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Tripping Out

TRAVEL: You’re not the only one feeling pressure at the gas pump. Major US airlines like Delta, United, and JetBlue are also navigating the rise in oil prices, and they’re passing the hikes onto customers. Fuel is getting expensive, but demand for travel is also skyrocketing, so companies are using our need for a girls’ trip to make up for those higher costs. American Airlines said “the improvement in revenue is expected to more than offset the increases in fuel expenses,” basically admitting that your ticket to Cancun may be pricier to help them pay their bills. (But hey, Señor Frogs is worth it.) Swiss Air, though, will soon have no excuse to charge us extra, since it’s on track to become the world’s first solar-powered carrier. It’s part of the company’s mission to make carbon-neutral flying an industry standard, and it could start taking off as soon as 2023. Also being taken off? N95s, since the UK plans on dropping international Covid travel measures this Friday, leading British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, and London’s Heathrow Airport to no longer require face coverings. They will, however, still be necessary on routes where the destination demands them, like the US, which is actually extending its mask mandate on public transportation. The TSA just moved the restriction’s expiration date from March 18 to April 18 based on national infection levels, variant risks, data, and “the latest science.” And TBH, we’re glad to see it, because sharing air with the spring breakers stranded in Orlando right now would at the least give us the flu. 😷

CATCH FLIGHTS, NOT COVID

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SPACE: It’s an out-of-this-world opportunity. NASA is offering everyone a chance to get their name flown (for free!) around the moon during its upcoming Artemis I expedition. All you have to do is sign up on their website and you’ll be added to a flash drive that’s headed to the stars. (You’ll also receive a digital “boarding pass” that’ll make your kids go 😱 someday.) The Orion spacecraft is expected to launch in May or June and will travel over 280k miles, the furthest a ship with astronauts has ever gone. It’ll also mark the first time a woman and POC land on the luna, so if there’s any mission we wanna be part of, it’s definitely this one.

ENVIRONMENT: They didn’t pink this through. A new study suggests the rising demand for electric vehicles could put flamingos in the Andean highlands at risk. It may seem like an odd connection, but the area is home to 3 out of the 6 species of our feathered friends and contains over half the world’s supply of lithium, an essential material for car batteries. You can probs guess what happens next: people mine the area for the chemical, their process evaporates the water the animals need, and they either starve or move away. 😢 To solve the issue, researchers are asking manufacturers to extract the compound without pumping groundwater, like BMW’s Lilac Solutions program is doing. And you can lend a talon by recycling your batteries or—to really flip ‘em the bird—symbolically adopting a flamingo to help conserve their habitats.

MUSIC: Girl, put your CDs on. Seems like that’s what everyone’s doing, since the sales of the disks we used to shell out $12.99 for just rose for the first time in almost 20 years. They’re still not seeing the same success they had in the ‘00s, but the increase proves that physical music is making a comeback. The stereo isn’t the only system getting a boost either, as vinyls have earned $1 billion over the last 15 years. And while the combined OG listening methods make up less than 11% of revenue, their value is way bigger for millennials, who feel nostalgic for the times they screamed the lyrics to the Josie and the Pussycats soundtrack in their childhood bedrooms. (That was just an example and totally not us…)

PETS: A doggo a day keeps the aches away. According to new research, just 10 mins of cuddling a pup could reduce pain, anxiety, and depression. In the experiment, participants' pain levels were assessed before / after spending time in a “dog therapy ambulance” where they talked, pet, and nuzzled with the cute canines. Afterward, 43% to 48% of the group reported they felt so much better. So what did we learn? We need a lot of furry friends at the office, STAT.