1. Why do the early TV Cable billionaires own so much land?

    1. Ted Turner: 10% of the world’s bison population are under his care
    2. John Malone: As of the 2010s, Malone owned roughly 2.2 million acres of land across the U.S – an area about the size of Delaware and Rhode Island combined – spanning at least 13 states

  2. BYD's story and why they are so vertically integrated

    1. In 2020, at the height of COVID-19, BYD famously re-tooled a factory in a matter of weeks to produce face masks and medical supplies, becoming one of the world’s largest mask producers overnight.
    2. They also make their own chips!!

  3. How solar panels are made? Why is their learning curve so strong? Where are they made, who makes them, what does the supply chain look like?

    1. Overall, by mid-2020s Chinese companies account for roughly three-quarters or more of all solar polysilicon output. Notably, a significant portion of China’s polysilicon capacity is located in the Xinjiang region (estimated around 40% of global polysilicon comes from Xinjiang), leveraging low-cost electricity there (albeit with concerns about forced labor and trade restrictions in some markets).
    2. Ingot pulling and wafer slicing are almost entirely based in China as of 2025. China’s share of ingot and wafer production capacity was estimated at over 95% of the world’s total.
    3. Solar cell fabrication (turning wafers into cells) is also led by China, though a portion of cell manufacturing is distributed across other Asian countries. About 80% or more of cell production capacity is in China.
    4. Module assembly (laminating cells into final panels) is the most geographically dispersed stage, though China still is the single biggest player. China accounts for roughly 70–80% of module production, but because assembling modules is less capital-intensive and often last in the chain, many countries do some module assembly for local market needs or to avoid import tariffs.

  4. The U.S. Airline Travel Ecosystem: How Transactions and Money Flow

  5. Primitive/Barbaric Processes Enabling Modern Science

    1. Also: Our hearts belong to the horseshoe crab

  6. Palmer Luckey said something like "The best ideas were written down in government publications between 1950 and 1970 because that was the last time scientists and engineers were allowed to think openly without political correctness or corporate legal paranoia." So I asked O3 to find me a bunch of them!

    post ww2 USA shenanigans

  7. The Oldest Known Musical Composition

  8. who gives out 5 stars to hotels

  9. Embraer: A Comprehensive Deep Dive

  10. The Severity of Soil Erosion in North America

  11. Large-Scale Global Cosmetic Manufacturing: Skincare, Makeup & Haircare