Radiation-hardened space electronics don’t get splashy headlines, but nothing in orbit works without them. Starship, the ISS, Amazon’s Project Kuiper, Starlink... the whole caboodle depends on hardware that keeps running when the vacuum, extreme temperatures, and radiation of space would annihilate your laptop plug on Earth.

The extreme environments of space are no place for trial and error with the small things.  

Danny Andreev, CEO of Sunburn Schematics, designs those systems for real missions. In this episode of Thinking on Paper, he walks you through what actually keeps spacecraft alive: particle-induced faults, gate-driver failures, thermal shock, and the methods space companies use to mitigate the risks.

We go from chip-level physics to the industrial picture: why the next phase of space isn’t glossy renders but an off-world supply chain built from proven terrestrial machinery, cheaper short-lived satellites, and megawatt-class power standards that mirror EV infrastructure.

It’s an unromantic, inside-the-factory look at how space becomes an industry rather than a spectacle.

What we cover:

- Radiation effects and how engineers harden real hardware

- Why thermal cycling destroys more missions than radiation

- How chips are stress-tested for orbit

- The economics of moving from billion-dollar craft to replaceable fleets

- Why the first lunar machines will look like modified construction gear

- The engineering mindset needed for a multi-planet infrastructure

This is a technical, grounded conversation for people who build things and curious minds who want to learn why and how.

Please enjoy the show. And subscribe. That's the best way to help other people find the channel.

Cheers,

Mark & Jeremy.

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TIMESTAMPS

(00:00) Thinking On Paper Trailer

(02:59) The Role of DC to DC Converters in Space

(03:46) Challenges of Power Systems in Space

(05:30) Designing for Reliability in Space

(07:13) The Impact of Radiation on Electronics

(08:52) Testing and Validation of Space Electronics

(11:03) Environmental Challenges for Space Electronics

(12:28) Success Rates and Lessons Learned

(15:22) The Importance of Music in Space Missions

(22:30) The Future of Space Exploration

(25:23) Building a Lunar Economy

(27:51) Power Conversion in Space

(31:57) Exciting Developments in Space Technology

(35:13) Philosophical Insights on Space and Life

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If the military had been using AIs in 1983, everyone would be dead. Machines will never be conscious, and that animal instinct saved the world. 

This is the story:

On 26 September 1983, Lieutenant Colonel Stanislav Petrov sat in a Soviet early-warning bunker watching computers tell him that US nuclear missiles were on their way. 

The data said “launch.” 

His intuition said “wait.” 

Petrov chose to override the system and, in doing so, probably saved the world.

In this Thinking on Paper Book Club short, Mark and Jeremy use the Petrov story as a live case study for one of Federico Faggin’s core arguments in Irreducible: information is not the same as consciousness.

Across a few minutes, they unpack:

• Why Petrov’s decision shows the gap between mechanical rule-following and conscious judgment

• How “information makes consciousness” sits at the center of Federrio Faggin’s new consciousness theory

• Why AI systems that only flip 1s and 0s can’t replicate intuition or qualia. In other words, why AI will never be conscious.
  This is a short from our 13-part Book Club on Federico Faggin’s Irreducible.

If you’re interested in AI, consciousness, and the limits of information theory, listen to the full episode for more on information, consciousness, and why Faggin thinks consciousness is irreducible. 

Cheers, 

Mark and Jeremy.

Keep Thinking On Paper.

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Don Norman gives the clearest, most accessible explanation of humanity centered design there is. He invented the concept, after all.

In this Thinking On Paper short, the Godfather of Design lays out the foundations of why design must expand beyond the individual user and account for society, the planet, and long-term impact. 

The core idea is simple: designing for individual users is no longer enough. “What’s wrong,” he says, “is what’s left out.” 

Every digital product relies on a physical product. Power systems, infrastructure, data centers, electricity. You can’t ignore these systems when designing a new product.

Designers need to widen their frame. Traditional human-centered overlooks environmental and social consequences.

The hidden costs of digital technology show up far from your phone, laptop, car or magic pen.

Humanity Centered Design teams work with communities instead of imposing solutions. They focus on long-term impact more than short-term convenience.

• Efficiency isn’t always a virtue.

• Simple metrics distort real outcomes

• Responsible design must consider ecosystems

Don Norman is a legend. He argues that the future of design depends on understanding how products influence society, policy, and the planet, not just usability.

The conversation moves from principles to practice: what sustainable design looks like, how to design without repeating “colonial” patterns, and how to build technology that strengthens communities instead of weakening them. 

“We’re all together,” Norman says, summing up his approach. 

The responsibility is collective, and so is the impact.

Please enjoy the show.

And share it with a friend.

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Can humanoids dance? Or will the billions of Tesla human robots choose to forgo such technological frivolity?

And why is the universe so empty? Where is all the extraterrestrial life....If space colonization and exploration of the galaxy is fundamental to a level 2 or 3 Kardashev civilization, surely there should be aliens knocking around this corner of the Milky Way?

Perhaps they don't like us. Perhaps they don't want to change our trajectory and choose to remain hidden, giving reckless glances of their power and prowess at random moments. Teasing us with their faster-than-light spaceships.

Or are we as rare and unique as we appear?

