The Saturday Morning Newsletter #77
Genetics Determine Life Expectancy, El Niño Coming Back, and EPA Rejecting Climate Change
This Week I’m Tracking: 13 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 revisiting value creation and capture - catch up here.
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Let’s dive in.
Description: The Bland Company is a developer of protein from agricultural byproducts.
Why Is This Company Interesting? The Bland Company recently raised $2.7M in venture capital funding. The Bland Company is developing a proprietary bland protein for use in supplementing baked goods, powders, and other food products. Through a stable supply chain, companies can source proteins at low cost with minimal environmental impact.
#2: Constellr
Description: Constellr is a developer of thermal intelligence technology.
Why Is This Company Interesting? Constellr recently raised $44M in venture capital funding. Constellr is developing a thermal intelligence system mapping the entire Earth’s surface. This has use cases for governments, maritime activities, urban development planners, energy conglomerates, and many more entities. They have a network of satellites in orbit that can measure heat signatures across a wider range than competitors in the current market.
#3: Project Omega
Description: Project Omega is converting nuclear fuel into power sources.
Why Is This Company Interesting? Project Omega recently raised $12M in venture capital funding. Project Omega emerged from stealth this week, designed to address the advanced nuclear recycling challenge. Nuclear energy production over the last few decades has created a large stockpile of waste that could be recycled into new fuel. Project Omega is tackling this complex project to create a domestic supply of nuclear fuel through a proprietary recycling process.
#4: Waste to Energy
Description: Waste to Energy is a developer of modular waste-to-energy plants.
Why Is This Company Interesting? Waste to Energy recently raised $10M in venture capital funding. Waste to Energy facilities use a range of biomass feedstocks to generate usable energy. They ran a pilot project in 2022 and are now ready to scale further, delivering circular waste management and energy generation across the industrial sector.
#5: Hades
Description: Hades is a critical minerals mining and geothermal energy startup.
Why Is This Company Interesting? Hades recently raised $15M in venture capital funding. Hades is a mining company that, in its pursuit of core minerals deep underground, uses its drilling sites to establish geothermal energy plants. This model is ingenious, as the company can leverage the technology and margins on the front end without creating unnecessary waste at the end.
ABC News: Why China Continues to Build Many Coal Power Plants
China opened 50 coal plants last year, more than doubling historical averages. Why? China remains in a rapid development phase and seeks to capitalize on momentum around artificial intelligence, which consumes significantly more energy. As the country continues to lead the world in the clean energy transition, critics argue that this detracts from its main message.
The New York Times: EPA Rejects CO2 as the Cause of Human Detriment and Lower Well-being
It’s a dark day for America’s impact on climate change. Trump announced that he was erasing the scientific finding that climate change endangers human health and the environment. This ends the national government’s ability to control pollution, unleashing caps and limits. The long-term impact of this decision could include higher death rates, increased climate change, and continued failure to meet the Paris Agreement.
The New York Times: El Niño May Be Back This Summer
Prepare now, as this summer may experience a similarly severe heat wave that could significantly affect quality of life and exacerbate global uncertainties. Droughts and floods are expected to begin in June, so now is the time to ensure you have sufficient food storage, resources, and stability to weather any disruptions.
Pitchbook: Fusion Eliciting Outsized Raise Activity
Fusion investments are breaking every venture capital mold, as these companies can raise hundreds of millions early on, without any products or significant traction. Many believe this is a side effect of the AI craze, as investors understand that the first company to properly commercialize fusion energy will capture a large share of the market, driving significant returns.
Pitchbook: Fintech Surged Ahead of AI in European Valuations
Especially in earlier-stage valuations, fintech startups commanded up to 41% higher valuations than AI startups, suggesting that European investors may be less willing to pay aggressive premiums for AI companies, instead prioritizing stable, ecosystem-focused investments such as fintech.
Big Think: Which of the 5 Philosophical Archetypes Are You?
This author posits that there are 5 core philosophical archetypes we all fit into. Here are the 5 (read more about them in the article):
The Sphinx: Someone who argues constantly, without totally articulating their position, for the sake of disagreement
The Leviathan: Someone with a vast answer for everything under one unified framework.
The Kitsune: Someone who uses wit, paradoxes, and role-playing to approach, critique, and defend their position.
The Minotaur: Someone lost in the sadness of human suffering, mortality, freedom, and absurdity.
The Garuda: Someone who won’t have a conversation without defining all of the terms first.
Big Think: The Pursuit of Mastery
Epictetus offered a radical idea: we can only truly master one thing in life. Initially, you’re probably disagreeing, but I promise there’s some good theory here. In this case, Epictetus isn’t talking about dominating our external circumstances, but rather cultivating our capacity for sound judgement. If we do this, we shape our intentions, values, and character. “Master that, and while you may not be in control of your circumstances, you will have mastered something far more important: yourself.”
Neura: A New Study on Life Expectancy
A new study found that genetics accounts for roughly 50-55% of human lifespan.
Previous studies estimated 15-30%, indicating there is still much to learn in this field and that it may differ significantly from prior assumptions.
Age seems to be a highly heritable trait similar to height. “This confirms that aging is not merely random wear and tear, but a genetically regulated process, validating the search for gene therapies and drugs that directly target the rate of human decline.”
Many intuitively agree that people live longer even though they don’t put much effort into healthy living.
What does this mean for you?
Well, firstly, look around in your family tree - there might be some hints for how long you might live. Given that you may live long (or longer than you had previously thought), what are the ways that you can best set yourself up for success in the long term?
Maybe it’s time to start that healthy habit.
That’s a wrap on this week’s roundup.
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Drew Jackson
Founder & Writer
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Keep Exploring
Next Deep Dive: Reincarnation in the Age of Reason - February 18th, 2026
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