“Part of the plan includes allowing private astronauts to visit and stay on the ISS, traveling on U.S. vehicles. It also includes allowing private business activities to take place on the ISS, including ‘in-space manufacturing,’ marketing activities, healthcare research ‘and more,’ NASA says.” | learn more
Lincoln Park public school ends free preschool
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this as I continue to form my own. “A free preschool program in Chicago was criticized for giving preference to kids from the richest area. Now tuition is charged — is that a fairer system?” | learn more
How to rent e-scooters in Chicago
“A pilot program brings thousands of scooters to Chicago. Here’s how to ride them.” | learn more
People in the U.S. are moving homes less than ever
This is surprising, especially in the face of the “people are fleeing [insert city]” narrative. “A new study identifies powerful psychological factors that connect people to places, and that mean more to them than money.” | learn more
Pay bribes with zero rupee notes
This is clever! Indians have taken to using zero rupee notes, created by a nonprofit, when asked to pay a bribe, “as a means … to register their refusal to participate in bribery.” | learn more
Worst wifi password ever
A fun & geeky video. | learn more
Ultra-processed food causes weight gain
“Studies have already found an association between junk foods and weight gain, but this link has never been investigated with a randomised controlled trial (RCT), the gold standard of clinical studies.” Until now. Some of the findings of the underlying study are interesting! | learn more
Jet fuel from plastic waste
This is very cool and if the scaled cost is right will be a huge deal! “…[L]ow-density polyethylene can be recycled into new plastic, but there’s much more waste than recycling facilities can currently handle. With that in mind, scientists have now devised a method of converting the material into something else – jet fuel.” | learn more
The most dangerous writing prompts
Want to explore your creativity? This tool gives you a writing prompt, a text box and a timer. But if you stop typing, all progress is lost. | learn more
Solvitur ambulando to break through problems
“Loosely translated, this means, ‘It is solved by walking,’ and by ‘it’ Whitehouse means practically anything.” Pair with this TED talk from Marily Oppezzo. | learn more