Our Facebook algorithms here at Red Fan seem to be broken. For the last four days, we’ve seen nothing but Game of Thrones memes, petitions, podcasts, articles, an entire ecosystem of content focused on a single piece of entertainment. Now that it’s over—and with streaming services like Netflix dumping entire seasons onto viewers at once—people are asking if Game of Thrones will be the last global cultural phenomenon of its kind.
THE MOON, APPARENTLY, IS SOMEHOW GEOLOGICALLY ACTIVE
NASA recently shared its findings of ‘moonquakes.’ Moonquakes are the result of the moon’s interior gradually cooling, causing ‘wrinkles’ on the moon’s surface. These ‘wrinkles’ are actually thrust faults, sections of the crust that are pushed up against adjacent parts. What do these moonquakes mean? It means that our beloved moon is reaching the ripe old age of 5 billion years old, and much like humans, is changing slowly with age.
What’s next on NASA’s agenda? Sending the first woman to the moon by 2024. While we’re all for bridging the gender gap wherever there are humans, we’re not the only ones wondering why it’s taken almost 50 years to even announce that a female astronaut will visit the moon. WIRED ran a fascinating piece earlier this week examining everything from the outdated space suits designed exclusively for men (and constructed more than 40 years ago) to the lack of data about space’s effect on the female body and the extra funds ($1.6 billion!?) NASA has allocated for the task
THE MOON SEEMS TO BE MORE ACTIVE THAN UBER’S DISASTROUS IPO
On May 9, Uber held its IPO, which many are calling an unmitigated disaster. In fact, it was ranked as the ninth-worst first day ever. How bad could it possibly be? Well, simply put, those who purchased Uber’s 180 million shares logged over $600 million in capital losses. Chief executive Dara Khorowshahi tried to rally his team in an email, telling concerned employees to “remember Facebook and Amazon!”
There are some theories behind Uber’s IPO failure. Some attribute the low opening to the escalating trade war with China, which has made investors wary for months. It also didn’t help that mere days before the IPO, drivers from cities across the nation started protesting. According to The Verge, the protestors aimed to sabotage Uber’s IPO narrative, which we’re going to go ahead and call a success at this point. In fact, the Uber strike was trending more than the birth of the new royal baby. Talk about a winning public relations scheme. It doesn’t help that Uber isn’t profitable. A recent Forbes article reported that company is losing about $1 billion a year. Our best guess, though, is that Wall Street banks over-valuated the company to win the honor of lead underwriter. The New York Times detailed how Uber’s IPO process went from an initial valuation of $120 billion just nine months ago to a case study in managing expectations and hype. Lest we forget, overperforming is always, always better.
