NASA sends rocket to the moon adding a new player in the space economy
NASA’s Artemis 1 mission launched an uncrewed capsule to fly around the moon, representing the first crew-capable flight by NASA in almost 50 years.4 The purpose of the program is to return astronauts to the lunar surface by 2025, and eventually put boots on Mars. The United States is revitalizing its space program by adding capital and technology to the “space economy.” Thus, we expect to see further investment in telecommunications, meteorology, robotics, tourism, and even low-gravity materials manufacturing. For decades, moving a payload to space was prohibitively expensive—upwards of $27,000 per pound using the space shuttle. The development of reusable rockets has dropped the cost significantly,5 with the SpaceX Falcon Heavy estimated at around US$850 per pound, providing easier access beyond the earth’s gravitational well.
Conclusion: Space travel remains a frontier: private companies have been driving innovation, and we anticipate the emergence of industries that capitalize on the reduced barriers to access space and the lunar surface.
Accessible Alzheimer’s diagnosis and medication trials brings us closer to better treatment
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia, affecting over 44 million people worldwide, and remains one of the biggest unmet needs in medicine. Alzheimer’s has to date been diagnosed through later-stage symptoms and confirmed only through brain autopsy or other costly and invasive tests. Now low-cost blood tests on the market, measuring tau and amyloid beta proteins, can help doctors provide an earlier diagnosis.6,7 Combined with a new generation of medications to slow cognitive decline, patients can maintain their level of brain function for a longer time. Research on a handful of medications continues to work through clinical trials, but hurdles remain at each step for safety and efficacy in preserving cognitive function.8
Conclusion: Treatment for Alzheimer’s remains one of the most clinically unmet needs in medicine that has baffled scientists for decades. However, the medical field’s progress with understanding the human genome advances it further toward providing better solutions.
Collapse of cryptocurrency exchange illustrates limited systemic risk to traditional financial system
The collapse of FTX, the second largest exchange of cryptocurrency, shows how the lack of regulatory guardrails for a new technology can enable malfeasance on an unprecedented scale. As the bankruptcy court works through the process of unwinding the company, it is clear the technology, hailed as disruptive, has so far had limited impact beyond cryptocurrency speculation. The cryptocurrency asset class’s 72% drawdown from a high of US$3 trillion has not demonstrated contagion risk to the traditional banking system.9
Conclusion: Despite a significant devaluation of cryptocurrencies and digital bank runs on various crypto exchanges, the limited impact to the traditional financial system suggests the technology has not been disruptive and decentralized finance applications remain in a nascent stage.
