The Weekly Slice by Vedaslabs.io - Issue 31 šŸ•

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Hereā€™s the latest scoop from the markets, events, and tech world in this edition of The Weekly Slice, brought to you by our sponsors.

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Market Analysis - Last 7 days

The market has been flat in the last week, however the Energy sector is down 4.1%. As for the longer term, the market has risen 23% in the past 12 months. Earnings are forecast to grow by 14% annually.

Consumers expect prices will climb at an annual rate of 3.3% over the next year after hovering around 3% for the past four months, a Federal Reserve Bank of New York survey showed. That marked the highest reading since November. Anticipated home price growth rose at a similar pace ā€” the fastest advance since July 2022.

The data follow a string of reports that have indicated sticky inflation and a relentless run-up in home prices. Data out this week is projected to show US consumer prices still rose at a stubborn pace last month, and shelter has been consistently responsible for boosting measures of inflation.

Conferences šŸ¤

May 29 - 31, 2024 | Austin, TX

For the first time, CoinDesk and EasyA are teaming up to host a three-day, multi-chain IRL hackathon at Consensus that will attract the worldā€™s best developers to build the future of Web3.

May 21 - 23, 2024 | San Francisco, CA

Where decision-makers meet and see the future of fintech. 1200+ senior attendees. 600+ from banks and investors.15,000+ meetings. 50+ demos. 100+ speakers.

Communities - Letā€™s Grow Together šŸŒ±

Demand Curve is a 97,618-strong online community for growth and marketing professionals. It's another one that has experienced sharp growth in recent years thanks to a wealth of resources four founders and marketers looking to fast-track business growth.

There's plenty to access on the site, but joining the community is completely free with paid in-depth courses and 'sprints' available on demand.

This is a great one for any growth professionals to get involved in ā€” including founders, marketers, product managers, and more. The community is active across discussion boards with wide-ranging topics like email marketing, social media strategy, outsourcing talent, product-led growth, and the best CDP software. Members can also attend live and virtual events and there's a large library of on-demand courses available for purchase.

Emerging Technology Review šŸ“Ÿ

Artificial intelligence is giving machines the power to generate videos, write computer code, and even carry on a conversation.

It is also accelerating efforts to understand the human body and fight disease.

On Wednesday, Google DeepMind, the tech giantā€™s central artificial intelligence lab, and Isomorphic Labs, a sister company, unveiled a more powerful version of AlphaFold. This artificial intelligence technology helps scientists understand the behavior of the microscopic mechanisms that drive the cells in the human body.

As experts warn that images, audio, and video generated by artificial intelligence could influence the fall elections, OpenAI is releasing a tool designed to detect content created by its popular image generator, DALL-E. However, the prominent A.I. start-up acknowledges that this tool is only a small part of what will be needed to fight so-called deepfakes in the coming months and years.

On Tuesday, OpenAI said it would share its new deepfake detector with a small group of disinformation researchers so they could test the tool in real-world situations and help pinpoint ways it could be improved.

Space Out šŸ“”

2024 has been quite the year for spectacular space shows, some visible from our backyards.

First, it was the total solar eclipse at the beginning of April. Then, late last week, the sun became the "star" attraction yet again: A huge sunspot launched a series of solar storms that supercharged the aurora, making the ethereal sight visible from much of the United States, Europe, and many other parts of the globe.

Personally, after being completely overwhelmed with emotion experiencing the total solar eclipse in Dallas, I thought that was going to be the highlight of the year for me for space and science. But Friday night's mystical minutes of seeing the northern lights with my mom in my hometown of Cleveland were so special. 

An exoplanet covered in so many volcanoes that its molten surface radiates a fiery red has been discovered orbiting a star 66 light-years from Earth. 

That sentence may ring a bell for Star Wars fans, as Obi-Wan Kenobi indeed fought and defeated Anakin Skywalker on the lava planet of Mustafar. But, believe it or not, even that world has nothing on the newly discovered TOI-6713.01. Despite needing a catchier name, its vital statistics place it in the realm of the extraordinary.

The Crypto State šŸ‘¾

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is experiencing a ā€œsystem-wide outage,ā€ and the company is investigating the issue.

The exchange stated in an X post that its team is working on a solution. ā€œYour funds are safe,ā€ the firm added.

Coinbaseā€™s website currently displays a ā€œ503 Service Temporarily Unavailableā€ alert when accessed.

The crypto exchange previously encountered a temporary technical glitch in March when its trading platform experienced problems amid heavy trading, including showing some users that their account balance was $0.

Bracebridge Capital, a hedge fund that manages the endowments of Yale University and Princeton University, has reported owning shares in Ark Invest, BlackRock, and Grayscale U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds.

In a 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 10, the Boston-based firm reported owning 4,327,380 shares in Ark Investā€™s ARKB, 2,486,750 shares in BlackRockā€™s IBIT, and 419,910 shares in Grayscaleā€™s GBTC. The shares were valued at $307.2 million, $100.6 million, and $26.5 million, respectively ā€” as of March 31.

Startup Spotlight šŸ”¦

Founded by Bren Smith in San Francisco, is a pioneering startup that has developed a sustainable 3D ocean farming model aimed at restoring ocean ecosystems and mitigating climate change. This innovative approach supports a network of ocean farmers who cultivate a mix of seaweed and shellfish, functioning entirely without inputs such as fresh water, land, or fertilizers. As an environmentally beneficial venture, GreenWave's farms also act as carbon sinks and enhance marine habitats, with plans to scale this model globally to transform regenerative aquaculture.

Thatā€™s a Wrap Slice šŸ•

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