One of our favourite speakers at the Portfolio Construction conferences that we attend at least annually and often twice a year is Dr Pippa Malmgren https://pippamalmgren.co.uk/index.html and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pippa_Malmgren.
Previously a special assistance to President George W. Bush on economic policy, Dr Pippa has a wide network and always amazes us with her insights. She specialises in working with technology and start ups, that give us a vision of where the world might be heading. Some may fail, but it is inspiring.
Some of the things that we learned:
We are at a major turning point in humanity.
The speed at which we can solve problems with the technology that is now available is a fraction of the amount of time that it has previously taken.
Xenobots are blurring the line between what is organic and what is robotic - self replicating living robots. More information here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenobot#:~:text=Xenobots%2C%20named%20after%20the%20African,organisms%2C%20or%20something%20else%20entirely.,
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/11/29/americas/xenobots-self-replicating-robots-scn/index.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBYtBXaxsOw
Space and the Space Race is absolutely flatout and underway and needs AI, Robotics and Super Computing:
Asteroid Mining is already happening - one asteroid is said to have so many resources that we wouldn't have to keep ripping up the earth.
https://edition.cnn.com/world/astroforge-asteroid-mining-nasa-spc-scn/index.html
https://www.wired.com/story/things-are-looking-up-for-asteroid-mining/
https://universemagazine.com/en/astroforge-loses-asteroid-mining-spacecraft/
Mirrors on Satellites to power the earth. The mirrors beam the suns rays back to earth, providing clean green energy.
https://www.space.com/orbiting-mirror-boost-solar-power-production
Manufacturing in Orbit Work is being done on the benefits of manufacturing in zero gravity. Artificial retinas and tissues, spacecraft parts, semi-conductors anyone?
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/sep/25/space-manufacturing-zero-gravity
Dr Pippa is on the faculty of Portfolio Construction Forum for a year, so we look forward to hearing more fascinating insights from her over the next year.
