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
"Compounding early luck is generally fine with people who have early luck. What a surprise. But it’s unfair and it’s also a talent-utilization problem that hurts everyone."
(Seth Godin)
Autos
- New entertainment consoles are a huge distraction to drivers. (latimes.com)
- $1,000 monthly car payments are no longer a rarity. (wsj.com)
- EVs would be making more headway if supply were not an issue. (vanityfair.com)
- There's nothing green about an electric Hummer. (aceee.org)
Energy
- Nuclear power advocates are having their moment. (nytimes.com)
- South Korea is going to build four nuclear power plants. (bloomberg.com)
- Landfills are perfect places for solar farms. (theprepared.org)
- A new model for floating wind farms. (wired.com)
- Sand prices are once again soaring. (bloomberg.com)
- Denser cities use less energy, per capita. (theatlantic.com)
Environment
- The American Southwest is facing a reckoning on the Colorado River. (politico.com)
- Yellowstone flooding shows our climate models are inadequate. (npr.org)
- Dry land sucks more water from the air, and so on. (scientificamerican.com)
- Fin whale populations seem to be on the rebound. (wsj.com)
Travel
- Some tips on traveling this summer including 'fly early in the day.' (nytimes.com)
- Add lost luggage to the list of summer travel woes. (wsj.com)
- How all-electric "seagliders" could become a staple in the Hawaiian islands. (axios.com)
Behavior
- Being judgmental is exhausting. (vox.com)
- In praise of taking a little more risk in your life. (aei.org)
- Five insights from Andy Dunn's book "Burn Rate: Launching a Startup and Losing My Mind." (nextbigideaclub.com)
Paxlovid
- Pharmacists can now prescribe Paxlovid. (nytimes.com)
- Why we need more guidance for Paxlovid prescriptions. (statnews.com)
Brain fog
- How our exposure to Covid affects the immune system. (ft.com)
- Some insights into what causes Covid-related 'brain fog.' (wired.com)
- How Covid infections could cause 'brain fog.' (sciencedaily.com)
Covid
- COVID was the leading cause of death in Americans ages 45-54 in 2021. (jamanetwork.com)
- 'Community level risk' is not a very useful metric. (statnews.com)
- What the rise of BA.4 and BA.5 mean for the pandemic. (nature.com)
- We've never sequenced any virus as much as we have SARS-CoV2. (nytimes.com)
- There were positive spillovers in towns that had colleges that did Covid-19 testing. (sciencenews.org)
- Why we need to double down on universal coronavirus vaccines. (slowboring.com)
- Vaccine mandates increased uptake, but the question is at what cost. (nature.com)
- Covid vaccines are now getting thrown out. (wsj.com)
Pregnancy
- How Dodds could complicate IVF treatments going forward. (nytimes.com)
- There's no perfect early detection home pregnancy test on the horizon. (axios.com)
- Interest in permanent birth control procedures are on the rise. (wired.com)
Health
- Viscosupplementation doesn't do much for knee pain. (statnews.com)
- Americans can get into medical debt even without having a catastrophic illness. (nytimes.com)
Sick days
- Even before Covid we should have been staying home when sick. (theatlantic.com)
- Americans are bad at taking sick days. (washingtonpost.com)
Pets
- The U.S. is facing a veterinary shortage. (msn.com)
- Mars Petcare wants to assemble a biobank to help in research. (axios.com)
Food
- Microplastics have been found in cows and pigs. (theguardian.com)
- Should we feed cattle more insects? (modernfarmer.com)
Kids
- California has enacted a law delaying school start times. (vox.com)
- More high school seniors are taking the SAT/ACT despite colleges dropping the requirement. (wsj.com)
TV
- The 15 best TV shows of 2022, so far, including 'Abbott Elementary.' (variety.com)
- The 10 best TV shows of 2022, so far, including 'Our Flag Means Death.' (theringer.com)
Earlier on Abnormal Returns
- What you missed in our Friday linkfest. (abnormalreturns.com)
- Podcast links: doing hard things. (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)