The Daily Valet. - 4/6/22, Wednesday

✔️ What's Happened to Us?

April 06, 2022

Wednesday, April 6th Edition

Cory Ohlendorf, Editor in Chief of Valet.

I like modern cars but I’m not into these yoke steering wheels. There, I said it.

Cory Ohlendorf , Editor ⋯ @coryohlendorf

Today’s edition is presented by

Today’s Big Story

America’s Cold Beds

Researchers are looking for answers why we’re having less sex and some think a solution might be ... robots

I know it’s early, but let’s talk about sex—I promise to keep it SFW. Because it seems our modern world is killing our collective mojos. Americans are having less sex, whether they’re teenagers or in their 40s.

One of the most comprehensive sex studies to date, the National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior, found evidence of declines in all types of partnered sexual activity in the U.S. from 2009 to 2018. Which means, it’s not even taking into account the pandemic’s potent libido-killing powers.

This isn’t the first we’re hearing about this either. But now the alarm bells are deafening, and the consequences are troubling. According to Scientific American, human sexual activity affects cognitive function, health, happiness and overall quality of life—and, yes, there is also the matter of reproduction. Of course, plenty of people aren’t all that interested in bringing children into this world (and who could blame them?), but still.

According to the New Yorker’s Zoë Heller, there are all sorts of theories being floated. More people are back living with their parents and there are suspicions that young people are not as delighted by sex as they once were. “Some believe that poisons in our environment are playing havoc with hormones. Others blame high rates of depression and the drugs used to treat it. Still others contend that people are either sublimating their sexual desires in video games or exhausting them with pornography.”

Heller writes that sociologists who are skeptical about whether loneliness (and sexlessness) is a growing problem argue that much modern aloneness is a happy, chosen condition. “In this view, the vast increase in the number of single-person households over the past fifty years has been driven by affluence, and in particular by the greater economic independence of women.”

A forthcoming book by the sociologist Elyakim Kislev, Relationships 5.0, describes a rapidly approaching future in which sex won’t have to be so complicated when we can rely on robot lovers. But aren’t we the ones becoming more like robots? Our addiction to the internet is probably far more to blame than anything else for our lack of love making. The web knows how to push all our buttons, it’s always available and it takes a lot less work ... but it’s never as much fun, right?

↦ Modern Love: According to experts, sex in the metaverse could become as common and “equally enjoyable” as sex in real life.

U.S. and Allies Test Hypersonic Weapons

But the Pentagon kept tests quiet amid Russia tensions

The White House said Tuesday that the United States, United Kingdom and Australia agreed to cooperate on developing hypersonic weapons and other defensive capabilities—an expansion of an agreement reached last year to build new nuclear-powered submarines.

What are these weapons, exactly? Hypersonic weapons maneuver at several times the speed of sound. Which means they can potentially evade missile defense systems and quickly strike a target even if it is on the other side of the world.

Dubbed the “Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept,” the missile was launched from a B-52 bomber off the west coast sometime last month, CNN reports. A booster engine accelerated the missile to a high speed, at which point the air-breathing scramjet engine ignited and propelled the missile at hypersonic speeds faster than Mach 5.

The test came days after Russia said it used its own hypersonic missile in Ukraine. The Pentagon said Tuesday that they chose to keep the news of the U.S. hypersonic test quiet for a few weeks to avoid inflaming already-delicate tensions with Russia.

↦ Meanwhile: The U.S. Navy will name a ship after Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

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We’re Losing Billionaires

And total wealth of world’s richest people has fallen as well

The total wealth of the world's billionaires has dipped from a record high last year. War, the pandemic and sluggish markets have been tough on everyone, including the super rich.

According to the annual Forbes magazine ranking of the world richest people, the number of billionaires worldwide fell by 329 to 2,668. However, the planet's richest people still hold a combined $12.7 trillion in assets.

The decline in the total number of billionaires was the largest since the 2009 financial crisis, reports The Guardian. The most dramatic drops have occurred in Russia, where there are 34 fewer billionaires than last year following Putin's invasion, and in China, where a government crackdown on tech companies has led to 87 fewer Chinese billionaires on the list.

Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX (and recently-appointed Twitter board member), was named the world's richest man for the first time with a $219 billion fortune, up $68 billion on the previous year because of the carmaker's soaring stock price.

↦ Mixed Bag: The number of billionaires may have fallen, but 40% of those who remained got richer.

The Steering Wheel of the Future?

Airplane-style yoke steering controls keep showing up in new cars

On Tuesday, Lexus announced that it will reveal its first electric vehicle on April 20th, and the initial teaser photos included a picture of a streamlined dashboard and a steering yoke.

It now joins the Tesla Model S, Toyota's BZ4X, and the MG Cyberster concept among others—suggesting the emergence of a new design trend. Of course, the idea of the yoke is cool on paper, and even in person it gives these modern vehicles a futuristic race car look to match most EV's amazing performance.

However, reviews so far have been mixed. Consumer Reports notes that while its design does give a better view of your dash, “that might not be worth giving up the existence of something to grab onto if the driver loses their grip while taking a turn at high speeds.” And MotorTrend says a yoke “works up until the moment you need to make a low-speed maneuver, like making a U-turn or backing up.”

You might be wondering, are these things even street legal? As of right now, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration isn't saying, other than releasing a statement that the “NHTSA routinely engages with auto manufacturers and suppliers to better understand the new technologies and features they develop and introduce to the U.S. fleet.”

↦ FYI: The majority of people admit that passengers notice car issues before they do.

In Other News

↦ White House to Extend Student Loan Pause Through August

↦ How Do I Know If My Accountant Is Any Good?

↦ People Raised in Cities Are Worse At Navigation Than Those Who Grew Up in The Country

Other Things We’re Talking About Today

A Twitter edit button

Lasting quality

Asimo’s retirement

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