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Trademark Design Codes The United States Patent and Trademark Office has a system of 1,400 descriptive "design codes"...
9th Apr 2024
130

Trademark Design Codes

from Beautiful Public Data [alt+shift+b] in science

9th Apr 2024
The United States Patent and Trademark Office has a system of 1,400 descriptive "design codes" allowing you to search for trademarks with “Rickshaws”, “Centaurs” or “Mechanical women”.
The failure of the land value tax Land value taxes are once again becoming a popular all-purpose solution to housing issues. But...
13th Mar 2025
1

The failure of the land value tax

from Works in Progress RSS Feed [alt+shift+b] in science

13th Mar 2025
Land value taxes are once again becoming a popular all-purpose solution to housing issues. But implementing them in early 1900s Britain destroyed the then-dominant Liberal Party.
RIP Tony Leggett It's been an extremely busy time, and there are all kinds of distressing events afoot.  Talking...
9th Mar 2026
1

RIP Tony Leggett

from nanoscale views [alt+shift+b] in science

9th Mar 2026
It's been an extremely busy time, and there are all kinds of distressing events afoot.  Talking about new science results or the funding situation can seem self-indulgent when there are ongoing global events of huge impact.  That said, it's important not to lose sight of the...
Problems with the Institute Of Noetic Sciences I was interviewed recently for a Daily Beast article on recent research involving the Institute of...
1st May 2023
85

Problems with the Institute Of Noetic Sciences

from NeuroLogica Blog [alt+shift+b] in science

1st May 2023
I was interviewed recently for a Daily Beast article on recent research involving the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS). Overall the article is very good, and author Maddie Bender was fair and reasonable in how I was quoted. I can’t always take that as a given. No matter how...
Graduate Student's Side Project Proves Prime Number Conjecture Jared Duker Lichtman, 26, has proved a longstanding conjecture relating prime numbers to a broad...
14th Sep 2022
1

Graduate Student's Side Project Proves Prime Number Conjecture

from The Quanta Podcast [alt+shift+b] in science

14th Sep 2022
Jared Duker Lichtman, 26, has proved a longstanding conjecture relating prime numbers to a broad class of “primitive” sets. To his adviser, it came as a “complete shock.” Read more at quantamagazine.org. Music is “Thought Bot” by Audionautix.
Amateur Mathematician Finds Smallest Universal Cover Through exacting geometric calculations, Philip Gibbs has found the smallest known cover for any...
6th Sep 2019
1

Amateur Mathematician Finds Smallest Universal Cover

from The Quanta Podcast [alt+shift+b] in science

6th Sep 2019
Through exacting geometric calculations, Philip Gibbs has found the smallest known cover for any possible shape. The post Amateur Mathematician Finds Smallest Universal Cover first appeared on Quanta Magazine
A Secret Flexibility Found in Life’s Blueprints A new study reveals that individual genes can create many different versions of the molecular...
5th May 2016
1

A Secret Flexibility Found in Life’s Blueprints

from The Quanta Podcast [alt+shift+b] in science

5th May 2016
A new study reveals that individual genes can create many different versions of the molecular machinery that powers the cell. The post A Secret Flexibility Found in Life’s Blueprints first appeared on Quanta Magazine
The New Thermodynamic Understanding of Clocks Investigations of the simplest possible clocks have revealed their fundamental limitations — as well...
11th Nov 2021
1

The New Thermodynamic Understanding of Clocks

from The Quanta Podcast [alt+shift+b] in science

11th Nov 2021
Investigations of the simplest possible clocks have revealed their fundamental limitations — as well as insights into the nature of time itself. The post The New Thermodynamic Understanding of Clocks first appeared on Quanta Magazine
The Infinite Heist - Part 1 In 1874, Georg Cantor published one of the most important papers in math’s 4,000-year history. Some...
3rd Mar 2026
1

The Infinite Heist - Part 1

from The Quanta Podcast [alt+shift+b] in science

3rd Mar 2026
In 1874, Georg Cantor published one of the most important papers in math’s 4,000-year history. Some ideas in it were stolen. On this episode of The Quanta Podcast, the first of a two-parter, host Samir Patel speaks with math editor Jordana Cepelewicz about the hard-fought journey...
The Hidden Connection That Changed Number Theory Quadratic reciprocity lurks around many corners in mathematics. By proving it, number theorists...
1st Nov 2023
70

The Hidden Connection That Changed Number Theory

from Quanta Magazine [alt+shift+b] in science

1st Nov 2023
Quadratic reciprocity lurks around many corners in mathematics. By proving it, number theorists reimagined their whole field. The post The Hidden Connection That Changed Number Theory first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Finiteness in Sheaf Topoi The notion of “finiteness” is constructively subtle in ways that can be tricky for people new to...
19th Aug 2024
91

Finiteness in Sheaf Topoi

from Chris Grossack's Blog [alt+shift+b] in science

19th Aug 2024
The notion of “finiteness” is constructively subtle in ways that can be tricky for people new to the subject to understand. For a while now I’ve wanted to figure out what’s going on with the different versions of “finite” in a way that felt concrete and obvious (I mentioned...
Rick Prelinger: Lost Landscapes of San Francisco, 5 ### Lives of San Francisco "You are the soundtrack," Prelinger told the capacity audience at the...
17th Dec 2010
1

Rick Prelinger: Lost Landscapes of San Francisco, 5

from Long Now [alt+shift+b] in science

17th Dec 2010
### Lives of San Francisco "You are the soundtrack," Prelinger told the capacity audience at the Herbst Theater, and they responded to his mostly silent archival films by calling out locations, questions, comments, and jokes. They saw footage of a 1941 Market Street parade of...
Could There Be Laws Of Biology? Physics has such nice equations and universal laws. Could we ever expect to find similar principles...
10th Mar 2023
40

Could There Be Laws Of Biology?

from SubAnima [alt+shift+b] in science

10th Mar 2023
Physics has such nice equations and universal laws. Could we ever expect to find similar principles or axioms for biology?
The ultra-selfish gene We now have the power to genetically modify entire species by inserting certain genes into them with...
3rd Sep 2024
1

The ultra-selfish gene

from Works in Progress RSS Feed [alt+shift+b] in science

3rd Sep 2024
We now have the power to genetically modify entire species by inserting certain genes into them with brute force. Doing this to malaria-carrying mosquitoes could allow us to wipe out humanity’s most deadly killer.
Xerox Donates Legendary PARC Research Center Xerox is donating its legendary research lab PARC to the nonprofit research institute SRI...
2nd May 2023
30

Xerox Donates Legendary PARC Research Center

from IEEE Spectrum [alt+shift+b] in science

2nd May 2023
Xerox is donating its legendary research lab PARC to the nonprofit research institute SRI International. The subsidiary’s pioneering research in the 1970s helped give birth to the era of personal computing. Xerox says the move will allow it to focus on its core business. The...
Building a Visceral Understanding of Quantum Phenomena A great childhood memory that I have comes from first playing “The Incredible Machine” on PC in the...
6th Aug 2024
112

Building a Visceral Understanding of Quantum Phenomena

from Quantum Frontiers [alt+shift+b] in science

6th Aug 2024
A great childhood memory that I have comes from first playing “The Incredible Machine” on PC in the early 90’s. For those not in the know, this is a physics-based puzzle game about building Rube Goldberg style contraptions to achieve … Continue reading →
Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart AIs Are? Scientists have repeatedly failed to recognize the complexity of animal cognition. Will we make the...
1st Jun 2023
26

Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart AIs Are?

from Asterisk [alt+shift+b] in science

1st Jun 2023
Scientists have repeatedly failed to recognize the complexity of animal cognition. Will we make the same mistakes with AI?
Benjamin Barber: If Mayors Ruled the World ### City-based global governance Sovereign nation states have conspicuously failed to cooperate...
6th Jun 2012
1

