Dear Reader,
Welcome to our weekly mailbag edition of The Bleeding Edge. All week, you submitted your questions about the biggest trends in technology.
Today, I’ll do my best to answer them.
But before we turn to our mailbag, I want to remind readers about my Investment Accelerator event taking place next Wednesday evening at 8 p.m. ET.
I don’t want any of my readers to miss out on this night.
There, I’ll be giving a clear look at the best investment opportunities I see over the next five years. And I’ll be discussing the changes in my strategy.
Plus, I’ll be sharing the details on the new projects I’ve been working on… including one that may be my most ambitious yet – an opportunity that offers the chance to share in $1 billion of tech stock profits.
And that’s not all…
If you want to find out everything we have in store, go right here to put your name down to attend for free.
And then please make sure to mark your calendar for February 10. We’ll get started at 8 p.m. ET sharp. I hope to see you there.
Now let’s turn to this week’s mailbag.
And remember, if you have a question you’d like answered next week, be sure you submit it right here.
Let’s begin with a question on quantum entanglement:
Hi Jeff, I just read your little description about quantum entanglement and was wondering about this weird phenomenon. If information is transferred immediately between the entangled particles no matter how far the particles are apart, could they use it for real-time communication from Earth to the Moon or beyond without a time lag?
And if so, wouldn’t this information transfer seem to violate the speed limit of light? Is this the possibility, or am I missing something? I can’t wait to hear your response to this! Thanks.
– Gary B.
Hi Gary. And thanks for sharing your question. Quantum entanglement is a complex but fascinating subject. Einstein called it “spooky action at a distance,” which is a fun way to describe this incredible phenomenon.
For readers who need a refresher, quantum entanglement is a core principle of quantum physics. It refers to a phenomenon that exists when two or more particles are inextricably linked. If the quantum state of one particle changes, so does the quantum state of the other(s).
And some recent experiments have shown quantum entanglement occurring even when the particles are kilometers apart. Back in 2017, researchers even demonstrated this phenomenon in particles that were on Earth and on a satellite, respectively.
There may be no physical limit to how far away two particles can be while still remaining entangled.
And here is the cool part. If we had one entangled particle on Earth and another on the Moon, a change in the state of one particle would be instantaneously reflected in the other particle. And yes, that change would happen at a speed faster than light.
The nuance here is that with the quantum entanglement example I provided above, there is no “transmission.” Nothing was sent. One particle’s position was changed and instantly reflected in the other particle.
Using entanglement to communicate might be possible, but it hasn’t been proven yet. Some believe that with subtle manipulations, we could effectively develop a system of communication using this phenomenon.
Needless to say, this would have profound implications. We could enable completely secure communications between any two parties on Earth. We could even establish real-time communications between Earth and an outpost on Mars with no delay at all.
But before we get too far ahead of ourselves, the industry will be focused on developing a universal fault-tolerant quantum computer. And with the help of a computing system like that, we might just be able to figure out how to use quantum entanglement to communicate faster than the speed of light.
Next, a reader wants to know more about big pharma:
Hi Jeff, I am a lifetime Brownstone Research subscription member and truly appreciate how you are always looking for better ways to help the “little” female and male investors get a hand up on Wall Street. I am very excited about all of the developments in biotechnology and do invest in your recommended companies when they’re within the buy-up-to amounts.
As the parent of a 27 year-old adult age daughter who was diagnosed with MS [multiple sclerosis] when she was 13 years of age, my hope has always been that she will experience a cure for her MS in her lifetime. Icing on that cake would be getting to see her experience a cure, and me being 61 years young, there’s a chance.
I cannot help but think that all the big pharma companies desire is for specialized physicians to keep treating the symptoms of MS and other lifelong debilitating diseases because of all the profits they stand to lose if a cure is discovered. My concern is that the big pharma companies will either initiate a buyout of these biotech companies or merge with them to shut down any possible cures occurring. I truly hope that you have an opinion on this that’s much different than mine. Sincerely,
– Gregory B. W.
Hi, Gregory. Thanks for sharing your question. And thanks for being a lifetime member. I’m glad to hear that my research has benefited you – it truly is the reason I do what I do.
I appreciate your skepticism about the pharmaceutical companies’ motivations. In politics and business, understanding the underlying motivations is the key to knowing what is really going on.
Regarding your remarks on “big pharma,” there are a few factors to consider.
Right now, we’re seeing an interesting dynamic at play – namely, that the biotechnology sector is experiencing enormous growth. Last year, 109 biotech companies went public. And they raised a whopping $24.8 billion in the process.
