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
"There will always be the “star pupils” but the teacher’s job is to serve all of the students. The reward may be to watch the star pupils shine, but the job is not. The job is to serve all of the students equally, or possibly to help the students who are struggling more than the others."
(Fred Wilson)
Chart of the Day
“Using these stats – for those born this year (in 2020) – almost 60% will make it to the next century.”
Transport
- The auto industry is hoping that further “hybridisation” will ease the transition to all-electric vehicles. (ft.com)
- Why Tesla ($TSLA) is overselling its "Full Self Driving" software. (fortune.com)
- The Ford ($F) E-Transit van will get more companies to switch. (engadget.com)
Energy
- There is still a long way to go to make current systems more energy efficient. (ft.com)
- Toshiba has stopped taking orders for coal-fired plants. (asia.nikkei.com)
- Structural batteries could mean the end of the battery pack. (wired.com)
- You can burn iron to generate electricity? (newatlas.com)
Environment
- The Ogallala-High Plains Aquifer is being drained, in large part, due to bad policies. (modernfarmer.com)
- The Indian Ocean is a bit of a free for all, when it comes to overfishing. (hakaimagazine.com)
- Cement production is a huge generator of CO2. (ft.com)
- Is is possible recycle old CDs? (nytimes.com)
Animals
- Gray wolves won a reprieve in Colorado. (theverge.com)
- A rare bigfin squid was seen off the coast of Australia. (newscientist.com)
- What can we learn about marine biology by listening to the deep sea? (nytimes.com)
Travel
- Why (business) travel may never return to pre-pandemic levels. (bnnbloomberg.ca)
- Are any seats on an airplane safer than others? (nytimes.com)
- Key West has voted to ban big cruise ships. (thepointsguy.com)
Technology
- Why it's a big deal that Google ($GOOGL) is going to start charging for photo storage. (theverge.com)
- You know that movie you 'bought'? You may not actually own it. (wsj.com)
- Look, you should be using Apple Pay or Google Pay. (wired.com)
Psychology
- Why we judge people based on their relatives. (nautil.us)
- We are willing to pay, a lot, for social status. (privpapers.ssrn.com)
- On the downside of positive psychology. (fastcompany.com)
Behavior
- What do to after you experience a string of bad luck. (nytimes.com)
- Why you have to be willing to revisit your beliefs. (markmanson.net)
- Five general lessons learned from therapists. (medium.com)
- How sighing is a reset button for our emotions. (vice.com)
Health
- Why doctors are under treating osteoporosis in older adults. (nytimes.com)
- Measles cases are up around the globe due to the pandemic preventing vaccinations. (vox.com)
- Why gout is becoming more commonplace. (nytimes.com)
- Why the media need to be careful about reporting suicide statistics. (newscientist.com)
Coffee
- How the pandemic has changed consumer coffee consumption patterns. (wsj.com)
- Visualizing the economics of coffee. (visualcapitalist.com)
Food
- Why oat milk is everywhere these days. (ft.com)
- People ate more cookies in pandemic. (fooddive.com)
- Sesame allergies are on the rise. (fooddive.com)
Sports
- Indoor basketball is a great way to spread the coronavirus. In wide swaths of the country, high school basketball is back. (wsj.com)
- Buying TopGolf, pre-vaccine, was a good move by Callaway ($ELY). (sportico.com)
- The 2020 pandemic-induced golf boom, by the numbers. (axios.com)
- The descent of college football into Covid chaos was entirely predictable. (msn.com)
Entertainment
- How the MP3 changed the music industry forever. (ft.com)
- What it took to bring 'The Queen's Gambit' to Netflix ($NFLX). (theringer.com)
- Why Hollywood loves body-switching movies. (theringer.com)
Relationships
- When it comes to dating it's either a 'hell yes' or a no. (markmanson.net)
- The pandemic is putting all manner of relationships on hold. (vox.com)
Children
- Parenting in pandemic means (inevitably) falling short. (npr.org)
- How to revamp high school mathematics to make it more relevant for the most kids. (wsj.com)
College
- Students are none too happy with how 'online proctoring' works in practice. (washingtonpost.com)
- How the college admissions process has been upended by pandemic. (wsj.com)
- Graduating in a recession stinks, but it is not the final word on your career. (marginalrevolution.com)
MBA
- A crummy jobs market is causing more people to apply to MBA programs. (wsj.com)
- The top-ranked online MBA programs. (insideindianabusiness.com)
Earlier on Abnormal Returns
- Coronavirus links: exhausted health care workers. (abnormalreturns.com)
- What you missed in our Friday linkfest. (abnormalreturns.com)
- Podcast links: practical measures of risk. (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)
Mixed media
- An excerpt from Barack Obama's forthcoming memoir "A Promised Land." (theatlantic.com)
- A new review for "The Joys of Compounding: The Passionate Pursuit of Lifelong Learning" by Gautam Baid, CFA. (blogs.cfainstitute.org)
- A review of Wright Thompson's “Pappyland: A Story of Family, Fine Bourbon, and the Things That Last.” (nytimes.com)
