In the wake of the FTX scandal, it feels like society needs to reevaluate its perceived correlation between youth + quirkiness + disheveled appearance and brilliance.

Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), FTX's now notorious founder, was celebrated for his wildly unkempt hair and fashion choices, his strange habits (e.g., sleeping just four hours a night, typically on a bean bag), and his pledge to donate his entire fortune to charity.

...and it was all a fraud.

Makes you think differently about what "genius" looks and sounds like, right?

The NYT published a good opinion piece on this perception-of-genius topic recently.

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In 2018, scientists started sounding the alarm on a troubling trend: sperm count (SC) in men was steadily declining. According to a recent study, the decline is now accelerating and the implications are dire.

Based on 185 studies on SC conducted between 1973 and 2018, sperm count dropped by a staggering 51.6% over that period. From 1973 - 2000, the decline average 1.16% per year. But then, starting in 2000, concentrations started declined 2.64% per year.

What's scary is that the accelerating decline is putting a huge percentage of males at risk of infertility. Studies show that fertility is viable at a 40 million per millimeter concentration. The current estimate of average concentration in men? 49.

“It’s a crisis, that we'd better tackle now, before it may reach a tipping point which may not be reversible,” warns Professor Hagai Levine, the author of the latest analysis.

So what’s causing this trend? Experts point primarily to unhealthy lifestyles (with smoking, drinking, and a poor diet as common culprits) and extended exposure to toxins found in everyday products - like benzenes in plastic.

While there’s no clear cut solution here, maintaining a healthy weight, managing stress, and staying active all help enormously. That said, more research on counteracting this trend is certainly in order...

We’ve all been there. You're clipping your nails and one nail flies in a random direction, never to be found again. Or maybe it hits your roommate Sarah and she gets upset. Either scenario is horrifying...

Fear not, though. I've got a super simple hack that hits the nail on the head.

Simply wet your nail clippers, wet your hands, and start clipping. The water provides a "stickiness" that causes trimmings to build up inside the clippers.

Rinse out your clippers, and tah-dah! You've achieved bother-free beautification.

1. It feels weird to leave a bottle uncapped, but it's fine to leave a glass uncovered.
2. Carbon dioxide is denser than oxygen, meaning we lose weight when we breathe.
3. For most of human history everyone constantly smelled like a campfire.
4. Nothing last longer than a video someone's showing you that you have no interest in.
5. You can easily tell if someone slept only two hours last night by how they tell everyone they meet they slept only two hours last night.

Walt Disney: “The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.”

Today I learned that Romans created tombs for their dogs and gave them epitaphs to remember them by. (more here)

hummock [ hum-uk ] - noun
a small round hill or mound
He stood in awe, admiring the grassy hummocks he had traversed.

Q: Which country invented ice cream?
A: (see below next section)