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
"The most persistent changes in behavior happen when the story is so ingrained, we forget all about the feedback that reinforced it in the first place."
(Seth Godin)
Autos
- Why every EV maker seems to be making a pickup truck. (msn.com)
- Why this auto reviewer is excited to drive the Rivian electric pickup truck. (bloomberg.com)
Environment
- Making the case for cookie cutter buildings that can be manufactured for less and be more energy efficient. (fastcompany.com)
- The world became quieter in pandemic. (scientificamerican.com)
- How do you save a species with no obvious value? (hakaimagazine.com)
Energy
- Why everyone is hyped up about QuantumScape's solid-state battery technology. (wired.com)
- The Vineyard Wind project off Massachusetts got a capacity upgrade. (blog.ucsusa.org)
Transport
- International flights are still happening - paid for by cargo. (wsj.com)
- Airports and airlines are still trying to scale gate-side coronavirus testing. (bloomberg.com)
- Thousands of airline careers have been disrupted by pandemic. (wsj.com)
Apple
- If you want a good price for a new Apple ($AAPL) product you are going to have to wait a bit. (macworld.com)
- A first hand review of Apple's ($AAPL) heavy and expensive AirPod Maxes. (daringfireball.net)
Technology
- Intel ($INTC) has lagged in mobile chips from the get-go. (wsj.com)
- How Facebook ($FB) tried to make itself anti-trust proof. We'll see if it worked. (slate.com)
- Quantum computing is making big strides. It may be time to start paying closer attention. (axios.com)
Behavior
- How the pandemic has affecting our sense of autonomy. (digest.bps.org.uk)
- Tips from Scandinavia on making it through a long winter. (vox.com)
- A pretty good mathematical model of perfectionism. (jessegalef.com)
- Why nostalgia feels good in stressful times. (wired.com)
Health
- A universal flu vaccine is in a Phase 1 trials. (nbcnews.com)
- How researchers are hoping to reverse glaucoma and vision loss by 'turning back the clock' on retinal cells. (news.harvard.edu)
- Gene editing seems to be on the path forward for a cure for sickle cell disease. (wsj.com)
- The problem of antibiotic resistance hasn't diminished in pandemic. (ft.com)
- The technology is already here. Why don't we have OTC hearing aids? (medium.com)
- Is eliminating nicotine from tobacco products a public health silver bullet? (theatlantic.com)
- Demand for plastic surgery is up in pandemic. (washingtonpost.com)
Fitness
- How much exercise do you need a day? (nytimes.com)
- How much exercise should you target a week to lose weight? (nytimes.com)
Drugs
- Investing in psychedelics is the new investing in marijuana. (bloomberg.com)
- The U.N. has reclassified marijuana as a less dangerous drug. (nytimes.com)
Food
- Chick-fil-A is suing the big poultry producers over price fixing. (cnn.com)
- Restaurant workers are stuck, as pandemic restrictions increase again. (nytimes.com)
- The pandemic gives customers another opportunity to harass servers. (insidehook.com)
- More restaurants are urging customers to wean themselves off delivery apps. (nytimes.com)
Food insecurity
- The Farmers to Families Food Box program is running out funds. (washingtonpost.com)
- Growing food insecurity is causing an increase in theft and shoplifting. (washingtonpost.com)
Drink
- Pre-made cocktail mixers are going upscale. (nytimes.com)
- Small brewers are staring down at a big tax hike in 2021. (wsj.com)
- A talk with Wright Thompson author of "Pappyland: A Story of Family, Fine Bourbon, and the Things That Last." (longform.org)
Sports
- Chess is booming. So is chess cheating. (wsj.com)
- Remote sports competitions are trying to figure out how to deter cheating. (nytimes.com)
- Why Toronto Raptors players may not be all that bummed about playing more game in the U.S. this season. (marketwatch.com)
- The new MLB minor league affiliates lineup explained. (theathletic.com)
- Why younger siblings have a leg up athletically over older siblings. (fivethirtyeight.com)
Movie lists
- The best films of 2020 including 'Soul.' (variety.com)
- The 10 best films of 2020 including 'The Nest.' (theatlantic.com)
- The 15 best movie comedies of 2020 including 'Palm Springs.' (pastemagazine.com)
TV lists
- The best TV shows of 2020 including 'What We Do in the Shadows' (nytimes.com)
- The best TV shows of 2020 including 'The Queen's Gambit.' (slate.com)
- The best TV shows of 2020 including 'Ted Lasso.' (variety.com)
- The best TV shows of 2020 including 'Teenage Bounty Hunters.' (newyorker.com)
Children
- Why its so easy for children to fall through the educational cracks during pandemic. (washingtonpost.com)
- Parental burnout is only getting worse as the pandemic wears on. (vox.com)
College
- A drop in FAFSA applications points to another down year in college admissions. (wsj.com)
- Postponing college in pandemic makes sense, but you still need a plan. (wsj.com)
- Colleges are using the pandemic as an opportunity cut down on tenure. (wsj.com)
- Which colleges leave parents with the biggest ParentPlus loan balances? (wsj.com)
Earlier on Abnormal Returns
- Coronavirus links: the most effective interventions. (abnormalreturns.com)
- Podcast links: the business of art. (abnormalreturns.com)
- What you missed in our Thursday linkfest. (abnormalreturns.com)
- The search is on for one-stop, managed portfolios for alternative investments. (abnormalreturns.com)
- The 'Swiss cheese model' and the importance of avoiding single points of failure in pandemic and life. (abnormalreturns.com)
- Are you a financial adviser looking for some out-of-the-box thinking? Then check out our weekly e-mail newsletter just for advisers. (newsletter.abnormalreturns.com)
Mixed media
- The best books of 2020 including "Cool Town: How Athens, Georgia, Launched Alternative Music and Changed American Culture" by Grace Elizabeth Hale. (slate.com)
- The best books of 2020 across categories including "1774: The Long Year of Revolution" by Mary Beth Norton. (wsj.com)
- Notable behavioral science books from 2020 including "The Catalyst: How to Change Anyone’s Mind" by Jonah Berger. (behavioralscientist.org)
- The ten best history books of 2020 including "You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington" by Alexis Coe. (smithsonianmag.com)
- The best books of 2020 including "Fathoms: The World in the Whale" by Rebecca Giggs. (slate.com)
