On Our Virtual Route 66 This Week With #RandomThoughts On the Week That Was

 

We present the following thoughts while being on the prowl traveling on our "Vitual Route 66" this Week: 

The Tech Blog By Peter H. Diamandis, MD

Embracing Crazy: How Bold Ideas Fuel Progress   If there’s one truth I’ve lived by, it’s this: Entrepreneurs, armed with purpose-driven, crazy ideas change the world every day.   My Massive Transformative Purpose (MTP) is “to inspire and guide entrepreneurs (like you) to create a hopeful, compelling, and abundant future.”    To support that mission, I’ve created a program called “Fund Your Purpose” to give you the tools, resources, and guidance required to create and fund your own purpose-driven startup.    Over the years I’ve personally raised over $1 billion for my for-profit and non-profit purpose-driven Moonshots—a feat that requires both the right skills and the right mindsets...   …skills and mindsets that you can learn, and I’d like to teach you.    In the Fund Your Purpose program:  I’ll share detailed stories of HOW I raised money when many told me it was impossible.  I’ll show you LIVE pitches from some of the best founders who have built BILLION-dollar companies from scratch. We’ll jointly develop and shape your Massive Transformative Purpose and Moonshot. We’ll go through the step-by-step process of answering Why Me?, Why This?, Why Now?, develop your pitch deck, and learn key strategies on presenting your venture to anyone, ranging from friends and family to venture funds. I will also show you how to select, meet and close investors to fund your purpose.  Because the truth is, you can raise money in any market (and I’m going to show you how).    But first, I want to share a few stories from my own entrepreneurial journey.    Let’s dive in…      Dreaming Big & A Story of Bad Timing…   I’ve always dreamed big and have embraced the mindsets that allow me to pursue my deepest passions and purpose. For me, that’s been opening the space frontier, and extending the healthy human lifespan... the pursuit of longevity.   Here are two stories: a story of struggle and a story of success.   Reflecting back on 2010, I found myself at the helm of what many would consider a crazy venture—raising capital to fund an asteroid mining company.    Yes, you read that correctly: asteroid mining. At that time, it seemed like a brilliant opportunity. We had just passed the laws in the U.S. and Luxembourg to allow for the private ownership of extraterrestrial materials and we had identified numerous asteroids potentially worth tens of trillions of dollars.    Fueled by passion and the vision of what could be, we managed to raise over $40 million to bring this dream to life.    Yet, despite our best efforts and considerable investment, the venture did not succeed. We lost everything we put into it.    But from this experience, I gleaned a profound lesson: timing is critical to success. Elon had told me that we were too early, and he was most definitely right.   This failure was not the end but a beginning.    It taught me the importance of perseverance, vision, and timing. And I’m clear that I will someday return to my asteroid mining ambitions when the timing is right.     A Story of Success…   My second passion, perhaps as crazy, involves extending the healthy human lifespan by 20+ years (i.e., “longevity”).   I personally think human longevity is the greatest gift we can offer to humanity, and the world’s biggest business opportunity. After all, why wouldn’t someone pay for an extra 20+ years of health, making “100 years old the new 60”?   So, I dove into this Moonshot on multiple fronts, starting the premier diagnostics and therapeutics company called Fountain Life, co-founding two public biotech firms (CELU and VAXX), launching the multi-hundred-million-dollar venture fund BOLD, and co-authoring the #1 New York Times bestseller Life Force with Tony Robbins.   But the most ambitious part of my plan was the creation of the $101M XPRIZE Healthspan—a global competition aimed at crowdsourcing solutions to reverse the ravages of aging by a minimum of 10 years, but with the goal of 20+ years.   It took me 4+ years of hard work, but I was ultimately successful in raising $141 million to fund this XPRIZE.    Today, over 250 teams have registered to compete, and I expect we’ll exceed 500 teams before the end of the year. In success, this XPRIZE will drive over $2 billion in R&D towards this crazy Moonshot.   Why I’m Launching Fund Your Purpose   My mission is to empower entrepreneurs to embrace their crazy ideas, to see beyond the immediate hurdles, and to recognize the potential impact their ventures could have.    Whether it's mining asteroids or extending our healthspan, it's audacious ideas like these that ultimately pave humanity’s future towards abundance.   Fund Your Purpose is more than a call to action. It’s an invitation to join a community of entrepreneurs committed to making a difference, solving big problems, and uplifting humanity.   It's for those who recognize that with the right timing, coupled with a relentless pursuit of their vision, you can indeed change the world.   I truly believe that a purpose-driven entrepreneur is the greatest force for good.    So, Let’s Find and Fund Your Purpose and transform the world.   I’d love to give you some free video content from my program—specifically, the story I described above on raising $141 million to reverse aging. This is content I've never shared before.   Get free access to “How I Raised $141 Million Dollars to Reverse Aging” here: https://program.fundyourpurpose.com/aging   And if you find the above story and video clip interesting and want to learn more, let’s dive in together to better mold your purpose and fund your future!

