Its approach is novel: Most geoengineering research today is led by scientists in the US at universities and federal agencies, and the work they are doing is more or less accessible to public scrutiny. Stardust is at the forefront of an alternative path: One in which private companies drive the development, and perhaps deployment, of technologies that experts say could have profound consequences for the planet.

First, that isn’t a novel approach. Second, being accessible to public scrutiny should be a requirement, since the consequences will affect all of us. Third, the people behind this have questionable backgrounds.