4.4 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 9 July 2025
⏱️ 26 minutes
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Today’s show:
Cloud seeding startup Rainmaker faced a viral backlash after deadly floods in Texas—so @Jason hosted an emergency X Spaces with founder Augustus Doricko to unpack what really happened. Did Rainmaker cause the floods? How much water can cloud seeding actually produce? Is it safe, and should we even be doing it? They dive into the science, conspiracy theories, regulation, and how cloud seeding compares to desalination as a tool to fight drought and preserve ecosystems. A fascinating, good-faith convo on the future of climate tech.
Timestamps:
(0:00) Cloud seeding controversy and its impact on Texas floods(2:24) Background and impact of the Texas flooding event(8:05) Comparing cloud seeding to other environmental solutions(10:20) Discussing population, water distribution, and environmental restoration(14:22) Cloud seeding timeline, feasibility, and solar panels on water canals(17:17) Ethics, concerns, and regulatory framework for cloud seeding(24:07) Public safety, ethical considerations, and social media interactions regarding cloud seeding(26:00) Closing remarks and future collaboration
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0:00.0 | Hey, everybody. I thought I would start a Spaces to talk about this whole cloud seeding brouhaha I happened to stumble into. |
0:10.5 | So, Lon, you probably saw my tweet last night, like, and then the crazy response to it, which was kind of crazy. |
0:21.8 | People are passionate about the idea of seeding clouds, especially, I guess, Santiago |
0:27.5 | Pliego is this guy who got back to you. |
0:32.1 | You know, there was actually, like, it's interesting. |
0:34.8 | I didn't realize there was like a whole, I didn't realize the whole backstory on this, |
0:39.2 | but I guess people are literally blaming this founder for causing the floods. Right. Augustus. I didn't know |
0:53.3 | they were like actually people thought where there's like a whole conspiracy theory that Peter T.L. is flooding. |
1:01.5 | Right. |
1:02.0 | Attempting to flood and kill people. That's obviously insane and deranged. |
1:07.0 | I just say people, no, that was not my intent with my tweet. I was just saying, hey, I wonder if we should do this. |
1:13.1 | Right. |
1:13.8 | You were speaking very generally as a layperson, and I think people maybe were assuming that you were speaking as some sort of an insider you were trying to rely on, you know, is this is such a topic that is surrounded with |
1:28.2 | conspiratorial thinking, you know, weather machines and people controlling the climate. |
1:34.2 | And, you know, I think there's, there's so much psychologically behind that idea. |
1:38.8 | Okay. |
1:39.2 | I just approved a bunch of folks. |
1:40.6 | Hopefully, yeah, Augustus is. |
1:42.2 | Hey, Jason. |
1:43.6 | Yeah, hey. How are you doing? |
1:45.9 | Dude, I'm blessed and well. Thanks for having me up. |
1:49.9 | I appreciate getting to talk to you in good faith here. |
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