I discuss how entrepreneurs are using exponential tech like AI to create a world of abundance on my podcast. Here’s a conversation I recently enjoyed:

In brief | The seemingly unstoppable social platform TikTok might just be meeting its biggest challenge yet, US regulators say.

After facing months of criticism from Democratic and Republican politicians for how it handles, stores and utilises data from users, the House of Representatives voted to potentially ban the app unless it is divested from its China-based parent company, ByteDance.

TikTok’s chief executive dismissed the potential ban and insisted the social platform was a victim of misinformation.

It remains to be seen if the legislation will pass the US Senate and ultimately be signed into law by President Joe Biden but, make no mistake, TikTok’s future in the US is no longer guaranteed.

Why it matters | With more than 1 billion users, according to estimates, TikTok is not merely a social media platform with silly videos of people dancing.

It has influence around the world, especially among younger people.

There’s ample speculation about potential ulterior motives behind banning the app, but regardless, if it comes into effect, the US is not alone. Try using TikTok in India, you won’t get much engagement on your content. Why? It’s banned there too.

Adding to the drama, former US Treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin is trying to put together a group of investors to buy TikTok from ByteDance.

Two things are true in this debate. TikTok remains incredibly popular, yet concerns about its parent company’s cryptic policies don’t show any sign of going away.

Quoted | "We will continue to do all we can, including exercising our legal rights to protect this amazing platform that we have built with you. We believe we can overcome this together”

– Shou Zi Chew, chief executive of TikTok

Future in focus

According to Abu Dhabi's Technology Innovation Institute, the new quantum optical ground station is the first in the Arab world. Cody Combs for The National

Good optics | The Middle East’s largest quantum optical ground station for ultra-secure global communication has been unveiled

So long SIM card slot | eSIM popularity is surging amid a SIM card backlash. Here are other factors fuelling eSIM popularity

Treading lightly | Why restoring biodiversity goes beyond the problem of climate change

Book review | Investcorp executive chairman Mohammed Alardhi reflects on his life and career to provide insight on leadership, change and growth

Predicting the future: signal or noise?

Pyxis Ocean sailing through the English Channel from Spain to Amsterdam. Photo: Cargill

A sail-powered cargo ship has returned from a six-month global journey and saved up to 15 per cent on fuel by utilising innovative green technology.

The bulk carrier Pyxis Ocean left its port in Singapore in August and crossed the Cape of Good Hope on its way to Brazil, before eventually docking in Amsterdam last week.

Over the six-month period since its first journey, the boat glided through the Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean and the North and South Atlantic using two foldable sails.

This is a signal: When talking about and thinking about sustainability, it's easy to look for the big solutions that might fix all of the planet's environmental woes.

Yet progress comes in all shapes and sizes and doesn't usually happen overnight. That's why the idea of a sail-powered cargo ship saving up to 15 per cent on fuel is so enticing.

It's proof of concept and it's a win, however small.

Expect more of these small sustainability wins making headlines and inspiring similar pragmatic solutions.

In case you missed it

HyveGeo is developing microalgae technology for soil regeneration. Chris Whiteoak / The National

How a start-up plans to transform deserts into rolling hills of wheat

Could 'enigma' found in crystals help detect cancer?

Xiaomi to formally join EV race with first SU7 deliveries this month

Dubai issues law creating unified digital platform for establishing companies

Business Extra: Ramadan Edition - How the eSIM business is fuelling connectivity like never before

