Bioengineers at the University of Minnesota have 3D-printed a network of light receptors on a hemisphere about the size of the front half of a human eyeball. Using a glass dome as a base, the scientists began by covering the surface with a layer of ink containing silver particles. The ink’s consistency held the silver in place instead of letting...
New energy vehicles
If car bodies are made from the right kind of carbon fibers, they could store electricity and reduce the size and weight of on-board battery packs – or even become the car’s battery itself, say engineers at Sweden’s Chalmers University of Technology. Varieties of carbon fiber made up of large, well-organized crystals are twice as strong as steel – but...
Fat gene
Can’t lose the extra weight? Your genes might be the culprit. Specifically, you might lack the gene that produces a protein called Pannexin 1, which regulates the creation of fat cells and fat storage. Researchers at the University of Western Ontario deleted the gene from mice embryos and then watched the newborn mice bulk up, adding an average of 42...
Socially minded
Investors in their mid-40s and younger increasingly are putting their money in funds and companies that demonstrate social responsibility, according to a new study from Swell Investing, a project of the Pacific Life Insurance company. The study found that 78 percent of Millennials – born between 1981 and 1997 – look for investments that offer a social return as well...
The General Motors of cannabis… at least in Canada
The Canadian company began as a dealer in medical marijuana but wasted no time positioning itself for the world beyond October 18, 2018, the day when smoking ganja for fun became legal in Canada. Since 2016, Aurora has gobbled up CannaMed, Pedianos, Urban Cultivator, and eight other marijuana businesses – mostly recently MedReleaf, for which it paid $2.5 billion. Aurora...
Equity market meltdowns
On 19 September, two days before U.S. equity markets hit new highs, we alerted Trends Journal subscribers to prepare for an Economic 9/11. In October, the Nasdaq slumped 9 percent, its biggest drop since the Panic of ‘08. And the S&P 500 lost 7 percent, its worst month since September 2011. And it’s getting worse. On 20 November the S&P...
Time for Blockchain voting
It’s a sick joke. America! The land of the “Exceptionals.” The home of “We’re #1.” “Geek Central” Silicon Valley Techno-wizards… a nation with voting systems on par with Zimbabwe…or maybe worse. Some two weeks after the mid-term elections in the United States, critical high-profile gubernatorial, Senate and House races have remained unresolved. Besieged by lawsuits and claims of fraud and...
As forecast, pot is hot
The Midterm elections in the U.S. marked yet another significant step forward for legal marijuana across the globe, advancing a trend we identified three years ago: Money Reefer Madness. We had forecast that both recreational and medical marijuana would become increasingly accepted by the global community. Why? Simple. The same reason they ended prohibition in the United States back in...
Gold vs. Cryptos
The crypto community is built on the idea that Bitcoin is digital gold and has the potential to become world money. It’s done so usually by disparaging not only fiat money but physical gold, creating a line of contention between Bitcoin and the precious metal upon which much of its design is based. This kind of divide is problematic because...
Triangles of Death: Economic disaster, social unrest
“Global Economic Slowdown Deepens” read the 14 November front page Wall Street Journal headline. It’s real. And while some nations are slowing down, others are diving deep into economic and social despair. No clearer example than what’s going on south of America’s border down Mexico way, where several thousand escapees who left their economically depressed homelands, are trying to get...