Weekend Thoughts - 10.21.17

Image by Pexels, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Happy Saturday y'all! Below, I have rounded up some things for you to think about this weekend:

1. After some victories in the Chinese market, investors in the U.S. are hoping that bike sharing will be the next Uber. The key to the success in China has been the use of a dockless system that allows users to unlock a bike with an app on their mobile phone. That means when a user is done with their rental bike they can leave it wherever they would like—which will automatically lock the bike—and then the next renter will be able to unlock it with their mobile phone! This is pretty exciting for me as a regular cyclist because anytime the friction between renting a bicycle is decreased, it means that more people will be interested in renting them, which means more cyclists on the roads, which is a good thing for cyclists everywhere. Let's hope that the accomplishments in China translate to the United States, where cycling is not as common and the vast majority of roads are not designed with bicycles in mind (yet).

2. There are certainly tons of challenges to think and work through before autonomous vehicles on the roads become the norm, but the former Google self-driving car project Waymo is already starting to train police officers on how to respond to accidents involving self-driving cars. Cops and first responders will need to know how to access an autonomous vehicle after it is involved in an accident, which will be brand-new experience for them, and the cars will need to know how to navigate to a safe place on their own—out of the path of moving traffic. I'm encouraged to see so much work being regularly done in this space, and greatly anticipate the days when hopping in an autonomous vehicle is no big deal at all.

3. Speaking of cars, Electric Vehicle chargers are starting to pop up at Shell stations in the UK. Access to charging stations is an important problem to solve, because without them electric vehicles will not be able to go very far! Being able to pull into a "gas station" to plug in your self-driving electric vehicle is a vision of the future that I can get behind.

That's all for this week's edition of Weekend Thoughts. Until next week, keep thinking wilder.

Weekend Thoughts - 11.12.16

Image by buck82, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.

Happy Saturday y'all! Below, I have rounded up some things for you to think about this weekend:

1. In a few nights (Sunday and Monday—the 13th and 14th of November) we will have the opportunity to see the largest supermoon since 1948. It has been 68 years since the moon has come this close to the Earth, and it won't be this close again for another 18 years. The supermoon, also known as a "perigee moon", will be roughly 30,000 miles closer to Earth and will appear to be up to 14% bigger and 30% brighter than normal. If you're on the East Coast of the United States, the best times to view the moon will be toward the end of the night—right before dawn. But if Sunday night is cloudy, you can try again on Monday. And you won't need a telescope (although it would come in handy) because you'll be able to see the supermoon with your bare eyes.

2. Although we've known for a while that smoking cigarettes is harmful to human health, a new study has been released that found that a pack-a-day smoker typically produces about 333 DNA mutations per year, and only about half of them are in the lungs. Other mutations have been found in the larynx, pharynx, mouth, bladder, and liver. Although many of these mutations are harmless, each year of smoking initiates new gene damage that could lead to cancer. Even though the study does not explain exactly how cancer is developed from smoking, it does shed some light on why smokers often develop cancer in areas of the body that don't come in direct contact with smoke, like the bladder. If you haven't started smoking, please don't. And if you are a current smoker, please consider quitting for your health and the health of others.

3. Driving cross-country in an electric vehicle comes with a unique challenge—finding a place that has a charging station to charge the car. The Department of Transportation announced plans to create 48 electric vehicle charger "corridors" in U.S. highways in 35 states, covering approximately 25,000 miles. Stations will be installed every 50 miles and states will use uniform signage to let drivers know when a station is located off of the next exit. However, one thing missing from the plan is a defined timetable, which means it could be years before these stations exist—if they are built at all. Still, the fact that the government is aware of and considering possible solutions to this problem is hopeful.

4. Humans have become increasingly distanced from the food that they consume. According to a map recently released by the International Center for Tropical Agriculture, many of the origins of foods that we believe to be true turn out to be incorrect. For example, apples are often thought of as an American food, but they actually originated in Europe and Asia. And while today's coffee beans may be grown in Central and South America, the crop originated in Africa. Today's global food system is more interdependent than it ever has been, which will be a strength against future threats like climate change, pests, and diseases. If you'd like to get closer to your food, I would suggest visiting a local farm, shopping at farmers' markets, or growing your own garden.

That's all for this week's edition of Weekend Thoughts. Until next week, keep thinking wilder.