#052: Controlling the Weather With Tech, Best Writing Samples Curated, One Step Closer to Curing Cancer

Hi All!

It's our 1 Year Anniversary, and we are pleased to welcome you to a very special edition of Undiscovered, a weekly newsletter with exclusive resources and insights expanding from the material found on our main site - becketu.com.

This week, we will take a look at a new website that will make you a better writer, an amazing discovery that brings us closer to curing cancer, how to control the weather with tech, and more.

Let's dive in:

Writing Examples

​David Perell is one of the internet's leading voices when it comes to the craft of writing. He has his own collection of essays and podcasts that discuss how to become a better writer, and his Twitter is full of useful advice on the subject.

His newest endeavor is a website called WritingExamples.com that has hand-selected some of the most noteworthy prose ever written. You can learn how to write a memorable speech with Churchill, describe an era with Dickens, understand how symbols tell a story with Orwell, and more.

It's a fantastic site with great design, and I can't wait to see where Perell takes it.

One Step Closer to Curing Cancer

One of the more shocking headlines I came across this last week was that the FDA has approved the first genetically modified T cell therapy for treating a rare sarcoma. In other words, this is a significant milestone in cancer treatment with potentially huge implications.

The approval opens up possibilities for developing next-generation therapies that could target other types of solid tumors. While the advancement is promising, it does not indicate an imminent cure for all cancers, but rather represents a step toward developing more targeted and effective treatments for specific types of cancer.

Learning Mandarin in Under a Year

Learning Mandarin Chinese to intermediate fluency usually takes between 3,000-4,000 hours and can take many years. Isaak Freeman claims to have learned in under one year and 1,500 hours, as 'a fun side project'. As someone who is interested in languages and especially learning them, this caught my attention.

Freeman initially discussed this on a Twitter thread, and laid out the most important aspects:

Some of these recommendations seem obvious, but the combination of Anki and graphic novels seems to be one of the more recurring pieces of advice I have come across whether you are learning Chinese, Japanese, or any other language.

For Chinese, Freeman shared his Anki deck which compiled other widely used decks, and shared more of the language learning journey on his website.

Controlling the Weather Through Technology

One of the more modern miracles of technology is how China controls weather across its territories using something called 'cloud seeding'. This was brought to my attention by startup investor Julian Shapiro, who describes the entire process in a Twitter thread.

Essentially, cloud seeding enhances a cloud's ability to produce precipitation by introducing tiny particles, typically silver iodide, into suitable clouds. These particles act as nuclei around which water vapor can condense and freeze, forming ice crystals that grow large enough to fall as rain or snow.

Why is this a big deal? By interacting with clouds, China has increased rainfall by 27% in their northeast territories. This extra rain grows 11.6 million more tons of grain - enough to feed 40 million people, or the entire population of California. They are reducing desertification, fighting wildfires, and refilling depleted reservoirs, lakes and wetlands.

If this is an interesting technology to you, be sure to check out Augustus Doricko and his company Rainmaker. They are at the forefront of the cloud seeding effort in the United States, and it will be interesting to see how this technology continues to expand.

Latest Naval Ravikant Interview on BeerBiceps

Whenever Naval Ravikant is featured on a new podcast, I am one of the first to listen. Naval fundamentally changed how I viewed many aspects of life, and his recommendations of what to learn are the cornerstone to the story of Becket U.

He was recently featured on one of India's biggest podcasts, BeerBiceps, and the result was another masterclass in philosophy, business, and life. There are countless topics covered in the hour and a half discussion with BeerBiceps host, Ranveer Allahbadia, and it is truly one of the best podcasts since his features on Farnam Street and Joe Rogan.

Here is the link to the full interview. Enjoy.

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Always wishing you the best,

J.B.