Hello, I’d like to share some of the content I’ve learned from this week. Usually, I consume all sorts of articles, posts, videos, podcasts, etc that end up being discarded into a void in my mind. How much am I really understanding if I read/listen to it once and don’t summarise it for later? Probably not much. So, I’m looking to do this more regularly as an incentive for me to slow down, consider and distill what I’ve learned. I hope that you’ll also find something useful or interesting from what I’ve found.
🎧 Podcast:
When Creativity Meets Mindfulness – Chase Jarvis Show
In this episode, Chase Jarvis gives some tips on how he structures his daily rituals to optimise his creativity by bringing awareness and control. Here were my takeaways:
- Control your environment. E.g. using noise-cancelling headphones to create your own bubble in any environment such as a noisy cafe
- Control your morning routine (he claims that we’re at our most productive in the morning, according to science. Although I don’t find this to be true on my own life). So structure your mornings in a way that carves out time for you to be creative.
- Bring awareness into your life. Creativity is the creation of useful links between 2 or more inputs and it heightened when you are more aware of the present to see these connections.
🗞 Articles:
Want to Fall Asleep Faster? Combat Pilots Use This Hack to Get to Sleep in 2 Minutes or Less
This has been a game changer. I got tipped off to this method after a suggestion from a Youtube video. According to the article, “96% of pilots could fall asleep within 120 seconds” after 6 weeks of practice.
Falling asleep is one of those things that has proved elusive to me for as long as I can remember. Every night, I get into bed and lie awake for ages, my brain buzzing with all manner of thoughts about the next day and questions about life, the universe and the meaning of things.
I was skeptical about this at first, but then I tried it and I actually fell asleep a lot faster than usual! Since I was still getting used to it, it did take a few tries before I could focus long enough to actually relax and fall asleep. I’ve also been going to bed a bit later than usual so it could have naturally been easier to fall asleep anyway. I will continue doing this and see if I can get better at it.
Would definitely recommend trying this if you’re anything like me.
Post-pandemic, should Siem Reap embrace quality tourism over quantity? Link
Interesting thought piece on an alternative future for Siem Reap, Cambodia’s largest tourism hub and home to the famous Angkor Wat complex (where Tomb Raider was actually filmed). Like most tourism areas, it’s suffered markedly due to COVID and the author of the article sees this as an opportunity to prioritise “quality over quantity” for future tourism. The benefits, the author argues, is that we’ll see a more ecologically sustainable industry, where local guides and drivers are paid more, where tourists get a higher quality experience and the incidence of sex tourism declines.
The author raises an interesting point in relation to “genocide tourism” or dark tourism. The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and the Killing Fields (usually) welcome thousands of tourists for education on the dark history of Cambodia, but critics point to indifferent tourists walking over graves and otherwise not treating these sacred sites with the respect they deserve.
Terry Crews Just Revealed 4 Words That Made the Difference Between Success and Merely Dreaming About It
“You are already enough.”
This is a humbling reminder of the self-doubt that we all face.
Terry Crews has been a successful NFL player, Actor and TV show presenter, but has also faced a fair share of times when he wasn’t doing so well. He started telling himself these 4 words from a young age and attributes all of his successes to it. It’s also just a good way to live, not tying your state of mind to the outcome by rather what you put into it.
“My best advice is that you are already enough. Now, knowing that, go get it. You don’t have to prove anything to anybody. You don’t have to compete. You don’t have to fight. Just be creative. But go now, do it now. Do not hesitate. And work on your endurance, work on the fact that you need to do it faster, better. And do it all day without being tired. But also know that you are enough. You’re good. Now just go as far as you can. Every day. And you just keep getting farther and farther. And I’m telling you, you’ll wake up. And you’ll have made it. You will have made it.” – Terry Crews
💻 Tech / 🚀 Space Stuff:
Companies Losing 100s of Billions – Global Chip Shortage
A great analysis from one of my favourite Youtubers. It explains the massive chip shortage that’s been affecting just about every category of product, from PS5’s to cars and fridges. Yes, it started in 2020 and yes, the pandemic had a major role to play. But the reason it persists isn’t just due to the pandemic.
It’s a fascinating story about the risks inherent in our global supply chain, increasing dependence on semiconductors in everything to make them ‘smart’ and human psychology.
Dogecoin-SpaceX ‘To The Moon’ Mission Will Involve Selling ‘Space Art’ As NFTs
This one is just plain funny, while giving even more legitimacy to NFTs and a cryptocurrency that was created out of a joke. DOGE is literally going to the moon.
This development, to me, represents so much of what crypto in 2021 has been so far: a meteoric rally, the rise of NFTs, DeFi and Dogecoin pumps by Elon Musk.
SpaceX Starlink internet could be coming to an airline near you
This is very exciting and makes perfect sense. I haven’t had the privilege of using airline WiFi yet (and probably won’t for a long while), but from most accounts it’s pretty slow and expensive.
Starlink, the Internet constellation being launched by SpaceX, operates in low-Earth orbit, providing an extremely fast low-latency internet connection compared to traditional satellite internet providers. Having Starlink on board a flight could end up being faster than most connections on land, as the signals travel faster throught the vacuum of space than optic fibre cables on Earth.
Starlink began launching its network (literally) in May 2019 and now has over 1,800 satellites in orbit. They’re currently in talks with a number of airlines (who won’t be named) about bringing their service to flights. On top of those, Elon Musk confirmed that they’re exploring options to add the service to container ships, trucks and RVs.
Meet Heaviside, U.S. Air Force’s Future Electric and Autonomous Aircraft
Super interesting to see the USAF’s latest development of eVTOL aircraft. I think planes like this will be the future for commercial air travel and I can’t wait tech like this to filter down to civilian use.
eVTOL, or electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing aircraft, use propellers or engine that can change their angle of propulsion, allowing them to take off like a helicopter and then move forward like a normal plane over they’re in the air. They have a number of key advantages compared to traditional aircraft: low refuelling costs, no runways needed, much quieter and easier to maintain. Currently, the main barrier to their widespread use is battery energy density.
Small electric aircraft are already starting to replace traditional jet-fuel planes for short-distance trips within 250 miles because the economics are starting to work in their favour. I hope that it’s only a short matter of time before we improve our battery and VTOL technology becomes more proven. Electrifying our aircraft will be key if we’re to eliminate carbon emissions worldwide.
‘Divine Vessel’ to mark China’s first human spaceflight since 2016
SpaceX, NASA, Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic usually get most of the press attention, but non-American space organisations aren’t sitting idly by. This marks the first time China has sent humans to space in nearly 5 years.
Because of a US law banning NASA to work with China, no Chinese astronauts have ever visited the ISS. Instead, they went ahead and built their own space station.
China has an impressive list of spacefaring feats, with many more planned for the future. They’re the second country to ever put a rover on Mars and were the first to land a spacecraft on the far side of the moon. They’ve got plans to send astronauts to the moon and many more plans for longer stays on their space station.
India to start drone trials for delivery of food, medicines, vaccines: Check details
This is an exciting and much needed development for the COVID crisis currently being faced by India. Delivering much needed materials by drone would speed up distribution to those in need, especially over the crowded cities in India.
“The experimental deliveries will be conducted using long-range drones that can fly up to 20 kilometers”, according to The Economic Times. Pre-trials will begin June 18 and 19.
The article is fairly scant on technical details, and it would be interesting to know how the vials will be stored and maintain a low temperature, especially as they fly through India’s hot skies.