Benjamin Barber: If Mayors Ruled the World

from Long Now [alt+shift+b] in science

6th Jun 2012
### City-based global governance Sovereign nation states have conspicuously failed to cooperate well enough to deal with increasingly global problems such as climate change, environmental degradation, and organized crime, Barber said. Nations focus on their borders, which are...
Edith Clarke: Architect of Modern Power Distribution Edith Clarke was a powerhouse in practically every sense of the word. From the start of her career...
10th Jul 2024
123

Edith Clarke: Architect of Modern Power Distribution

from IEEE Spectrum [alt+shift+b] in science

10th Jul 2024
Edith Clarke was a powerhouse in practically every sense of the word. From the start of her career at General Electric in 1922, she was determined to develop stable, more reliable power grids. During her first years at GE she invented what came to be known as the Clarke...
Mathematicians Tame Rogue Waves, Lighting Up Future of LEDs The mathematician Svitlana Mayboroda and collaborators have figured out how to predict the behavior...
1st Feb 2018
1

Mathematicians Tame Rogue Waves, Lighting Up Future of LEDs

from The Quanta Podcast [alt+shift+b] in science

1st Feb 2018
The mathematician Svitlana Mayboroda and collaborators have figured out how to predict the behavior of electrons — a mathematical discovery that could have immediate practical effects. The post Mathematicians Tame Rogue Waves, Lighting Up Future of LEDs first...
How the Designer of the First Hydrogen Bomb Got the Gig Richard Garwin is one of the most decorated and successful engineers of the 20th century. The IEEE...
2nd Sep 2024
120

How the Designer of the First Hydrogen Bomb Got the Gig

from IEEE Spectrum [alt+shift+b] in science

2nd Sep 2024
Richard Garwin is one of the most decorated and successful engineers of the 20th century. The IEEE Life Fellow has won the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the National Medal of Science, France’s La Grande Médaille de l’Académie des Sciences, and is one of just a handful of people...
The perks of being a mole rat The secrets to extending human lifespans might lie in the animals that can already live for...
4th Feb 2026
1

The perks of being a mole rat

from Works in Progress RSS Feed [alt+shift+b] in science

4th Feb 2026
The secrets to extending human lifespans might lie in the animals that can already live for centuries.
The Rube’s Dilemma It all started with a hat. A straw boater, to be precise, with a flat, round brim and brightly...
28th Oct 2022
44

The Rube’s Dilemma

from Damn Interesting [alt+shift+b] in science

28th Oct 2022
It all started with a hat. A straw boater, to be precise, with a flat, round brim and brightly colored ribbon tied around the crown. Originally popularized by gondoliers in Venice, this jaunty accessory had reached the height of American couture by the turn of the 20th century....
Fakes: Not an Internet Thing, a Human Thing Every day, as the Internet becomes more indispensable to modern life, the drawbacks of deep...
15th Dec 2023
38

Fakes: Not an Internet Thing, a Human Thing

from IEEE Spectrum [alt+shift+b] in science

15th Dec 2023
Every day, as the Internet becomes more indispensable to modern life, the drawbacks of deep engagement with the virtual realm capture as much attention as the wide-ranging benefits. On the Internet, of course, anyone can in all too many forums pretty much say anything—regardless...
The Forgotten Piece of Evolutionary Theory What if we took the 'struggle for life' seriously again?
22nd Jul 2023
48

The Forgotten Piece of Evolutionary Theory

from SubAnima [alt+shift+b] in science

22nd Jul 2023
What if we took the 'struggle for life' seriously again?
How I didn’t become a philosopher (but wound up presenting a named philosophy lecture anyway) Many people ask why I became a theoretical physicist. The answer runs through philosophy—which I...
15th Apr 2024
157
15th Apr 2024
Many people ask why I became a theoretical physicist. The answer runs through philosophy—which I thought, for years, I’d left behind in college. My formal relationship with philosophy originated with Mr. Bohrer. My high school classified him as a religion … Continue reading →
The first non-opioid painkiller For nearly two centuries, pain relief meant effective but addictive opioids. Scientists have finally...
6th Oct 2025
1

The first non-opioid painkiller

from Works in Progress RSS Feed [alt+shift+b] in science

6th Oct 2025
For nearly two centuries, pain relief meant effective but addictive opioids. Scientists have finally made something better.
Units: the forgotten half of the statistic From the millihelen to the microcentury, via jerk, pirate-ninjas and the Mongolian vowel separator.
2nd Feb 2021
29

Units: the forgotten half of the statistic

from Interaction Magic - George Cave [alt+shift+b] in science

2nd Feb 2021
From the millihelen to the microcentury, via jerk, pirate-ninjas and the Mongolian vowel separator.
Dmitry Orlov: Social Collapse Best Practices ### Managing social collapse With vintage Russian black humor, Orlov described the social collapse...
14th Feb 2009
1

Dmitry Orlov: Social Collapse Best Practices

from Long Now [alt+shift+b] in science

14th Feb 2009
### Managing social collapse With vintage Russian black humor, Orlov described the social collapse he witnessed in Russia in the 1990s and spelled out its practical lessons for the American social collapse he sees as inevitable. The American economy in the 1990s described itself...
Colliding Black Holes Tell New Story of Stars Just months after their discovery, gravitational waves coming from the mergers of black holes...
13th Oct 2016
1

Colliding Black Holes Tell New Story of Stars

from The Quanta Podcast [alt+shift+b] in science

13th Oct 2016
Just months after their discovery, gravitational waves coming from the mergers of black holes are shaking up astrophysics. The post Colliding Black Holes Tell New Story of Stars first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Think Java, but interactive The online version of Think Java now features interactive widgets that run the code examples in the...
22nd Aug 2026
1

Think Java, but interactive

from Probably Overthinking It [alt+shift+b] in science

22nd Aug 2026
The online version of Think Java now features interactive widgets that run the code examples in the browser. For readers, it means you can try out the examples, modify them, and test your code. And for us it means we can publish an interactive version of the book without...
The Army and Navy Style Guides These fascinating Army and Navy brand style guides define the look, feel and voice of our armed...
4th Oct 2023
168

The Army and Navy Style Guides

from Beautiful Public Data [alt+shift+b] in science

4th Oct 2023
These fascinating Army and Navy brand style guides define the look, feel and voice of our armed forces.
This 1945 TV Console Showed Two Programs at Once As I try to write this article, my friend and I have six different screens attached to three types...
3rd Jul 2025
55

This 1945 TV Console Showed Two Programs at Once

from IEEE Spectrum [alt+shift+b] in science

3rd Jul 2025
As I try to write this article, my friend and I have six different screens attached to three types of devices. We’re working in the same room but on our own projects—separate yet together, a comfortable companionship. I had never really thought of the proliferation of screens as...
The Art of Asking Questions Everyone seems to agree that self-report questions are fraught with lies, biases, errors, and other...
1st Dec 2024
43

The Art of Asking Questions

from Asterisk [alt+shift+b] in science

1st Dec 2024
Everyone seems to agree that self-report questions are fraught with lies, biases, errors, and other inaccuracies. We all use them anyway. How can we ask them better?
Sphere Packing Solved in Higher Dimensions The Ukrainian mathematician Maryna Viazovska has solved the centuries-old sphere-packing problem in...
7th Apr 2016
1

Sphere Packing Solved in Higher Dimensions

from The Quanta Podcast [alt+shift+b] in science

7th Apr 2016
The Ukrainian mathematician Maryna Viazovska has solved the centuries-old sphere-packing problem in dimensions eight and 24. The post Sphere Packing Solved in Higher Dimensions first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Notes on Progress: The stats gap Students understand just enough statistics to get by
4th Jan 2023
53

Notes on Progress: The stats gap

from The Works in Progress Newsletter [alt+shift+b] in science

4th Jan 2023
Students understand just enough statistics to get by
Notes on Progress: A tale of two particles Not all radioactivity is risky or harmful
5th Dec 2022
49

