P.S. You Should Know... | Issue #339
Extra innings of summer
my story 🚀
🍂 The first fall we ever spent in Austin, I thought to myself that it was like extra innings of summer. As we approach our 3rd anniversary here, it still feels that way!
fun facts 🙌
Lava sauce. This came up in a “what’s your favorite condiment” chat at work. I’m thrilled that there’s a wiki page for it. ~ learn more
A 500-year old clam named Ming. It’s known for being the “Oldest individual animal ever discovered.” ~ learn more
The hidden brain connections between our hands and tongue. Do you ever notice yourself sticking out your tongue when doing delicate work with your hands? I sure do. Matter of fact, I just caught myself doing it right now while typing. ~ learn more
tech, startups, internet ⚡
What’s next is ‘interactive AI’. DeepMind cofounder Mustafa Suleyman is working on “bots that can carry out tasks you set for them by calling on other software and other people to get stuff done.” Bring it on! ~ learn more
Are self-driving cars already safer than human drivers? “For this story, I read through every crash report Waymo and Cruise filed in California this year, as well as reports each company filed about the performance of their driverless vehicles (with no safety drivers) prior to 2023.” I look forward to my first ride in a self-driving car, which might be soon! ~ learn more
Why QED is doubling down on Kin. A laudatory memo from a recent investor in the Chicago-based insurance startup Kin (disclosure: I’m lucky to be a small investor as well). “The difference between these financial metrics is so stark that we believe Kin will be the defining company of insurtech 2.0. Whereas Lemonade, Hippo, and Root prioritized growth over control, likely believing that risk would normalize at scale, Kin’s model is based on a real understanding of insurance from the inside out.” ~ learn more
better doing 🎯
The secretary problem. If you had a pool of 100 applicants for a secretary position, but had to hire or reject each applicant promptly after their interview, how many should you interview before making a hire? ~ learn more
retail therapy 💸
Entrepreneurship through acquisition. Bloomberg profiles the world of search funds, where MBA grads look to buy small businesses with money they raise from private investors. ~ learn more
under the microscope 🔬
Platelet factor 4! “In a remarkable convergence, scientists have discovered that the same blood factor is responsible for the cognitive enhancement that results from young blood transfusion, the longevity hormone klotho, and exercise.” These three “can somehow tell your brain, “Hey, improve your function,” said Saul Villeda, Ph.D., associate director of the UCSF Bakar Aging Research Institute and the senior author on the Nature paper. “With PF4, we’re starting to understand the vocabulary behind this rejuvenation.” ~ learn more
An ‘inverse vaccine’ that can reverse autoimmune diseases. Outstanding result! “A new type of vaccine developed by researchers at the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (PME) has shown in the lab setting that it can completely reverse autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis and type 1 diabetes — all without shutting down the rest of the immune system.” ~ learn more
Single-dose psilocybin treatment for major depressive disorder. A randomized clinical trial of 104 adults, including a placebo group (I wonder if those people quickly figured out which group they were in?). In any case, the results of the psilocybin group look strong. “The primary outcome was change in central rater–assessed Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) score (range, 0-60; higher scores indicate more severe depression) from baseline to day 43.” The average for the intervention was -12.3, vs -2.3 for the control. ~ learn more
thoughts of food 🍔
A peek at Cargill’s profits. “Cargill’s business model has worked for 158 years. Follow the money and you’ll see it ain’t broken yet.” ~ learn more
big ideas 📚
What the heck happened in 2012? “The point to all this is just to make explicit what I think so many already know and feel: if we were forced to pinpoint a year, 2012 appears to be a good choice for when the modern world was invented, and we’ve been living in it now for a little over a decade.” ~ learn more
The psilocybin trial looked interesting, but the placebo group received niacin: "More participants receiving psilocybin had sustained response (but not remission) than those receiving niacin. There were no serious treatment-emergent AEs; however, psilocybin treatment was associated with a higher rate of overall AEs and a higher rate of severe AEs."
Looking forward to reading the paper on the inverse vaccine design too!
So sad to hear Ming was killed to determine their actual age, learning that it was 100 years older than expected! 🤯