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
"I’ve never seen a resume that listed “low drama” under skills, but it might be a useful attribute."
(Seth Godin)
Autos
- Automakers are struggling to meet their fuel efficiency targets. (theverge.com)
- Why the rollout of a national EV charging system has been so slow. (nytimes.com)
- Trucks and SUVs keep getting bigger. Pedestrians are paying the price. (slate.com)
- How the costs of car ownership have increased. (visualcapitalist.com)
- Some of the best cars of 2023 including the new Toyota ($TM) Prius. (axios.com)
- Which models depreciate the fastest? (visualcapitalist.com)
Energy
- AI is a big energy user and only getting bigger. (wsj.com)
- Gas companies are paying home builders incentives to install gas-powered appliances. (theguardian.com)
Environment
- 2023 will be the hottest year in recorded history. (reuters.com)
- Another sign that the environment has become 'plasticized.' (wired.com)
- Is carbon removal a distraction from reducing emissions? (eenews.net)
- Can direct air capture ever be cost-effective? (wsj.com)
- America's forests need more fires, not fewer. (theatlantic.com)
Travel
- The air traffic control system is stressed out. (econbrowser.com)
- Disruptive travel incidents haven't returned to pre-pandemic levels. (wsj.com)
- 52 rules of flying including 'Don’t ask your friends for a ride to the airport.' (washingtonpost.com)
Animals
- Alaska's salmon population is falling. Who should manage it? (grist.org)
- What are farm animals thinking? The research may surprise you. (science.org)
- More evidence that insects are in decline. (sciencedaily.com)
- How much treatment is too much for a zoo animal? (nytimes.com)
- Shipwrecks are teeming with life. (theconversation.com)
- Just how sustainable is wool production? (vox.com)
Science
- How do these researchers publish a paper a week? (nature.com)
- Why are Americans getting shorter? (washingtonpost.com)
Technology
- This self-checkout set-up does not suck. (wsj.com)
- How criminals empty your bank account with your stolen iPhone. (wsj.com)
Space
- Why space tourism is not yet a thing. (marginalrevolution.com)
- Blue Origin seems to back on track. (techcrunch.com)
- Five insights from "The Future of Geography: How the Competition in Space Will Change Our World" by Tim Marshall. (nextbigideaclub.com)
Winter
- Our idea of winter is changing in a warming world. (vox.com)
- How winter affects our mood and behavior. (scientificamerican.com)
- How to prevent winter from setting your health back. (primecuts.substack.com)
Covid
- Meet JN.1, the fastest growing Covid variant. (cnn.com)
- Wastewater data shows Covid levels rising into the holiday season. (axios.com)
- Duration matters for virus transmission. (bloomberg.com)
- Researchers have developed a single-dose powdered vaccine that is inhaled directly into the lungs to produce an effective immune response. (newatlas.com)
Health
- Why are colon cancer cases on the rise among young Americans? (news.yahoo.com)
- The Crisper-based treatment for sickle cell disease is here, but it is expensive and scarce. (wired.com)
- Congratulations anti-vaxxers, measles cases are growing around the globe. (news.yahoo.com)
- How CAR-T could be used to treat autoimmune diseases. (nature.com)
- Do people with Alzheimer's Disease actually want to live longer? (wsj.com)
- Ozempic and Wegovy may reduce inflammation by targeting the brain. (newscientist.com)
- A new test that could help guide rheumatoid arthritis treatment. (npr.org)
- Another reason to brush your teeth. (sciencedaily.com)
Food
- One in four animals raised for food end up wasted. (vox.com)
- Why small meat processors are disadvantaged by the USDA. (modernfarmer.com)
- One of the best sushi restaurants in America is in Omaha, Nebraska. (washingtonpost.com)
- Eat the whole chicken, not just the breast. (theatlantic.com)
TV
- The 25 best TV series of 2023 including 'Poker Face.' (rogerebert.com)
- The 15 best TV shows of 2023 including 'Abbott Elementary.' (theatlantic.com)
- The 50 best TV shows of 2023 including 'The Last of Us.' (theguardian.com)
Movies
- The 10 best movies of 2023 including 'Oppenheimer.' (rogerebert.com)
- The best movies of 2023 including 'Past Lives.' (insidehook.com)
- The best Netflix ($NFLX) movies of 2023 ranked including 'The Killer.' (insider.com)
- Overlooked movies from 2023 including 'Joy Ride.' (variety.com)
- How to watch 15 of the best movies of 2023 including 'Anatomy of a Fall.' (wired.com)
Skiing
- Skiing in America has been largely taken over by two companies. (slate.com)
- In many parts of the West it is too warm to eve make snow. (herbgreenberg.substack.com)
- Warming temperatures are making skiing more dangerous. (wired.com)
Sports
- Online sports books have moved toward profitability by pushing parlays and in-game betting. (defector.com)
- Pickleball, the sport, can thrive without a successful pro tour. (bloomberg.com)
- Volleyball is making viewership progress. (sportico.com)
- Fanatics is sick of cybersquatters. (sportico.com)
College
- Bad publicity aside, a college degree is still a good investment. (theatlantic.com)
- Rising housing costs are a growing part of the college affordability problem. (wsj.com)
Earlier on Abnormal Returns
- What you missed in our Friday linkfest. (abnormalreturns.com)
- Podcast links: extreme arbitrage. (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)
Mixed media
- 52 snippets from 2023 including 'For the first time ever, more fish are farmed today than caught in the wild.' (snippet.finance)
- The best content from 2023 including '15 Ideas, Frameworks, and Lessons from 15 Years' by Newfound’s CIO Corey Hoffstein. (whatsimportant.substack.com)
- Things Sam Altman wish he knew earlier including 'Incentives are superpowers; set them carefully.' (blog.samaltman.com)