Notes on Progress: A tale of two particles

from The Works in Progress Newsletter [alt+shift+b] in science

5th Dec 2022
Not all radioactivity is risky or harmful
Edward O. Wilson: The Social Conquest of Earth ### The real creation story “History makes no sense without prehistory,“ Wilson declared, “and...
21st Apr 2012
1

Edward O. Wilson: The Social Conquest of Earth

from Long Now [alt+shift+b] in science

21st Apr 2012
### The real creation story “History makes no sense without prehistory,“ Wilson declared, “and prehistory makes no sense without biology.” He began by noting that every religion has a different creation story, all of them necessarily based on ignorance of what really happened in...
Chris Anderson: The Makers Revolution ### Desktop manufacturing changes world We’re now entering the third industrial revolution,...
20th Feb 2013
1

Chris Anderson: The Makers Revolution

from Long Now [alt+shift+b] in science

20th Feb 2013
### Desktop manufacturing changes world We’re now entering the third industrial revolution, Anderson said. The first one, which began with the spinning jenny in 01776, doubled the human life span and set population soaring. From the demographic perspective, "it’s as if nothing...
Understanding the Baby Boom The West has been below replacement fertility once before. Then came the Baby Boom. Understanding...
7th Sep 2023
1

Understanding the Baby Boom

from Works in Progress RSS Feed [alt+shift+b] in science

7th Sep 2023
The West has been below replacement fertility once before. Then came the Baby Boom. Understanding that boom may help us deal with today’s bust.
Sylvia Earle & Tierney Thys: Oceanic ### Oceans alive Neither of them eats fish. Both marine biologists applaud the improved regulation...
21st May 2014
1

Sylvia Earle & Tierney Thys: Oceanic

from Long Now [alt+shift+b] in science

21st May 2014
### Oceans alive Neither of them eats fish. Both marine biologists applaud the improved regulation of American fishing and the resulting recovery of important fisheries, but they note that 90% of our seafood is imported, and one-third of that is caught illegally. Two-thirds of...
Habitable Planet Reality Check: TOI-700e Discovered by NASA’s TESS Mission During a press conference held on January 6, 2020 at the 235th meeting of the American Astronomical...
23rd Jan 2023
48

Habitable Planet Reality Check: TOI-700e Discovered by NASA’s TESS Mission

from Drew Ex Machina [alt+shift+b] in science

23rd Jan 2023
During a press conference held on January 6, 2020 at the 235th meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) in Honolulu, Emily Gilbert (then a graduate […]
What is the Aharonov-Bohm effect? After seeing this latest extremely good video from Veritasium, and looking back through my posts, I...
1st Feb 2026
2

What is the Aharonov-Bohm effect?

from nanoscale views [alt+shift+b] in science

1st Feb 2026
After seeing this latest extremely good video from Veritasium, and looking back through my posts, I realized that while I've referenced it indirectly, I've never explicitly talked about the Aharonov-Bohm effect.  The video is excellent, and that wikipedia page is pretty good, but...
The Perplexing Appeal of <i>The Telepathy Tapes</i> The Telepathy Tapes claims that autistic children have the ability to read minds. Where do their...
6th Nov 2025
1

The Perplexing Appeal of <i>The Telepathy Tapes</i>

from Asterisk [alt+shift+b] in science

6th Nov 2025
The Telepathy Tapes claims that autistic children have the ability to read minds. Where do their claims come from — and why do so many people believe them?
Many Worlds Archive is Available I had the pleasure of reporting and writing the Many Worlds column — sponsored by NASA’s NExSS...
14th Nov 2023
72

Many Worlds Archive is Available

from Many Worlds [alt+shift+b] in science

14th Nov 2023
I had the pleasure of reporting and writing the Many Worlds column — sponsored by NASA’s NExSS initiative and the Lunar & Planetary Institute — for almost eight years. But the run came to an end in October. Now an archive of the more than 400 columns is easily available at...
"You Couldn't Replicate Our Study Because You're Ugly" Attractiveness rating studies shouldn't be taken too seriously
3rd Dec 2024
53

"You Couldn't Replicate Our Study Because You're Ugly"

from Cremieux Recueil [alt+shift+b] in science

3rd Dec 2024
Attractiveness rating studies shouldn't be taken too seriously
A Good Memory or a Bad One? One Brain Molecule Decides. When the brain encodes memories as positive or negative, one molecule determines which way they will...
4th Jan 2023
1

A Good Memory or a Bad One? One Brain Molecule Decides.

from The Quanta Podcast [alt+shift+b] in science

4th Jan 2023
When the brain encodes memories as positive or negative, one molecule determines which way they will go. Read more at QuantaMagazine.org. Music is “Retro” by Wayne Jones.
What Made the Moon? New Ideas Try to Rescue a Troubled Theory Textbooks say that the moon was formed after a Mars-size mass smashed the young Earth. But new...
17th Nov 2017
1

What Made the Moon? New Ideas Try to Rescue a Troubled Theory

from The Quanta Podcast [alt+shift+b] in science

17th Nov 2017
Textbooks say that the moon was formed after a Mars-size mass smashed the young Earth. But new evidence has cast doubt on that story, leaving researchers to dream up new ways to get a giant rock into orbit. The post What Made the Moon? New Ideas Try to Rescue a...
Borneo 2024: Introduction And Pre-Tour Birding About a month ago, I returned to Sabah in east Malaysia for my fourth tour of duty as a guide for...
3rd Nov 2024
31

Borneo 2024: Introduction And Pre-Tour Birding

from Explorations of an Ecologist [alt+shift+b] in science

3rd Nov 2024
About a month ago, I returned to Sabah in east Malaysia for my fourth tour of duty as a guide for Quest Nature Tours. I've always said that Borneo is one of my favourite tours that I run and even after three previous trips I was looking forward to returning. One of the main...
Emergent, Fringe Behaviors in Healthcare | Out-Of-Pocket tweeting out your labs, induced mental states, and more
2nd May 2025
29

Emergent, Fringe Behaviors in Healthcare | Out-Of-Pocket

from Out-of-Pocket Blog [alt+shift+b] in science

2nd May 2025
tweeting out your labs, induced mental states, and more
Talk - Where Are The Open Sets? I was invited to give a talk at HoTTEST 2022, and was more than happy to accept! Ever since I was...
6th Oct 2022
41

Talk - Where Are The Open Sets?

from Chris Grossack's Blog [alt+shift+b] in science

6th Oct 2022
I was invited to give a talk at HoTTEST 2022, and was more than happy to accept! Ever since I was first learning HoTT I was curious how we could be sure that theorems in HoTT give us corresponding theorems in “classical” homotopy theory. Earlier this summer I spent a lot of...
The Ruin of Mumbai Mumbai’s land use regulations are designed to keep population density low. Instead, they force...
1st Mar 2024
41

The Ruin of Mumbai

from Asterisk [alt+shift+b] in science

1st Mar 2024
Mumbai’s land use regulations are designed to keep population density low. Instead, they force Mumbaikars into slums, while all of India pays the price.
Defending against hypothetical moon life during Apollo 11 This is how a completely abstract argument about alien germs was taken seriously and mitigated at...
7th Jan 2024
113

Defending against hypothetical moon life during Apollo 11

from Eukaryote Writes Blog [alt+shift+b] in science

7th Jan 2024
This is how a completely abstract argument about alien germs was taken seriously and mitigated at great effort and expense during the 1969 Apollo landing.
Learn to write well BEFORE you have something worth saying Lessons learned from trip reports and journal articles.
29th Dec 2024
116

Learn to write well BEFORE you have something worth saying

from Eukaryote Writes Blog [alt+shift+b] in science

29th Dec 2024
Lessons learned from trip reports and journal articles.
21st Feb 2024
“I Swallowed a Martian” and Water on Mars The history of water on Mars allows us to wonder if the planet ever had life. The post “I Swallowed...
14th Jul 2026
1

