“Your Brain Can Only Take So Much Focus” – Harvard Business Review, May 12, 2017

The ability to focus drives excellence. Yet as helpful as focus can be, there’s also a downside to it. Excessive focus exhausts the focus circuits in our brain and can drain our energy. In keeping with recent research, both focus and un-focus are vital.

“Why Food Is Taking Over Your Life” – Bloomberg View, April 26, 2017

The business of food has become central to our contemporary culture and a major investment theme. Economists emphasize its “status signaling” dimension, but there is more to it than that. Five reasons make it a perfect match for the digital age: (1) In a world of black boxes, food offers a sense of knowledge and control; (2) Eating is sociable; (3) Food is photogenic; (4) Food businesses combine heritage and innovation; and (5) Food is fun.

“For Years, We’ve Been Told Fat Clogs Our Arteries. Now, Scientists Say That’s All Wrong” – Quartz, April 27

New research concludes that high-fat diets may not be as bad as we once thought. The authors of the review don’t specifically say why there’s been a reporting bias around the risk of cholesterol, fats, and heart health, but they do make a point to say there’s “no business model or market” for promoting good diet and exercise.

“High Ground Is Becoming Hot Property as Sea Level Rises” – Scientific American, May 1, 2017

This article about how climate change is now part of the gentrification story in Miami real estate gives us a taste of things to come. All coastal areas around the world will suffer the same fate, and it is the less affluent (in rich countries) and areas that don’t have the financial resources to adapt to rising waters (in poor countries) that will suffer. A rather long read, but worth it!

“Lack of Dust Makes China’s Air Pollution Much Worse” – BBC, May 12, 2017

Airborne dust is normally seen as an environmental problem, but the lack of it is making air pollution over China considerably worse. A new study suggests less dust means more solar radiation hits the land surface, which reduces wind speed. That lack of wind in turn leads to an accumulation of air pollution over heavily populated parts of China.

A Striking Stat: