The Debasement Trade.

True outsiders.

“Most mornings I learn more from New Items than I do from all of the traditional papers I read combined.” — Michael Blair, former presiding partner, Debevoise & Plimpton.

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1. On Tuesday, the European Space Agency released a short movie of images that one of its spacecraft, the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, took on Saturday as the comet 31/ATLAS made its closest approach to Mars. The images successfully captured a bright dot of the comet moving among the more distant stars, an impressive achievement for a camera that “is designed to observe Mars,” said Nicolas Thomas, a professor of experimental physics at the University of Bern in Switzerland and the principal investigator for the instrument. The new images reveal nothing new about Comet 3I/ATLAS, (b)ut they add to a series of observations that will help scientists understand how an interstellar comet differs from the ones that swing around our solar system.

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2. Originating from outside our Solar System, comet 3I/ATLAS is only the third interstellar comet ever seen, following 1I/ʻOumuamua in 2017 and 2I/Borisov in 2019. These comets are absolutely foreign. Every planet, moon, asteroid, comet and life-form in our Solar System share a common origin. But interstellar comets are true outsiders, carrying clues about the formation of worlds far beyond our own. (Source: esa.int. Italics mine.)

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3. Mark Whitney’s mother and nine of her 13 siblings developed Alzheimer’s and died in the prime of their lives. So did his oldest brother, and other relatives going back generations. It is the largest family in the United States known to have an Alzheimer’s-causing mutation. “Nobody in history had ever dodged that bullet,” Mr. Whitney said. But somehow, he has done just that. Something has shielded him from his genetic destiny, allowing him to escape Alzheimer’s for at least 25 years longer than anyone expected. Scientists are searching for the recipe for his biological secret sauce. Its discovery could potentially lead to medications or gene therapies to prevent, treat or possibly even cure Alzheimer’s, goals that continue to frustrate researchers despite decades of efforts. Now, after years of studying Mr. Whitney, researchers are unearthing clues about his magic combination of genes, molecules and environmental influences. Read the rest. (Source: nytimes.com)

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4. The Wall Street Journal:

Investors worried about the future of the dollar and other major currencies are piling into gold, bitcoin and other alternative assets, powering what has become known on Wall Street as the debasement trade.

Traders have snapped up gold since Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled in August that the central bank would begin cutting interest rates despite low unemployment and above-target inflation, pushing prices to records. Most-actively-traded gold futures on Tuesday surpassed $4,000 a troy ounce for the first time.