“I Swallowed a Martian” and Water on Mars

from Andrew Fraknoi – Astronomy Lectures – Astronomy Education Resources [alt+shift+b] in science

14th Jul 2026
The history of water on Mars allows us to wonder if the planet ever had life. The post “I Swallowed a Martian” and Water on Mars appeared first on Andrew Fraknoi - Astronomy Lectures - Astronomy Education Resources.
The Great Permitting Downturn and Your Rent Renting a home is more expensive because we stopped letting people build homes
1st Sep 2026
1

The Great Permitting Downturn and Your Rent

from Cremieux Recueil [alt+shift+b] in science

1st Sep 2026
Renting a home is more expensive because we stopped letting people build homes
Internal Group Actions as Enriched Functors Earlier today this month on the Category Theory Zulip, Bernd Losert asked an extremely natural...
18th Feb 2024
59

Internal Group Actions as Enriched Functors

from Chris Grossack's Blog [alt+shift+b] in science

18th Feb 2024
Earlier today this month on the Category Theory Zulip, Bernd Losert asked an extremely natural question about how we might study topological group actions via the functorial approach beloved by category theorists. The usual story is to treat a group $G$ as a one-object...
Web-surfing tips for strange times Meditations on what's bad about the internet lately and how to use it anyhow.
31st May 2024
130

Web-surfing tips for strange times

from Eukaryote Writes Blog [alt+shift+b] in science

31st May 2024
Meditations on what's bad about the internet lately and how to use it anyhow.
Why Is Argentina Poor? The root of its economic mismanagement
1st Nov 2025
1

Why Is Argentina Poor?

from Uncharted Territories [alt+shift+b] in science

1st Nov 2025
The root of its economic mismanagement
Fiber arts, mysterious dodecahedrons, and waiting on “Eureka!” Why didn't we invent knitting before 1000 CE?
4th Aug 2022
64

Fiber arts, mysterious dodecahedrons, and waiting on “Eureka!”

from Eukaryote Writes Blog [alt+shift+b] in science

4th Aug 2022
Why didn't we invent knitting before 1000 CE?
Showering at the South Pole Potable water, and not much of it.
4th Feb 2023
56

Showering at the South Pole

from brr [alt+shift+b] in science

4th Feb 2023
Potable water, and not much of it.
Shark Bay: a pristine template for marine ecosystems worldwide Here in Western Australia, we are lucky to be in the global centre of seagrass diversity.  As such,...
13th Aug 2013
75

Shark Bay: a pristine template for marine ecosystems worldwide

from Confessions of a Marine Ecologist [alt+shift+b] in science

13th Aug 2013
Here in Western Australia, we are lucky to be in the global centre of seagrass diversity.  As such, we have a coastline dominated by many different species of seagrasses – from large, temperate seagrasses like Posidonia australis to small, tropical species like Halodule...
How To (Properly) Text Patients | Out-Of-Pocket Do’s and don’ts + tactical tips from an actual doctor
10th Apr 2024
81

How To (Properly) Text Patients | Out-Of-Pocket

from Out-of-Pocket Blog [alt+shift+b] in science

10th Apr 2024
Do’s and don’ts + tactical tips from an actual doctor
First Pictures: View of the Earth from NASA’s Explorer 6 – August 14, 1959 Today we take for granted that we can instantly access images of almost any part of the Earth taken...
14th Aug 2024
113
14th Aug 2024
Today we take for granted that we can instantly access images of almost any part of the Earth taken from space using an ever growing collection […]
How Tech Automated the January 6 Investigations Josh Coker’s Facebook page doesn’t show any MAGA memes or Trump quotes. He wasn’t live-streaming on...
5th Jan 2024
41

How Tech Automated the January 6 Investigations

from IEEE Spectrum [alt+shift+b] in science

5th Jan 2024
Josh Coker’s Facebook page doesn’t show any MAGA memes or Trump quotes. He wasn’t live-streaming on 6 January 2021, and no one has ever stepped forward to identify him as one of the mob that stormed the US Capitol that day. Oregon, Ohio, with five counts connected to the failed...
Libraries of matter Libraries contain books, yes. But they also contain latex rubber, carbon fiber fabrics, and graphene...
29th Aug 2024
1

Libraries of matter

from Works in Progress RSS Feed [alt+shift+b] in science

29th Aug 2024
Libraries contain books, yes. But they also contain latex rubber, carbon fiber fabrics, and graphene aerogel. And in some materials libraries you can cut, cast, drill, sand, scrape, and sculpt too.
Kind of Cool Image of Io from Juno Image Courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI The brightest spot is a radiation signature, but all the...
18th Aug 2021
45

Kind of Cool Image of Io from Juno

from Wanderingspace [alt+shift+b] in science

18th Aug 2021
Image Courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI The brightest spot is a radiation signature, but all the rest are thought to be active volcanos on the Io surface. The moons are not a primary target of the Juno mission, but they do occasionally take a peek to try and monitor such...
Why I refrain from infosec punditry If you know about my professional background, the most puzzling aspect of this Substack must be that...
16th Apr 2026
1

Why I refrain from infosec punditry

from lcamtuf’s thing [alt+shift+b] in science

16th Apr 2026
If you know about my professional background, the most puzzling aspect of this Substack must be that I don’t use it to talk about my primary field of expertise: information security.
A New World’s Extraordinary Orbit Points to Planet Nine Astronomers argue that there’s an undiscovered giant planet far beyond the orbit of Neptune. A newly...
14th Mar 2019
1

A New World’s Extraordinary Orbit Points to Planet Nine

from The Quanta Podcast [alt+shift+b] in science

14th Mar 2019
Astronomers argue that there’s an undiscovered giant planet far beyond the orbit of Neptune. A newly discovered rocky body has added evidence to the circumstantial case for it. The post A New World’s Extraordinary Orbit Points to Planet Nine first appeared on Quanta...
Unleashing the Advantage of Quantum AI As experimental capabilities advance rapidly, the quantum computing community faces a critical...
10th Apr 2026
1

Unleashing the Advantage of Quantum AI

from Quantum Frontiers [alt+shift+b] in science

10th Apr 2026
As experimental capabilities advance rapidly, the quantum computing community faces a critical elephant in the room: What will these quantum machines eventually be useful for? Will they deliver the promised broad societal impact, or will they remain highly specialized devices …...
Ants Live 10 Times Longer by Altering Their Insulin Responses Queen ants live far longer than genetically identical workers. Researchers are learning what their...
7th Jun 2023
1

Ants Live 10 Times Longer by Altering Their Insulin Responses

from The Quanta Podcast [alt+shift+b] in science

7th Jun 2023
Queen ants live far longer than genetically identical workers. Researchers are learning what their longevity secrets could mean for aging in other species. Read more at QuantaMagazine.org. Music is “Good Times” by Patrick Patrikios.
Visualizing Rivers and Floodplains with USGS Data Using USGS elevation data to visualize stunning views of the flow of water through rivers and...
7th Nov 2022
60

Visualizing Rivers and Floodplains with USGS Data

from Beautiful Public Data [alt+shift+b] in science

7th Nov 2022
Using USGS elevation data to visualize stunning views of the flow of water through rivers and floodplains.
[2025 review] Life is a holiday! Ok, this was a phenomenal year for me. The vibe of the year is cleanly captured by what I had...
31st Dec 2025
1

[2025 review] Life is a holiday!

from Inverted Passion [alt+shift+b] in science

31st Dec 2025
Ok, this was a phenomenal year for me. The vibe of the year is cleanly captured by what I had scribbled on a whiteboard on Jan 3rd, 2025. To my amazement and giddiness, the feeling still holds up as the year wraps up. Let’s see what all kept this spirit alive. Brief interlude:...
Why Are There No Short Arch Dams? [Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.] Flaming Gorge Dam rises from...
5th Aug 2025
38

Why Are There No Short Arch Dams?

