Odds and Ends: May 2024

 - April's showers brings May's flowers.

- Old Saying

Nice observation, but the world cannot spend a moment to smell the roses. In the Middle East the smell is rot, decay and death. Along the Ukraine border, the air is pungent with blood, burning metal and death. Tornadoes rip apart homes in the central US. Floods drown everything in its path on Pacific Islands and Asia. Drought causes pain, worry and death in India and Africa. Sorry for that. 

There is hope because God gave us compassion and intellect. However, we fail to use these blessings. It is reflected in Churchill's observation on the US, "America will do the right thing, after they tried everything else." With that said, we see glimmers of it in this transition month into summer. 

Electrification

The process to end the high pollution of the gas combustion engine is still a work in progress. However, individuals and companies are moving onto planes, helicopters and self-driving taxi's that will help with climate and environment. It gets better. Boston Metal is a private firm that has developed a way of producing steel by electrification. They will go into operation in 2026. A steel firm in Brazil is already using their technique. How about ocean tankers? Yes! The first one is floating on the sea as you read this piece. We thought about this cargo carrier. We know water shorts out electricity. Maybe this vessel should have a sailing mask as a fuel back-up? I read that some cargo ships are already employing this idea to cut fuel costs. 

Hydrogen Jets?

Another private start-up says that they will produce the clean energy aircraft by 2030. Wow! Of course, I hope that these people understand that hydrogen fuel production is very low?

Solidion

The firm says it has developed a solid-state battery that will provide a charge to go over 900 miles. Mileage is one of the biggest factors holding down EV sales. Currently, the longest range is about 410 miles. In a similar role, SAIC, a Chinese firm says it too has a solid-state battery that it will produce by 2026. 

Super Micro Computer

The firm's stock (SMCI) is to expensive for us, but we like it. They have developed a new cooling system for AI servers that is cheaper to utilize.

Even in the deteriorating commercial real estate market, we find a ray of hope. Pinnacle Bank of Texas just bought a 40-story commercial building at auction for $12.3 million. This edifice was recently appraised at $104 million. This falls under the theory by Joseph Schumpeter with his view of economic progression. An old idea is destroyed by a new, better approach. The "Creative Destruction" leads to innovation. Here's hoping this bank transitions this building into something good for Texas and America?

These things are happening while the present news is bad. Maybe if we all treat each other better like the hippies in 1967 that fostered the "Summer of Love," we can make tomorrow a better place to live. We can use John and Yoko's chanting song, "All we are saying, is give peace a chance."    Peace.