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
"The Lego Movie works to keep its audience’s expectations low, even as its thematic and philosophical ambitions swell."
(Sam Adams)
Chart of the Day
The average American household has gone from 3.3 in 1960 to 2.5 in 2023.
Autos
- How three different companies are handling autonomous driving. (freethink.com)
- Toyota ($TM) is seeing the benefit of rising demand for hybrids. (wsj.com)
- Tesla ($TSLA) has a hazardous waste problem in California. (theverge.com)
- Existing guardrails are not holding up to today's larger vehicles. (slate.com)
- Why EVs are inevitable - they use less energy. (yaleclimateconnections.org)
Energy
- On the state of solar energy in the U.S. (slate.com)
- Heat pumps are gaining momentum. (wired.com)
- Another step forward for fusion energy. (cnn.com)
Environment
- In 1965, LBJ was warned about the consequences of carbon emissions on the climate. (worth.com)
- Fine particle emissions are bad for people (and animals). (theconversation.com)
- Buying imperfect goods helps keep stuff out of landfills. (reasonstobecheerful.world)
- Should we be using more straw in home construction? (bbc.com)
The ocean
- What sponges tell us about rising ocean temperatures. (grist.org)
- Big mammals like whales matter, but we should focus more on species like sardines. (slate.com)
- What's behind the controversy over octopus farming? (npr.org)
- How the California sea otter rebounded. (npr.org)
Animals
- Nature doesn't distinguish between native and 'invasive' species. (msn.com)
- How wolves near Chernobyl seem immune from the effects of radiation. (nypost.com)
- Can coexistence with wolves be bought? (hcn.org)
Air travel
- The FAA is not Boeing's ($BA) 'quality department.' (wsj.com)
- Why Allegiant Air ($ALGT) is gaining fans. (wsj.com)
Apple
- Do we really need another screen, aka the Vision Pro? (gq.com)
- A hands-on experience with the Apple ($AAPL) Vision Pro. (sixcolors.com)
Therapy
- Why some therapists are getting their clients outside into nature. (nytimes.com)
- You don't have to be in therapy the rest of your life. (msn.com)
- How single therapy sessions can help. (nextbigideaclub.com)
Behavior
- How to stop, or slow, catastrophic thinking. (vox.com)
- What does your brain do, when you are doing nothing? (quantamagazine.org)
Covid
- A universal Covid vaccine would be a health/economic boon. (papers.ssrn.com)
- Did the Covid pandemic affect behavior around life insurance? (papers.ssrn.com)
Vaccines
- The world might want to drop the Yamagata influenza strain from vaccines. (msn.com)
- Why you should switch arms for vaccinations. (newatlas.com)
Health
- Why do women get more autoimmune diseases? (smithsonianmag.com)
- Should older Americans really be taking GLP-1s? (msn.com)
- A controversial 2021 study on mifepristone has been retracted. (wired.com)
- Viruses, like EV-D68, are weird and unpredictable. (arstechnica.com)
- What it's like to get a vasectomy. (insidehook.com)
Fitness
- There are no biological free lunches, think TRT. (tim.blog)
- When does a fitness tracker cause more problems than it solves? (msn.com)
Dogs
- Why getting a dog for your family is good for your children. (npr.org)
- How long various dog breeds live on average. (nytimes.com)
- Dog waste is not benign. (theconversation.com)
Drugs
- Oregon is reconsidering its drug legalization policy regime. (npr.org)
- When is it safe to drive after consuming cannabis? (wsj.com)
- Why the FDA should ban menthol cigarettes. (statnews.com)
Food
- Why we can't get 'butter avocados' in the U.S. (modernfarmer.com)
- Europe's farmers are set to retire. (ft.com)
- Purple tomatoes? Why not... (npr.org)
Drink
- The hottest beer in America, Athletic Brewing, has no alcohol. (wsj.com)
- Why breweries are saying no to serving beer flights. (insidehook.com)
- Do we really need to ship ice around the globe for a cocktail? (punchdrink.com)
College
- Dartmouth is reinstating the SAT or ACT. (wsj.com)
- The new FAFSA application has thrown a wrench into the process. (wsj.com)
- College coaching doesn't really help re-enrollment. (papers.ssrn.com)
Earlier on Abnormal Returns
- What you missed in our Friday linkfest. (abnormalreturns.com)
- Podcast links: platform agnosticism. (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)