from Blog - Practical Engineering [alt+shift+b] in science

5th Aug 2025
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.] Flaming Gorge Dam rises from the Green River in northern Utah like a concrete wedge driven into the canyon, anchored against the sheer rock walls that flank it. It’s quintessential, in a way. It’s what we...
The Brain Has a 'Low-Power Mode' That Blunts Our Senses Neuroscientists uncovered an energy-saving mode in vision-system neurons that works at the cost of...
12th Oct 2022
1

The Brain Has a 'Low-Power Mode' That Blunts Our Senses

from The Quanta Podcast [alt+shift+b] in science

12th Oct 2022
Neuroscientists uncovered an energy-saving mode in vision-system neurons that works at the cost of being able to see fine-grained details. Read more at QuantaMagazine.org. Music is “Unanswered Questions” by Kevin MacLeod.
Stephen Lansing: Perfect Order: A Thousand Years in Bali ### Hidden order in the Balinese "religion of water" With lucid exposition and gorgeous graphics,...
14th Feb 2006
1

Stephen Lansing: Perfect Order: A Thousand Years in Bali

from Long Now [alt+shift+b] in science

14th Feb 2006
### Hidden order in the Balinese "religion of water" With lucid exposition and gorgeous graphics, anthropologist Stephen Lansing exposed the hidden structure and profound health of the traditional Balinese rice growing practices. The intensely productive terraced rice paddies of...
Saul Griffith: Infrastructure and Climate Change ## Green infrastructure Griffith began with an eyeroll at the first round of responses in the US...
22nd Sep 2015
1

Saul Griffith: Infrastructure and Climate Change

from Long Now [alt+shift+b] in science

22nd Sep 2015
## Green infrastructure Griffith began with an eyeroll at the first round of responses in the US to reducing greenhouse gases, a program he calls “peak Al Gore.” Some activities feel virtuous —becoming vegetarian, installing LED lights, avoiding bottled water, reading news...
How to reason from first principles This post is a follow up on my general questions on AI post, and expands on ideas I published here...
16th Jul 2025
1

How to reason from first principles

from Casey Handmer's blog [alt+shift+b] in science

16th Jul 2025
This post is a follow up on my general questions on AI post, and expands on ideas I published here and here in the ancient times. Every time one of the labs releases an updated model I give it a thorough shakedown on physics, in the style of the oral examination that is still...
Ed Moses: Clean Fusion Power This Decade ### Imminent fusion power All the light we see from the sky, Moses pointed out, comes from fusion...
17th Jun 2010
1

Ed Moses: Clean Fusion Power This Decade

from Long Now [alt+shift+b] in science

17th Jun 2010
### Imminent fusion power All the light we see from the sky, Moses pointed out, comes from fusion power burning hydrogen, the commonest element in the universe---3/4 of all mass. A byproduct of the cosmic fusion is the star-stuff that we and the Earth are made of. On Earth, 4...
Moult, captured on camera Autumn moult is an important part of the annual cycle of migratory shorebirds, typically squeezed in...
9th Oct 2025
25

Moult, captured on camera

from wadertales [alt+shift+b] in science

9th Oct 2025
Autumn moult is an important part of the annual cycle of migratory shorebirds, typically squeezed in between chick-rearing and the onset of winter. The process of changing an individual’s feathers lasts as long as the whole of the breeding season but is far well less well...
Landmark Algorithm Breaks 30-Year Impasse Computer scientists are abuzz over a fast new algorithm for solving one of the central problems in...
14th Jan 2016
1

Landmark Algorithm Breaks 30-Year Impasse

from The Quanta Podcast [alt+shift+b] in science

14th Jan 2016
Computer scientists are abuzz over a fast new algorithm for solving one of the central problems in the field. The post Landmark Algorithm Breaks 30-Year Impasse first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Who invented knitting? The plot thickens Last time on Eukaryote Writes Blog: You learned about knitting history. You thought you were done...
4th Feb 2023
66

Who invented knitting? The plot thickens

from Eukaryote Writes Blog [alt+shift+b] in science

4th Feb 2023
Last time on Eukaryote Writes Blog: You learned about knitting history. You thought you were done learning about knitting history? You fool. You buffoon. I wanted to double check some things in the last post and found out that the origins of knitting are even weirder than I...
Event, Feb 29: “Towards a New Philosophy of Progress” in Boston and on Zoom On Thursday, February 29, I’ll be giving my talk “Towards a New Philosophy of Progress” to the New...
21st Feb 2024
109

Event, Feb 29: “Towards a New Philosophy of Progress” in Boston and on Zoom

from The Roots of Progress | Articles [alt+shift+b] in science

21st Feb 2024
On Thursday, February 29, I’ll be giving my talk “Towards a New Philosophy of Progress” to the New England Legal Foundation, for their Economic Liberty Speaker Series. The talk will be held over breakfast at NELF’s offices in Boston, and will also be livestreamed over Zoom. See...
The Monty Hall Problem, a side-by-side simulation I saw a cool version of the Monty Hall game here recently: https://monty.donk.systems. This is...
1st Jan 2026
1

The Monty Hall Problem, a side-by-side simulation

from pcloadletter [alt+shift+b] in science

1st Jan 2026
I saw a cool version of the Monty Hall game here recently: https://monty.donk.systems. This is really cool! But I had an itch I wanted to scratch: rather than manually test out the probabilities, I wanted to run two games side-by-side: one where a switch happened and one where a...
It took me seven months to get my baby an Australian passport I’m an Australian father of four, living in the US. Something of a corner case. Nevertheless,...
3 days ago
2

It took me seven months to get my baby an Australian passport

from Casey Handmer's blog [alt+shift+b] in science

3 days ago
I’m an Australian father of four, living in the US. Something of a corner case. Nevertheless, getting my kids Australian citizenship by descent, and then Australian passports so we can fly home legally, has kicked off a carnival of errors with a very dark side. Australia is...
Liberté, égalité, radioactivité France built 40 nuclear reactors in a decade. Here’s how they did it, and how the world can follow...
4th Sep 2025
1

Liberté, égalité, radioactivité

from Works in Progress RSS Feed [alt+shift+b] in science

4th Sep 2025
France built 40 nuclear reactors in a decade. Here’s how they did it, and how the world can follow their lead today.
Good Meteor Shower This Week Wednesday evening and Thursday morning (Dec. 13-14) is the peak time for one of the best meteor...
10th Dec 2023
30

Good Meteor Shower This Week

from Andrew Fraknoi – Astronomy Lectures – Astronomy Education Resources [alt+shift+b] in science

10th Dec 2023
Wednesday evening and Thursday morning (Dec. 13-14) is the peak time for one of the best meteor showers of the year – the Geminids.  The post Good Meteor Shower This Week appeared first on Andrew Fraknoi - Astronomy Lectures - Astronomy Education Resources.
How the Brain Compresses Our Noisy World If you are well rested and full, your brain tells you that a bruised overripe apple is a piece of...
1st Sep 2026
1

How the Brain Compresses Our Noisy World

from The Quanta Podcast [alt+shift+b] in science

1st Sep 2026
If you are well rested and full, your brain tells you that a bruised overripe apple is a piece of subpar fruit to be passed over. However, if you are exhausted and hungry, an overripe apple is categorized as much-needed food. But how is the brain able to categorize that same...
Foundations of Biological Evolution: More Results & More Surprises This is a follow-on to Why Does Biological Evolution Work? A Minimal Model for Biological Evolution...
5th Dec 2024
124

Foundations of Biological Evolution: More Results & More Surprises

from Stephen Wolfram Writings [alt+shift+b] in science

5th Dec 2024
This is a follow-on to Why Does Biological Evolution Work? A Minimal Model for Biological Evolution and Other Adaptive Processes [May 3, 2024]. Even More from an Extremely Simple Model A few months ago I introduced an extremely simple “adaptive cellular automaton” model that...
It from Qubit: The Last Hurrah Editor’s note: Since 2015, the Simons Foundation has supported the “It from Qubit” collaboration, a...
9th Aug 2023
33

