The Saturday Morning Newsletter #50
Abuse, Geography, Firing, Australia, Microplastics, 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 11 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!
World Nuclear: Floating Nuclear Power Plants
Floating nuclear reactors present a newer, scalable solution to the current energy needs, able to provide clean energy and heat to coastal and isolated communities. Theses reactors are built-in shipyards and deployed into the ocean, with minimal on-site infrastructure needed. It’s unclear at the moment who is going to create or regulate these entities.
Mother Jones: Rooftop Solar Is a Miracle. Why Are We Killing It With Red Tape?
Advocacy groups across the country are affirming that solar panels are cheaper to produce than a plank of wood. However, we’ve put so many layers of red tape (especially in America) on solar so people don’t have easy, cheap access to rooftop solar. It is very possible for America to have a robust solar industry without government interventions.
New York Times: Military Brought In To Battle Canadian Wildfires
Vancouver Island and Newfoundland-based wildfires have forced nearby citizens to evacuate. Canadian officials decided to bring in additional resources to help these provinces handle the wildfires and their associated disruptions. The Canadian armed forces and the Coast Guard will be called in to assist.
New York Times: Projections For Big Tech’s Net Zero Goals
The recent developments in artificial intelligence are preventing technology companies from reaching their sustainable goals (which they are hoping to reach by 2030). In 2024, Google’s emissions increased by 11%, Amazon’s by 6%, and while Microsoft’s fell slightly, they remained higher than 2021 numbers. Emissions are going through the roof based on AI and the new data centers.
New York Times: Addressing Microplastics
Plastics around the world break down over time into microplastics and nanoplastics, which have made our way into every segment of our lives. Now, representatives from over 170 countries are meeting for the sixth time to hopefully negotiate the first global agreement to regulate the production, consumption, and disposal of plastics around the world.
Space: Australia’s 1st Orbital Rocket
Australia’s first orbital rocket launch, via Gilmour Space’s Eris series of rockets, failed upon launch. The rocket began sliding sideways shortly after rising off the launchpad. This outcome was decently expected, as it’s rare for a rocket to succeed on its first ever liftoff. However, each launch, although being expensive, is a valuable source of information for the company.
New York Times: Plans for First Nuclear Reactor on the Moon
A new NASA directive calls for putting a nuclear reactor on the Moon by 2030. Is this feasible? It will be difficult to develop a reactor capable of being shot up into space, travel to the moon, and then land and stay on the Moon to produce energy. However, if this is accomplished, this could be the start of large-scale development on the Moon.
New York Times: Our President Is Economically Illiterate
One expert’s opinion is that the recent tariffs are mainly responsible for the sudden slowdown in jobs growth, with the economy having just created 106k jobs in the last 3 months, far less than the monthly average in recent years. Instead of trying to understand why that might be, Trump decided to fire the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, someone who was liked across both aisles of politics in America. As such, some truly wonder if he is, or even ever was, economically literate.
Forbes: How To Avoid Big Mistakes With Your Brand And Intellectual Property
Amid the troubles of building a new business, intellectual property and brand protections are often overlooked. It usually isn’t the highest priority item when there are many other important things to do, such as pursue growth, drive profit, keep the lights on, and many more. When the company eventually gets successful, however, it may be too late to secure the necessary protections. Without proactively prioritizing these factors, businesses can run into major issues later on.
Science Blog: Feeling Lost? This Philosophy Says That’s Part of the Map
A new study by researchers at Waseda University proposed that the sense of meaning in life arises through a perceptual dialogue between ourselves and our lived experience. The study introduces a geographic model of meaning in life, discussing how the way we approach life itself shapes what life reveals to us in return.
New Atlas: Verbal Abuse in Childhood Has a Devastating Impact on Adults
A new study done by researchers in the UK has found that instances of verbal abuse in childhood (from parents to their children) may be just as damaging to our long-term mental well-being as physical abuse.
As such each parent should be extremely cognizant of their verbal words said to their children as well as any physical measures used.
Specifically, researchers found that those who reported they experienced verbal abuse as children were 1.6x more likely to report poor mental well-being as adults (compared to 1.5 times for physical abuse). Those experiencing both verbal and physical abuse were 2.1x more likely to have negative mental health outcomes.
Despite all this evidence, verbal abuse is viewed as less harmful than other forms of abuse. Fortunately, physical abuse has reduced from around 20% of children born in the 1970s to around 10% of those born later than 2000. Unfortunately, verbal abuse has steadily increased during that period.
Why is this the interesting thought of the week?
We’re often told forms of “sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.” Unfortunately, we’ve been led massively astray.
Our words are incredibly important and incredibly impactful. Be cognizant of that fact throughout your entire life, as words are impactful to yourself and others.
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.