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
"Whatever happens over the next ten years, if history is any guide at all, the year we just finished will be mostly a faded memory."
(Seth Godin)
Autos
- The big German automakers are taking on Tesla ($TSLA) directly. (nytimes.com)
- Sibros Technologies wants to make every car update-able like Teslas. (bloomberg.com)
- Ideas on how to restructure the EV tax credit for better effect. (slate.com)
Energy
- A new generation of bigger wind turbines, including GE's Haliade-X, are changing the wind power calculus. (nytimes.com)
- Pipeline companies are now interested in hooking up producers of biogas. (wsj.com)
Environment
- The EPA is set to finalize rules for airplane emissions. (cnbc.com)
- Abandoned boats are piling up along the West Coast from Alaska to California. (hakaimagazine.com)
- We need a Paris Agreement for plastics. (scientificamerican.com)
Travel
- Virus-containment protocols have been ineffective in attempts to get cruising again. (wsj.com)
- More airlines are cracking down on the use of emotional support animals. (nytimes.com)
Science
- Why is the earth habitable? You can thank dumb luck. (syfy.com)
- Your sleeping brain stays half-awake the first night in a new location. (mymodernmet.com)
- Blue eyes started with one of our ancestors and continued on. (livescience.com)
- Tides affect how methane is released beneath the ocean. (bigthink.com)
- Some new species discovered in 2020 including a 'new teeny-tiny species of seahorse.' (vox.com)
Technology
- FarmVille is no more but it changed much of how the web operates. (nytimes.com)
- Magnetic tape is not done as an archival format. (economist.com)
- Why the Turning Test is obsolete. (fastcompany.com)
- Why AI is so power hungry. (arstechnica.com)
Virtual therapy
- Is venture capital incompatible with the provision of mental health services? (hunterwalk.medium.com)
- How to get the most out of a virtual therapy session? (wired.com)
Health
- Steroids don't do anything for acute respiratory infections, but doctors keep prescribing them. (nytimes.com)
- The issue of antibiotic resistance didn't go away during pandemic. (gizmodo.com)
- Don't let the pandemic prevent you from getting other necessary vaccinations. (nytimes.com)
- Does being around plants improve health and wellness? (newscientist.com)
Fitness
- On the benefits of working out with other people. (theconversation.com)
- A Q&A with Daniel E. Lieberman author of “Exercised: Why Something We Never Evolved to Do Is Healthy and Rewarding.” (wsj.com)
- A review of Apple's ($AAPL) Fitness+ service. (engadget.com)
- VR fitness lives up to the hype. (nytimes.com)
Dogs
- Do dogs really make us happier? (wsj.com)
- Why are dogs so scared of the vacuum cleaner? (mentalfloss.com)
Food
- How one London restaurant managed through the pandemic. (london.eater.com)
- Signs that meatless meat is going mainstream. (vox.com)
Sports
- How the pandemic upended the economics of bowl games. (sportico.com)
- Will hardcore surfers embrace man-made 'surf parks'? (npr.org)
- Of the major sports leagues, MLS is more dependent on gate receipts. (sportico.com)
- On the historical origins of lacrosse. (bigthink.com)
College
- Colleges that serve mostly middle and working class populations are now most at-risk. (nytimes.com)
- The markets have accommodated college and university borrowing in 2020. (wsj.com)
- Why college struggle to get emergency aid to students. (theatlantic.com)
- Over 140 PhD programs in the US have paused admissions in pandemic. (wsj.com)
- Should we be incentivizing college students to remain virus-free? (nytimes.com)
Earlier on Abnormal Returns
- Coronavirus links: a year of anguish. (abnormalreturns.com)
- How we will view 2020 depends on what happens next. (abnormalreturns.com)
- Podcast links: the pursuit of excellence. (abnormalreturns.com)
- Collectibles investing looks like but fun, but you need to recognize the overriding role that taste and psychology play in pricing. (abnormalreturns.com)
- Longform links: the next pandemic. (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
- 20 things that made the world a better place in 2020 including DeepMind solving the protein folding problem. (wired.com)
- Five books that help explain the world including "War: How Conflict Shaped Us" by Margaret McMillan. (msn.com)
- The best movies and TV shows for those with an interest in behavioral economics. (finance.yahoo.com)
