NYTimes: “Our solar system contains planets, dwarf planets, asteroids and comets — but only one world is known to harbor life. Scientists have long debated whether Earth is truly unique. Perhaps our planet just happened to have the right combination of ingredients, conditions and timing to allow life to emerge. But a pinch of grit from a distant asteroid collected by a NASA spacecraft holds hints that our planet may not be so special. A team of researchers reported in the journal Nature [recently] that the asteroid, known as Bennu, contains a wealth of organic molecules, including many crucial building blocks of life. The chemistry that produced them might be going on today on the ice moons of Jupiter and Saturn. “Our odds of finding life elsewhere are increasing,” said Daniel Glavin, a senior scientist for sample return at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and a co-author of the two papers.”
Bill Gross: “The combination of leverage and time is a critical one to recognise in any portfolio blueprint. Leverage can be dangerous, but is less so given enough time for fundamentally sound investment ideas to work out. Just ask Warren Buffett. His belief in superior equity returns over the long term has been anchored by the balance sheets of Berkshire Hathaway’s insurance companies. The capital from those companies has been more or less impervious to being “called in” at inopportune times. Insurance premiums and long-term debt have semi-permanence to them that overnight lending and subscriber capital does not. And so Buffett — who should be recognised for his brilliance as a financial architect as well as an investor — has prospered while John Meriwether of Long-Term Capital Management notoriety temporarily stumbled in the face of collateral calls on the company’s trading positions. Buffett has shown that time is a vital third dimension in financial architecture.”
WSJ: “LLMs use novel nonhuman processes to create human-seeming word output (or images or computer code). These processes aren’t at all comparable to thinking. Such models employ arcane statistical methods to decide what word or pixel or coding term to deploy next in a string based on patterns observed in vast text or image archives. But whatever you call it, existing AI clearly is ready to turn the many-click chores of daily life into one-click chores. You know, cancel your dinner reservation automatically when your date sends an email begging off. Around the corner: Instead of searching fruitlessly for something to watch, how about asking your HBO-licensed streaming app to conjure up a new “Sopranos” season with, say, a 2017 Trump presidential subplot?”
Tavleen Singh: “When I see real economic reforms replaced today by populist welfare schemes that do no more than fling money at people just before elections come along, I begin to truly despair. There is now competitive populism where these schemes are concerned, so every time there is an election, some new way of giving voters monthly pocket money is devised. These schemes may win elections, but they do very little to advance India towards that goal of becoming a fully developed country by 2047.”
Shane Parrish: “Churn is the silent killer of businesses. It’s the slow leak, the constant drip of customers slipping away, of users drifting off to find something new. The attrition eats away at your growth, forcing you to keep running to stay in place. The thing about churn is that it’s often hidden. It’s not like a crisis that grabs your attention. It’s a slow, quiet process that happens in the background. Churn can present opportunity. Like a snake shedding its skin, replacing components of a system is a natural part to keeping it healthy. New parts can improve functionality. But here’s what’s counterintuitive: some churn is healthy. New employees bring new ideas; new customers bring new opportunities. Replacing what is worn out creates new opportunities. Some churn is inevitable. Too much can kill you.”
