Thinking On Paper

• The Quantum Computing Operating System & Spin Qubits | Brandon Severin, Conductor Quantum

  If quantum computers already exist, why can’t they do anything useful? The issue isn’t quantum mechanics, it’s control. Every qubit must be tuned, stabilized, and kept coherent, and that process collapses long before scale.Brandon Severin, founder of Conductor Quantum, joins Jeremy and Mark to Think On Paper about spin qubits, AI calibration, Google’s latest quantum chip, and how his company is using semiconductor-based qubits to build quantum computers at scale.From his PhD at Oxford (where he crossed paths with Oxford Ionics founder Dr. Chris Ballance) to launching a startup in Silicon Valley, Brandon shares how physics, engineering, and software are finally converging in quantum computing.In this episode: ⚛️ How Google’s new quantum algorithm moves us closer to simulating atoms and molecules. ⚛️ The difference between trapped ions and spin qubits — and why spin qubits could scale faster. ⚛️ Inside Conductor Quantum’s work on calibration, fidelity, and error correction. ⚛️ How AI is redefining quantum control and stability. ⚛️ The rise of the quantum founder: from lone academics to builders focused on scale. ⚛️ Why progress in quantum depends on manufacturing, algorithms, and collaboration — not just brainpower. ⚛️ Why millions of qubits, not a “magic” single qubit, are needed for real computation.Most quantum content sits in a kind of superposition: too technical to follow or too simple to teach you anything new. Thinking On Paper cuts through that noise.If this conversation made you think differently about quantum computing, follow the show and share it with someone curious.Keep thinking on paper.Cheers, Mark & Jeremy--Other ways to connect with us:⁠Listen to every podcast⁠Follow us on ⁠Instagram⁠Follow us on ⁠X⁠Follow Mark on ⁠LinkedIn⁠Follow Jeremy on ⁠LinkedIn⁠Read our ⁠Substack⁠Email: [email protected](00:00) Trailer(01:13) The Google Announcement Explained Simply(03:47) Trapped Ions vs. Spin Qubits(06:14) How AI Controls Quantum Computers(11:06) Inside the Quantum Circus: Managing Errors, Fidelity, and Coherence(32:59) Building Quantum Computers: Why Scale Depends on Automation(33:41) The Culture of Quantum Startups vs. the AI Boom(36:52) Human Nature, Technology, and the Race for Control(39:43) The Future of Quantum Computing: From Physics to Scalable Systems

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• The Race for Helium-3: Mining the Moon with Glen Martin

  Helium-3 is essential for fusion energy, quantum computing, and tracking nuclear weapons. The U.S. has just 29 kilograms, and there may be as little as 100 kilograms on Earth. But aerospace engineer Glen Martin cites NASA data suggesting roughly 1.1 million tons may be trapped on the Moon.In this episode, Mark and Jeremy Think On Paper with Glen, CEO of the Extraterrestrial Mining Company, about the emerging science and politics of lunar mining and the race now unfolding above us.Glen explains how solar winds have been seeding the Moon with Helium-3 for billions of years, why AI data centers and quantum computers are already driving global demand, and how private companies are moving into territory once reserved for governments.What begins as a conversation about mining technology becomes a deeper look at scarcity, competition, and the moral questions that come with abundance.Will space resources help us build a post-scarcity society, or just extend the same rivalries into orbit?📺 Watch on YouTube--Connect with GlenThe Extraterrestrial Mining Company--Timestamps(00:00) Trailer(02:45) What is Helium-3, and why are we mining the Moon?(05:29) Why there’s almost no Helium-3 on Earth, and a million tons on the Moon(09:01) How Helium-3 could be harvested from lunar dust(10:33) Fusion without fallout: the clean-energy promise of Helium-3(13:01) Space-based solar power and fusion: two paths to future energy.(17:56) How private companies plan to finance Moon mining(21:52) The new space race: U.S., China, and the competition for lunar fuel(25:03) Can treaties prevent conflict over Moon resources?(27:37) AI, autonomy, and the machines that will mine the Moon(29:31) NASA’s commercial lunar payloads and the rise of space infrastructure(31:08) What lunar regolith tells us about Helium-3 reserves(33:35) The trillion-dollar question: who profits from space resources?(36:17) Curiosity, wonder, and the future of human exploration(40:01) Technology, morality, and the choice to be good--Other ways to connect with us:⁠Listen to every podcast⁠Follow us on ⁠Instagram⁠Follow us on ⁠X⁠Follow Mark on ⁠LinkedIn⁠Follow Jeremy on ⁠LinkedIn⁠Read our ⁠Substack⁠Email: [email protected]

