An Economist’s Guide to the World in 2050

 For my long-term retirement portfolio investing, I like to get ideas on long-term (out to 2050) Economic trends etc.

I've seen a few of these types of analysis from various sources (this one is Bloomberg) and they generally say the same thing, power/riches moving from West to East.  I wonder how much they took into account potential game changers such as 3D printing (already having a fairly large effect and will grow as it continues to grow more sophisticated) and a future juggernaut, Nanotechnology (this would be hard to take into account at this point, other than what Country is putting more R&D into these things -- I've seen tables on that too and think that was Asia too...Doh!).

https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2020-global-economic-forecast-2050/?utm_source=pocket&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=pockethits

Healthy vs. Unhealthy Sugar Substitutes

 Here are 2 healthy ones discussed at my fave science based Health website

https://www.healthline.com/health/food-nutrition/xylitol-vs-erythritol

I was going to say, here are the unhealthy ones...the artificial sweeteners but that was based on the last time I did a deep dive on them, at least 5y ago, seems since then more refined studies found they may not be as bad as the initial, cruder experiments suggested. This is is why we need to be open minded and be ready to change our stance when the science based facts change.

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/artificial-sweeteners-good-or-bad#bottom-line

However, it's not like the new results proved they are very healthy and there still seems to be some trouble areas like the effect artificial sweeteners have on our gut biome (which we are learning plays an ever increasingly central role in our health) and a few other areas. So I will keep abstaining.

FYI - My Current Supplement Regiment

 FYI - Sent this to a friend today but figured share widely in case others interested

On M, W & F's I take

- 1 Multi Vit

- 1 Vit D (not w K as my multi has K but I think it'd be fine to take a Vit D&K here as well)

Multi link, great shop in US (I've never found it in Can)...$9.99 shipping is fair. Also check Andy_Whitby review at that link haha 9 Ppl found it helpful 0 say Not helpful haha

https://www.vitacost.com/emerald-labs-one-a-day-mens-45-plus-1-daily-multi#ProductReviewsContent

Vit D (like I said can just go w Vit D&K here)

https://www.amazon.ca/Natural-Factors-Vitamin-D3-1000/dp/B00PUWYSSI

On T, Tr, Sat & Sun I take 

- 1 Vit D, 1 Vit D&K, 1 High Efficacy Quercetin

You could just do 2 Vit D&K + Quercetin

Vit D & K

https://www.noahsnaturalfoods.ca/natural-factors-vitamin-k-d-60-softgels/

High EMIQ Quercetin

https://www.noahsnaturalfoods.ca/natural-factors-bioactive-quercetin-emiq-50-mg-60-veg-caps/

This is an amazing review of Senolytics (Quercetin being a prime example)...supplements that can get rid of senescent (i.e. dying/dead) cells.

https://www.the-scientist.com/features/can-destroying-senescent-cells-treat-age-related-disease--67136

It's a long article so here's a good quote from it

That getting rid of senescent cells is enough to effectively rejuvenate an animal—that tells you they’re a really important driver of aging. 

 —Lorna Harries, University of Exeter

Robots - Evolving!

Saw this super entertaining video from my fave podcaster Lex Fridman...here's the latest evolution of what Robots can do, this is getting very lifelike and should be more than enough for most jobs they would be asked to do!

https://youtu.be/fn3KWM1kuAw

10y or so ago, this was the most advanced Robot in the world...now it's a bit counterintuitive but while dancing (like the above) is easier for a human than learning to play the violin like this...it's the reverse for Robots!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzjkBwZtxp4

Finally, for some fun, here's Jimmy Fallon interviewing some of the best/funniest Robots 1-2y ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-zyTlZQYpE

Wallpaper TV's - Waiting a long time for these!

When LG announced their 77" Wallpaper OLED years ago, I thought surely that would release the flood gates and by now we could buy a 100"+ model for a reasonable price!

https://www.lg.com/us/tvs/lg-OLED77W9PUA-signature-oled-4k-tv

Clearly that hasn't been the case, I haven't had time to deep dive on what the problem was/is...I have a 55" OLED upstairs which is perfect size for wall mounting (and an amazing tv btw!!!) in the bedroom but downstairs I have room for a 100"+ Wallpaper TV. The TV industry has been strange last 5 years, OLED hasn't taken over as expected (I have a vague notion of why but won't get into it here) instead Samsung is faking next gen technology with their QLED's (QLED is supposed to be the next gen to OLED, Quantum Dot TV's - without backlights! Samsung just takes an LCD/LED and adds a QLED layer to approximate what a QLED would be but the key is does it need a backlight or not!) and we're seeing the extension of ancient LCD/LED tech by Nanocells/Mini LED's etc.

So as I look to replace my 11yo top quality LG LED (w/ local dimming) in the next few months I won't be able to get something like the beautiful MicroLED (don't mix this up w Nanocells or Mini LED, Micro LED is a true upgrade in tech as it requires no backlight just like OLED's) Samsung is showcasing, as MicroLed not really out yet and will be insanely expensive for awhile after being out anyway. I'll have to settle for some 4K HDR LED that at least has all the latest smart tv apps, like Apple Air Play 2 etc (85" versions of these will still be fairly nice to play PS5 on). That my 11yo LG does not. Samsung's amazing looking 110" MicroLED (I still have an embargo on Samsung after seeing their QA take a nosedive in last 5y or so, though perhaps recently they've tried to recitfy this, time will tell)

https://www.theverge.com/2020/12/9/22166062/samsung-110-inch-microled-4k-tv-announced-features

Can We Extract Energy from the Black Hole at the Center of the Milky Way?

My compatriot V. Toth on Quora usually answers questions thoroughly and very clearly...this is a rare one where he missed the bullseye.

https://qr.ae/pNScnG

I would have fixed it with a comment but VT disables them. What he wrote is good for everyone to know and it is all true but the key bits he missed are

If a Black Hole spins, we can extract energy from it, Penrose developed a process using the Ergosphere for how this is possible.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ergosphere

Then the question is, does the BH at centre of our galaxy spin? Not easy to measure but seems it probably does, at a rate of no more than 10% the theoretical max spin of a BH

https://www.universetoday.com/148403/we-actually-dont-know-how-fast-the-milky-ways-supermassive-black-hole-is-spinning-but-might-be-a-way-to-find-out/

BH's can have 3 fundamental properties

1) Mass

2) Spin

3) Electric Charge

So this got me thinking, since Spin can be used as an energy source, can electric charge? I did a quick deep dive and it seems it can, though likely still needs Spin as well. This article below did the background research and explains very clearly

https://medium.com/predict/harvesting-energy-from-a-black-hole-b69e0044c28e

This could be a future energy source once we reach Kardashev III level!

https://youtu.be/n4JkaNJX-_U

Future of Free Higher Education: Update

A great step, I'm sure we will see more of the same in years to come from other Uni's

https://news.slashdot.org/story/18/09/18/1912253/rice-university-says-middle-class-and-low-income-students-wont-have-to-pay-tuition

Ultimate goal of course being completely free!