As Conflict Rages On, Israel and Gaza’s Environmental Fates May Be Intertwined The Israel-Hamas war has claimed the lives of more than 30,000 people. Like all armed conflicts, it has also come with an environmental toll. From shell casings to Israeli bomb fragments, millions of tons of debris now litter the streets of Gaza, while a blanket of dust and toxic ash permeates the air, posing health risks for individuals across the Strip.  Scientists estimate that more than 281,000 tons of carbon dioxide were generated by Israel’s aerial bombardment and ground invasion of Gaza in the first two months of the war, which is “greater than the annual carbon footprint of more than 20 of the world’s most climate-vulnerable nations,” reports the Guardian.  The United Nations is currently conducting a comprehensive assessment of the environmental impacts from the conflict in Gaza—a slow-going process as fighting continues. “Human remains are under the building debris, so sensitive management will be critical,” a spokesperson for the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) told Euronews Green.  One of the most evident and pressing environmental catastrophes unfolding in Gaza surrounds clean water—or lack thereof.  Water and War: Historically, Gaza has secured roughly 90 percent of its water from groundwater wells, namely the Coastal Aquifer Basin, which runs along the eastern Mediterranean coast from Egypt through Gaza and into Israel. But much of this supply is “brackish and contaminated due to seawater intrusion, overextraction, and sewage and chemical infiltration,” writes Natasha Hall, a senior fellow at the D.C.-based think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), and co-authors in a commentary post on the organization’s website. By mid-October, attacks destroyed desalination plants and cut off access to aquifers in the Gaza Strip, dropping the region’s water production capacity to just 5 percent of typical levels, according to UNICEF. The United Nations estimated late last year that the average individual in Gaza is living on only 3 liters of water per day for drinking, cooking and bathing (for contrast, the average American family uses more than 1,130 liters of water per day at home, according to the EPA). On top of this, all five of Gaza’s wastewater treatment plants lost power within the first few weeks of the conflict. As a result, sewage has flowed freely through the street, causing a record uptick in cases of diarrheal illnesses, an issue that has only grown worse since I briefly covered it last month. “Historical marine pollution incidents in Gaza have led to high concentrations of chlorophyll and suspended organic matter in coastal waters, and gastrointestinal parasites: this conflict is likely increasing these issues,” the UNEP spokesperson told Euronews.  Gaza may be facing the brunt of war-related pollution at the moment. However, past evidence shows that Israel’s environmental fate may be closely connected with the territory it is attacking.  Sewage Overflow: Gaza’s sewage infrastructure disaster didn’t happen overnight; years of confrontation between Israel and Hamas have gradually chipped away at this system (Anas Baba and Scott Neuman covered the history of this issue extensively for NPR in December).  In a Tuesday opinion column for the New York Times, Thomas Friedman reflected on a 2018 column he wrote in which he referred to the “third person” in the fight between Israelis and Palestinians: Mother Nature. In the piece, he detailed how Gazans had to discharge rivers of untreated sewage into the Mediterranean Sea—and stressed that this sludge knows no borders.  “Because of the prevailing current, most of that sewage flows northward to the Israeli beach town of Ashkelon, the site of Israel’s second-biggest desalination plant,” Friedman wrote in 2018. “Gaza’s waste is floating into Ashkelon’s desalination plant, and the plant has had to close several times to clean Gaza’s gunk out of its filters.” History may soon be repeating itself: Without wastewater treatment infrastructure in Gaza, at least 100,000 cubic meters of sewage and wastewater are being discharged on land or into the Mediterranean Sea daily, according to UNEP estimates. This is “renewing pollution threats to the intake of desalination plants in Israel,” writes Hall and co-authors for CSIS. “All the region’s water and wastewater sources cross into Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza alike. Both populations have an interest in tackling the crisis before it further undermines environmental and public health.” Though not tied to war, this type of cross-border sewage problem is happening in the U.S., as well. Spanning from Mexico to California before reaching the ocean, the Tijuana River carries millions—sometimes billions—of gallons of untreated wastewater across the border each day. This onslaught commonly overwhelms California’s and, more often, Tijuana’s sewage treatment plants, particularly during storms, an issue I reported on in February. More Top Climate News This year, electricity demand in the United States has surged to record levels, which could derail the country’s climate goals, a New York Times investigation published on Thursday revealed.  What’s behind the spike? A few factors play into this electric explosion, but the Times found that the main explanations boil down to greater federal investments in manufacturing, the looming need for EV charging stations, and the increase in data centers (partially driven by the work from home-related rise in video calls). The issue is that electricity production requires power, which often comes from oil and gas.  If enough new gas-fired plants get approved by state regulators, “it is game over for the Biden administration’s 2035 decarbonization goal,” Tyler H. Norris, a former solar developer and expert in power systems who is now pursuing a doctorate at Duke University, told the Times. Meanwhile, Realtor.com announced on Wednesday that it will add climate risk information to its listings. While the site currently shows fire and flood information on a property, it will now reveal the heat, wind and air quality data for the present and future in the area as climate change accelerates, reports USA Today.

 

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