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• Why Democracy Needs Privacy | Carissa Véliz: AI Ethics, Books, Freedom

  AI ethics sounds reassuring. Carissa Véliz argues it’s a contradiction: you can’t build “ethical” systems on surveillance. The result isn’t accountability, it’s rule by opaque models you can’t inspect or appeal. That’s not ethics, that's the definition of Kafkaesque.Joining Mark and Jeremy on Thinking on Paper, Carissa Véliz lays out three hard truths.- Privacy is both a right and a duty. It allows lawyers, journalists, and citizens to act without intimidation. Remove it and democracy loses its working parts.- Privacy is collective. The choices you make affect everyone else.- Governments and Big Tech now co-produce surveillance; data moves in both directions, and history shows companies can rival states in coercive power.Véliz also gets practical: what can be inferred from “just” location, why trading sovereignty for convenience breeds dependence, and how even small shifts — using Signal instead of WhatsApp, Proton instead of Gmail — can matter when 5–10 percent of people change their habits, the power shifts. Surveillance isn’t the future. It’s the business model, and it works because we accept it.Not on our watch. Please enjoy the show. And subscribe to help us keep telling the human story of technology.Thanks,Mark & Jeremy--Follow Carissa on XBuy Privacy is Power--TIMESTAMPS(00:00) Trailer(02:26) What Is Privacy(05:31) Is Democracy At Risk?(08:34) Government & Big Tech(10:39) How To Decouple Big Tech & Government(12:33) Privacy & The Common Human Experience(16:02) Tools To Protect Your Privacy(17:18) Cookie Clutter(19:30) ChatGPT Writes Policy(20:05) Radical Open Mindedness(21:52) AI Alignment(22:56) AI Ethics(28:09) How To Erase Your Data(29:27) What Should Humanity Be?-- Other ways to connect with us:⁠Listen to every podcast⁠Follow us on ⁠Instagram⁠Follow us on ⁠X⁠Follow Mark on ⁠LinkedIn⁠Follow Jeremy on ⁠LinkedIn⁠Read our ⁠Substack⁠Email: [email protected]

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• Tech Optimism: What Should Humans Be in a World of Machines?

  In early 2025, Kevin Kelly, one of the great technological philosophers of our time, joined Mark & Jeremy to Think on Paper. Before he left, he asked a question. A question about the future and technology: What should humans be? At the end of every show, we ask every guest this question. And the answers always resonate on an emotional, human level. They land on something universal. The same words, the same ideas, the same wants for humanity come up again and again. Creativity, curiosity, kindness, empathy, discovery, adventure, ambition. This is the first part of our series compiling the answers. A reminder, in the dark days that technology is built by us, for us, and most people are nice, kind and want the best for us all. As you'll see. Yes, it maybe a simple message at times, but we're OK with that. Because on simple ideas are civilizations born.Please enjoy this special compilation of thoughts and ideas. And tell someone to come Think on Paper with us.We'd appreciate that.Be curious, stay disruptive, keep thinking on paper.Cheers, Mark and Jeremy.--Timestamps(00:00) The Story(00:58) Kindness (& Books)(01:55) Meaning(02:32) Connection(03:03) Discovery(03:36) Curiosity(04:30) Consciousness(05:00) Ambition(05:31) Creativity(06:07) Wisdom--Videos appear thanks to:“Documentary — The Fourth Industrial Revolution” by World Economic Forum, licensed under CC BY 3.0: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Documentary_-_The_Fourth_Industrial_Revolution.webm" "Wikimedia Commons "“Out of This World — Prelinger Archives / Public Domain (via Internet Archive)”--Guests in this videoMark Boggett: https://youtu.be/PExunxFL71E?si=XrpkRRmFCjR1VxC7Rajeev Kapur: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWEuQmPcqJ8&t=193sRob Locascio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaM8lITXx6Y&t=428sAndrew Hill: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hk4BXeXS9wE&t=50sWill Alpine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Obs2vxp-SP0&t=44sKatia Moskovitch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPwM0dCEYkI&t=185sRobby Yung: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHiSkSEQy-c&t=2010sKhang Nguyen-Trieu: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbnVirwbGBc&t=85sMartin Soltau: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zl-z1d6d_as&t=572s--Other ways to connect with us:⁠Listen to every podcast⁠Follow us on ⁠Instagram⁠Follow us on ⁠X⁠Follow Mark on ⁠LinkedIn⁠Follow Jeremy on ⁠LinkedIn⁠Read our ⁠Substack⁠Email: [email protected]

