P.S. You Should Know... | Issue #486
Orlando
my story 🚀
🎣 I dropped in to Orlando this week for the annual fishing industry tradeshow. I am pleased to report uneventful round trip flights. When I returned to Chicago, I looked out the airplane window to find the city in a haze from the Canadian smoke. I’m glad it cleared up quickly in time for a weekend outside!
fun facts 🙌
A love story in survey data. “The data for this story is from How Couples Meet and Stay Together, which surveyed Americans in 2017, 2020, and 2022.” The Pudding turns a Stanford dataset into an interactive look at how relationships start and change over time. ~ learn more
Prescriptions every 30 seconds. “Clinicians who worked for the start-up signed prescriptions for Adderall, a leading treatment for A.D.H.D., every 30 seconds, according to the Justice Department.” Two Done Global executives were sentenced after prosecutors said the company pushed stimulants, including refills for patients who were on involuntary psychiatric holds or had died. ~ learn more
Total energy supply explained. Someone has turned my daughter against gasoline—because it’s bad for the environment. She suggested electricity would be a superior power source for cars. I asked her where electricity comes from. “Total energy supply (TES) includes all the energy produced in or imported to a country, minus that which is exported or stored.” The IEA’s world dashboard breaks down the 2023 total production with oil at 30% and coal at 28% of supply. ~ learn more
China is winning the vibe shift. “China is now seen more positively than the U.S. in most of 36 countries surveyed.” Pew’s new global survey of 42,151 people shows a sharp reversal from recent years, with favorability toward China rising as views of the U.S. slide. ~ learn more
tech, startups, internet ⚡
Robotics slop. “Still, he is keen to test consumers’ tolerance for what he calls ‘robotics slop’: tasks that are clumsily executed.” Robot company 1X’s Neo looks elegant and quiet in person, but some of the impressive demos are tele-operated, and even 1X admits stability is not solved yet. ~ learn more
China can land rockets too. “The rocket’s first stage nestled softly into a net-like structure carried by a ship at sea.” It was only a matter of time, right? ~ learn more
Civilization tech we do not build. “i asked some frontier models to make a top 10 list of civilization-level tech we already have but don’t build” Then he shares the models’ answers, ranging from “high-speed rail and maglev” to “fully automated container ports” and “phage therapy.” ~ learn more
better doing 🎯
Change the habit loop. "About 40 to 45% of what you do every day, according to studies, is a habit." Charles Duhigg made this great solo video overviewing the keyconcepts from two of his books, The Power of Habit and Supercommunicators. ~ learn more
Counting geese at work. “I spend, to a first approximation, half my life counting geese.” In 2022 that meant endless reconciliation across GitHub, Linear, Drive, CRM, and slide decks. In his 2026 version, “The AI counts the geese now.” ~ learn more
to your health ⚕
Wellness Disney World. “It’s like a wellness Disney World.” Therme is bringing its giant European-style bathing complexes to the U.S., including a planned $500 million Therme DC on federal land by the Anacostia River (but not soon). ~ learn more
Painful periods are not normal. “Contrary to popular belief, painful periods are not normal. Common, yes, normal, no.” Julia Lipton’s primer on endometriosis explains what it can feel like, why diagnosis can take years, and why the usual options often stop at birth control or surgery. ~ learn more
under the microscope 🔬
Recent advances in Alzheimer’s disease. “In this review, we summarize the most recent updates in AD research on pathologic disease mechanisms and therapeutic strategies, highlighting advancements in apolipoprotein E (APOE) biology, neuroimmunology, biomarker discovery, and initial experience with new disease-modifying therapies. These important discoveries are revolutionizing AD diagnosis and treatment and provide hope for a future where AD is not only treatable but also preventable.” ~ learn more
CRISPR as a suicide pill for cancer cells. “In bacteria, this CRISPR acts as a suicide pill, intentionally killing a cell that has been infected by a virus to prevent its spread.” Researchers reengineered that idea so once a cell shows a cancer specific mutant RNA signature, it triggers “chromatin shredding,” “slicing up all the genetic material inside that specific cell.” ~ learn more
thoughts of food 🍔
America’s first menus. “Menus are maps: of taste, of economy, of immigration, of aspiration.” The Pudding uses early American restaurant menus to show what people ate, what they could afford, and what they wanted to signal about themselves. ~ learn more