Dear Reader,
Things just got heavy in the world of particle physics.
New research published a few days ago in Science has spun the world of particle physics into an absolute frenzy.
Particle physics may seem like an arcane subject to most of us… It’s not something we would normally think about, but here’s why we should.
The Standard Model of particle physics has been around since the ’70s. It has explained how electromagnetic forces, weak forces, and strong forces interact. And the model, at a high level, has provided us with a framework for understanding the building blocks of our universe.
But it’s not perfect – and it doesn’t explain everything. Things like dark matter and dark energy that have been deduced from cosmology are not explained by the Standard Model.
Which is what makes the most recent research so interesting.
Physicists that analyzed data from the Tevatron particle accelerator at Fermilab in Batavia, Illinois have discovered that the W boson, a particle, is significantly heavier than was predicted by the Standard Model.
The Tevatron
Source: Quanta Magazine
The research determined that the W boson is actually 0.1% heavier than what was previously assumed. Of course, that may not sound like much, but the new weight is seven standard deviations greater than the previous weight.
That’s heavy… And if true, it changes everything. It also means that the Standard Model may not be “standard” for much longer.
Knowing this certainly won’t change what we eat for breakfast every morning, but the implications are pretty immense.
We’re at the cusp of a breakthrough in our understanding of particle physics. When we figure it out, it will have an almost immeasurable impact on our understanding of matter, energy, and the universe that we find ourselves in.
A more accurate and complete model of particle physics will positively impact the development of technologies, like nuclear fusion. That will transform the world’s ability to provide limitless, cheap, clean energy around the clock – which would have a greater positive impact on the environment than the sum total of every clean energy project that has been developed to date.
I can feel it – a breakthrough is coming, and we’re going to be here to see it.
As regular readers know, gaming powerhouse Niantic is one of our favorite players in the augmented reality (AR) space. This is the company that created Pokémon Go – the game that pioneered the concept of AR gaming on smartphones.
Well, Niantic just unveiled its next blockbuster AR game called Peridot. And while we will play it on smartphones initially, Peridot is setting Niantic up for a wildly successful launch of AR glasses in the coming months.
In Peridot, players must nurture their own unique small pets through life. This reminds me a lot of the old Japanese Tamagotchi handheld devices.
I’m sure some readers will be familiar with those. A little pet “lived” in each device, and users had to carry them around to feed, groom, and play with their pet.
The difference here is that Peridot pets live alongside us every day. That makes this game incredibly immersive. Peridot’s trailer demonstrates this perfectly:
Niantic’s AR Pets
Source: The Verge
Here we can see how the little creatures go through life alongside players. They can even interact with our environment in a remarkably realistic way.
What’s more, each of these creatures is unique, with its own set of DNA. And because each strand of DNA is different, each creature has its own physical features and temperament. There are no duplications.
Players will inevitably develop emotional connections with these pets. For this reason, I think Peridot will be an even bigger hit than Pokémon Go. That’s saying something, considering Pokémon Go has generated over $5 billion in revenue so far.
And there are two big stories hidden within this announcement. The first is around Niantic’s transition from Web 2.0 to blockchain-based Web 3.0 gaming.
At launch, Peridot will be a Web 2.0 game. There are no economic incentives in place for players to make money by playing the game.
However, there is a breeding feature included in Peridot. Two pets can breed to produce offspring with unique characteristics based on the parents’ DNA. This is a popular Web 3.0 concept pioneered by games like Crypto Kitties, Axie Infinity, and Zed Run.
At some point, I expect Niantic to convert these pets into non-fungible tokens (NFTs). At that time, players could buy, sell, and trade their pets and any offspring in exchange for cryptocurrency. Then they could convert that cryptocurrency into U.S. dollars or other fiat currency if they choose to do so.
This would make Peridot even “stickier” for players than it already will be. And that will drive adoption and usage.
The second hidden story is that this is clearly a precursor to Niantic’s AR glasses launch.
As we can see from the trailer, Peridot is incredibly immersive. It’s easy to see how we could develop a connection with our pets.
But at first, players will have to interact with their pets by looking at them on their smartphones. Imagine how much more immersive the game would be if players could wear AR glasses and see their pets in their normal line of sight.
I believe Peridot will be a great success at launch. And then Niantic will have a very warm market in which to sell a pair of AR glasses as soon as they are ready for launch. That will be an easy pitch.
The AR glasses trend is about to hit prime time with Niantic and all of the other companies refining their designs. And we might be surprised by Niantic, who very well may be ahead of the game as compared to larger heavyweights like Google, Meta (Facebook), and Apple.
Of course, I’ll help my readers profit as AR goes mainstream. There’s one company that is set to benefit from the roll-out of these devices… Learn more here.
Digital asset giant Coinbase just announced plans to launch a three-part animation series based on arguably the most popular NFT franchise out there: the Bored Ape Yacht Club. They are calling it the “Degen Trilogy.”
We have talked about the Bored Ape Yacht Club quite a few times in these pages.
