Greening Aviation: Lithium Fuel Cells for Carbon-Neutral Air Travel
Based on the provided Reddit discussion, here are analyses of potential "next big events" and their commercial/marketing opportunities:
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Emerging Trend: Advanced/Clean Energy Solutions (Fusion, Deep Geothermal, Orbital Solar)
- Analysis: Multiple comments highlight a strong interest and belief in breakthroughs in energy production beyond current renewables. Specific mentions include "Fusion" (with a press release link), "deep geothermal," and "orbital solar." The underlying sentiment is that a transformative, clean, and abundant energy source is a fundamental enabler for future progress, including supporting energy-intensive technologies like AI.
- Business Opportunities:
- Investment in R&D for fusion reactor technologies (e.g., compact tokamaks, stellarators, or novel approaches like "cold fusion" if validated).
- Development of new drilling and heat extraction technologies for deep geothermal energy.
- Manufacturing of components for space-based solar power systems and wireless power transmission.
- Creation of new energy infrastructure and grid management solutions to integrate these novel sources.
- Marketing Opportunities:
- Target governments, large-scale industrial consumers, and utility companies with the promise of energy independence and drastically reduced carbon emissions.
- Promote the long-term economic benefits of abundant, low-cost clean energy.
- Emphasize the role of these technologies in achieving global climate goals and powering future innovations.
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Emerging Trend: AI/LLMs and their Supporting Infrastructure
- Analysis: Artificial Intelligence, specifically Large Language Models (LLMs), is a dominant theme. Commenters see it as potentially "more transformative than the Industrial Revolution," capable of supercharging other technological advancements. There's also an awareness of its current resource intensity (energy, compute) and the need for more efficient or miniaturized infrastructure.
- Business Opportunities:
- Development of specialized AI models tailored for specific industries (e.g., drug discovery, materials science, personalized education).
- Creation of more efficient AI hardware (e.g., neuromorphic chips, improved GPUs/TPUs) and cooling solutions for data centers.
- Development of "AI on the edge" solutions – miniaturized, low-power AI systems for local processing.
- Platforms and tools for AI ethics, governance, and bias detection.
- Consulting services to help businesses integrate AI into their operations.
- Marketing Opportunities:
- Target businesses across all sectors, emphasizing productivity gains, novel capabilities, and accelerated innovation through AI.
- Showcase AI as an indispensable tool for problem-solving and discovery in science and engineering.
- For infrastructure providers, highlight performance, energy efficiency, and scalability.
- Address societal concerns by promoting responsible AI development and its potential for positive impact.
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Emerging Trend: Personalized Medicine & Advanced Food Production
- Analysis: Several threads point towards breakthroughs that will revolutionize health and sustenance. These include "CRISPR-Cas9" (gene-editing), "AlphaFold" (protein structure prediction), "Custom medicine," "Stem cells," "Synthesized food molecules," "Cultivated proteins," and "growing food crops with seawater." The common desire is for more effective, personalized, and sustainable solutions.
- Business Opportunities:
- Development of personalized therapies based on individual genetic makeup and real-time health data (e.g., custom drug formulations, targeted gene therapies).
- Expansion of stem cell research and application for regenerative medicine.
- Investing in bioreactor technology and growth media for cultivated proteins (meat, dairy) at scale.
- R&D into synthesizing complete, nutritious food molecules or developing crops resilient to harsh conditions (e.g., saltwater).
- Platforms for managing and analyzing vast amounts of biological and health data for personalized insights.
- Marketing Opportunities:
- Target health-conscious consumers and patients with the promise of tailored, more effective treatments and preventative care.
- For advanced food, target environmentally conscious consumers, those with specific dietary needs, and markets concerned with food security, emphasizing sustainability, ethical production, and personalized nutrition.
- Highlight the scientific rigor and safety of these new medical and food technologies.
Origin Reddit Post
r/futurology
What are some interesting breakthroughs (or concepts) that have a huge potential in future?
Posted by u/notthevcode•05/31/2025
CRISPR-Cas9: Precise gene-editing that could change medicine and farming.
AlphaFold: Predicts protein structures that could be huge for biology.
