Each week, BIV staff will share with you some of the interesting stories we have found from around the web.
Emma Crawford, online editor:
5 pandemic tech innovations that will change travel forever. One of the innovations mentioned in the article has been the increase of virtual reality tours by institutions like museums over the past year and a half. But is watching a tour on a smartphone actually going to lead to changes in how people travel once the world opens up, post-pandemic? – National Geographic
Glen Korstrom, reporter:
DeFi, or decentralized finance is a fascinating new frontier of cryptocurrencies, NFTs and digital assets that many believe have value. It encompasses freewheeling marketplaces where thousands of tokens are traded without any oversight from a central authority. Investors beware. – Barron’s
https://www.barrons.com/articles/what-is-defi-wild-west-crypto-51635526163?st=sg8t6paygdncy2z
I enjoyed watching CNN’s series Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy, as it provided some weekend inspiration to make some fabulous meals. So, last weekend’s feature interview with Stanley Tucci in the New Yorker made engaging reading. I hadn’t realized that his oral cancer temporarily ruined his taste buds, and made it challenging to have enough saliva to eat. Tucci’s upcoming memoir sounds like some more good reading. – New Yorker
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-new-yorker-interview/stanley-tucci-is-savoring-it-all
Here’s an interesting legal blog post by Vancouver lawyer and Owen Bird Law Corp. shareholder Daniel Cotes on efforts to shut restaurants that flout COVID-19 restrictions.
If there was any doubt, provincial liquor and health inspectors take compliance with COVID-19 orders seriously. Licensees who flout rules risk losing their licences, and being forced to pay fines. – BCLiquorLaw.com
Timothy Renshaw, managing editor:
Cross this one off your Armageddon-is-nigh list for November as another asteroid missed colliding with the Earth "by this much," as Maxwell Smart was fond of saying. At 6.6 feet in diameter, Asteroid 2021 UA1 was too small to do much damage to the planet even if it had hit Earth, scientists say, but something more in the range of around 500 feet could. No word on the asteroid collision outlook for the rest of 2021, but keep your head up. – Live Science
https://www.livescience.com/surprise-asteroid-flyby
Meanwhile, if you're planning a trip to the centre of the Earth, news on a new hidden world down below. – Live Science
https://www.livescience.com/earth-inner-core-mushy
Or if you're mapping out your long-delayed trip to the United States and are not big on rat infestations, here is a guide to the American cities with the biggest rat populations. – WGNO-ABC https://wgno.com/wildlife/these-are-the-rattiest-cities-in-the-us-according-to-national-pest-control-company/
Nelson Bennett, reporter:
One year ago, it cost US$110 to produce a tonne of ammonia, according to Norwegian fertilizer producer Yara International. Today, it costs US$1,000, due to crippling high natural gas and LNG prices in Europe. So what will that do for global food production? “I’m afraid we’re going to have a food crisis,” Yara CEO Svein Tore Holsether tells Fortune Magazine. -- Fortune Magazine