It from Qubit: The Last Hurrah

from Quantum Frontiers [alt+shift+b] in science

9th Aug 2023
Editor’s note: Since 2015, the Simons Foundation has supported the “It from Qubit” collaboration, a group of scientists drawing on ideas from quantum information theory to address deep issues in fundamental physics. The collaboration held its “Last Hurrah” event at … Continue...
Paul Hawken: The New Great Transformation ### Humanity's immune system The title of Paul Hawken's talk, "The New Great Transformation," has...
9th Jun 2007
1

Paul Hawken: The New Great Transformation

from Long Now [alt+shift+b] in science

9th Jun 2007
### Humanity's immune system The title of Paul Hawken's talk, "The New Great Transformation," has two referents, he explained. Economist Karl Polanyi's 1944 book, _The Great Transformation_ , said that the "market society" and modern nation state emerged together in Europe after...
Nicole’s guide to handling failure and rejection It’s happening.  Your inbox registers an email from the chair of a faculty-hiring committee. With...
21st May 2026
1

Nicole’s guide to handling failure and rejection

from Quantum Frontiers [alt+shift+b] in science

21st May 2026
It’s happening.  Your inbox registers an email from the chair of a faculty-hiring committee. With trembling fingers, you click on the message. “We’ve been grateful for the opportunity to learn about your work…The decision was very difficult…many highly qualified candidates…” …...
What I’ve been reading, November 2023 A ~monthly feature. Recent blog posts and news stories are generally omitted; you can find them in...
7th Nov 2023
60

What I’ve been reading, November 2023

from The Roots of Progress | Articles [alt+shift+b] in science

7th Nov 2023
A ~monthly feature. Recent blog posts and news stories are generally omitted; you can find them in my links digests. All emphasis in bold in the quotes below was added by me. Books Finished Lynn White, Medieval Technology and Social Change (1962). Last time I talked about the...
Raoul Adamchak & Pamela Ronald: Organically Grown and Genetically Engineered: The Food of the Future ### Engineered organic Organic farming teacher Raoul began the joint presentation with a checklist...
29th Jul 2009
1
29th Jul 2009
### Engineered organic Organic farming teacher Raoul began the joint presentation with a checklist for truly sustainable agriculture in a global context. It must: Provide abundant safe and nutritious food…. Reduce environmentally harmful inputs…. Reduce energy use and...
How much of HN is AI? TL;DR: As of June 2026, ~50% of daily top stories are about AI or generated by AI.
12th Mar 2026
1

How much of HN is AI?

from lcamtuf’s thing [alt+shift+b] in science

12th Mar 2026
TL;DR: As of June 2026, ~50% of daily top stories are about AI or generated by AI.
Years After the Early Death of a Math Genius, Her Ideas Gain New Life A new proof extends the work of the late Maryam Mirzakhani, cementing her legacy as a pioneer of...
3rd Mar 2025
76

Years After the Early Death of a Math Genius, Her Ideas Gain New Life

from Quanta Magazine [alt+shift+b] in science

3rd Mar 2025
A new proof extends the work of the late Maryam Mirzakhani, cementing her legacy as a pioneer of alien mathematical realms. The post Years After the Early Death of a Math Genius, Her Ideas Gain New Life first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Winners of the Quantum-Steampunk Short-Story Contest During the past seven months, I’ve steamed across the Atlantic, sailed in a flying castle,...
1st May 2023
109

Winners of the Quantum-Steampunk Short-Story Contest

from Quantum Frontiers [alt+shift+b] in science

1st May 2023
During the past seven months, I’ve steamed across the Atlantic, sailed in a flying castle, teleported across the globe, and shuttled forward and backward in time. Literarily, not literally—the Quantum-Steampunk Short-Story Contest began welcoming submissions in October 2022. We...
Scientists Find a Fast Way to Describe Quantum Systems After years of false starts, a team of computer scientists has found a way to efficiently deduce the...
1st May 2024
76

Scientists Find a Fast Way to Describe Quantum Systems

from Quanta Magazine [alt+shift+b] in science

1st May 2024
After years of false starts, a team of computer scientists has found a way to efficiently deduce the Hamiltonian of a physical system at any constant temperature. The post Scientists Find a Fast Way to Describe Quantum Systems first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Watt lies beneath The earth’s core is hot. So hot, that if we drilled deep enough, we could power the world millions...
15th Nov 2023
1

Watt lies beneath

from Works in Progress RSS Feed [alt+shift+b] in science

15th Nov 2023
The earth’s core is hot. So hot, that if we drilled deep enough, we could power the world millions of times over with cheap, clean energy, supporting renewables when the wind isn’t blowing and the sun isn’t shining. But getting there is tough.
Sunday is Both Father’s Day and the Summer Solstice June 21 is not just father's day but the day of the summer solstice The post Sunday is Both Father’s...
19th Jun 2026
0

Sunday is Both Father’s Day and the Summer Solstice

from Andrew Fraknoi – Astronomy Lectures – Astronomy Education Resources [alt+shift+b] in science

19th Jun 2026
June 21 is not just father's day but the day of the summer solstice The post Sunday is Both Father’s Day and the Summer Solstice appeared first on Andrew Fraknoi - Astronomy Lectures - Astronomy Education Resources.
A Long-Sought Proof, Found and Almost Lost When a German retiree proved a famous long-standing mathematical conjecture, the response was...
1st Jun 2017
1

A Long-Sought Proof, Found and Almost Lost

from The Quanta Podcast [alt+shift+b] in science

1st Jun 2017
When a German retiree proved a famous long-standing mathematical conjecture, the response was underwhelming. The post A Long-Sought Proof, Found and Almost Lost first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Notes on Progress: A winter's tale Melting snow can make the season easier
4th May 2023
55

Notes on Progress: A winter's tale

from The Works in Progress Newsletter [alt+shift+b] in science

4th May 2023
Melting snow can make the season easier
370 | Daniel Akerib on a Faint Hint of Dark Matter One reason it's been so hard to directly detect the dark matter is that we're not sure what it is....
2 weeks ago
1

370 | Daniel Akerib on a Faint Hint of Dark Matter

from Sean Carroll [alt+shift+b] in science

2 weeks ago
One reason it's been so hard to directly detect the dark matter is that we're not sure what it is. […]
Table tennis scoreboard Last year, my uncles asked me to design an electronic table tennis scoreboard. Apparently, what they...
11th Nov 2025
1

Table tennis scoreboard

from Willem Pennings [alt+shift+b] in science

11th Nov 2025
Last year, my uncles asked me to design an electronic table tennis scoreboard. Apparently, what they wanted wasn’t for sale (at least not in New Zealand). Since they’re very enthusiastic about the game, I agreed and created a design. It features: I’m using an ESP32...
Is AI Sentient Revisited On the SGU this week we interviewed Blake Lemoine, the ex-Google employee who believes that Google’s...
3rd Apr 2023
65

Is AI Sentient Revisited

from NeuroLogica Blog [alt+shift+b] in science

3rd Apr 2023
On the SGU this week we interviewed Blake Lemoine, the ex-Google employee who believes that Google’s LaMDA may be sentient, based on his interactions with it. This was a fascinating discussion, and even though I think we did a pretty deep dive in the time we had, it also felt...
Can AI Solve Science? Note: Click any diagram to get Wolfram Language code to reproduce it. Wolfram Language code for...
5th Mar 2024
78

Can AI Solve Science?

from Stephen Wolfram Writings [alt+shift+b] in science

5th Mar 2024
Note: Click any diagram to get Wolfram Language code to reproduce it. Wolfram Language code for training the neural nets used here is also available (requires GPU). Won’t AI Eventually Be Able to Do Everything? Particularly given its recent surprise successes, there’s a somewhat...
Pregnancy taught me a lot about healthcare | Out-Of-Pocket A personal story and a patient journey
3rd Aug 2026
1

