The weekend is here! Pour yourself a mug of coffee, grab a seat by the window, and get ready for our longer-form weekend reads:
• How New York and California Botched Marijuana Legalization: Steep taxes and heavy regulation are making it hard for licensed pot sellers to operate in some states, driving more producers and buyers to illegal outlets. ‘Our No. 1 competitor is the illicit market.’ (Wall Street Journal)
• Sleeping beauties: the evolutionary innovations that wait millions of years to come good: Some organisms truck along slowly for aeons before suddenly surging into dominance – and something similar often happens with human inventions, too. But why? (The Guardian)see also How Pools of Genetic Diversity Affect a Species’ Fate: A new, deeper understanding of how the breeding structure of species affects their genetic diversity is giving conservationists better tools for saving animals. (Quanta Magazine)
• Bloomberg is contemplating life without its founder: Michael Bloomberg is lining up succession and one of the largest charitable donations in history. (Financial Times)
• Is the Bitcoin Comeback for Real? But despite all these headwinds, something strange happened. Bitcoin began to rally. It’s now up 35 percent since the SVB collapse, and the crypto faithful say it’s just more proof that the lack of trust in government institutions that led to Bitcoin’s birth following the 2008 financial crisis is alive and well. (Institutional Investor)
• Bringing the lofty ideas of pure math down to earth: There is no shortage of popular books and lectures on math—but they can only teach us so much. (MIT Technology Review)
• How the World Is Spending $1.1 Trillion on Climate Technology: Big money — from the three biggest economies in the world, as well as scores of ambitious venture capitalists — is suddenly flying toward startups promising to help the world build a carbon-free future. (Bloomberg)
• Living in a Frank Lloyd Wright House: 7 Homeowners Share Their Honest Experience: The iconic architect designed hundreds of residential properties in his career—AD spoke with seven homeowners about the ways Wright’s work impacts their lives. (Architectural Digest)
• The deeply human love stories of people and their sex dolls: In 2023 thousands of men (and women) are forming lifelong relationships with AI-powered dolls. Brit Dawson meets the iDollator community, and wonders what it means for the future of intimacy. (GQ)
• The King in the Endgame: Magnus Carlsen’s legacy is still being written: For the last 10 years, Carlsen has stood head and shoulders above the world’s best chess players. The 32-year-old Norwegian currently holds chess’s top Elo rating, 2853, more than 50 points higher than either of the current competitors for the world championship. He achieved the rank of grandmaster at the age of 13 and at 19 was the youngest player to reach the no. 1 ranking. He has won five world championship titles, four World Rapid Chess Championships, and six World Blitz Chess Championships. His peak Elo rating of 2882, achieved twice in 2014 and 2019, is the highest in chess history. Magnus Carlsen is without rival, living or otherwise. (The Ringer)
• A Giant Telescope Grows in Chile: These days it takes a generation to build a great astronomical observatory. A new one is taking shape in the Atacama Desert. (New York Times)
Be sure to check out our Masters in Business with Ben Clymer, founder & chairman of Hodinkee, and Jeffery Fowler the firm’s CEO. Fowler and Clymer (dubbed the “High Priest of Horology“) discuss all things wristwatches and timepieces, including their experiences at the 2023 Watches & Wonders, why the marketplace has exploded over the past few years, and what are their favorite grail watches.
How the World Is Spending $1.1 Trillion on Climate Technology
Source: Bloomberg
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