Quantum Computing: Solves certain problems w
Top Comments
u/captainshar
100% agree. It's going to supercharge every other technology change because of rapid discovery, digital modeling and experiments, and soon autonomized engineering, manufacturing, and deployme
u/Riversntallbuildings
To me, everything comes back to energy and what I’m looking for is a company that can deliver over 1GW of batteries on an annual basis that have energy density greater than 500Wh/kg.
I thin
u/captainshar
100% agree. It's going to supercharge every other technology change because of rapid discovery, digital modeling and experiments, and soon autonomized engineering, manufacturing, and deployme
u/RawenOfGrobac
LLM's having huge potential i dont agree with, But AI's (real AI) im excited for.
u/DerekVanGorder
Calibrated Basic Income.
It is a Universal Basic Income (UBI) except the payout is adjustable. This prevents inflation while maximizing the benefit.
https://www.greshm.org/files/2025-04-01-
u/djjcinthehouse
DSM framework will replace blockchain infrastructure
u/Riversntallbuildings
To me, everything comes back to energy and what I’m looking for is a company that can deliver over 1GW of batteries on an annual basis that have energy density greater than 500Wh/kg.
I thin
u/notthevcode
David Graeber Wrote about this UBI a lot in his book Bullshit Jobs. I don't know that the world is taking that idea seriously. If that comes many people would benefit for sure.
Basically wha
u/Dull_Ratio_5383
That was my first thought. Energy is the largest constraint, and this is true for unicellular bacteria and the entire human civilisation. Getting almost limitless, clean energy will have, by
u/notthevcode
David Graeber wrote about this UBI a lot in his book Bullshit Jobs. I don't know that the world is taking that idea seriously. If that comes many people would benefit for sure.
Basically wha
u/coren77
I don't have the scientific or engineering chops to determine true viability, but there is a company called Quaise that is trying to use new drilling/ boring methods to create geothermal powe
u/cscottnet
Oh, I agree AI/LLMs are going to have a huge impact. Just probably not a good one. They've exploited a fundamental weakness in how humans evaluate information and form models of reality, an
u/captainshar
Synthesized food molecules. Custom healthy food with amazing flavors and nutrients for very cheap, freeing up land to be restored to sustainable ecosystems and solving hunger and healthy nutr
u/novis-eldritch-maxim
none as none of us will ever be able to afford them
u/HeyGuySeeThatGuy
Universal Basic Income.
The math looks really good - people are more productive, healthier, happier, and better humans when they are not starving, homeless, stressed about losing their wor
u/Same-Barnacle-6250
My three pillars are ai, energy, and compute. AI is bottled necked by energy and computer. So to make ai limitless, we need limitless energy and compute.
u/iShakeMyHeadAtYou
there was a post on here yesterday about a Lithium Fuel cell that would allow electrification of airplanes. tat would be MASSIVE for carbon reduction.
u/drunnells
I think that a lot of use cases don't require you to be running a model locally.. in those cases, the existing infrastructure is fine. BUT I can see some cases where you would need to. You me
u/Same-Barnacle-6250
My three pillars are ai, energy, and compute. AI is bottled necked by energy and computer. So to make ai limitless, we need limitless energy and compute.
u/captainshar
Custom medicine. Soon, health will be cheaper and more effective than ever.
u/YsoL8
And also:
deep geothermal - pilot plants being built
orbital solar - Companies are actively looking to put up a pilot plant this decade
Solar - Currently scaling on track to be Earths prim
u/drunnells
This sub is going to HATE this - I'm saying AI/LLMs :)
u/Nulmora
I agree. Digital Intelligence and the infrastructure that comes with it plus energy needed to sustain it. How do you miniaturize the infrastructure similar to a powerwall or even smaller tha
u/djjcinthehouse
DSM framework will replace blockchain infrastructure
u/marrow_monkey
Yeah, a lot of people are still delusional about AI. Will probably end up being more transformative than the Industrial Revolution. Might make us understand ”consciousness” soon. Might end hu
u/NaCHO3657
I have feeds from many science and tech outlets and this is the first time I've heard of this cold fusion breakthrough.
