Saturdays are the day we catch up with all the non-finance related items that we didn’t get to during the week. You can check out last week’s edition here. Have a great weekend!
Quote of the Day
"Covid-19 should also teach us that resolving a problem with technology may be easier than resolving it with dogged behaviour change."
(Tim Harford)
Autos
- Widespread, low cost, adoption of EVs is going to require solid-state batteries. (ft.com)
- A number of psychological biases, including 'algorithm aversion,' stand in the way of autonomous vehicles. (wsj.com)
- Want to reduce carbon? Bike instead of drive. (theconversation.com)
Environment
- Emily Ury, "Rising seas are inundating North Carolina’s coast, and saltwater is seeping into wetland soils." (theconversation.com)
- Researchers are scratching their heads about a big rise in methane levels in 2020. (ft.com)
- Climate change is affecting how and where people will live. (housingwire.com)
- Rising sea levels are coming. The only approach is adaptation. (fastcompany.com)
- There are practical way to reduce gas emissions from livestock. (modernfarmer.com)
- What Amazon ($AMZN) could do to reduce single-use plastic waste. (nytimes.com)
- To re-forest you need seedlings. (wired.com)
Energy
- The UK's power grid is flirting with being carbon-free. (bbc.com)
- Why small-scale wave power projects are so promising. (wired.com)
- Residential geothermal is underutilized. (avc.com)
Travel
- Airlines don't always run ventilation systems full-on when on the ground. (wsj.com)
- Cruise bookings are surging despite ships still being in port. (bloomberg.com)
- Some tourist hotspots are not crazy about the return of travelers. (bloomberg.com)
- Business travel is going to be permanently reduced. (axios.com)
Science
- Five insights from Walter Isaacson's "The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race." (nextbigideaclub.com)
- The first helicopter on Mars is officially on Martian soil. (scientificamerican.com)
Technology
- The end of Yahoo Answers shows nothing is forever even on the Internet. (theverge.com)
- Apple's new M1-powered Macs are going to put pressure on anything Intel-powered. (medium.com)
Viruses
- Some promising news on the HIV vaccine front. (livescience.com)
- We humans are beset with viruses that don't neccessarily cause symptoms. (theatlantic.com)
Pandemic effects
- Lockdowns did not cause a spike in suicides. (vox.com)
- Loneliness will still be an issue post-pandemic. (unherd.com)
- In some ways the pandemic helped some people with anxiety. (wsj.com)
Behavior
- Theresa Gaffney, "Emergency departments aren’t designed for mental health emergencies, and in most hospitals, they aren’t designed for children, either." (statnews.com)
- Neuroscientists have learned a lot about how our brains work but little of it has translated into practical treatments. (nytimes.com)
- Five insights from Adam Grant's "Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know." (nextbigideaclub.com)
- We are all pretty bad at estimating how long a task will take. (bigthink.com)
- Trying to solve a problem? Think subtraction not addition. (nature.com)
Food waste
- We all got used to eating leftovers in pandemic. Here's hoping that habit sticks. (bloomberg.com)
- Reducing food waste would do well to reduce climate change. (theatlantic.com)
Food
- The big food delivery apps like DoorDash ($DASH) have a fake restaurant problem. (theverge.com)
- Starbucks ($SBUX) customers are causing a run on oat milk. (cnn.com)
- What happens when a holdout experiments with plant-based meats. (wired.com)
- Is the world ready for vegan cheese? (eater.com)
- Why it seems like mushrooms are everywhere these days. (vox.com)
Drink
- The craft beer industry saw a 9% decline in volume in 2020. (pastemagazine.com)
- How to choose and use bitters in your drinks. (artofmanliness.com)
Weed
- Virginia has effectively legalized marijuana. (vox.com)
- Another state is getting closer to legalizing medical marijuana. (citizen-times.com)
- How New York legalizing marijuana will affect its neighbors. (axios.com)
Entertainment
- Streaming services are beginning to run out new shows due to the pandemic. (bloomberg.com)
- Apple ($AAPL) TV+ keep getting better over time. (vox.com)
Sports
- The NFL is getting a 5% stake in sports betting data company Genius Sports. (sportico.com)
- Golf (and tennis) are struggling with how technology is changing the game. (economist.com)
- Horse racing in America doesn't exist without big public subsidies. (defector.com)
Kids
- College graduates face a tougher time launching in a pandemic. (npr.org)
- Schools may reopen, but some kids may never catch up. (theatlantic.com)
- We're still reckoning with the impact of the pandemic on kids. (wsj.com)
Earlier on Abnormal Returns
- Coronavirus links: the great divide. (abnormalreturns.com)
- What you missed in our Friday linkfest. (abnormalreturns.com)
- Podcast links: bond matrix mispricing. (abnormalreturns.com)
- Are you a financial adviser looking for some out-of-the-box thinking? Then check out our weekly e-mail newsletter. (newsletter.abnormalreturns.com)
