Saturdays are the day we catch up with all the non-finance related stuff we didn’t get to during the week. You can check out last week’s edition here.
Quote of the Day
"Right now, US gaming platforms represent 34 terawatt-hours a year in energy usage—more than the entire state of West Virginia—with associated carbon dioxide emissions equivalent to over 5 million cars."
(Cecilia D'Anastasio)
Autos
- How did pickup trucks in the US get so darn big? (nplusonemag.com)
- Why is every EV startup building a pickup truck? (wired.com)
- The pandemic may have changed traffic patterns forever. (ft.com)
Energy
- The engineering challenges in scaling up geothermal energy are large but so is the payoff. (vox.com)
- How superwhite paint can help buildings cooler. (newscientist.com)
Environment
- Why 'green' nagging doesn't work. (wired.com)
- How behavioral science was used to help Cape Town put off its water crisis. (behavioralscientist.org)
- Planting more trees is no climate panacea. (axios.com)
- Controlled burns are an ancient practice that we need to get back to. (vox.com)
- Why seagrass doesn't restore itself. (theconversation.com)
- Why algae does a better job of sequestering CO2 than trees. (parametric.press)
Science
- It's hard to underestimate what we are going to learn from round-trip to the Bennu asteroid. (theatlantic.com)
- How is that we are still discovering organs in the human body? (nytimes.com)
- Large carnivores are increasingly relying on humans for their food. (wired.com)
- The secrets behind the ironclad beetle's incredible strength. (smithsonianmag.com)
Technology
- The role of social media in political polarization is not necessarily straight foward. (wsj.com)
- How Google Search results have changed over time. (washingtonpost.com)
Travel
- What Caribbean and Latin American tourists destinations are doing to assure travelers. (nytimes.com)
- The ranks of flight attendants are being decimated by pandemic. (nytimes.com)
Behavior
- Five insights from Holly Gerth's "The Powerful Purpose of Introverts: Why the World Needs You to Be You." (heleo.com)
- Should therapists be writing books about their (anonymized) patients? (wsj.com)
- When it comes to wait times, underpromise and overdeliver. (hbr.org)
- Why our brains are inclined to like happy endings to a story. (wired.com)
Health
- CGRP-targeted drugs have begun to help many migraine sufferers. (nature.com)
- You get a flu shot as much for other people than you do for yourself. (theatlantic.com)
- Placebos can work even if patients know the facts. (wired.com)
Fitness
- Doing the math on the top of the line Peloton ($PTON) bike versus going to the gym. (wsj.com)
- Many fitness studios moved their classes outside. Now Winter is coming. (vox.com)
Food
- Impossible Foods is investing heavily in plant-based milk products. (washingtonpost.com)
- The sales of alternative meats have skyrocketed in pandemic. (fastcompany.com)
- Turkey farmers think they grew too many big birds this year. (washingtonpost.com)
- How modern supermarkets changed how we buy food. (behavioralscientist.org)
- Good luck trying to avoid them: the ten companies that make most of the food you eat. (media.thinknum.com)
- Don't be surprised if camel milk becomes the next, hot 'superfood.' (ft.com)
Drink
- It's hard for craft brewers to pivot if they don't have their own canning line. (fortune.com)
- This Japanese gin was brewed with unused Budweiser beer in pandemic. (insidehook.com)
Sports
- Why you can't draw too many conclusions about sports TV ratings in pandemic. (nytimes.com)
- In praise of the Northern League vs. the Premier League. (unherd.com)
Entertainment
- Small movie theater owners are pulling out all the stops to try and survive. (wsj.com)
- We're going to miss movie theaters when they are gone. (finance.yahoo.com)
- The 50 best movie and TV show twists of all-time. (theringer.com)
Children
- How teens handled quarantine better than expected. (theatlantic.com)
- More evidence that exposure to dirt and germs is good for children's immune systems. (wired.com)
School
- More school districts are shifting from hybrid to in-person models. (wsj.com)
- Hybrid school models don't really solve the problems at hand. (vox.com)
College
- Why colleges like the University of Arizona worked so hard to re-open this Fall. (theatlantic.com)
- How colleges working with the Broad Institute have kept a lid on the virus. (wsj.com)
- A 4-year degree is not the only path to a high paying job - how FAME apprenticeships work. (wsj.com)
- How to apply to college in 2020, here's a hint - keep your options open. (wsj.com)
MBA
- Top-ranked business schools are losing out on foreign students in pandemic. (msn.com)
- Elite business schools are seeing a surge in applications with people looking to sit out the pandemic. (bloomberg.com)
Earlier on Abnormal Returns
- Coronavirus links: a lack of silver bullets. (abnormalreturns.com)
- What you missed in our Friday linkfest. (abnormalreturns.com)
- Podcast links: turning the table(s). (abnormalreturns.com)
- A post to bring you up-to-date on some goings on including a podcast I did with the Validea guys. (abnormalreturns.com)
- When it comes to the stock market don’t underestimate the power of ‘learning by doing.’ (abnormalreturns.com)
- Every Friday I send out five links for advisers to help them think a little differently about the world. Sign up now! (newsletter.abnormalreturns.com)