The Binary Breakaway Turns 1!
A Look Back at Our Most Popular Articles and a Nod to the Future
It has been one year since the Binary Breakaway began gracing the inboxes of our community members around the world. We’ve discussed big tech issues, current events, and the intersection with policy making. We’ve built and refined our voice focusing on storytelling and authenticity and it’s time for another authentic moment.
The growth in our readership has meant the world to us and we want to thank everyone for their continued support. To our new subscribers, welcome. To those that have been with us from the beginning, thanks for making us part of your day.
On a personal note, I’ve often told people that this Substack is the means by which I teach myself things and that I’m grateful for all those who choose to come along on that journey. Thank you all for being on this journey.
To celebrate this milestone, we have two parties planned.
First, we are going to count down the top 10 articles from the last year in terms of views and look at the subjects that you all found the most interesting.
Second, we’ve created a brief survey that we hope you will all take a moment to fill out. This will help us refine our content in year 2 and continue to earn our spot in your inbox. As a special thank you, anyone that fills out the survey will get 3 months of free access to our paid tier. We hope you will join the party!
We don’t know about you, but we are starting to get jittery to open our presents. Let’s sit down together and rip open the top 10 articles from the last year!
A Look Back
…and away we go!
Data Centers in Space Sounds Like a Good Idea, but it will Cost Trillions
This piece was originally about the simple concept of data centers in space relative to launch cost and was scheduled to go out much later in the year. However, with the SpaceX-xAI merger, the topic was more relevant and it was moved up. We particularly enjoyed doing the math on weight of servers versus $1,500 per kilogram.
Why Do We Consider Quantum Development and Cryptographic Transition as Separate Business Models?
Understanding quantum is hard enough without all the marketing noise. This subject was chosen after Microsoft announced that it was going to be ready for PQC transition by 2033, but that its topological qubits might be ready sooner. Considering PQC and quantum computing as different business models is likely to hurt industry and potentially cybersecurity.
Protection and Decentralization of Sovereign AGI
This was the second in an ongoing series about the concept of Sovereign AGI. It covers what a country would need to do to protect the infrastructure required to run AGI for statecraft purposes. Visualizing underground power plants and data centers that are the size of states in an interesting way to spend a Saturday.
Emerging Technology in the 1860s and What We Can Learn About Technology Acceptance
I actually visited the McLean home in Appomattox Courthouse and saw the Silent Witness for myself. It was moving to be in such an interesting and historic place and on the anniversary of the end of the Civil War, I wanted to capture a snapshot of emerging tech at that time.
The Push and Pull for Space Traffic Management
I worked with some fantastic people at the Office of Space Commerce when I was still in the government and I remember the beginning of TraCSS. It was sad to see it fade away but worse to see how the issue was pushed and pulled leaving so much uncertainty. Space traffic management will look very different after the slow fade away of TraCSS.
A New Trump Executive Order Aims to Build Space Critical Infrastructure…On Earth
Space critical infrastructure has been a passion project of mine for several years, not always with a receptive audience. This EO talked about infrastructure in space, but on Earth. Building real sustainability in space requires infrastructure and the government will need to build it. More launch facilities won’t help if cislunar missions are too risky and LEO is too crowded.
Raw Materials Rolling: Yttrium
One in our series about rare earth elements, this piece was about how we “bake” our advanced materials and military equipment. I was surprised to learn of the US’s 100% dependence on China for yttrium. Funny name, important material.
What the New Draft Quantum Computing Legislation Says About our Quantum Preparedness.
The bipartisan bill to create the National Quantum Computing Cyber Security Strategy received cheers from the emerging tech community, but we’d already been told to do this before. So far away is our gaze from the quantum threat that multiple laws need to be written and people still aren’t taking notice.
Cislunar Space Debris is Dangerous. The Space Economy Depends on a Future No Littering Policy
This piece was fun to research and was the result of my work with the Space ISAC. Orbital debris is bad enough but we actually have a shot at avoiding this problem in cislunar space. It’s critical we do so because the three body problem makes this much worse than our current problem. Stay tuned because this is the subject of an upcoming book chapter!
A New Trump Executive Order Hides Bad News for the Space Industry Behind Exciting Language
So many people celebrated this EO, but they probably didn’t read the whole thing. I don’t say this lightly as a space nerd, but space has been a waning priority in the US for years. This EO was the latest crack in US space leadership and should be remembered by the emerging tech community.
Purely in terms of views, space and quantum computing have been the most interesting subjects for our viewers. These two are also two of our favorites and we write about them with passion. We are very excited to continue our series on Sovereign AGI and about upcoming collaborations with other writers. We also want to hear what you would find the most interesting. What should we start covering? What should we stop covering? It’s time for our second party…one where you get a voice.
A Look Ahead
The Binary Breakaway has developed its own voice, but this is a community and we want to hear from you. Looking back, space and quantum computing were the biggest performers, but we aren’t looking back. We are looking forward. We threw together this survey and would greatly appreciate your participation. For all those that participate, we will give you three months free access to our paid tier.
Our goal is to take our role as a voice in emerging technology seriously and use storytelling, authenticity, and accessible language to articulate the most complex topics in the field. How can we improve? Tell us here.
It’s a new year and we are excited to start it with you. We want you to continue to be a part of what we are building. Tell us how you’d like to see us change, evolve, and expand this year.
Final words. Having an outlet to discuss and understand complex issues is important for us all at a time when there are a lot of fast moving topics and a flood of news. It’s also important at a time when the growth of AI-generated content and slop leaves more questions about what is real. The Binary Breakaway will always prioritize rigorous research, unique perspectives, engaging storytelling, and perspectives not influenced by marketing hype. For our community, it will always be a safe space to discuss topics openly and honestly, even if we don’t agree.
Thank you all again for a wonderful year and here’s to year two!