A Space To Think about men's lack of knowledge about fertility, superconductors, mining the deep sea, and adapting human life for other planets

Something to think about: fellas, how knowledgeable are you about fertility and pregnancy?

I realized this week I don't know much. My sister went into labor with her third child, but she was diagnosed with placenta accreta - a complication that causes women to bleed out while giving birth.

I was overwhelmed learning about the risks moms face. This condition was once rare - now it affects up to 1 in 272 births. For context, there are 10,000 new births per day in the United States.

This experience showed me as men, we need to learn more because pregnancy and birth can be filled with challenges we may not expect.

Which leads me to my encounter with Blair Matthews. Blair and his wife struggled to conceive.

Like many couples, they assumed getting pregnant would be easy. But after a year of trying unsuccessfully, Blair and his wife were shocked and frustrated.

Not knowing why they couldn't conceive was the hardest part. As time passed, their stress and anxiety grew.

Eventually they found solutions and had a baby, but Blair wished they had sought help sooner. He realized many couples likely face similar fertility issues without solutions.

That inspired Blair to launch Zuri Fertility, a digital clinic making fertility support accessible.

Zuri aims to help couples avoid the same struggle Blair and his wife faced by providing support early in the process, saving couples time, money, and heartache on their fertility journey.

While fertility is often treated as a taboo subject, I believe we can empower ourselves through thoughtful conversation and a curious mind.

My hope is that these stories resonate with you like they have for me. May they inspire empathy and reveal the many diverse ways families are formed.

Welcome back to A Space To Think — a weekly newsletter curated for you to:

1. Surrender to this brief moment you’ve set aside to think about the world and your place in it.
2. Accept what you don’t know and where your awareness could grow.
3. Be present, be curious, be come — JUST BE.

This week I want you to think about men's lack of knowledge about fertility, superconductors, mining the deep sea, and adapting human life for other planets.

Let's jump right in, shall we?

(1) Time for a deep dive on what superconductors unlock for us a species

Andrew Cote from Stellarator Systems

No champagne yet, but watch closely - this would be a serious game changer in things like power transmission, energy storage, and future-tech like quantum computers, fusion energy, mag-lev trains. I'm even more optimistic than 6 weeks ago.

Around the world, scientists scramble to confirm the touted performance of a trailblazing superconductive breakthrough.

Last week, scientists in South Korea announced an exciting discovery, LK99 - a material that can conduct electricity with zero resistance at room temperature.

So why is this a big deal?

Let’s break it down.

In 1911, Dutch physicist Heike Kamerlingh Onnes discovered superconductivity when he identified Mercury had zero electrical resistance at -269°C.

But what is a superconductor: it’s a material that allows electricity to flow freely without losing energy as heat. They also repel magnetic fields.

What do you mean electricity can flow freely: Normally materials resist electric current. Think of a plane fighting heavy winds. The electricity bumps into atoms, losing energy as heat.

But in a superconductor, electrons move around with no obstacles or friction, losing no power.

Superconductivity is like a plane flying in space with zero gravity. Electricity glides unimpeded at the speed of light. No resistance means no energy wasted as heat. Instead, the current just keeps going and going.

Okay, why do superconductors repel magnetic fields: this is due to the electric current loops on the surface of the superconductor increasing, leading to the repulsion of magnetic fields. This is known as the Meissner effect, which was discovered by German physicists Walther Meissner and Robert Ochsenfeld in 1933.

Superconductors enable breakthrough technologies across industries. Here are some key applications:

• Clean energy: Superconductors boost efficiency in wind turbines, solar panels, hydroelectric generators, and power grids. This enables large-scale renewable energy.
• Transportation: Levitating high-speed trains, superconductor flywheel batteries in electric vehicles, and lossless power transfer cut emissions.
• Healthcare: MRI scanners use superconducting magnets for detailed, non-invasive imaging of the human body.
• Computing: Superconductors are essential for quantum computers to reach new frontiers in processing power. They also enable faster data center servers.
• Research: High-field superconducting magnets advance scientists' understanding of materials, fusion energy, and the universe.

So what if LK99 actually turns out to be a room-temperature superconductor? Is that going to change our lives right away: no, it won't change our lives overnight, but it could revolutionize our world in the future.

Previous superconductors only worked at extremely low temperatures. Complex cooling systems made them impractical for everyday use.

But LK99 is different. It works at normal room temperature and pressure. This could allow levitating trains, efficient power grids, and everyday quantum computers.

Right now LK99 is still an experimental material in the lab, and more work is needed to confirm the initial results and make practical applications, but it's an exciting first step.

Something to think about: across the world trains are a major contributor to noise pollution, and noise pollution has been found to lead to increased health difficulties. If LK99 enables levitating trains, would you feel safe riding in a train that floats on magnets?

(2) Mining the deep sea

Renee Grogan from Impossible Metals

At the highest level, I think that raises two big questions. One, are we going to be able to find and extract all those minerals cost effectively? And two, how do we avoid creating an entirely new environmental disaster in the process? Enter the concept of deep sea mining or seabed mining, which is easily one of the most controversial topics in the world right now in a literal sense. The case in favor, abundant, rich deposits of minerals that we absolutely need more of that are ready and waiting for us to extract. The case against, a bevy of basically unknown ecosystem impacts in some of the world's richest ecosystems that we are yet to explore.

