This Week I’m Tracking: 13 developments across the sectors shaping our future
Reading Time: 5 minutes of curated insights
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Let’s dive in.
#1: Apeiron Labs
Description: Apeiron Labs develops autonomous underwater vehicles.
Why Is This Company Interesting? Apeiron Labs recently raised $9.5M in venture capital funding. Apeiron is a defense-tech startup building advanced AI platforms for autonomous military systems. The software enables real-time tactical decision-making, sensor fusion, and collaborative coordination for unmanned aerial and ground vehicles in contested environments.
#2: Newcleo
Description: Newcleo produces nuclear reactors and nuclear fuel.
Why Is This Company Interesting? Newcleo recently raised $85M in venture capital funding. Newcleo is a clean energy company developing Gen IV nuclear reactors. The company uses liquid lead coolant and mixed-oxide fuel derived from nuclear waste. The fast-neutron reactors are designed to generate safe, continuous, and virtually inexhaustible baseload electricity while reducing existing waste.
#3: Forerunner
Description: Forerunner provides flood resilience software.
Why Is This Company Interesting? Forerunner recently raised $39M in venture capital funding. Forerunner serves local governments and floodplain managers by streamlining flood risk management and regulatory compliance. Forerunner simplifies FEMA reporting and automates improvement and damage tracking to improve community resilience and lower insurance costs.
Description: Logos Space Services provides low-Earth orbit broadband satellite communications.
Why Is This Company Interesting? Logos Space Services recently raised $50M in venture capital funding. Logos Space Services is a satellite communications startup deploying a low-Earth-orbit satellite constellation. Logos provides secure, high-bandwidth broadband and optical interconnectivity tailored for government sectors operating in remote areas.
Description: Phathom Technologies is a carbon capture and marine storage startup.
Why Is This Company Interesting? Phathom Technologies recently raised $12.5M in venture capital funding. Phathom is a climate-tech startup developing marine-based carbon dioxide removal systems. Phathom captures biogenic emissions from industrial sources and stores them safely in ocean waters as stable bicarbonate, converting waste carbon into long-term ocean alkalinity.
The New York Times: A New Trend in Nuclear Energy: Squeezing More Power Out of Old Plants
As we’ve seen over the last few decades in the U.S., building a nuclear power plant is long and hard. A cheaper, more efficient solution is squeezing even more power from old reactors built decades ago. This process involves upgrading key components inside nuclear plants, which can cost billions and require regulatory approval. The good part is they can often be completed in five years or less at a fraction of the cost of building a new nuclear plant from scratch.
The New York Times: Why Cities and States Are Fighting Climate Change in Courtrooms
As the legislative and executive branches of the U.S. government have failed to take direct action on climate change, cities and states are turning to the courts as one last place to receive justice. Who should pay the soaring costs of climate change, the intensifying wildfires, storms, and heat waves? Cities and states argue it should be everyone who profited from oil and helped spread it widely.
The New York Times: SpaceX’s Starship Makes It to Orbit for the First Time, but Returns to Earth Early
This week, SpaceX’s Starship finally circled Earth, a key milestone for eventually sending people to the Moon or Mars. The vehicle completed two orbits instead of the planned six because engine problems occurred during liftoff. The spacecraft splashed down, but exploded when leftover methane fuel ignited.
ABC News: Private Spacecraft Falls Back to Earth After Failing to Rescue Aging NASA Telescope
Katalyst Space Technologies’ attempt to rescue an aging NASA telescope failed. The robotic spacecraft plunged back to Earth less than three months after launching. This provided a valuable proof point for future satellite rescue missions. Teams planning future satellite rescue missions should aim to expedite missions to ensure viability.
The New York Times: Who Owns the Moon?
In 1967, more than 100 countries agreed via the Outer Space Treaty that the Moon belonged to no one. Now in 2026, this belief may have changed. China and Russia want to build a base near the South Pole. The United States is no different. It’s believed that whoever goes first gets to set the rules everyone else must follow.
RStreet: America’s Patent Office Measures IP’s Footprint, Not Its Payoff
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office studies and measures the use of IP across U.S. industries. Notably, it does not measure, or claim to measure, how much of the nation’s economic output is generated by IP. The office primarily measures the volume of filings, such as patents, when it should be measuring impact.
Psychology Today: Why Seeing Each Other Matters
The face is much more than a physical feature. In geopolitics today, public debates continue over restrictions on face-covering garments, especially in Europe. Understanding what happens between us when we can see each other’s faces is central to these discussions. Seeing someone blush, smile, or make any other facial expression is all about the information gathered. It also makes them emotionally present.
Reddit: Adult Life Proves that Most of Our Bonds Were Just Proximity, Not Depth
How did you meet your friends?
In high school, I met mine because we were in the same classes and activities and spent a lot of time together.
Did these have the depth of true, adult relationships? Some, but others weren’t mature and didn’t have the depth required to stick around.
People often cite that smartphones are blinding us, draining us, and destroying human connection. In contrast, when transitioning from young adulthood onwards, most people realize that there are few people they can genuinely talk to.
Most of our past relationships existed because we shared the same space and daily routine. Once you move away or move on, the time and distance can easily break these relationships.
That’s a wrap on this week’s roundup.
Drew Jackson
Founder & Writer
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