Start of…big things?
/By Don Varyu
Jan 2024
(The impetus for this piece comes from the gifted Atlantic writer and podcaster Derek Thompson.)
es, the prospects for 2024 seem to be crushing; almost unfathomable. War, prices, domestic strife, and endless political babble. However, if you’re willing to extend your view beyond the year’s end, there are several developments that promise real progress for humanity.
Consider the following:
CRISPR. This is the scientific acronym for gene splicing. That can sound terrifying—hordes of indestructible cyborgs? Well, not for now, at least. But in the near term, CRSPR is leading to scientific answers that may seem relatively mundane, but are absolutely existential for many people. For example, one result of CRISPR is a current cure for sickle cells, which can prove fatal, in particular to black people.
But before any cure occurs, maladies must be detected. It is said that there are 20,000 genes known to cause genetic disease…but currently, only 1,700 are detectable with common genetic testing.
Fortunately, while I’m busy watching sports on TV, thousands of scientists around the world are busy working to find answers for both detection and cures. Their findings will not only make life easier, but more importantly, make life viable for millions of people.
2. Internal Body Clocks. How old are you? Well, it turns out, it depends. That’s because science has now identified a way to test proteins in your body to independently tell the “age” of eleven separate organs. Which means, you may have an “old” liver for your age, but a “young” heart. You may be 42 strictly in years, but your brain may be much “younger.”
Why does someone get old? The cause may be (directly or indirectly) cancer or heart disease or dementia. By working through tests of organ-specific body clocks, those conditions can be detected in time for early treatment—and maybe even cures. A simple analogy is this: fix the alternator in your car, and it turns out the whole thing runs just fine.
3. Fusion. When an atom is split apart, that’s called fission—and that’s what makes atom bombs. When an atom is blasted but instead binds together with another atom, that’s called fusion. Fusion is what happens inside the sun, and it’s pretty obvious how much heat and light that can produce.
During a seven month period ending in the summer of 2023, scientists twice created—for the first times ever in a lab—fusion. You might say, “so what?”, but the answer to that question is this: the amount of energy required to create that fusion was less than the amount it produced. In other words, the dream of self-perpetuating energy is alive. That reality is FAR down the road—unlikely to happen during the lives of anyone reading this in the same timeframe I’m writing it. But at least we see the right path, and we’ve taken the first step.
4. GLPs. You’ve probably heard this term—a new class of drugs that can cut your craving for salt and sugary foods, and thus make you lose weight without any real effort. There are a couple downsides: you may also suffer losses in muscle and bone density (because you’re not eating much of anything); and the current cost is about $1,000 or more a month.
But the real payoff is much larger than weight loss. The drugs are showing that they cut any kind of craving: for drugs…alcohol…gambling…shopping. All this promises great health and longevity gains...but the outlook is not so good if your business is running a Taco Bell or a Vegas casino.
5. Asteroid probe. Seven years ago, NASA sent a space probe out to land on an asteroid, collect material, and come back with it. In 2023, it finished the mission. That’s phenomenal it its own right, but more stunning is what it brought back. Inside the asteroid samples, there were water molecules encased in clay-like material.
Physicists have long believed that life on Earth came because our planet was bombarded with asteroids containing the same kind of water molecules. Now there’s proof that these kinds of asteroids do exist, and that over the unimaginable life of the universe, they probably crashed into other planets, too.
Meaning it’s not only feasible, but probable, that some form of what we call life indeed does exist elsewhere in the far reaches of space. Well, hi there alien!
Some of these things have no relevancy if you don’t have a lot of money. Some of it is irrelevant even if you do, because the promise won’t be realized anytime soon.
But with all the adversity and emotional challenges we face, it’s nice to know progress is being made in some important places.
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