On Saturdays we catch up with the non-finance related items that we didn’t get to earlier in the week. You can check out last week’s edition here. Have a great weekend!
Quote of the Day
"Once we liberate ourselves from the mental cage of thinking of AI as akin to ourselves, we can recognize that it’s just another pile of math that can transform one kind of input into another—that is, software."
(Christopher Mims)
Transport
- Why pedestrian deaths are on the rise in the U.S. (nybooks.com)
- How innovation makes tunnels more viable as transportation. (austinvernon.eth.link)
- Where should all these new EV charging stations be located? (axios.com)
- This is the true test of a self-driving car. (groundtruthautonomy.com)
Energy
- Carbon pricing puts market forces in charge or mitigation strategies. (bloomberg.com)
- New graduates don't want to go into the oil and gas industry. (ft.com)
- The battle over natural gas bans in new homes is going nationwide. (wsj.com)
- More batteries, mean more materials. Can recycling help? (ft.com)
Climate change
- It's still hard to tie specific weather events to climate change. (ft.com)
- Warming permafrost is kicking off more methane than predicted. (washingtonpost.com)
- Climate change is upping the costs of crop insurance. (scientificamerican.com)
- Climate change is insidious. (om.co)
Flooding
- How 'blue-green infrastructure' could help protect coastal areas. (newyorker.com)
- The moon's 'wobble' is going to exacerbate coastal flooding in a decade's time. (washingtonpost.com)
- The next decade could fool communities that coastal flooding isn't getting worse. (wired.com)
- How Venice's flood defense system works. (kottke.org)
Environment
- Cloud seeding is not new, but expect to see it ramp up in the future. (asia.nikkei.com)
- How commercial property owners are recycling water in water-stressed areas. (nytimes.com)
- Forests that were purchased as carbon offsets are going up in smoke. (ft.com)
- Outmigration from the Bay Area have often ended in areas prone to fire risk. (sfchronicle.com)
Animals
- Whales off Alaska have enjoyed the reduction in marine traffic during pandemic. (bbc.com)
- Mammals dream even before they are born. (bigthink.com)
- Quality water means quality oysters. (reasonstobecheerful.world)
- Why Emperor Penguins are likely doomed. (washingtonpost.com)
- Sexual selection among females is understudied. (quantamagazine.org)
Travel
- How Venice is blunting the return to a pre-pandemic tourism normal. (bloomberg.com)
- United Airlines said that it would require all U.S. employees to be vaccinated against the coronavirus starting this fall. (npr.org)
- Many furloughed pilots are at-risk of losing their certifications. (bloomberg.com)
Technology
- Many ransomware attacks go unreported. (washingtonpost.com)
- What would happen if facial recognition technology were ubiquitous? (slate.com)
- Apple ($AAPL) want to scan your phone for child porn. (washingtonpost.com)
Behavior
- Five insights from Christian Jarrett's new book "Be Who You Want: Unlocking the Science of Personality Change." (nextbigideaclub.com)
- How psychedelic-assisted therapy works. (cnbc.com)
- The three phases of a major life change. (hbr.org)
- Why it's so hard to take a compliment. (theoatmeal.com)
- Visualizing where happiness comes from. (flowingdata.com)
Health
- How a diet high in Omega 3 fatty acids could help prevent migraines. (nytimes.com)
- Would better pollen forecasts help allergy sufferers? (theconversation.com)
- How IBS is diagnosed and treated. (nytimes.com)
Cultivated meat
- Lab-grown meat is still a ways off from mass commercialization. (motherjones.com)
- Cultivated seafood is coming closer to reality. (axios.com)
Restaurants
- Restaurants are having to invest in technology to overcome labor shortages. (politico.com)
- Be careful when you put something on the menu as a joke. People might keep ordering it. (sfchronicle.com)
Drink
- Molson Coors ($TAP) is sunsetting nearly a dozen economy beer brands. (marketingdive.com)
- Flooding has devastated German wine making regions. (ft.com)
- Rufus Griscom talks with Edward Slingerland’s about his new book "Drunk: How We Sipped, Danced, and Stumbled Our Way to Civilization." (nextbigideaclub.com)
- More signs the seltzer boom is over. (marker.medium.com)
Soccer
- How Barcelona turned from powerhouse into an also-ran. (ft.com)
- Spain's La Liga just sold a 10% stake to a PE firm. (nytimes.com)
- Lionel Messi is expected to sign with PSG. (soccer.nbcsports.com)
Entertainment
- It's hard to imagine today that MTV was the most powerful cultural force in the world. (variety.com)
- Streaming services are experimenting more with their subscription prices. (nytimes.com)
- 12 of the best space movies including 'October Sky.' (newscientist.com)
Earlier on Abnormal Returns
- Coronavirus links: a long war. (abnormalreturns.com)
- What you missed in our Friday linkfest. (abnormalreturns.com)
- Podcast links: dramatic tension. (abnormalreturns.com)
- The big social media platforms change over time. So should your approach to them. (abnormalreturns.com)
- It has been a disappointing year for goldbugs. (abnormalreturns.com)
- August ESG links: diverse perspectives. (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)