The Pomp Podcast
#1326 Augustus Doricko | Bitcoiner Wants To Control The Weather
- Augustus Doricko founded Rainmaker Technologies to enhance precipitation using precision drones that deliver silver iodide into clouds, enabling controlled rainfall to address water scarcity in the American West.
- Cloud seeding has existed for 70 years but remained nascent and crude until recent technological advances solved the attribution problem, proving that interventions directly increase precipitation.
- Practical applications include watershed supplementation for farms, extending ski resort seasons, hail suppression for property protection, and potentially hurricane mitigation through energy dispersion.
- China operates a 38,000-person weather modification program with state funding; the U.S. lags significantly despite inventing the technology, partly due to lack of commercialization and government investment.
- Regulatory frameworks around weather modification are minimal in the U.S., but collaboration between private companies, states, and federal agencies is necessary to govern water as a public good.
- Long-term vision extends beyond precipitation enhancement to terraforming deserts, expanding arable land, and creating a more habitable and biodiverse planet.