Pregnancy taught me a lot about healthcare | Out-Of-Pocket

from Out-of-Pocket Blog [alt+shift+b] in science

3rd Aug 2026
A personal story and a patient journey
Do you know what GDP is? I thought I knew! But the more I introspected, the hazy my understanding got. Is GDP amount of stuff...
1st May 2025
41

Do you know what GDP is?

from Inverted Passion [alt+shift+b] in science

1st May 2025
I thought I knew! But the more I introspected, the hazy my understanding got. Is GDP amount of stuff produced or consumed? Does it include imports or exports? What does it have to do with well being? Why does it keep increasing? So, I fired up Claude and started understanding...
Taking the Measure of the Earthquake That Destroyed Tokyo At 11:58 am on Saturday, 1 September 1923, the Kanto region of Japan started to shake. The...
1st Sep 2023
49

Taking the Measure of the Earthquake That Destroyed Tokyo

from IEEE Spectrum [alt+shift+b] in science

1st Sep 2023
At 11:58 am on Saturday, 1 September 1923, the Kanto region of Japan started to shake. The earthquake began with a violent horizontal back-and-forth motion, followed by two vertical jolts, and then another horizontal shock even stronger than the first. The intensity of the tremor...
Tiny Exploding Houses Promoted 18th-Century Lightning Rods Imagine if engineers were required to build a working model to demonstrate every new technological...
1st Apr 2023
43

Tiny Exploding Houses Promoted 18th-Century Lightning Rods

from IEEE Spectrum [alt+shift+b] in science

1st Apr 2023
Imagine if engineers were required to build a working model to demonstrate every new technological concept to the general public. Done right, tech literacy might soar! A compelling visual example can really help people understand the applications and implications of new...
Jonathan Rose: The Well Tempered City ### Coherent cities What holds a city together? Rose noted that the earliest cities were built...
21st Sep 2016
1

Jonathan Rose: The Well Tempered City

from Long Now [alt+shift+b] in science

21st Sep 2016
### Coherent cities What holds a city together? Rose noted that the earliest cities were built around a temple and the spirituality it embodied. As the early communities became larger and more diverse and complex, their economic activity intensified. To be effective in trade...
Bicycle There is something delightful about riding a bicycle. Once mastered, the simple action of pedaling...
28th Mar 2023
162

Bicycle

from Bartosz Ciechanowski [alt+shift+b] in science

28th Mar 2023
There is something delightful about riding a bicycle. Once mastered, the simple action of pedaling to move forward and turning the handlebars to steer makes bike riding an effortless activity. In the demonstration below, you can guide the rider with the slider, and you can also...
To Make Sense of the Present, Brains May Predict the Future A controversial theory suggests that perception, motor control, memory and other brain functions all...
9th May 2019
1

To Make Sense of the Present, Brains May Predict the Future

from The Quanta Podcast [alt+shift+b] in science

9th May 2019
A controversial theory suggests that perception, motor control, memory and other brain functions all depend on comparisons between ongoing actual experiences and the brain’s modeled expectations. The post To Make Sense of the Present, Brains May Predict the Future...
Matt Ridley: Deep Optimism ### Undeniable Progress Hominids had upright walking, stone tools, fire, even language but still...
23rd Mar 2011
1

Matt Ridley: Deep Optimism

from Long Now [alt+shift+b] in science

23rd Mar 2011
### Undeniable Progress Hominids had upright walking, stone tools, fire, even language but still remained in profound stasis. What led to humanity's global takeoff, Ridley argues, was the invention of exchange about 120,000 years ago. "That's ten times older than...
South Pole Topography The relentless accumulation (and management) of snow.
27th Jan 2023
60

South Pole Topography

from brr [alt+shift+b] in science

27th Jan 2023
The relentless accumulation (and management) of snow.
David Rooney: A History of Civilization in Twelve Clocks As with all Long Now Talks, David Rooney’s talk on Thursday, September 9, 02021 began with a few...
23rd Dec 2021
1

David Rooney: A History of Civilization in Twelve Clocks

from Long Now [alt+shift+b] in science

23rd Dec 2021
As with all Long Now Talks, David Rooney’s talk on Thursday, September 9, 02021 began with a few tones from Brian Eno’s January 07003: Bell Studies for The Clock of the Long Now, based on the original algorithm for the Clock’s ever-changing chimes designed by Danny Hillis. These...
Eric Ries: Long-Term Stock Exchange Companies that operate with a long-term mindset tend to outperform their peers over time. But the...
3rd Mar 2020
1

Eric Ries: Long-Term Stock Exchange

from Long Now [alt+shift+b] in science

3rd Mar 2020
Companies that operate with a long-term mindset tend to outperform their peers over time. But the pressure to achieve short-term quarterly gains often works against longer-term sustainable growth, and can push even the most visionary company into a short-term mindset. In 02019,...
Martin Rees: Prospects for Humanity To think usefully about humanity’s future, you have to bear everything in mind simultaneously....
22nd Jan 2019
1

Martin Rees: Prospects for Humanity

from Long Now [alt+shift+b] in science

22nd Jan 2019
To think usefully about humanity’s future, you have to bear everything in mind simultaneously. Nobody has managed that better than Martin Rees in his succinct summing-up book: _ON THE FUTURE: Prospects for Humanity_. As the recent President of the Royal Society (and longtime...
WWII Tank, Aircraft, and Ship Identification guides How do you tell friend from foe in a split second? These beautifully designed WWII guides used...
21st Sep 2026
1

WWII Tank, Aircraft, and Ship Identification guides

from Beautiful Public Data [alt+shift+b] in science

21st Sep 2026
How do you tell friend from foe in a split second? These beautifully designed WWII guides used silhouettes and vehicle details into a system for recognizing tanks, planes, and ships on sight.
The Demons of Non-Denoms Religion in America was once the domain of institutions. How did it grow to be dominated by cults of...
1st Sep 2025
1

The Demons of Non-Denoms

from Asterisk [alt+shift+b] in science

1st Sep 2025
Religion in America was once the domain of institutions. How did it grow to be dominated by cults of personality — and what can the process tell us about the rest of American culture?
How to Cut Cake Fairly and Finally Eat It Too Computer scientists have come up with a bounded algorithm that can fairly divide a cake among any...
10th Nov 2016
1

How to Cut Cake Fairly and Finally Eat It Too

from The Quanta Podcast [alt+shift+b] in science

10th Nov 2016
Computer scientists have come up with a bounded algorithm that can fairly divide a cake among any number of people. The post How to Cut Cake Fairly and Finally Eat It Too first appeared on Quanta Magazine
A nicer voltmeter clock Sometimes, electronic circuit design is mostly about wood
16th May 2026
1

A nicer voltmeter clock

from lcamtuf’s thing [alt+shift+b] in science

16th May 2026
Sometimes, electronic circuit design is mostly about wood
Upzoning New Zealand How a small country started building a lot of homes
1st Feb 2024
54

Upzoning New Zealand

from The Works in Progress Newsletter [alt+shift+b] in science

1st Feb 2024
How a small country started building a lot of homes
An Easy-Sounding Problem Yields Numbers Too Big for Our Universe Researchers prove that navigating certain systems of vectors is among the most complex computational...
4th Dec 2023
34

An Easy-Sounding Problem Yields Numbers Too Big for Our Universe

from Quanta Magazine [alt+shift+b] in science

4th Dec 2023
Researchers prove that navigating certain systems of vectors is among the most complex computational problems. The post An Easy-Sounding Problem Yields Numbers Too Big for Our Universe first appeared on Quanta Magazine
On the Nature of Time The Computational View of Time Time is a central feature of human experience. But what actually is...
8th Oct 2024
145

