Track 6. Cancer Vaccines, New Age of Weather Forecasting, E-Bike Boom

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.

Hey Bullet Train readers 👋 ,

Exciting things: one of our team members is getting married this weekend, so we’re all a bit sidetracked on that this week (in the best way!). But of course, there were some future-impacting stories we got hyped on and we can’t resist sharing them with you. So let’s do it.

It’s June 26^th . Today’s stops include:

• Cancer vaccines are coming 🧬 

• Next-gen weather satellite poised to revolutionize forecasting 🛰️ 

• The quiet climb of e-bikes 🚲️ 

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:

Cancer vaccines are coming

• What to know: Moderna (the biotech company) and Merck (the pharma giant) published findings on their experimental skin cancer treatment and the results are worth 👏 paying 👏 attention 👏 to

• Moderna’s shift: known for its mRNA COVID vaccine, Moderna is leaning further into mRNA technology to personalize cancer treatments (the stock market is taking notice)

• How mRNA cancer vaccines work: it’s a highly personalized treatment that takes a sample of a patient’s tumor cells to create a customized injection that tells the person’s immune system how to identify and destroy their unique cancer cells

• Promising trial results: skin cancer patients who received a Moderna mRNA cancer vaccine plus Merck’s cancer drug (Keytruda) saw a reduced risk of recurrence or death by 49% after 2.5 years

• Gentler side effects: compared to chemo and radiation, the main side effects seem more tolerable, as most patients in the Moderna trial reported fatigue, injection site pain, and chills as the main impacts

• Industry movements: mRNA vaccines have long been eyed as potential cancer treatments, but a recent influx of promising trial results now has cancer specialists incredibly excited about its future

• Other players: Moderna isn’t alone — others working on personalized mRNA cancer vaccines include BioNTech for pancreatic cancer; Transgene for head and neck and cervical/ovarian cancers; and WestGene for Epstein Barr virus-related cancers

• Scalability concerns: the level of personalization is what makes these mRNA cancer vaccines so thrilling — but it also makes them harder to scale as each patient requires a custom solution for it to work

• Where our minds are going: it feels like we’re entering a new dawn in cancer treatment, which could change the lives of so many people when this rolls out to the masses

• AI incoming: if scalability is the primary blocker, we can’t help but expect AI to play a major role in bringing personalized cancer vaccines into standard treatment over the next decade

Next-gen weather satellite poised to revolutionize forecasting

• What to know: yesterday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) launched the GOES-U weather satellite into orbit on the back of a SpaceX rocket

• What on earth does that mean: this is the fourth and final installment of a series of Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (hence, GOES) — which offer sophisticated imagery and data for monitoring weather phenomena

• Better weather predictions: GOES has allowed weather forecasters to better estimate the intensity of storms — hurricanes in particular — which enables more effective storm warnings

• Environmental applications: these satellites also play a role in monitoring sea surface temperatures, identifying wildfire hot spots, and predicting flooding and mudslides, among other benefits

• What’s unique about the GOES-U: this newest satellite is the most advanced in terms of image capture, but it also includes a compact coronagraph instrument to allow for better solar activity tracking

• It sounds kinda boring… BUT: this coronagraph matters because we’re currently seeing higher-than-expected solar activity right now (remember those Northern Lights displays that unexpected locations saw last month?), and this can cause geomagnetic storms

• Preventing blackouts: while solar storms can lead to awe-inspiring Aurora Borealis shows, they can also majorly disrupt navigation, communication, and power systems

• Why you should care: we know this is a piece for the weather geeks out there (we see you, we are you!), but these next-gen satellites matter for humanity’s collective well-being as we all navigate unprecedented earth and space weather changes

• What’s next: the NOAA plans to launch the Geostationary Extended Observations (GeoXO) satellite system after 2030 to address environmental challenges and further revolutionize weather forecasting — so keep an eye on this space

Cut Through Noise with The Flyover!

The Flyover offers a refreshing alternative to traditional news.

We deliver quick-to-read, informative content across sports, business, tech, science, and more that cuts through the noise of mainstream media.

The Flyover's talented team of editors meticulously collects the day's most important news, ensuring you stay informed on top stories and equipped to win your day.

Join over 600,000 savvy readers and leaders who trust The Flyover to provide unbiased insights, sourced from hundreds of outlets!

Subscribe with One Click!

A story that diverted us from our day job:

The quiet climb of e-bikes

• What caught our attention: newly proposed US legislation, called the Domestic Bicycle Production Act, aims to bring bike-making back to American soil and incentivize e-bike buying through federal tax credits

• Signs of demand: current e-bike tax incentives in the US are state or city-specific, but early indications show that people are snapping up these small-scale credits like crazy

• One to watch: Bloom is a US startup that’s noticed these trends and is stepping in to handle all backend logistics and warehousing of e-bike parts to help domestic bike manufacturers scale more easily

• Global momentum: the US lags far behind the likes of China, Denmark, Germany, and Japan in terms of proportions of e-bike ownership and sales — but this growing interest in American e-bikes signals a broader global shift towards micro-mobility trends

• Environmental benefits we can’t ignore: e-bikes are 10x more efficient than passenger EVs and capable of offsetting nearly 1 million barrels of oil per day (compared to 265,000 barrels/day offset by electric cars)

• Easier than an EV: for city and suburb dwellers — electric bikes offer easier means of storage, charging, and parking — and in the US e-bike sales have surpassed EV sales for the past 5 years

• Where our minds are going: when it comes to electric transport options, it’s feeling a bit like the tortoise and the hare — where EVs (cue, Tesla) are giving big hare energy and e-bikes feel more slow and steady and poised to make a surprising surge into the mainstream

A bit of fun to round out your ride

• In a competition for best AI-generated photos, a real photograph of a Flamingo snagged 3rd place before it got disqualified for being a “fraud” (which feels weird to say…)

• After catching a matinee showing of Inside Out 2 last weekend we get why it’s the top-grossing movie so far this year — if you’re someone who experiences emotions of any kind, go watch it

• A slightly painful but important read for dog owners everywhere: experts answer the question, “are we loving our pets to death?”

• Can confirm we’ve not thought much about the implications of needing to go #2 on the moon — but apparently, it’s an important thing to consider (ethically and practically!)

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

Do you think magic mushrooms will become medical mainstream?

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Totally! (68.3%)

“I think as a response to the past decades of epidemics caused by drugs and drug addiction, non-addictive medicinal options like psychedelics being used to treat mental health and other illnesses will have their day in the sun. How long it will last is yet to be seen. But I think mushrooms and other psychoactive treatments will emerge as potential options.” - K

🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ Too far out for me, man (31.7%)

If Tesla can bring Optimus to market in 5 years for $20K, would you buy it?

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 My very own C3PO? Yes. (41%)

“Washing dishes and preparing food seem like ideal tasks for a robot” - N

🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ I'm undecided (20.5%)

🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜️ Not interested (38.5%)

“Elon has been lying through his teeth with fake promises for years - I don’t need a $20,000 potato ricer at cut-throat conditions with terrible service.” - J

Will Catan's climate education initiative make a difference?

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Yes, every little helps! (44%)

🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜️ Nah - it is more of a PR move (40%)

“The types of people that care about environmental issues will buy it, congratulating themselves on contributing -- whereas the naysayers will become further entrenched, annoyed and purchase a different version... also probable, they may choose a different company entirely. They will lose customers on this” - R

🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ I'm on the fence (16%)

Please mind the gap as you get off the train ✌️