6/12/20 Recommended Issues of the week: Drones, maintaining strength, psychological stress

This is narrowSCALE's roundup of some of the most interesting newsletter issues each week that might have flown under your radar. Take a skim through...

• The Zipline Edition: On drones, remote medicine, and Ghana (In Why is this interesting? by Noah Brier and Colin Nagy on June 9, 2020).  Lately, news about drones seems to have been droned out by bigger global events... but did you know that Ghana (yes, Ghana!) is currently positioned to have the largest drone delivery network in the world? If you’re curious at all about how/where/why drone usage has been taking off, this is a great little read. (727 words; 1.5 minutes)

• I asked a college strength coach how you can stay fit without going to a gym or spending six grand on barbells.  (In Extra Points with Matt Brown on June 12, 2020). This is a well thought out, cleanly written, and quite useful read if you’re concerned about maintaining your fitness levels when gyms are closed and/or you’re in quarantine. Matt actually hands over this issue to a current collegiate strength and conditioning coach for a current NCAA institution who clearly knows his stuff -- and he goes deep on three main topics: Diet, Lifestyle, and Training. It’s worth reading because he actually leaves you with priorities, a better understanding of what actually matters, and tangible ways to maintain (if not even grow) strength while under these conditions. (2330 words; 9.5 minutes)

• SARS-CoV-2 and the host response: psychological stress. (In Peter Attia’s Newsletter on June 7, 2020). In this issue, Peter Attia, a renowned doctor who normally focuses on the science of longevity, strays slightly to explore the impact of psychological stress on one’s ability to suppress resistance to infection, which is rather topical given current stress levels and covid-19 outbreaks.  He explains the differences in the two main drivers of infections, turns a 1990’s study about the effects of psychological distress on infection resistance into actual understandable English, and leaves you pondering ways to reduce your own psychological stress. It’s worth reading in order to better understand the research around psychological stress, its possible effects on your own health, and to think whether you can/want to do anything about it. (1622 words; ~6 minutes)

We hope you find these as intriguing and useful as we did.

And if you’re interested in receiving more from these writers, you’re always welcome to subscribe to Why is this interesting?, Extra Points with Matt Brown, or Peter Attia’s Newsletter.

Also, if you have any issues to recommend, let us know at newsletters@narrowscale.com.