This particular sector is also seeing record levels of venture capital investment right now. In January this year, we’ve already seen $5.2 billion flow into private biotech companies.
This kind of investment is accelerating development and dramatically increasing the number of companies pursuing new technology platforms and therapies to cure human diseases.
The result is that the cat is out of the bag. Big pharmaceutical companies couldn’t control the pace of investment and development if they wanted to. They couldn’t possibly buy every company just to shut them down.
And it is hard for them to lobby in order to prohibit early stage companies from going through the well-defined clinical trial process managed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Yes, pharmaceutical companies will continue to acquire early stage biotech companies. And they will also invest in them and partner with them for drug development. This way, they profit from the upside as the company grows and potentially goes public. And these companies also benefit from manufacturing and drug distribution deals.
We are already starting to see a change in business models. Genetic editing often enables a “one and done” therapy. One treatment and nothing else. Instead of years of medications, a patient receives one very expensive treatment that cures the disease. The most expensive genetic therapy that I have seen to date is $2.1 million.
That may seem extreme, but some diseases cost far more than that over a period of years. So health insurance companies are also going to adjust and provide coverage for this new breed of more effective therapies.
If it were 20 years ago, my answer would have been quite different. But today, we’re entering an absolute renaissance of biotechnology, genetic editing, and therapeutic development. This is a central theme in all my research and one that investors will profit from for years to come.
Sending my best wishes to you and your daughter. There is a lot of exciting research on MS right now. I’ll keep my fingers crossed.
Let’s conclude with remarks on the course of technological development:
Dear Jeff, thank you so much for all of your newsletters and advice. I’ve been a subscriber for several years, and the thing I admire most about you is your total honesty. I value that so much in all aspects of life, and I know the world would be a much better place if we could all follow your lead.
I love reading about how the world is advancing technology-wise. My dad was a rocket scientist, literally, who spent his whole career with Lockheed, starting in World War II, first working as an intern while he was attending Caltech. He became part of the missile systems division when it was first started.
As a young child, I remember reading the company newsletter that probably came out once a month, and I would read it cover to cover, soaking up every word. The company was involved in so many aspects of future technology including generating electricity from waves over 50 years ago! Many think that is a relatively new technology.
I have his “calculator” that helped him design rocket propulsion systems. It is a slide rule with the company logo emblazoned on its side. One of my treasured possessions! Unfortunately, he passed on shortly after he retired, and by the time I was smart enough to know what questions I wanted to ask him, it was too late.
I was one signature away from becoming a nuclear engineer in the Navy back in the mid-’70s, but at the time, I thought nuclear fission was going to be phased out as fusion came on board. Of course, that hasn’t happened yet, but I am so glad to read about your accounts of where the technology is heading and how soon we might be able to enjoy its benefits.
Thanks for all your good work, and I look forward to reading more!
– Peter M.
Hello, Peter, and thanks for sharing some of your personal and family history. I think I would have liked your father.
When I earned my B.S. in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering back in 1991, I also used a slide rule. Studying back then was hard work as we simply didn’t have modern computing power to supplement and support our learning. So much of our work had to be done by hand.
I too became interested in technology and space from a very young age. That’s why I’ve spent 35 years as a technology investor and close to 30 years as a high-technology executive. The advancements we’ve seen over the past decades have truly been remarkable.
And I’m pleased to say that the best is yet to come. I’ve never seen the confluence of technologies that we are witnessing right now.
We have a combination of breakthroughs happening in artificial intelligence and machine learning. At the same time, we’re just starting to apply the most advanced computer science and information technology to the field of biotechnology. We have widespread, inexpensive, essentially unlimited computing power and storage.
And we also have the deployment of revolutionary wireless technology with 5G. This is going to kick off a suite of new technology applications that would have been impossible even just a few months ago. And this is all happening at the same time.
As you mentioned, nuclear fusion is definitely one of the tech trends I’m most excited about. Many experts still say that we are at least 10–15 years away from being able to generate clean energy using nuclear fusion technology.
But when I look at the progress the various fusion projects are making, I can confidently say they are wrong. I predict that we will have a functioning nuclear fusion reactor within the next five years.
I think we’re going to see some major breakthroughs in the space this year. It will be one of the most important scientific developments of our lifetimes. So I’ll be sure to keep all my readers up to date on any breaking news.
That’s all we have time for this week. If you have a question for a future mailbag, you can send it to me right here.
Have a good weekend.
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.
