You see seaweed. He sees bricks.

Looking at things from a different perspective.

Next:Economy Newsletter Cropped image by Gordon on Flickr   Looking at things from a different viewpoint Looking at things from a different perspective is a recurring theme in this newsletter because we feel that it may be the single most important ability for leaders to have in the Next Economy. Tim O'Reilly has been called the "Oracle of Silicon Valley," but he's quick to point out that he doesn't predict the future—he merely keeps an eye open for the faint signals of change and imagines where new developments could take us. In chapter 4 of WTF?: What's the Future and Why It's Up to Us, Tim argues that there's not just one future—we create our future from what we can imagine. When you draw a new map successfully enough, you change the perception not only of the future but of the past. That thing that seemed unthinkable becomes the fabric of the everyday, and it's hard to remember that it once was only one of many possibilities. In this issue, we're playing with that idea a bit. Some of these ideas won't pan out. But some will, and they'll become commonplace enough that we will barely remember that the idea once seemed ridiculous. And who knows what else is just taking form in someone's imagination that could transform all our lives?   You see seaweed. He sees bricks. Sargassum, an invasive seaweed, is piling up in tourist-repelling quantities on Caribbean beaches. But Omar de Jesús Vazquez Sánchez, who cleaned up beaches as part of his garden business, started to imagine the rotten-egg-smelling glop as something else. He founded Sargablock, a small company in the Yucatán Peninsula that transforms the algae into construction blocks. A university study found that these blocks are safe for use in construction and can last 120 years. Or, diapers into concrete?   You see rock dust. They see carbon capture. Basalt dust is a quarrying byproduct that's common in volcanically active areas like Hawaii and Iceland. It's packed with micronutrients such as magnesium, iron, and calcium, which makes it good for the soil. But that's not all. When rainwater mixes with basalt dust, it triggers a chemical reaction that captures and locks up CO2 as bicarbonate. So startup Lithos Carbon recycles basalt dust and spreads it over cropland.   You see salt. They see batteries. Batteries that store energy on the grid or power phones and electric vehicles currently rely on lithium. But the abundance of battery-powered devices—as well as the move to EVs—could create lithium shortages, so many companies are investigating lithium substitutes. Battery companies and automakers in China have announced forays into sodium-ion batteries that could help push costs down for both stationary storage and electric vehicles.   You see a gap. They see a solar farm. One common pushback against solar farms is their less-than-pleasing aesthetics. A Swiss startup has designed solar panels that fit neatly and unobtrusively between train tracks. The panels can be installed (and uninstalled for maintenance) by a specially built train that would "unroll" them like a carpet during the night, when fewer trains are running.   You see discarded wind turbine parts. They see recyclable parts. About 43 million tons of wind turbine blades will be decommissioned by 2050. These blades are designed to be durable, spinning up to 30 times a minute and lasting decades. But their durability comes at an ecological cost—when they reach the end of their lives, they end up in landfills. However, chemists may have found a way to break down the plastic that holds them together, allowing the main components to be recycled.   You see desert. They see produce gardens. Arizona is dry, even when it's not in the midst of a drought. But these Arizona farmers and gardeners are employing native plants and indigenous techniques to grow produce in extreme low-water conditions.   You see exhaled breath. They see astronaut food. A protein shake made from an astronaut's breath? One of the finalists in the Deep Space Food Challenge designed a system that could ferment the carbon dioxide expelled by astronauts in space to make proteins. Their sample was described as "something that's edible" and similar to a shake made from seitan, a vegan meat substitute. This message was sent to alexvarboffin.abbb@blogger.com. You are receiving this because you've signed up to receive email from us. Privacy Policy | Unsubscribe From All | Unsubscribe From Next:Economy O'Reilly Media, Inc., 1005 Gravenstein Highway North, Sebastopol, CA, 95472 (707) 827-7000