Brian Potter: “Fusion has many of the advantages of nuclear fission with many fewer drawbacks. Like fission, fusion only requires tiny amounts of fuel: Fusion fuel has an energy density (the amount of energy per unit mass) a million times higher than fossil fuels, and four times higher than nuclear fission. Like fission, fusion can produce carbon-free “baseload” electricity without the intermittency issues of wind or solar. But the waste produced by fusion is far less radioactive than fission, and the sort of “runaway” reactions that can result in a core meltdown in a fission-based reactor can’t happen in fusion. Because of its potential to provide effectively unlimited, clean energy, countries around the world have spent billions of dollars in the pursuit of fusion power. Designs for fusion reactors appeared as early as 1939, and were patented as early as 1946. The U.S. government began funding fusion power research in 1951, and has continued ever since…There’s a good chance a working fusion reactor is near. Dozens of private companies are using decades of government-funded fusion research in their attempts to build practical fusion reactors, and it’s likely that at least one of them will be successful. If one is, the challenge for fusion will be whether it can compete on cost with other sources of low-carbon electricity.”
David Brooks on late bloomers: “Today we live in a society structured to promote early bloomers. Our school system has sorted people by the time they are 18, using grades and SAT scores. Some of these people zoom to prestigious academic launching pads while others get left behind. Many of our most prominent models of success made it big while young—Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Taylor Swift, Michael Jordan. Magazines publish lists with headlines like “30 Under 30” to glamorize youthful superstars on the rise. Age discrimination is a fact of life. In California in 2010, for example, more people filed claims with the state Department of Fair Employment and Housing for age discrimination than for racial discrimination or sexual harassment. “Young people are just smarter,” Zuckerberg once said, in possibly the dumbest statement in American history. “There are no second acts in American lives,” F. Scott Fitzgerald once observed, in what might be the next dumbest. But for many people, the talents that bloom later in life are more consequential than the ones that bloom early. A 2019 study by researchers in Denmark found that, on average, Nobel Prize winners made their crucial discoveries at the age of 44. Even brilliant people apparently need at least a couple of decades to master their field.”
Mint: “Manufacturing MSMEs are at the centre of job-led growth in India. Firms up to 10 years old account for about 30% of all formal employment. Yet, most Indian manufacturers stay small and suffer from low productivity; firms that last 40 years only increase employment by 1.4 times from where they started. Similar firms in the US increase employment by seven times. One big factor holding MSMEs back is the burden of various local, state and central government regulations and approvals. According to a 2022 World Bank survey, senior managers in manufacturing firms…spend nearly 15% of their time dealing with government regulations. This diverts time from business imperatives, creating a regulatory glass ceiling that discourages investment and growth. When we try to understand root causes, we see a combination of suspicion towards private enterprise and a deeply risk-averse bureaucracy. This results in rules that are too many, too complex and too process-heavy.”
Fareed Zakaria: “If you look at the facts, the United States is more powerful on many measures than it has been for years. But that is not how many Americans feel. In my book talks, so many were troubled by the deep polarization and divisions within the country. Many wonder whether it is possible to come out of this, to arrive at some compromise, some settlement that moves the country forward. Even here, I remain hopeful. We are going through whirlwinds of change. In the United States these problems are constantly aired and highlighted. We wash our dirty laundry in full public view. The talk of our failings convulses our political system. We will have to work through these problems. But surely that is better than repressing them, coercing people to conform and presenting a North Korea-style facade of unity to the world. And these surveys suggest that people around the world can tell what is real and what is fake. When confronted with a choice, most prefer the West and its values, warts and all.”
