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
"To function effectively in the world, we need routines. To function optimally, we need to operate outside of routine. Doing less can provide us with more."
(Brett Steenbarger)
Chart of the Day
As younger generations flee live TV, sports is facing an existential threat.
Autos
- A look at the new all-electric Mercedes Benz EQS. (theverge.com)
- Walmart ($WMT) is investing in the GM-backed startup Cruise. (cnbc.com)
- Car safety continues to improve over time. Driver ability not so much. (insidehook.com)
- Can AI estimate car repairs better than humans? (wired.com)
E-transport
- France is offering up e-bikes for clunkers to reduce emissions. (reuters.com)
- On the danger of putting scooters and cars on the road together. (theconversation.com)
Environment
- Microplastics are falling from the sky. (wired.com)
- The U.S. is littered with abandoned oil wells. (ft.com)
- The Corn Belt has lost a big chunk of its topsoil. What can be done to reverse it? (smithsonianmag.com)
- Europe relied heavily burning trash. Now it is rethinking that proposition. (wired.com)
- Invasive species launched into Florida's ecosystem are making their way North. (washingtonpost.com)
Climate change
- Visualizing how much ice mass the Earth has lost in the past 25 years. (visualcapitalist.com)
- The NWS has abandoned a weather station off Cape Cod due to rising sea levels. (theguardian.com)
- A sign that California is in for a bad fire season. (wired.com)
Travel
- Post-pandemic, rental car agencies are scrambling to get cars. (wsj.com)
- A sign that airfares have normalized by the end of the summer. (nytimes.com)
- Travel agents are seeing a surge in interest, post-pandemic. (nytimes.com)
- The pandemic put a dent in the ability of hotels to go green. (ft.com)
Science
- Egyptian archaeologists have discovered a 3400-year-old city just outside Luxor, dating back to the reign of Amenhotop III, grandfather to King Tut. (arstechnica.com)
- Plants don't like man-made noise. (phys.org)
Behavior
- The number of suicides in the U.S. fell in 2020. (apnews.com)
- More research is being done with psilocybin to treat depression. (statnews.com)
- Researchers are getting closer to a blood test for mood disorders. (newatlas.com)
- Evidence in support of the Dunning-Kreuger effect. (thedebrief.org)
Health
- AI is good at identifying cancerous colon polyps. (wired.com)
- Five more reasons why you should exercise. (bakadesuyo.com)
- The health effects of isolation are real. (wsj.com)
Food
- How Oatly caught the alternative milk wave. (businessofbusiness.com)
- Plant-based meat sales are growing rapidly but are still just a fraction of traditional meat. (vox.com)
- A Q&A with Paul Greenberg author of "The Climate Diet: 50 Simple Ways to Trim Your Carbon Footprint." (gq.com)
Weed
- New Mexico has become the 17th state to legalize recreational marijuana. (vox.com)
- How long does THC impair driving? (newatlas.com)
Enterainment
- Why Sony ($SNE) was smart to make a deal with Netflix ($NFLX). (mgs.blog)
- Why a standalone Showtime app may not be long for the world. (thestreamable.com)
- Film lovers are mourning the closure of the Pacific Cinerama Dome. (cnbc.com)
Sports
- MLB is experimenting with moving the pitching mound back a foot. (washingtonpost.com)
- Golf had a big year in pandemic. What golf courses are doing to keep up the momentum. (wsj.com)
MBA
- Tech companies are still hiring U.S. MBA graduates. (wsj.com)
- MBA programs are building sustainability into their courses. (ft.com)
College
- More colleges are jumping on the vaccine bandwagon. (wsj.com)
- Colleges have a long history of requiring vaccinations. (npr.org)
- Endowment funds helped colleges and universities weather the pandemic. (institutionalinvestor.com)
- Why professors should stop grading 'class participation.' (chronicle.com)
Earlier on Abnormal Returns
- Coronavirus links: large-scale logistics. (abnormalreturns.com)
- New wealth comes along with newfound emotions. (abnormalreturns.com)
- What you missed in our Friday linkfest. (abnormalreturns.com)
- Podcast links: lessons learned. (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)
