Unknown Elon Musk story
Unknown Elon Musk story
Elon Musk had a question and only one person could answer in the world.
In this week’s newsletter: A story on Elon finding an answer to his curious question, Crypto billionaire’s prediction, The Yuxi circle, and many more…
Hi 👋 Prado here
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Every Wednesday, I publish one essay & 10 interesting things that will help you become healthy, wealthy and wise 👇
Essay of the week
In 2002, Paypal got acquired. Elon was the biggest shareholder. He received $175.8 million from it.
After that, he founded multiple companies. One of them was SpaceX. He was trying to build lighter and reusable rockets.
Elon's curious question was "Can Scandium Aluminium make his rockets lighter?"
Remember this was back in the early 2000s. There was no social media, no "commenting-for-reach" shiz.
After the fall of the Soviet Union, Tim Worstall went to Moscow, met a guy at a party, drank some vodka and got to know the guy was having a hard time selling scandium.
Tim became the only independent middleman in the entire world who deals in Scandium.
A little bit about Scandium:
Scandium is one of the so-called rare earths. Add a small amount of it with other metals; you get something very strong and very light. It costs about $200,000/kg. Very expensive for widespread use.
Now back to Elon.
Elon wanted to fulfil his curiosity and he somehow found Tim probably through Usenet (Back in the day it was the newsgroups)
And asked him the question...
Elon: "Can Scandium Aluminium make rockets lighter?"
Tim: No, They'd be easier to weld, but not lighter.
Prado: What a pity. But hey...
Finding the only person who could answer a specific question is a big deal. This begs the question, "How far can one go to find an answer to a curious question?”
Now that I've shared the story, let me tell you how I stumbled upon it. Behind-the-scenes 👇
On 7th April 2022, I came across an arrogant tweet. I ignored it. I thought it was just a white man shitting on billionaires. Another day on Twitter. But then...
A couple of days later, I got a notification from Paul Graham. I clicked on it and I saw that he replied to that tweet. He asked him a valid question. I wanted to read Tristan's response. I started scrolling and found one of the most interesting stories ever.
Tim shared his interaction with Elon 👇
This got me curious and I scrolled further. Tim elaborated on his experience. What a story.
The lesson here is that you can find interesting stories everywhere. The arrogant guy's tweet led me to this amazing story.
Big shoutout to @worstall for sharing this story with us. I even sent him a DM and we had an amazing conversation
I hope you liked this story. Please share it with others and let’s ask more curious questions. If are patient enough, the answers will reveal themselves.
10 Interesting things for you 🙌
1. One of the youngest Crypto Billionaires shares his views on the market and why Nasdaq and Crypto are about to tank and then rebound like never before (Blog)
2. Something from my Twitter👇
3. Not taking Rapamycin may be as dangerous as smoking (Interesting read)
4. Fun Game - Eight Colours
5. Interesting Human of the week:- The author of “Benjamin Franklin’s Last Bet” does an AMA on Reddit
Benjamin Franklin was not a gambling man. His first bet was on himself, his last was a wager on the survival of the United States: a gift of two thousand pounds to Boston and Philadelphia, to be lent out to tradesmen over the next two centuries to jump-start their careers. Each loan would be repaid with interest over ten years. If all went according to Franklin’s inventive scheme, the accrued final payout in 1991 would be a windfall. In "Benjamin Franklin’s Last Bet," I trace the evolution of these twin funds as they age alongside America itself, bankrolling woodworkers and silversmiths, trade schools and space races. Over time, Franklin’s wager was misused, neglected, and contested—but never wholly extinguished. Franklin’s inspiring stake in the “leather-apron” class remains in play to this day.
6. Question of the week:-
7. Picture of the week:- The Yuxi Circle: The World’s Most overpopulated Area
8. Current read: Started reading Mindset by Dr Carol S. Dweck
9. Fun fact of the week:- I mean think about it
10. Quote of the week:
“Though I am often in the depths of misery, there is still calmness, pure harmony and music inside me. I see paintings or drawings in the poorest cottages, in the dirtiest corners. And my mind is driven towards these things with an irresistible momentum.” ― Vincent Van Gogh
(Tweet this quote)We live in an age when corporations pretend to care about social justice to sell products to people who pretend to hate capitalism” -Clay Routlegde
(Tweet this quote)My favourite poem:
Read a book, sip some tea.
Create art, climb a tree.
Seek adventure, on land and sea.
Stay young at heart, be wild and free. - Natalia Crow
Check out some previous newsletters:
Diderot Effect (Read)
Life’s lines of Closeness (Read)
Cathedral Thinkers (Read)
Join in if you want me to trigger your curiosity every week👇
Personal Announcement 🚨
Finally completed all my previous commitments. Opened up more time. Time to dig few rabbit holes 🚀
In This Together,
Prado
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