that profits fit well in there - maybe happiness instead. But the general thought is nice.

Everyone should prioritize things in their lives that align with their values (whether that be peace, profits, purpose, happiness, charity, kindness, etc.).

Where are you currently aligned with your values?

Where might you be out of balance?

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.