Mondays might not be your favorite day of the week, but the good news is that we’re all in this together ladies and gentlemen. As purveyors of prime Grade A web content, the SolidSmack crew has done some of the heavy-lifting to make sure you get your Mondays started on the right track.

Welcome to The Monday List.

Every Monday, we link you up with some of the most insightful, informative, and socially-relevant stories to keep tabbed, bookmarked, reading listed, pocketed, or what have you to get your week started on the right foot. Be sure to check in each week for a new crop of freshly sprouted words curated straight from the source of your favorite homegrown ‘Smack.

What We’re Reading This Week:

How is a Runner Like a Bouncy Ball?

There are so many real-world physics problems involved in running. Lots of physicists have been inspired, for instance, by the crazy-fast speeds of Usain Bolt. Just take a look at this paper, “On the performance of Usain Bolt in the 100 m sprint” (European Journal of Physics), in which the authors examine the motion of Usain in one of his sprints.

How is a Runner Like a Bouncy Ball?

Here’s What We Know About Mental Fatigue

Scientists point the finger at the brain chemical adenosine for the endurance-sapping effects of mental fatigue.

Here’s What We Know About Mental Fatigue

Have the Tech Giants Grown Too Powerful? That’s an Easy One

In start-up lore, no figure is more venerated than the tech-world founder. No mere entrepreneur, the founder is unique, sitting above the categories other people might use to order the society around them. In fact, the personage is cast as a sort of revolutionary, proposing big solutions to questions nobody else is even thinking to ask — less often because the questions are too complicated or obscure than because they’re too obvious, too expansive.

Have the Tech Giants Grown Too Powerful? That's an Easy One

This Company Outsources Customer Service Back to the Customer

Samsung, LinkedIn, and Pinterest use Directly’s software to refer questions for a small fee, as an alternative to outsourcing.

This Company Outsources Customer Service Back to the Customer

Hell for Elon Musk Is a Midsize Sedan

Will the Model 3 make Tesla a real car company?

Hell for Elon Musk Is a Midsize Sedan

Popcorn-Driven Robotic Actuators

Popcorn is a cheap, biodegradable way to actuate a robot (once).

Popcorn-Driven Robotic Actuators

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