As a reminder, there are only 10,000 Bored Ape NFTs out there. They started out as simply digital art creations depicting unique apes looking rather bored. Here’s a visual:
Bored Apes
Source: NFTS.WTF
As I write, the cheapest Bored Ape NFT is selling for about $325,000. That gives us an idea of just how valuable the NFTs have become.
And with Coinbase’s new animated series, the Bored Ape Yacht Club is set to become its own media brand. That speaks to how incredibly popular the franchise has become, despite the fact that there are only 10,000 in existence.
This opens the door to a whole new universe… Suddenly, the market is realizing that we can leverage popular NFTs into entirely new products.
It starts with Coinbase’s upcoming cartoon series. From there we could see a full-length movie, new lines of clothing, and all kinds of other products featuring the Bored Ape brand.
And here’s where it gets even more interesting – the owners of the Bored Apes are effectively the owners of the brand.
Each of the NFTs is a smart contract, and there are opportunities to build a brand further by launching new products and services. So theoretically, the owners of the brand will generate revenue. The closest analog is something like a licensing model.
Individual owners can even strike their own licensing deals for the use of their individual Bored Ape. Coinbase is holding “auditions” of individual apes to be featured in the series.
This is just the beginning of what’s possible. NFTs aren’t just about ownership of collectibles, or access to events, or a way to invest; they can even be used to generate future income for the holders of the NFTs.
So we are about to see some transformative things start to happen in the NFT industry.
And that brings us back to Coinbase. What’s its motivation for the series?
Well, the timing isn’t a coincidence. Coinbase is gearing up to launch its own NFT marketplace. What better way to get build excitement than to produce an animated series around the world’s most popular NFT brand?
And NFT marketplaces can be incredibly lucrative. As I pointed out back in January, NFT marketplace OpenSea has become the fastest-growing early stage company I have ever seen. The company went from largely irrelevant, to a unicorn, and then to a decacorn in just 10 months.
So I see this as a bullish development for Coinbase as well as the entire industry.
Of course, this is exactly why I launched my Unchained Profits research service. These kinds of projects are steppingstones to the ultimate potential of the blockchain space.
And we’re going to position ourselves for massive profits along the way. If you’re interested in learning how to join us, simply go right here for more info.
Harvard professor Avi Loeb was right: An interstellar object did in fact crash down to Earth several years ago.
Regular readers may remember hearing about Professor Loeb. He wrote a book titled Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth. The book covers his research into a strange object in our solar system.
That object was ‘Oumuamua. It’s the Hawaiian word for scout or messenger.
Here it is:
‘Oumuamua
Source: Extreme Tech
Loeb theorized that this was an unnatural object – something created by an intelligent species. He went so far as to suggest that it may even be a surveillance object designed to collect data on Earth.
That, of course, raised a lot of strong opinions and excitement – both for and against.
We won’t know if Loeb was right about ‘Oumuamua or not. The object is now speeding out of our solar system so fast that we could not hope to catch it with our current technology.
However, we may have the opportunity to explore one of Loeb’s early projections…
A less publicized but strange meteorite crashed on Earth back in 2014. It was traveling at speeds greater than 130,000 miles per hour, which is what made the object so interesting.
The speeds were so great, it was impossible that the object came from within our own solar system. The object crashed into the ocean off of Papua New Guinea.
At the time, Loeb suggested that the meteorite was an interstellar object – something that came from a different part of the galaxy and somehow made it to our solar system.
He came to this conclusion based on how fast the meteorite was moving. Loeb concluded that it must have been ejected from another planetary system.
Loeb’s suggestions didn’t spark much interest back then, and the scientific community largely forgot about the issue… Until now.
The U.S. Space Command just confirmed that this particular meteorite was indeed an interstellar object. This report used an analysis of the data that Department of Defense sensors had recorded.
Loeb was right after all. It just took eight years to confirm.
Now the discussion is around whether a recovery mission is possible. That’s an exciting proposition.
If we were able to recover the meteorite, we could analyze its composition… and that would be very interesting. Are the materials different from what we are familiar with here on Earth? Are there any metals that we don’t recognize?
And, of course, there’s always the big question… Are there forms of microbial life within the meteorite? If so, that would be an indication that extraterrestrial life likely does exist in nearby solar systems.
Finding the meteorite in the ocean will be like finding a needle in a haystack. While I’m excited at the prospect, I’m not going to hold my breath.
But the fact that this is the first confirmed interstellar object to not only enter our solar system – but also to land on Earth – is pretty remarkable.
And with the latest advancements in aerospace technology and space exploration, we have so much to look forward to over the next couple of decades. I believe that we’re going to find an answer to that question… and it will be a definitive “yes.”
Regards,
Jeff Brown
Editor, The Bleeding Edge
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The Bleeding Edge is the only free newsletter that delivers daily insights and information from the high-tech world as well as topics and trends relevant to investments.
The Bleeding Edge is the only free newsletter that delivers daily insights and information from the high-tech world as well as topics and trends relevant to investments.
