🐤 Wanna fight about it?

🏦 Markets: Some broad economic numbers helped fuel some much-needed gains on Wall Street last week — but it remains to be seen whether investors will maintain their optimism in the coming days. With corporate earnings reports expected to drop later this week, CNBC’s Jim Cramer cautioned against putting too much stock in the information that came out earlier this month.

“As good as these macro numbers were for the market, they’ll become a sideshow when we actually start getting earnings reports,” he said.

⛈️ West Coast storms: Much of the United States ground to a halt last month amid powerful winter storms — and experts say California is about to experience yet another round of the turbulence. According to an update from the National Weather Service over the weekend, areas across the state are likely to receive a prolonged period of heavy rain, wind, and snow this week. In the Sacramento area, hundreds of thousands of people lost power as of Sunday when strong winds toppled power lines and damaged property. One local resident said her home was seriously damaged when a tree crashed into the roof but is trying to maintain an optimistic attitude while seeking a temporary fix as the inclement weather continues. “I just had a feeling with the winds,” she said. “They were scary winds. Mostly I focused on [the fact that] it could be so much worse.”

❤️‍🩹 Road to recovery: Nearly a week after he collapsed on the field during a game, Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin is conscious and alert. In his first public statement since suffering a near-fatal heart attack during a game last week, he expressed gratitude for the thoughts and kind wishes of fans around the world and asked for continued prayers as he prepares for a lengthy recovery. In an Instagram post on Saturday, the NFL pro wrote: “When you put real love out into the world it comes back to you 3x’s as much. The Love has been overwhelming, but I’m thankful for every single person that prayed for me and reached out. … On a long road but keep praying for me!”

✈️ Lightening the load: The chaos and headaches associated with air travel don’t appear to be subsiding anytime soon. American Airlines recently confirmed that it would be servicing a smaller number of airports beginning this spring due to expectations of decreased demand and an insufficient number of pilots. Releasing specifics in a public statement, the major carrier explained that it had “made the difficult decision” to curtail flights to Columbus, Georgia; Del Rio, Texas; and Long Beach, California. These destinations are among the airline’s least popular routes, accounting for just a combined eight flights per day.

🎉 Ten-figure jackpot: There have been a number of huge lottery prizes in recent months, but only two in the history of the Mega Millions game have surpassed the current jackpot. With an estimated value of $1.1 billion, Tuesday’s drawing will the 24th in a row without a grand prize winner. The only game’s only bigger jackpots came in 2018 when it hit more than $1.5 billion and just over five months ago when a winner in Illinois claimed a $1.337 billion prize (before taxes, of course).

Few among us relish the opportunity to pick a fight, but a trend in recent years has taken conflict avoidance to a new — and, as experts advise, unhealthy — new level.

We’ve heard of it in a number of scenarios, most notably in the practice that has become known as “ghosting.” While it might feel good in the short term to simply cut off communication with people we don’t want to confront, it can have some long-lasting negative consequences.

What to know about the current situation

Although humans have always looked for ways to limit the amount of animosity in our lives, the digital age has made it easier and arguably more necessary than ever. Here are a few key statistics to consider:

• As of 2020, more than 1 in 4 U.S. adults had completely cut off contact with a relative.
• A Chinese survey last year indicated that COVID-19 amplified anger in response to even slight threats.
• British researchers found that young people are dealing with increased competition and pressures that previous generations did not.

Why you should fight the urge to hide

With the proliferation of social media allowing people to remain sequestered in like-minded groups, it’s easier than ever for us to avoid addressing topics that make us feel threatened or uncomfortable.

Knowing how to confront these situations in a constructive manner, however, can be highly beneficial to everyone involved.

According to Harvard Medical School psychiatrist Dr. Eugene Beresin, practicing the art of resolving conflict “requires building interpersonal skills that are essential for loving and effective relationships.”

In addition to helping you become a better listener and a more tolerant person in general, Beresin said that people can generally see their relationships “become stronger, more enduring, and closer through the resolution of a conflict.”

There have been seemingly endless reports in recent years about how advanced the space exploration sector has become. Private companies like SpaceX are sending rockets up on a regular basis and we’re getting evermore detailed images from probes that show the vast expanse of the universe in amazing detail.

Meanwhile, we’re stuck down here on a planet that seems to be devouring its resources at a breakneck speed as a climate crisis threatens our very survival as a species. Well, one solution to that problem might lie just outside of our atmosphere.

A decade of research

Scientists have touted the benefits of solar power for generations, since the sun offers limitless renewable energy and it’s all for free. Of course, the hardware necessary to collect and convert that energy is both expensive and complex, so our ability to make the most out of solar power has been seriously limited.

In 2013, however, the California Institute of Technology received a $100 million grant that allowed experts to explore the possibilities of launching solar panels into the earth’s orbit. This week, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket carried up the first pieces of hardware necessary to make the plan a reality.

Why space?

You’ve probably seen solar panel farms in desolate, sun-soaked areas of the world before — and these efforts certainly have some real-world value in our ongoing quest for renewable energy sources.

When compared to panels that orbit our planet, however, it’s clear to see that there are some serious shortcomings. Here are a few reasons that space-based solar power would be more efficient:

• Orbiting panels can capture sunlight 24 hours per day
• They are effective regardless of the weather on earth
• Solar radiation levels are significantly higher outside of our atmosphere.

We’ve all become accustomed to paying monthly subscriptions for streaming services, meal delivery programs, and apps of all sorts in recent years. Not to be outdone, it appears that the automotive industry is starting to take lessons from these companies and implement some subscription models of their own.

While it might just be a minor annoyance at this point, there’s a chance that all motorists will be beholden to paywalls and monthly fees in order to access even relatively standard features in the near future.

Where it started

There are a few companies that have already started charging auto owners each month for features that have historically been included in the purchase price of a vehicle. BMW, for example, is asking customers to shell out $18 each month to enjoy heated front seats and another $10 for a heated steering wheel.

Other automakers, including Mercedes, are charging monthly fees for the ability to get more power out of their engines.

The trend seems to have started with Tesla, which is among the most tech-centric car manufacturers ever. Once rivals noticed that people were willing to pay, they quickly jumped on the bandwagon

Where it’s going

As more and more companies begin implementing tech into virtually every facet of the manufacturing process, it will be easier than ever to allow customers to upgrade their vehicles — for a cost, of course.

Just like signing up for Netflix or joining a monthly delivery program, it’s likely that automakers will be inclined to offer a free or reduced-price membership to begin with before hiking the price considerably after drivers have gotten used to the convenience.

Another even more frightening possibility is that features we have grown accustomed to enjoying in our vehicles could one day be available only after we watch an ad.