A huge SpaceX anniversary quietly comes and goes

Good morning! Before we get into the day’s essential innovation and science news stories, I want to share with you this just-published story in our Future Earth 2121 special issue, which is rolling out this week.

The latest Future Earth 2121 story is all about how board games, which hit new highs in popularity as more people spent time at home in the last year, can show that the future of Earth cannot be left to a chance card.

It’s by contributing writer and board game aficionado Tara Yarlagadda. Below is the introduction — and be sure to click the link at the end for a guide to board games you have to pick up.

It’s no secret that board games have a sustainability problem. We’re not talking about increasing competition from video games or social media, but actual sustainability.

Some of our favorite board games, ranging from Catan (previously known as The Settlers of Catan) to Risk, are designed around extracting resources from the Earth through any means necessary. A hundred years from now, the themes of these games could present a cruel irony if they’re still being played in a resource-strapped world.

But a wave of new games is pushing forward ideas about the objective of board games while still keeping them fun. In doing so, they are signaling that the future of Earth need not be a roll of the dice.

Twelve board games you need to play ASAP 👉

I’m Nick Lucchesi, and this is Inverse Daily. I’m glad you’re with us. Let’s get into it.

This is an adapted version of the Inverse Daily newsletter for April 21, 2021. Subscribe for free and earn rewards for reading every day in your inbox.

SpaceX: Watch the iconic Falcon 9 landing that started it all — This month marks five years since SpaceX first landed a Falcon 9 rocket on a drone ship. CEO Elon Musk claims the technology can reduce the costs of spaceflight, reports Mike Brown:

On April 8, 2016, SpaceX rewrote the rules on spaceflight.

This month five years ago, the space-faring firm successfully landed a Falcon 9 booster on a drone ship after launch. The feat marked the start of a new era for SpaceX, one where booster landings are commonplace.

“For the first time in my life, I felt as though I had seen something as revolutionary as the Moon landing,” Eric Berger, senior space editor at Ars Technica and the author of Liftoff: Elon Musk and the Desperate Early Days That Launched SpaceX, tells Inverse.

Read the full story.

More on SpaceX:

• SpaceX Starship: Stunning new concept art reveals NASA's lunar lander
• SpaceX Crew-2 launch date, astronauts, and return for the NASA ISS mission
• SpaceX is ready to give you the skylight of your dad's dreams

eVTOL: What they are and when they’ll be here — eVTOL are electric helicopters that could be flying people and cargo on short- to medium-distance hops as soon as 2024, reports Jordan Golson:

Remember life before Uber? Getting a ride from a taxi by sticking your arm out from a street corner seems almost quaint now. The same is true of delivery. While FedEx continues to drop off catalogs, the Amazon-led explosion of in-home delivery of everything you want off the internet has placed us on the precipice of a wild new revolution in getting stuff from point A to point B.

This revolution will happen above the road, and its linchpin will be shared by Uber, Amazon, and more. It’s time to meet the eVTOL aircraft.

Read the full story.

More on the future of transport:

• All the cars from the F9 trailer — and how much it costs to blow ’em up
• Virtual tour: Mercedes EQS will make Tesla fanboys drool
• Behold! The Huracán EVO is the first car that can be fully controlled with Alexa

Coffee and climate change: This bean could save your morning brew — Scientists believe a wild species from West Africa, Coffea stenophylla, could save the coffee industry from the climate crisis, reports Tara Yarlagadda:

Picture this: The year is 2035. Nations have earnestly shifted toward renewable energy sources. But it’s not enough. The climate crisis has made it much more difficult to grow crops — including the coffee beans necessary for your daily espresso. What are you pouring into your cup in this near-future world?

According to scientists, the future bean of choice — Coffea arabica, which accounts for 60 to 80 percent of the world’s coffee production — might not be the current champion of the coffee world.

Instead, it’s a newcomer that has the potential to keep the coffee industry alive. It’s called Coffea stenophylla.

Read the full story.

More coffee science:

• Longevity hack: Why coffee before a workout could help your body
• One change to your coffee routine could save a beloved animal, scientists say
• 5 reasons your morning coffee is good for you

Tesla Cybertruck: photos show incredible prototype — Tesla’s Cybertruck, the upcoming angular electric vehicle, has been spotted in prototype form, reports Mike Brown:

Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed on Twitter that he visited the under-construction Giga Texas factory in Austin to drive the Cybertruck. However, when asked if Tesla was still on track to start production at the factory this year, he responded that there will be “limited production of Model Y this year, high volume next year.” The remarks suggest the Cybertruck, which will be built exclusively at Giga Texas, will reach faster production rates in 2022.

One big unknown about the truck is its design. In March 2021, Musk claimed the Cybertruck would feature “no handles.” As the prototype above still has door handles, it may not represent the final design.

Read the full story in our Musk Reads newsletter.

More on the boldly designed Cybertruck:

• Tesla Cybertruck release date, specs, price: “Doesn't look like anything else.”
• 6 Tesla Cybertruck alternatives to get excited about
• Tesla Cybertruck: How Rivian is responding to its most divisive feature

That wraps up this Wednesday edition of Inverse Daily. I would like to thank you for reading so loyally! You can follow me on Twitter at @nicklucchesi, where I share some of my favorite stories from Inverse every day.