Lab Exotic | Space Balloon | Hears - The Convo Kit #44

Stranded on a mountain surrounded by snow and oddly calm cyclists. That’s where I left my avatar after virtually climbing Alpe du Zwift this week. He didn’t look nearly as exhausted as I was, so he probably ended up just fine.

-Steve

P.S. You may have received last week’s Convo Kit twice, sorry about that! Substack says they fixed it. Reply here if you experience any issues, or just to chat!

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Game Game

Fancy restaurants may soon take guests on a safari. The same animals roaming the savanna will gather on menus as Primeval Foods expands the lab-grown meat market.

• Siberian tigers, elephants, zebras, lions, and more

• Relies on original sample tissue from a living animal

• Cells then grow in a cultivator over a few weeks

The speciality lab-grown meat will first be available in Michelin-star restaurants before rolling out to grocery stores. Something about eating a lion feels off, but it may just be Simbalic.

Meet meats elite treat

99 Space Balloons

Step back and take a 100,000 foot view, literally. Space Perspective is floating passengers to the stratosphere in a reusable balloon.

• 2 hours up, 2 hours floating, 2 hours back down

• Food and beverages served to guests

• Estimated ticket price: $125,000

Space Perspective pitches a more relaxing and affordable experience than other near-space tourism. First commercial flights are expected in 2024. Though passengers won’t experience weightlessness, they’ll witness Earth against the void of space.

Float away

Hears

We read with our eyes, but did you know we hear with our hair? Frequency Therapeutics is reversing hearing loss by regrowing hair in the inner ear.

• Drug candidate regrows dead cells responsible for cochlea hairs

• Over 200 patients treated across 4 clinical trials

• 3 of those trials demonstrated enhanced speech perception

Frequency Therapeutics believes restoring hearing loss will be on the same level as Lasik eye surgery in 10-15 years. Just enough time to turn up and live our best life. No, no, not turnip, TURN UP!

Can you hear me now?

Hecho en Bolivia

Bolivia’s Quantum Motors sells an EV that charges via ordinary wall socket. The “E4” is a small electric car with big dreams of building a rare homegrown brand.

• Seats 1, or 3 if you reeeally squeeze

• Range: 34 miles (at 34mph top speed)

• Price: ~$6,000

Cars are built by hand over 5 days. Most parts are sourced locally, but batteries and electrical components are from China. Quantum aims to use Bolivian-sourced lithium batteries soon, as they pave the way for domestic manufacturing.

Great longer read (with pics!) by "rest of world"

Das Elektroauto

Mercedes’ Vision EQXX drove over 600 miles on one charge. The EV navigated normal traffic and high speeds from Germany to southern France.

• Total drive time: 11.5 hours

• Battery capacity: 100 kWh

• Roof & rear solar panels power non-propulsion tech (when sunny)

Vision EQXX is still a concept vehicle, but its advances will certainly find their way into production-level EVs soon. Range-anxious EV fans rejoice, as us Mercedes F1 fans ponder how to transfer these aero-engineers.

Recharge

1 More Thing

99 Luftballons

Thank you for reading!

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