Hi!

The title above is a reference to an old Sesame Street song, but this isn’t about the song (which is a great song!).

This week, I shared two stories related to the Challenger explosion. As someone in my late-40s, that tragedy was a major moment in my childhood, and a touchstone for those who are similarly aged. Even if (as discussed in Wednesday’s email) we don’t really remember exactly where we were when disaster struck, we all had this shared fascination with space exploration. Still today, in an era where government is distrusted and disliked, NASA has high public approval ratings. We love the idea of exploring space.

Personally, you can count me among the majority — I love Star Trek (and like Star Wars), read Project Hail Mary in short order, and probably will rewatch Interstellar sometime in the next few weeks. The curiosity of what’s out there — and imagining the possibilities — is intoxicating.

But honestly? I have no interest in exploring space myself.

I doubt that space tourism will be a regular, common thing in my lifetime, but even if it is, I’m nor particularly interested. Even if there’s a space elevator that allows you to go to the moon for an afternoon, that’s not likely to make my to-do list. I’m not sure why — being an astronaut is a dream for so many people! — but it’s not for me.

I live in the New York City area and we were struck by snowstorm that dropped between 16” and 27” of snow on us (probably closer to that lower number, but my Apple Weather app said the higher). My town cleared the streets well but there are huge piles of snow everywhere, topping an all-white landscape that will likely remain like that for weeks. I’ve been joking that it’s like driving around on the moon — cold, monochrome, and desolate — and I don’t like it much. That’s what I imagine space is actually like — boring. And frankly, I’d rather go someplace where there’s stuff to do and I don’t have to wear 15 layers to go outside.

So while I’d love to know what’s out there, I hope others can find out for me. I don’t want to visit the moon. I’d rather be on the beach.

The Now I Know Week In Review

Monday: The San Francisco Egg War: A literal war over eggs.

Tuesday: The Not-Quite Upside Down: The Thatcher Effect.

Wednesday: When You Don’t Believe Your Past Self: Our memories are a lot less reliable than we think — or than we’re willing to believe.

Thursday: The Library That Turned Away an Astronaut: A triumph over racism.

Long Reads and Other Things

Here are a few things you may want to check out over the weekend:

1) “Seeing Like a Sedan” (Asterisk Magazine, 25 minutes, January 2026). The subhead: “Waymos and Cybercabs see the world through very different sensors. Which technology wins out will determine the future of self-driving vehicles.” I’m very eager for self-driving cars to become the norm — I think the safety increases will be massive, and it opens up a world for those who can’t themselves drive. But I didn’t realize that the technology was so different until I found this piece.

2) “Meet the oldest rock in the West” (High Country News, 18 minutes, January 2026). What was the Earth like billions of years ago? Ask a rock.

3) Why do video game skeletons put themselves back together?” (AV Club, 8 minutes, January 2026). I thought the trend was started by Dry Bones from Super Mario 3, but I was wrong!

Have a great weekend!

Dan