Gm. Let Mayor Pete cook.

🏠 FUTURISTIC

Infrastructure Is Cool Now

What do GPS tracking, autonomous vehicles, and the internet have in common? All invented in the 20th century? All part of a Tesla? All have contributed to society more than Bitcoin?

Nope, nope, and yes nope.

The correct answer is: all were invented by the US government.

Now, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg wants the government to put its scientific manpower behind ARPA-I, the Biden administration’s plan to improve the nation's infrastructure.

And we’re not talking about any old road or bridge. We’re talking self-healing potholes. Bridges that last for centuries instead of decades. High-speed electric public transportation. Low-carbon concrete.

Or, as Buttigieg puts it, “things that we can’t even imagine today that might make some of today’s legacy technology unnecessary”.

Obviously, there’s a long way to go before any of this becomes reality. But one thing is for sure: the US really does need an infrastructure boost. There haven’t been any major infrastructural improvements in generations, and if it’s not improved soon, it could cost the nation $10 trillion by 2039.

The Bottom Line: Better infrastructure benefits everyone. If the improvements are straight out of tech bro’s dream, even better.

🏠 FUTURISTIC

The Self-Sufficient Floating City

Every once in a while, you see something so cool you almost can’t believe it’s real.

Dogen City definitely fits that bill.

Born out of a vision by Japanese maritime startup N-Ark, Dogen City is a floating city that would measure 2.5 miles in circumference, have the capacity to house 10,000 full-time inhabitants and 30,000 tourists visiting at any time, and be split into three distinct areas:

• The main housing zone.

• An undersea data center that would be naturally cooled by the sea and contains city management and medical research facilities.

• Floating architecture within the artificial bay created by Dogen’s ring-shaped structure.

It all adds up to create a final project that looks absolutely awesome:

And it doesn’t just look awesome, but it is also self-sufficient, would be able to withstand even tsunamis, have a rocket launch site, and give residents the best mental and physical care science can offer.

It’s a hugely ambitious project. But if N-Ark can pull it off, Dogen City would immediately become one of the most futuristic cities on the planet.

The Big Picture: Self-sufficient cities like Dogen City will be key to achieving the solarpunk future many techno-optimists are aiming for.

🏃‍♀️ QUICKIES

What else is going on?

• Meta has released a new AI model that learns like a human does.

• The Tesla charging system is on the fast track to world domination.

• Microsoft and OpenAI have a strange relationship.

• Your personal data is probably also the Fed’s data.

Stat: $417M: How much investors have pulled from crypto funds over the last two months. Not what you want to see.

Rabbit hole: Varda: The Space Drug Factory (Not Boring)

😂 WACKY AI WEDNESDAY

Keep this thing away from me.

🤥 3 LIES & A HEADLINE

News is so weird these days. Three of these headlines are fake stories from The Onion while one is actually true. Can you spot the truth amongst the fakes?

A. New Apple Vision Pro Ad Shows User Standing Chest-Deep In Flood Waters Watching ‘Ted Lasso’

B. Pete Buttigieg Fails Third Consecutive Driver’s Test

C. U.S. Postal Service Releases Dog Bite National Rankings

D. New World Order Holds Annual Meeting At Indianapolis Marriott

🛠️ FOUNDERS CORNER

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💉 DOPAMINE HIT

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3 LIES ANSWER

C. I’d hate to be a mailman in Houston.