The Saturday Morning Newsletter #70
Bullish on 2026, Miracle Black Fungus, and Decoupling From China
This Week I’m Tracking: 15 developments across the sectors shaping our future
Reading Time: 6 minutes of curated insights
Your weekly pulse check: The most important events in venture capital, energy, space, economics, intellectual property, philosophy, and more. I distill the most important developments across sectors I track, saving you hours of research while keeping you ahead of the curve.
New to these updates? They pair with our bi-weekly Brainwave analyses for comprehensive sector coverage. Wednesday’s deep dive explored superforecaster’s excellent prediction skills - catch up here.
Let’s dive in.
#1: Ankar
Description: Ankar is a patent software platform.
Why Is This Company Interesting? Ankar recently raised $20M in venture capital funding. Ankar is helping intellectual property professionals with the entire invention and patent lifecycle, from idea generation to drafting to protection to prosecution. Software platforms like this make it easier for professionals and businesses to leverage intellectual property and capture its future value.
#2: EtherealX
Description: EtherealX is a producer of reusable space launch vehicles.
Why Is This Company Interesting? EtherealX recently raised $21M in venture capital funding. EtherealX is an Indian rocket producer, with its Razor Crest Mk-1 rocket engines delivering enough power to rank among the most powerful medium-lift rockets. These rockets are reusable, vertical landing launch vehicles, providing a lower-cost, efficient option for entering space.
#3: Fervo Energy
Description: Fervo Energy is a geothermal energy developer.
Why Is This Company Interesting? Fervo Energy recently raised $462M in venture capital funding. Fervo is harnessing proven oil and gas technologies, such as horizontal drilling and distributed fiber-optic sensing, to leverage geothermal energy. This enables Fervo to harness geothermal energy in previously uneconomic and untapped locations, dramatically increasing its potential as a global resource.
#4: Digntara
Description: Digntara is a developer of space-based missile detection systems.
Why Is This Company Interesting? Digntara recently raised $50M in venture capital funding. Digntara launched its first space-based surveillance satellite earlier this year, capable of tracking space objects as small as 5cm in diameter. The global space industry is becoming more aware of the issue of space debris and is beginning to invest time and effort in addressing it. This space is rapidly becoming a commercial sector.
#5: Marble Imaging
Description: Marble Imaging is a provider of high-resolution Earth observability.
Why Is This Company Interesting? Marble Imaging recently raised $5M in venture capital funding. Marble Imaging aims to build Europe’s first constellation of satellites to provide high-resolution images of Earth. The data will be leveraged to support rapid decision-making for food security, green and sustainable energy transitions, climate change, infrastructure and mobility, global security, and many other industries.
NPR: Trump’s Rush to Build Nuclear Reactors Raises Safety Concerns
A new program is sidestepping the traditional nuclear regulatory system, enabling the fast-tracking of the construction of three new reactor designs constructed by private firms. The goal is to have three nuclear test reactors operational by the middle of 2026. Over the last couple of decades, safety regulations have been the most significant barrier to new plants, leading many to have concerns about the ramifications of these new projects.
MIT: Working to Eliminate Barriers to Adopting Nuclear Energy
Nuclear waste byproducts remain a concern for many opponents of the energy source, as there is still no sure-fire solution. MIT researchers are taking a new approach, leveraging the heat produced by spent fuel to generate energy and reduce the risks associated with it.
Electrek: Wind Growth Picks Up Speed as Power Demand Surges
The United States is experiencing a rapid increase in energy demand. The current grid is under increasing pressure as the newest generation of energy sources is more complicated to build than ever. Wind developers struggle to navigate higher turbine costs, tariff uncertainty, and permit delays. If these projects can move quickly through their stages, it could help wind energy remain in the conversation in the future.
Energies Media: California Begins Covering Its Canals With Solar Panels
Amid its ongoing drought, California has begun covering its canals with solar panels. This helps generate more electricity without taking up valuable real estate space. Additionally, it helps reduce evaporation, conserving vital water. 4,000 miles could save over 63 billion gallons of water.
New York Times: The Pentagon and A.I. Giants Have a Weakness. Both Need China’s Batteries Badly
New AI data centers are increasingly reliant on China for batteries. These data centers can use as much electricity as a small city, overwhelming local power grids. These technology giants are looking to buy billions of dollars’ worth of lithium-ion batteries, a technology where China is leading the world by a wide margin. For the United States to compete, we need to nearshore.
Space News: Executive Order Asserting U.S. Space Dominance
Trump signed an executive order this week, titled “Ensuring American Space Superiority.” In the order, it included a call to return humans to the moon by 2028. This order also calls for a reset of U.S. space policy to ensure dominance in exploration, security, and space commerce in the near future.
New York Times: Deal Makers Grow Bullish on 2026
At the beginning of 2025, Wall Street widely expected a strong year of deal-making. It didn’t happen immediately. Towards the latter half of the year, financial firms and large corporations plan to continue the momentum into 2026. “We’re ending the year at a high level of confidence and excitement for the M.&A. market heading into 2026,” stated David Dubner, the chief operating officer for M.&A. at Goldman Sachs.
New York Times: The U.S. Must Break China’s Chokehold on Our Economy
China has significant leverage over the United States through its control of rare earths. The country has built monopolies over these minerals, which are critical to the economies and militaries of countries across the globe. Many nations have begun to reduce their reliance on Chinese materials and manufacturing, including the U.S.
Dykema: 2025 Intellectual Property Year In Review
In 2025, artificial intelligence and any associated work product received increased scrutiny from regulators. Additionally, regulators increased global intellectual property enforcement activity. Protections increased in many nations, with further complex trademark disputes necessitating further technical capabilities and capacity.
Forbes: This Black Fungus Might Be Healing Chernobyl By Drinking Radiation—A Biologist Explains
I always love a super cool science story.
Recently, researchers examining the aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster found a unique survivor: a resilient black fungus called Cladosporium Sphaerospermum.
This fungus seemed to thrive where radiation levels were highest. It adapted to a level of radiation lethal to most life forms. Interestingly, it appears to be feeding and growing on the radiation.
How? Research found that these fungi possess high levels of melanin (the pigment responsible for human skin color). Melanin absorbs radiation, converting it into usable energy, allowing the fungi to grow in areas with high radiation levels.
Isn’t that neat?
This is not the final solution, but it offers some hope that the cleanup of the Chernobyl disaster may proceed faster and more successfully.
That’s a wrap on this week’s roundup.
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Drew Jackson
Founder & Writer
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