Track 5. Magic Mushrooms, Tesla, Catan

Bullet Train is your express route to the stories, products & concepts shaping our future. No short-term headlines, no fluff—just the innovations transforming the world and our place in it, curated by the team behind the Meco App.

True story: our favorite part about this newsletter is hearing your take on the stories shaping our collective future. We want Bullet Train to be a two-way street (ahem, railway…), so keep those poll votes and comments coming and we’ll feature them in upcoming issues! Keep scrolling to see how you all felt about last week’s topics.

Alright now, let’s get to it. It’s June 19^th . Today’s stops include:

• The future of mushroom medicine 🍄 

• All the other stuff from Tesla’s shareholder meeting 🦿 

• Catan takes on climate change 🌳 

And don’t miss our #offtherails segment — not so future-focused, just a bit of fun

Weekly coverage of stories shaping the future — brought to you in streamlined bullet points:

The future of mushroom medicine

• What to know: psychedelic drugs (“magic mushrooms”, LSD, and MDMA) known for their hallucination-generating effects are getting increasing attention in the medical world

• Not the same psychedelic era: the 60s and 70s were rife with socioculturally-encouraged recreational usage ☮️ — but this ‘shroom surge is different

• The role of research: while largely illegal, psychedelics are allowed in clinical research, which has shown how these drugs can help treat substance abuse disorders as well as depression, anxiety, and PTSD

• An answer to medical mysteries: scientists are even looking at these drugs to relieve chronic pain conditions that have long eluded modern medicine (cancer treatment pain, phantom limb pain, and migraines)

• How it works: the theory is that psychedelics have a unique capacity to force a rewiring of the brain that almost provides a clean slate to work off of (think of it like a system reboot, not a full factory reset)

• Prevailing pushback: Currently, the FDA is pumping the brakes on psychedelics as a clinical treatment following some subpar research — but the fact that regulatory agencies are looking at psychedelics from the lens of medical intervention is significant

• Innovation to come: humans have employed psychedelics for medicinal purposes for thousands of years, so using mushrooms for healing isn’t innovation in itself — but it could unlock the door for groundbreaking research in the future

• Where our minds are going: seeing psychedelics being taken more seriously by the medical world is one thing, but recreational users are also eager for more than just a trippy ride — which is a major perspective shift that could have lasting impacts on human health

All the other stuff from Tesla’s shareholder meeting

• What to know: Tesla’s founder took the stage in Texas last week to a cacophony of “Elon” chants at the company’s annual shareholder meeting

• 56 billion reasons to tune in: of course, the biggest news story to come out of it was that Musk’s $56B pay package was approved by the Elonites… we mean, shareholders

• The real story: however, if you were determined enough to search for it, there were plenty of product updates from the Tesla team that were worth paying attention to

• Optimus primed for work: at two years old, Tesla’s humanoid robot “Optimus” is now capable of doing valuable work, with Musk projecting that 1000 of these robots will be working in Tesla factories by next year

• Your very own C3PO: he even teased an eventual retail price of $20K for Optimus, envisioning a future where everyone will have a robot (or two) to babysit their kids and do household chores (p.s. it will cost a lot more than that at launch, but you might be able to rent one!)

• A sheet of mystery: 3 ‘vehicles’ were covered by sheets in a graphic during Musk’s presentation — suggesting incoming additions to the Tesla fleet (two very car-shaped, and the other a boxy-looking thing)

• Keep your hands on the wheel: Tesla’s FSD (Full Self Driving) software is still not fully autonomous — and while Musk proclaimed massive updates were coming, for once there wasn’t an aggressive timeline attached to it, so we expect it to take… a while

• A hard sell on software: Elon also emphasized how Tesla is as much of a software company as it is a hardware company — which is their leading competitive advantage over other car manufacturers

• Where our minds are going: Tesla will continue to play in the car space, but it appears that Robotics and autonomous AI will be the key drivers of Tesla's growth over the next decade

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A story that diverted us from our day job:

Catan takes on climate change

• What to know: Settlers of Catan — the globally revered board game about collecting and utilizing physical resources to build a civilization — just launched a thoughtful revamp of the game

• Climate-centric: it’s called “Catan: New Energies” and it incorporates real environmental science into its gameplay to address the even more real climate and energy concerns of today’s world

• What to expect: classic Catan resources (brick, lumber, grain, wool, ore) are at play, with the addition of fossil fuels and renewables — and while the impacts are simplified, players must make ethical decisions about what to use and when as their choices affect all gameplayers

• How we got here: the concept is 13 years in the making — developed by the original Catan creator (Klaus Tueber, RIP) and his son — with the goal of getting more people talking and thinking about the climate crisis

• A sign of broader trends: climate change is coming for all of us, and that includes in the game world — Civilization 6 and Pandemic game creators have also launched climate-focused experiences recently

• Will games solve the climate crisis: very unlikely, but research shows that board games can improve players’ understanding of complex topics — by offering a unique and safe space for people to talk more freely about real-world concepts

• Where our minds are going: we love this move so much, and it got us wondering if other industries are innovating their products to increase education on climate change, too — brb, gone to research that and place an order for Catan: New Energies

A bit of fun to round out your ride

• A fascinating read from Nautilus Magazine — 6 best-selling science fiction authors answer the question: does science fiction shape the future?

• If you want a daily dose of AI, check out AI Tool Report. They teach you how to save time and earn more by using AI in your everyday life with quick insights

• Heard of the Swift Lift? It’s the stunning economic impact that comes to cities hosting an Eras Tour show — proving that money talks, walks, and writes songs

• This UPenn commencement speech shed light on the 4 most common things people say before they die — and offered a poignant view on how to live a more meaningful life

• Luma AI just launched Dream Machine, which is turning vintage memes into videos and we can’t get over Zuckerberg watching becoming its own type of impossible staircase

Here’s what Bullet Train readers had to say about last week’s topics:

Will Apple Intelligence become the AI of the masses?

🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ Nope (38.9%)
“Not so many people in the world have a Mac or an iPhone... so it might become the AI for Apple users only” - R

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Yep (61.1%)
“Considering how well Apple integrates into daily lives, they are the key to bringing AI-use to the masses with it integrated into their devices.” - A

How would you vote on the SAFE for Kids Act banning addictive social media algorithms? 

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Yay (70.3%)

“If Meta were producing any other kind of product with these side effects, we would have laws, bans, and so many, many lawsuits.” - J

“I recommend reading or following Jonathan Haidt and his most recent book "The Anxious Generation". He's also done numerous podcast interviews covering the subject and had a great piece in the Atlantic about it. Social media has had extremely detrimental outcomes for teens, especially teenage girls, worldwide. This is a much bigger issue than most people realize.” - N

🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Nay (29.7%)

What under-the-radar WWDC update are you excited about? 

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Photo organizing -- can't wait (28%)

🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️ Tap to cash -- must have (14%)

🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️ Scheduled sends -- needed (14%)

🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ Genmoji -- i'm in (11%)

🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Something else -- leave a comment! (7%)

“The nod/shake head feature on AirPods” - O

Please mind the gap as you get off the train ✌️