A little bit of context: I was shocked to learn that 37 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide enter our atmosphere every year. To meet the carbon removal goals outlined in the 2021 UN climate report, our removal rate must double every 21 months for the next 27 years. By 2047, that's like removing 4 billion tons of cement per year. But in 2023, we only have the capacity to remove 100,000 tons.

To ensure our planet survives there are three crucial jobs needed to reach a stable climate over the coming decades:

1. Rapidly reduce carbon emissions (shrink the grey ): the bulk of climate action must focus on rapidly reducing carbon emissions across our economy—transitioning the electrical grid and transportation to clean energy and overhauling heavy-polluting industries like cement and steel production.
2. Use nature to remove carbon (grow the green ): This is where high-quality tree planting initiatives play a role, for example TIST and Terraformation.
3. Develop technologies to remove carbon (grow the blue ): companies like Charm Industrial, Eion, and Running Tide are developing technologies to capture carbon dioxide directly from the air and lock it away.

Our focus today is on rapidly reducing carbon emissions.

This urgent task requires a massive switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy across our society: vehicles, power plants, transmission lines - nearly every facet of this clean energy transition relies heavily on key metals like copper, lithium, nickel, and cobalt.

As demand for these metals surges, the supply side must keep pace: securing ample supplies of these essential metals is crucial to slashing emissions and realizing our renewable future.

This growing need for metals has put the spotlight on deep sea mining: the ocean floors contain rich deposits of key metals —nickel, cobalt, copper, rare earth elements — crucial for clean energy technologies like wind turbines, solar panels, batteries, and electric vehicles. Expanding the supply of these metals could facilitate the transition away from fossil fuels.

The Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) has emerged as a hotspot for deep sea mining interests: this vast region of the Pacific Ocean harbors a treasure trove of valuable metals on its seafloor.

Spanning an area larger than the United States, the CCZ lies between Mexico and Hawaii. Its mineral deposits are rich in crucial metals like nickel, manganese, copper, zinc, and cobalt. By some estimates, the CCZ contains more minerals than exist on all the land across Earth.

Deep sea mining relies on three techniques to harvest minerals from the seafloor:

1. Dredging involves the use of a large underwater machine that sucks up sediment from the ocean floor and pumps it to the surface for processing
2. Hydraulic mining involves the use of high-pressure water jets to break up the ocean floor and extract minerals.
3. Subsea drilling penetrates the ocean floor using drills and vacuum pumps to extract mineral resources below.

The environmental damage posed by deep sea mining has triggered calls for caution:

1. Scientists warn of "unknown unknowns." Our understanding of deep ocean ecosystems remains extremely limited.
2. Competition between nations and mining interests could spiral out of control. Lax regulations in international waters could enable unchecked ocean grabbing.
3. Global regulations are still lacking. Guidelines from the International Seabed Authority are still being developed and implemented.

Something to think about: If you had the power to decide, would you give the green light to deep sea mining right now? Why or why not? What additional information would help you make that decision?

(3) Adapting human life for other planets

Chris Mason from Weill Cornell Medicine

Extinction, if we do nothing, is inevitable. But actually, the premise of the book is that we as humans have a unique capacity for understanding extinction. We're actually the only species that can, and I think that gives us a unique duty and responsibility to look ahead and serve really as shepherds guardians, quite literally guardians of the galaxy, or at least a life in the galaxy.

The risks facing humanity are real. Nuclear weapons, climate change, and unaligned artificial intelligence could end civilization as we know it.

So who is Chris Mason and what is he doing about it: Chris Mason is a geneticist that believes spreading life beyond Earth is humanity's best hope for long-term survival. Through genetic engineering, he aims to adapt human biology for space travel and habitation. His vision of "planetary liberty" represents a bold new frontier securing our future against extinction. Mason is pioneering exciting possibilities to propel humanity forward.

But what is genetic engineering: it’s a powerful technology that allows us to understand and modify the code of life. It gives scientists the ability to add, remove, or alter genes within an organism. By doing so, they can change characteristics and behavior.

How does it work: it involves identifying a desired genetic trait, isolating it, and inserting it into the genome of another organism. Genes can be taken from one species and put into another that would not naturally have that trait. For example, a gene for drought resistance from a plant could be inserted into a crop, allowing it to better withstand dry conditions.

Humanity has much to gain from the extraordinary abilities of other species: while we require vitamin C in our diets, dogs and cats naturally produce their own supply. Tiny tardigrades can endure the frozen vacuum of space. Certain deep sea divers hold their breath for minutes at a time. With genetic engineering, we may integrate these traits into our own biology. As we carefully study genetics across the animal kingdom, we open up amazing possibilities to enhance human capacities in radical new ways.

As thrilling as genetic engineering may be, we must approach this uncharted territory carefully:

1. Each gene affects multiple traits, so editing DNA can have unintended impacts.
2. Space travel poses profound biological challenges from radiation damage to cognition issues.
3. Clinical trials off-Earth introduce daunting technical and ethical hurdles.
4. Pursuit of long-term visions requires securing sustainable funding sources.
5. We will need transparent consent, voluntary participation, complete agency over personal data, and full withdrawal rights for any human engineering.

This new power demands deep responsibility. We must balance bold innovation with sound ethics to unlock new human potential.

Something to think about: If you could genetically engineer yourself or your children for space, what traits or abilities would you give them? Would you do it? What are the ethics involved?

That’s all for this week.

Thank yourself for taking the time to show up and creating space to think. Remember real knowledge is intrinsic, and it’s built from the ground up.

I’ll be back in your inbox next Monday.

Stay prosperous,

Brylan Donaldson