Strictly Curious Newsletter №66
I’m back with the first newsletter of 2020!
Happy and Prosperous 2020!
News
Technology: The 14 charts that explain tech in 2019. A year-end look back at the tech trends that ended the decade. Link
Apps: A look back at the top apps and games of the decade. Link
Healthcare: Google AI can outdo the experts in finding breast cancer. AI can detect breast cancer as well as radiologists and has the potential to improve the accuracy of mammogram screenings. Link
Impact investing: The founders of Minecraft, Candy Crush Saga and Klarna as well as the family behind Hennes & Mauritz are raising Europe’s largest early-stage impact investment fund. The €100m Swedish fund will invest in companies seeking to solve what it says are the world’s greatest challenges including poverty, food waste and climate change. Link
Agriculture: Chinese criminal gangs spread African swine fever to force farmers to sell pigs cheaply so they can profit. Link
Space: Apple has a secret team working on satellites to beam data to devices. The iPhone maker is ramping up hiring, hoping for the initiative to produce results within five years. Link
Robotics: How Ocado is beating Amazon and plans to take over the world. The UK company is building a moonshot factory that will take it beyond groceries. Link
Marketing: Netflix is ad-free, but it isn’t brand free. Netflix may not run ads, but it has become a coveted marketing platform. Link
Longevity: Visiting museums, art galleries, concerts may help you live longer. The researchers found that people who engaged with receptive arts activities just once or twice a year had a 14% lower risk of dying than people who never did, regardless of their sex, socioeconomic status and social factors. Link
Agritech: Chicken robots, fitbits for horses, connected cows — here’s what’s going on in animal tech. Meet the startups disrupting Europe’s €400bn farming market with seemingly bizarre solutions. Link
Blog Posts
Decision making: The art of decision-making. Your life choices aren’t just about what you want to do; they’re about who you want to be. Link
Productivity: Three theories for why you have no time. Better technology means higher expectations, and higher expectations create more work. Link
Interesting Numbers
Secondhand clothes market: By 2023, the secondhand clothes market will double to $51 billion. Link
Accessories: Apple AirPods to become USD 15 billion business in 2020. Link
Video: Wes Anderson explains how to write & direct movies
Detours
Maps: Google Mars. Google maps for the martian surface, including visible, infrared, and elevation layers. Link
Creativity: What type of creative are you? Take Adobe’s new test to find out. Link
Leading Teams: The 11-step guide to running effective meetings. The quality and outcomes of meetings can improve drastically with a few simple steps. Link
Career planning: Feeling stuck? Close your laptop, stop your field measurements and write a poem. Embrace poetry as a tool for communicating what you do and developing new understandings of your field. Link
Retail Therapy
Skylodge Adventure Suites. Available for rent at Airbnb, Skylodge Adventure Suites are a dramatic set of lodges set on the edge of a Peruvian cliff, a few miles outside of Cuzco. Link
Contemplation
“I hold this to be the highest task for a bond between two people: that each protects the solitude of the other.”
(Rainer Maria Rilke)
On a lighter note…I love this Venn diagram
Enjoyed this issue? Please forward to a friend.
Have a great week,
Costas