Philip Johnston is CEO of Starcloud. They build data centers in space. You'll have seen them trending on Twitter recently as their first satellite was on the recent Space-X Falcon 9 launch. You can track it orbiting the Earth.

This is a short from our much longer conversation. Which you can listen to once you've had a flavour of it.

Alternatively, check out our other Thinking on Paper episodes. There is something for every curious mind. From space electronics and personal AI, to spin qubits, IBM quantum computing and a book club.

Cheers,

Mark and Jeremy

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AI agents can read feeds, make decisions, coordinate with other agents, and even speak on your behalf. 

In this short conversation, Andrew Hill breaks down what an agent actually is, why every company is racing to build them, and how close we are to personal agents that manage our schedules, explain our thinking, and interact with other people’s agents without us in the loop.

The discussion pushes into a harder question: people are already sharing their most intimate details with AI. At what point do these systems become better relationship partners than other humans?

If agents are about to represent us online, what does that mean for trust, privacy, and everyday interactions? 

This episode gets into the shift that’s already underway, and where personal AI agents could go next.

If agents end up knowing us better than anyone else, who are we really talking to?

Rock on.

Cheers, 

Mark & Jeremy

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To survive in space, you don’t just need engineers. You need a musician. Ideally, a guitarist. Fortunately, the technology for this exists.

Jeremy and Mark think on paper with physicist and CEO of Sunburn Schematics, Danny Andreev. What starts as a question about electrical engineering and power supplies in space, turns into human psychology and Mars Mission survival. 

Elon, are you listening?

🎸 Could Jeremy's 1969 Vibrolux guitar amp actually work in space? What modifications would it need to play on the moon? 

🎸 Why analog amps shrug off radiation.

🎸 How studies on submarines and Arctic bases show that having a musician changes how crews handle isolation

🎸 Mars needs musicians, comedians, and people willing to risk dying in space so the rest of us don’t have to

This isn’t a gear review. It's about culture, space, guitars and the human condition. 

Rock on.

Cheers, 

Mark & Jeremy

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Curious Minds Learn about THE REAL IMPACT of technology 👇 Thinking on Paper goes holistic. Your learning goes ballistic.

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AI, Quantum computing, space manufacturing, robotics and Web3! From the CEOS and Silicon Valley Founders spending millions and billions making them useful.

Or destroying the planet for their Egos. Take your curiosity, push it to its limits and see what technology can really do.

Our mission is to help ONE MILLION curious minds ditch their Twitter and LinkedIn feeds and connect the dots for themselves.

Each week, hosts Mark and Jeremy take you inside IBM, NASA, Coinbase, D-Wave, and more. They focus on how systems work, what they cost, who benefits, and the impact on work, policy, culture, and family.

There's a Book Club too. Because the oldest tech is still the best.

Stop scrolling and subscribe.

AI Ethics is a mirage straight from a Kafka novel. Questions of justice, principles and the rule of law are incompatible with machine learning. Machine learning is statistical analysis of data that outputs responses human beings are likely to find attractive, not true or ethical.

That is not a good way to design ethics.

Carissa Veliz joins Makr & Jeremy to Think On Paper.

She outlines how AI depends on surveillance and statistical pattern-matching that can’t meet the basic standards of a democracy: clear rules and the ability to appeal a decision.

AI thinking clashes with the foundations of a liberal democracy: public rules, transparency, and the right to challenge decisions that shape your life.

We cover:

😀 Why machine-learning decisions are opaque

😀 Why that conflicts with the rule of law

😀 How surveillance sits beneath modern AI systems

Please enjoy the show.

Cheers, 

Mark & Jeremy

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Exxon & Chevron are using Microsoft AI to extract more oil. Faster, cheaper. The goal? The extraction of every last drop of oil.

Holly and Will Alpine of Enabled Emissions paint a stark picture. Just look at Microsoft’s own figures: Ai contracts signed for 50,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day with Exxon and 400,000 barrels a day with Chevron. 

That’s roughly 6.4 million and 51 million tonnes of CO₂ a year. 

Microsoft’s entire FY23 footprint was about 17 million tonnes, and it has just 5 million tonnes of carbon removal booked over 15 years. 

Those two deals alone dwarf both numbers.

Over in Saudi Arabia, Aramco’s CEO says AI has helped hold production at $3/barrel for two decades. 

AI keeps fossil fuels competitive and weakens the economics of clean energy. It touches every stage of the fossil-fuel lifecycle. 

It's ugly. It's real. You're fed a lie. Learn more here. 

Thanks for watching

Mark & Jeremy

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What is a spin qubit? Brandon Severin, CEO of Conductor Quantum, explains it like this: put a single electron in a magnetic field and it behaves like a tiny compass needle with two orientations, spin-up and spin-down.

Those are your 0 and 1. By isolating that electron on a gated silicon device and hitting it with precise pulses, you can flip, hold, and combine those states (superposition).

He also explains that spin qubits are built with the same fabrication tech as classical transistors. If we can print tens of billions of transistors on a modern NVIDIA or Apple chip, the same infrastructure could eventually produce comparable numbers of spin qubits, because each qubit is essentially one electron you can address and control.

Listen to the full episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LeN3VBvG0o&t=1s

Cheers,

Mark & Jeremy

Other ways to connect with us:

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Email: [email protected]