In 2010, Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin established X as their company’s most innovative wing, dedicated to “moonshot thinking.”

As defined, X would:

• Identify global problems affecting millions or billions of people.
• Pursue radical ideas that may seem impossible today and make them possible.

Seeking out tech breakthroughs that could “redefine humanity” seems like a tall enough task, but in today’s world, X increasingly requires another: a clearer path to profitability.

The belt tightens

As parent company Alphabet slims down its ranks — nearing 180k employees, down from 190.7k last year — X, AKA The Moonshot Factory, is now also feeling the pinch. Per Bloomberg:

• X will lay off “dozens of employees.”
• The lab is seeking outside funding from VCs and other investors to back X projects.

To be clear: the end goal for X projects has always been independence as strong, self-sustaining businesses.

• Self-driving car powerhouse Waymo and autonomous drone delivery service Wing are two of the most famous graduates from X’s R&D lab to become separate Alphabet subsidiaries.

But as cost-cutting efforts intensify across the company, the runway for developing these speculative bets solely on Alphabet’s dime is shortening.

What work could feel the heat?

X’s website shows four active projects, which will face, at minimum, a reduction in support staff:

• Chorus: tech to enable better real-time supply chain management.
• Tapestry: computational tools to untangle the complexities of global power grids.
• Tidal: an underwater sensor system to aid in more sustainable fish farming.
• Taara: a plan to increase internet access through beams of light.

OK, but: as cool as all those sound, X will never be our favorite innovation lab — not when there’s one by Domino’s and Microsoft that’s focused on creating “the next generation of pizza ordering.”

What if we told you that you can soon buy a shoe that costs hundreds of dollars and looks like a Croc and a sock had a baby?

Not interested? Weird.

But what if that shoe could solve some of the world’s biggest sustainability problems? That kind of changes things.

The footwear in question is a collaboration between London shoe brand Vivobarefoot and material science company Balena, per The Guardian.

• Customers will have their feet 3D-scanned in stores and their shoes will be custom printed over 30 hours.
• The shoes use BioCir flex, a patented thermoplastic made of 51% biological material and 49% petrochemical.
• Printing shoes on demand and to a customer’s exact specifications eliminates the need for extra stock or wasted materials.

The shoes are still being prototyped and are not yet available, but a pair will one day set you back ~$254-$330.

High cost

While that might seem steep for a questionable fashion choice, the price of ignoring our recycling problems is even higher.

• The fashion industry produces ~10% of global carbon emissions and uses massive amounts of water and land.
• Shoes are one of the biggest offenders: most are made with rubber, plastic, metal, and adhesives that are hard to dispose of and ultimately pile up in landfills.

While these 3D-printed shoes still can’t go straight to the compost bin with your fruits and veggies, they can be returned to an industrial composting plant and broken down into a nontoxic substance.

And it might be time to get used to the look — these funky kicks join a growing group of brands attempting to make footwear sustainable by using everything from mushrooms and sugarcane to cacti and bananas.

Build an ark, sacrifice your only son, mint a new cryptocurrency.

Eligio Regalado — pastor of the online-only Victorious Grace Church in Colorado — and his wife, Kaitlyn, are accused of scamming $3m+ off a token backed not by gold, but God.

Uh, what?

Colorado Securities Commissioner Tung Chan alleges that between June 2022 and April 2023, the Regalados sold their token, INDXcoin, to 300+ investors via their platform, Kingdom Wealth Exchange.

They claimed the coin, which sold for $1.50 each, was linked to especially valuable tokens and worth at least $10 each, according to the lawsuit.

The problem:

• They had no experience in crypto.
• They were selling unregistered securities without a license.
• The token was plagued with technical problems and was, in reality, worthless.

Chan accused the couple of pocketing $1.3m+ of the ~$3.2m raised and spending it on luxury items, vacations, an au pair, and a home remodel.

Where is your god now?

Still around, per Regalado, who posted a video explaining that, yes, they did finance their home remodel with the money — but that’s because God told them to.

In fact, it was God who instructed the Regalados to leave their marketing business in 2021 and create a new token, saying “Take this to my people for a wealth transfer.” God would go on to offer very specific cryptocurrency advice, including when to tell investors to HODL.

Regalado maintains his role as a crypto prophet, saying, “Either I misheard God… or God is still not done with this project.”

Your move, God.