S&P 500, Dow Jones Global ex-US, Gold, Bloomberg Commodity Index returns exclude reinvested dividends (gold does not pay a dividend) and the three-, five-, and 10-year returns are annualized; and the 10-year Treasury Note is simply the yield at the close of the day on each of the historical time periods.
Sources: Yahoo! Finance; MarketWatch; djindexes.com; U.S. Treasury; London Bullion Market Association.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Indices are unmanaged and cannot be invested into directly. N/A means not applicable.
NEW FRONTIERS IN FUNGUS. Anyone who has watched The Last of Us, a series that features a fungus mutation that turns humans into zombies, may be interested to learn that scientists and engineers have been exploring and developing new ways to harness the power of fungi and bacteria. Here are some of the ideas they’re working on:
· Knitted biostructures. Scientists, engineers and designers have been collaborating to develop bio-fabricated architecture – buildings made from the roots of fungus combined with wool, sawdust and other natural materials. The stumbling block was that fungus roots, a.k.a. mycelium, need a lot of oxygen to grow. The solution was textile knitting that allows a lot of oxygen into the frame, helping mycelium grow more quickly. The research team created a “prototype structure… a nearly six-foot-tall, freestanding three-dimensional dome constructed as a single piece without any joins,” reported Andrew Paul of Popular Science.
· Mushroom-skin computer chips. Researchers think a biodegradable microchip composed of mushroom skin is a possibility. If they’re right, the development could “reduce electronic waste and cut greenhouse gas emissions from plastic,” reported Alan Truly of Digital Trends. Mushroom skin has also been used to print circuit boards. Fungi could play additional roles in the computers of the future.
· SCOBY technology platforms. If you make kombucha, you may be familiar with SCOBY (a.k.a. Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast). While it’s often called a mushroom, it’s not actually a fungus. It’s a cellulose mat that may be used as a kombucha starter. It is also being used as “a malleable surface on which to print simple circuit boards,” explained Andrew Paul of Popular Science. Augmented kombucha surfaces are nonconductive and may prove to be just right for wearable technology because the surfaces are cheaper, lighter, and more flexible than traditional plastic options.
Mushrooms may help make technology more eco-friendly.
Weekly Focus – Think About It
“Courage is like — it’s a habitus, a habit, a virtue: you get it by courageous acts. It’s like you learn to swim by swimming. You learn courage by couraging.”
—Marie M. Daly, chemist
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