Cold fusion is the holy Grail of energy production. If that discovery
u/SpiritGaming28
Stem cells could also be a game changer in medicine.
u/anotherfroggyevening
Fusion
https://www.reuters.com/press-releases/quantum-kinetics-corporation-arc-reactor-cold-nuclear-fusion-technology-ready-for-industry-2025-02-05/
u/8to24
New research plants the seed to grow food crops with sea water
https://www.newcastle.edu.au/newsroom/featured/new-research-plants-the-seed-to-grow-food-crops-with-sea-water
u/Calactic1
Room temperature/ambient pressure superconductors. If they exist, and become viable, the world will undergo a shift akin to the industrial revolution. Anything involving electricity will be m
u/marrow_monkey
Yeah, a lot of people are still delusional about AI. Will probably end up being more transformative than the Industrial Revolution. Might make us understand ”consciousness” soon. Might end hu
u/Dull_Ratio_5383
That was my first thought. Energy is the largest constraint, and this is true for unicellular bacteria and the entire human civilisation. Getting almost limitless, clean energy will have, by
u/Riversntallbuildings
Cultivated proteins could be huge if we can build more bioreactor capacity and solve the contamination challenges.
Vertical farms can grow nutrients, but they can’t grow calories more effici
u/IsayDamar
Life extension baby! I really want to live as long as possible!
u/Nulmora
I agree. Digital Intelligence and the infrastructure that comes with it plus energy needed to sustain it. How do you miniaturize the infrastructure similar to a powerwall or even smaller tha
u/iShakeMyHeadAtYou
there was a post on here yesterday about a Lithium Fuel cell that would allow electrification of airplanes. tat would be MASSIVE for carbon reduction.
u/novis-eldritch-maxim
none as none of us will ever be able to afford them
u/YsoL8
I find the standard reddit response to AI ridiculous
A. the copyright battle is a sideshow that will ultimately change or stop nothing except maybe to disadvantage your own country
B. The t
u/DerekVanGorder
Calibrated Basic Income.
It is a Universal Basic Income (UBI) except the payout is adjustable. This prevents inflation while maximizing the benefit.
https://www.greshm.org/files/2025-04-01-
u/pinkfootthegoose
It's highly unlikely considering the estimated cost to build and operate a theoretical fusion plant will be astronomically high compared to any other source of electricity. The true limits o
u/YsoL8
And also:
deep geothermal - pilot plants being built
orbital solar - Companies are actively looking to put up a pilot plant this decade
Solar - Currently scaling on track to be Earths prim
u/8to24
New research plants the seed to grow food crops with sea water
https://www.newcastle.edu.au/newsroom/featured/new-research-plants-the-seed-to-grow-food-crops-with-sea-water
u/cscottnet
Oh, I agree AI/LLMs are going to have a huge impact. Just probably not a good one. They've exploited a fundamental weakness in how humans evaluate information and form models of reality, an
u/anotherfroggyevening
Fusion
https://www.reuters.com/press-releases/quantum-kinetics-corporation-arc-reactor-cold-nuclear-fusion-technology-ready-for-industry-2025-02-05/
u/drunnells
This sub is going to HATE this - I'm saying AI/LLMs :)
u/Yasimear
Once we have the energy to support it cleanly, 100%!!
Right now, the amount of resources that LLMs are taking up is INSANE fqor what they provide. They're causing too much damage for now :/
u/drunnells
I think that a lot of use cases don't require you to be running a model locally.. in those cases, the existing infrastructure is fine. BUT I can see some cases where you would need to. You me
u/seamustheseagull
The problem is that AI was over promised.
When ChatGPT landed everyone thought, "Holy shit this is good enough to change everything".
It's not, but it did give us a glimpse into what was
u/Yasimear
Once we have the energy to support it cleanly, 100%!!
Right now, the amount of resources that LLMs are taking up is INSANE fqor what they provide. They're causing too much damage for now :/
u/seamustheseagull
The problem is that AI was over promised.
When ChatGPT landed everyone thought, "Holy shit this is good enough to change everything".
It's not, but it did give us a glimpse into what was