Honglei, partner since 2020 (Toronto, ON)
EdgePoint investments alongside its investment partners
As at December 31, 2022, our internal partners hold some $363 million in company-related products (for many of us, the lion's share of our investable assets) and are collectively one of our largest investors.
This week in charts
Technology companies
Europe
U.S. Federal reserve
Natural gas
Battery production
This week’s fun finds
The return of the spicy challenge
Thanks to Norm for bring in some spicy jellybeans for us to try.
Five brave internal partners went from mildest (sriracha) to spiciest (Carolina reaper). Opinions were “unpleasant”, “didn’t taste good” and “why did I do that?”
Hot sauce reviews will be starting up again soon.
In 2021, Deep Liquid, an Adelaide-based company that partners with the Australian Institute for Machine Learning, helped nearby Barossa Valley Brewing create AI2PA: The Rodney, an AI-generated IPA. On each can of AI2PA, a QR code allows drinkers to submit their thoughts on the beer’s flavor, aroma, and mouthfeel. That real-time feedback goes straight into a data set that is then plugged into an algorithm that can adjust the recipe accordingly.
“Since the biggest companies collect the most data, they’re the ones who’ve been able to harness AI,” says Deep Liquid co-founder Denham D’Silva. “We’ve flipped this and put the technology in the hands of the consumer, giving them direct contact that enables smaller brewers to leverage AI.”
[History professor Malcolm] Purinton says making machine learning more accessible to smaller brewers will help them refine recipes, maintain quality control, and know exactly how much of each ingredient to use, limiting waste and saving money.
Innovation is coming to beer’s ingredients, too. While water, barley, yeast, and hops have been on virtually every beer mash bill since the 8th century, the way brewers acquire and use these ingredients has shifted drastically in recent years. And that’s due largely to climate change.
Brewers are teaming with bioengineers to explore the role of genetically modified yeast strains that can unlock more intense flavoring agents within hops during fermentation. This means that more of the tropical and fruity essences can be extracted from each flower, achieving the same big hop flavor with a much smaller load of hops.
Eventually, the technology could save money, energy, and resources. But most brewers, adventuresome chemists and cooks at heart, are more excited about what flavors these genetically modified yeasts might one day unleash.
Inside Canada’s Polar Bear Jail
Immobilizing a 500-pound animal that can run on uneven terrains or hide among rocks takes a joint land and air effort. Hanging out off the side of the helicopter with a dart gun, Maclean’s work partner Ian van Nest, gave the ivory fugitive a shot of telazol, a quick-acting anesthetic. The on-the-ground team was ready with trucks and ATVs, but the bear got out of reach. “It took two-ish minutes for this bear to feel the effects of that drug,” says Maclean, but she managed to get onto the other side of a big berm where no vehicles could reach her. The team had to retrieve the problem girl on foot using a “polar bear stretcher,” essentially a massive board. “Seven of us carried this 500-pound bear over the berm and put it into the back of our truck,” says Maclean. “And then we drove it to the polar bear holding facility.”
Years ago, a bear smacking at the window or breaking a door would likely be shot to avoid potential human fatalities. But over the years, that mentality has changed, influenced by tourists’ interest in the majestic creatures and by the fact that there aren’t many left. Only about 20,000 to 26,000 polar bears remain in the wild, says Geoff York, senior director of conservation at Polar Bear International, a nonprofit organization that works to preserve the animals. According to a recent Canadian government report, the polar bear population has dropped 27 percent over the past five years. With less and less sea ice forming every year, the bears have less time to hunt seals and build up necessary fat stores, leaving many bears to face starvation. Today, Churchill’s Polar Bear Alert program keeps a close tab on the hungry prowlers, putting them behind bars and out of harm’s way only when absolutely necessary.
Colloquially known as the polar bear jail, the holding facility is a massive hangar of 28 cells built from cinder blocks with steel bar ceilings and doors. A second set of solid metal doors prevents bears from reaching out between bars. Most cells fit only one bear (otherwise they’d fight) but two larger cells are reserved for moms with cubs. Five of the cells are air-conditioned to make them more comfortable during warmer weather. Some bears are tranquilized when they’re brought in. Others arrive awake in huge culverts, traps baited with a chunk of seal meat that snap shut once bears pull on the food.
The jail environment teaches the animals that approaching humans results in a boring and annoying experience, not worth repeating. That’s why bears don’t get to do much in their cells. They can perambulate back and forth among the cinderblocks or lounge on straw bedding or wood shavings. They can bang on the walls, which is usually a good sign, says Maclean. “If we don’t hear from a bear, we may occasionally peek in on it,” she says. “But a bear that’s banging is usually a good, healthy bear.”
While “imprisoned,” bears get water or snow through a trough that runs across their cells, but no snacks—to avoid associating humans with food. “At that point, they’re already fasting,” explains Maclean, plus they’re not spending as much energy as they would be out in the tundra. “They’re losing almost the exact same weight that they would be if they were out on the land,” York says. “So they’re having a very similar experience in terms of fasting that they would if they were not in a facility.”
Most bears stay in the lockup for 30 days or until the bay freezes. As soon as the ice forms, they are free to go—an annual spectacle many of the town’s residents come to see. Loaded into the culverts, the bears are brought over to the ice and the trap doors are lifted, setting them free one by one. The team drives a truck towards each bear, nudging it to head towards the ice. In 2022, there were only five inmates released when the bay froze. All the freed bears happily wandered off onto the ice, hungry for their long-awaited dinner.
