Monitoring the future - Nerd Safari Issue #5

Welcome Nerds.

More progress to a reduced CO2 future, and insights into how we might extend healthy lifespan pharmacologically.

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What:  Cambridge researchers are making strides in the production of zero-emissions cement via an electric-arc furnace, at least in the context of the Portland cement used in steel recycling. .  https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07338-8 

Why: 7-8% of global CO2 emissions come from the production of cement, some of this lies in the decarbonization of limestone and some in power emissions used in the production process itself.  While this applies only to the slag cement used for recycling steel, look at this as one step towards electrifying cement production on a larger scale as well as the use of electricity as a source of power in heavy industry.  

What: The US Department of Energy has confirmed that the Salton Sea is a massive source of Lithium. With expected technology advances, the Salton Sea region’s total resources could produce more than 3,400 kilotons of lithium, enough to support 375 million+ batteries for electric vehicles (EV).  This is more than the total number of vehicles currently on U.S. roads. https://www.energy.gov/eere/articles/us-department-energy-analysis-confirms-californias-salton-sea-region-be-rich-domestic

Why:  Not only does the Salton Sea have the potential to be a geopolitically stable source of US Lithium, because this is tied to a geothermically active zone, the extraction process is relatively greener than mining lithium from hard rock. Extraction plants will piggy-back on existing geothermal plants where hot brines from geothermically active strata are pumped from up from as much as 2.5 kilometers, steam from the brine drives turbines to generate electricity, and the brine is then reinjected into aquifers. This process that can be repeated over and over, until the brines become too diluted to make lithium recovery economically practical.

What: Researchers at the Mayo Clinic have demonstrated that administering a senolytic stack of desatinib and quercetin (D+Q) increased α-klotho levels in mice implanted. Previous research has revealed that reducing α-klotho in mice shortens lifespan, while increasing a-klotho levels via gene insertion to trigger production can extend their lifespan by 30%. α-klotho levels also tend to decline as people age and are particularly reduced in various diseases such as Alzheimer's, diabetes, and kidney disease.   https://www.thelancet.com/journals/ebiom/article/PIIS2352-3964(22)00096-2/fulltext

Why:  You should add this to the increasingly long list of research threads leading to increased human and animal longevity.  This is also important for at least 2 more reasons. 

First, as with the combination of geothermal and lithium extraction seen above, when looking for innovative ways to solve problems this is another reminder that looking at new ways of applying existing tools can yield big benefits. Case in point, desatinib is a kinase inhibitor that is used to inhibit some forms of leukemia from spreading.  

Second, by starting to see how diseases such as Alzheimers, diabetes, kidney disease, and blood cancers like leukemia are all connected to aging more broadly, it’s clear that the dialogue around fun

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About Nerd Safari

Signs of what’s coming are all around us but they are easy to miss. Trends are deceptive, and then - all of a sudden - disruptive.

My hypothesis is that as the world grows ever more connected, the time window we have to adapt is rapidly shrinking. Missing out early will come with severe consequences.

We are scratching our own itch here, attempting to apply foresight to prepare for the future.

The hope is that this is valuable for you as well, whether you are investing, evaluating career opportunities, crafting regulatory policy, or trying to raise good humans.