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• The Business of Space: Satellites, Defense, and the Next Economy │ Mark Boggett, CEO Seraphim

  The space economy is set to reach $1.8 trillion by 2035. Everyone talks about rockets. Almost no one talks about the infrastructure that connects orbit to Earth. This is where billions of dollars of that space investment are being increasingly allocated. Mark Boggett runs Seraphim Investments, a London-based fund that backs the companies building the foundations of the space economy. In this conversation, he explains why the future of space isn’t about launch or tourism, but data, defense, and the networks that will define a trillion-dollar market.We look at how falling launch costs from SpaceX, Rocket Lab, and Firefly have moved the bottleneck from rockets to downlink infrastructure - the networks that move satellite data back to Earth. Boggett outlines the under-invested opportunities in ground terminals, communications, and cybersecurity that will define the next decade of the space economy.He also talks about the rise of direct-to-device connectivity through companies like AST SpaceMobile and Globalstar, the coming laser mesh networks led by Amazon’s Kuiper constellation, and the new markets emerging in orbital services: debris removal, refueling, and regulation-driven sustainability through firms like Astroscale and LeoLabs.This is the quieter side of the space race, the infrastructure and data layer where long-term investors are quietly shaping a trillion-dollar future.Enjoy the show. And please subscribe so we can continue building the channel, and thinking on Paper. --TIMESTAMPS(00:00) Trailer(01:56) Disruptors & Curious Minds(03:08) Mark Boggett (03:27) The Reality Of A 10-Year Investment Period(04:07) Predictions On The Space Economy(04:39) Space Race 2.0: The USA V China (05:54) Direct to Device Space Communications(08:05) Public Markets Love Space Tech Investments(09:35) Space Exits & IPOS(10:36) Trump & Musk To Dominate Space Agenda(11:17) The Space Ecosystem 2025(12:10) Satellite Companies: Hardware & Software(12:36) Launch Companies: SpaceX, Firefly & Rocket Labs(13:50) Satellite Constellations(14:24) HAPS (High Altitude Platforms)(15:22) Data Collection, Ground Terminals & Cyber Security(16:46) Downlink: The Growth Area Of Space Investments(18:50) Satellite Data Companies(21:08) Space Verticals: Climate Success Stories(22:20) How Satellites Verify Carbon Credits(24:37) Space Debris & New Regulations To Clean Up Orbit(26:38) Getting Old, Rickety Satellites Out Of Orbit(30:26) Giving Regulators Teeth(31:15) Geopolitics And Defense Based Space Investment(36:33) Terraforming Mars(36:48) Best Sci-Fi Movie(36:56) Do Kids Look Up? The Accessibility Of Space(37:20) The Best Reason To Go To The Moon(39:51) What Should Humans Be? ----Other ways to connect with us:⁠Listen to every podcast⁠Follow us on ⁠Instagram⁠Follow us on ⁠X⁠Follow Mark on ⁠LinkedIn⁠Follow Jeremy on ⁠LinkedIn⁠Read our ⁠Substack⁠Email: [email protected]

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