On the Nature of Time

from Stephen Wolfram Writings [alt+shift+b] in science

8th Oct 2024
The Computational View of Time Time is a central feature of human experience. But what actually is it? In traditional scientific accounts it’s often represented as some kind of coordinate much like space (though a coordinate that for some reason is always systematically...
Cellular reprogramming, pneumatic launch systems, and terraforming Mars In December, I went to the Foresight Institute’s Vision Weekend 2023 in San Francisco. I had a lot...
4th Jan 2024
45

Cellular reprogramming, pneumatic launch systems, and terraforming Mars

from The Roots of Progress | Articles [alt+shift+b] in science

4th Jan 2024
In December, I went to the Foresight Institute’s Vision Weekend 2023 in San Francisco. I had a lot of fun talking to a bunch of weird and ambitious geeks about the glorious abundant technological future. Here are few things I learned about (with the caveat that this is mostly...
The secret fast track for animal drugs Animal drugs are approved much faster than human drugs. Perhaps we could adopt the same model for...
12th Jun 2025
1

The secret fast track for animal drugs

from Works in Progress RSS Feed [alt+shift+b] in science

12th Jun 2025
Animal drugs are approved much faster than human drugs. Perhaps we could adopt the same model for humans without compromising on safety.
Young Adults Want Fewer Children The most recent data from the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) provides a first look at...
19th Mar 2025
54

Young Adults Want Fewer Children

from Probably Overthinking It [alt+shift+b] in science

19th Mar 2025
The most recent data from the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) provides a first look at people born in the 2000s as young adults and an updated view of people born in the 1990s at the peak of their child-bearing years. Compared to previous generations at the same ages,...
Time Toxicity - A Real-World Example | Out-Of-Pocket Being sick is already annoying, now I gotta spend time on the phone???
3rd Jan 2024
60

Time Toxicity - A Real-World Example | Out-Of-Pocket

from Out-of-Pocket Blog [alt+shift+b] in science

3rd Jan 2024
Being sick is already annoying, now I gotta spend time on the phone???
Watt lies beneath The earth’s core is hot. So hot, that if we drilled deep enough, we could power the world millions...
15th Nov 2023
1

Watt lies beneath

from Works in Progress RSS Feed [alt+shift+b] in science

15th Nov 2023
The earth’s core is hot. So hot, that if we drilled deep enough, we could power the world millions of times over with cheap, clean energy, supporting renewables when the wind isn’t blowing and the sun isn’t shining. But getting there is tough.
Frank Gavin: Five Ways to Use History Well ### History-savvy Policy Why do policy makers and historians shun each other? Gavin observed that...
13th Jul 2010
1

Frank Gavin: Five Ways to Use History Well

from Long Now [alt+shift+b] in science

13th Jul 2010
### History-savvy Policy Why do policy makers and historians shun each other? Gavin observed that policy people want actionable information, certainty, and simple explanations. Meanwhile historians revel in nuance, distrust simple explanations and also distrust power and those...
Alicia Eggert: This Moment Used To Be The Future In _The Clock of the Long Now_, Long Now founder Stewart Brand wrote, in response to Zen poet Gary...
15th Dec 2022
1

Alicia Eggert: This Moment Used To Be The Future

from Long Now [alt+shift+b] in science

15th Dec 2022
In _The Clock of the Long Now_, Long Now founder Stewart Brand wrote, in response to Zen poet Gary Snyder, the following musing on the nature of time: >THIS PRESENT MOMENT USED TO BE THE UNIMAGINABLE FUTURE Interdisciplinary artist Alicia Eggert’s work uses neon, steel, and...
Neal Stephenson: ANATHEM Book Launch Event ### _Anathem_ book launch Neal Stephenson's nearly thousand page tome...
9th Sep 2008
1

Neal Stephenson: ANATHEM Book Launch Event

from Long Now [alt+shift+b] in science

9th Sep 2008
### _Anathem_ book launch Neal Stephenson's nearly thousand page tome [_Anathem_](https://longnow.org/anathem/) was inspired in part by Long Now's [10,000 Year Clock](https://longnow.org/projects/clock/) project, and so a collaboration on the launch event was a natural fit. With...
My favorite rocket scientist Whenever someone protests, “I’m not a rocket scientist,” I think of my friend Jamie Rankin. Jamie is...
8th Jul 2024
113

My favorite rocket scientist

from Quantum Frontiers [alt+shift+b] in science

8th Jul 2024
Whenever someone protests, “I’m not a rocket scientist,” I think of my friend Jamie Rankin. Jamie is a researcher at Princeton University, and she showed me her lab this June. When I first met Jamie, she was testing instruments to … Continue reading →
Why horses have stopped becoming faster The limits of breeding for speed
6th Aug 2026
2

Why horses have stopped becoming faster

from The Works in Progress Newsletter [alt+shift+b] in science

6th Aug 2026
The limits of breeding for speed
Direct Current Data Centers Casey Handmer, Matt Weickert Originally posted at the Terraform Blog. This post explains our current...
30th Jan 2026
1

Direct Current Data Centers

from Casey Handmer's blog [alt+shift+b] in science

30th Jan 2026
Casey Handmer, Matt Weickert Originally posted at the Terraform Blog. This post explains our current views on how humanity will achieve Kardashev Level 1 status by exploiting the full energy resources of an entire planet. More specifically, how pure solar+batteries will power AI...
A Blight on Soviet Science On a hazy afternoon in March 1927, a Russian scientist was walking through the dense forests of...
4th Mar 2021
33

A Blight on Soviet Science

from Damn Interesting [alt+shift+b] in science

4th Mar 2021
On a hazy afternoon in March 1927, a Russian scientist was walking through the dense forests of Abyssinia, ducking under low-hanging branches and stopping to inspect the wild coffee trees lining his path. Accompanied by a group of local guides, the young traveller had been hiking...
South Pole Signage Please close doors quietly!
23rd Jul 2023
28

South Pole Signage

from brr [alt+shift+b] in science

23rd Jul 2023
Please close doors quietly!
Adrian Hon: A History of the Future in 100 Objects ### Future artifacts Speaking from 02082, Hon described 5 (of 100) objects and events from this...
17th Jul 2014
1

Adrian Hon: A History of the Future in 100 Objects

from Long Now [alt+shift+b] in science

17th Jul 2014
### Future artifacts Speaking from 02082, Hon described 5 (of 100) objects and events from this century’s history he felt most strongly evoked the astonishing trends that have transformed humanity in the past 8 decades. Not all developments proved to be positive. One such was...
Statins and Strength Does lowering your LDL and saving your heart mean sacrificing muscular strength? No.
6th May 2026
1

Statins and Strength

from Cremieux Recueil [alt+shift+b] in science

6th May 2026
Does lowering your LDL and saving your heart mean sacrificing muscular strength? No.
Peter Schwartz: The Starships ARE Coming ### Starship destiny We now know, Schwartz began, that nearly all of the billions of stars in our...
18th Sep 2013
1

Peter Schwartz: The Starships ARE Coming

from Long Now [alt+shift+b] in science

18th Sep 2013
### Starship destiny We now know, Schwartz began, that nearly all of the billions of stars in our galaxy have planets. If we can master interstellar travel, "there’s someplace to go." Our own solar system is pretty boring---one planet is habitable, the rest are "like Antarctica...
Australia will run an overt command economy by 2040 Australia’s Fiscal Point of No Return Last September I wrote about Australian economic stagnation —...
16th Apr 2026
1

Australia will run an overt command economy by 2040

from Casey Handmer's blog [alt+shift+b] in science

16th Apr 2026
Australia’s Fiscal Point of No Return Last September I wrote about Australian economic stagnation — how taxation past the Laffer curve’s point of peak growth, zero public sector productivity improvement since 2001, and the systematic eradication of manufacturing and ICT from the...
How Jurassic Plankton Stole Control of the Ocean’s Chemistry Only 170 million years ago, new plankton evolved. Their demand for carbon and calcium permanently...
10th Sep 2020
1

How Jurassic Plankton Stole Control of the Ocean’s Chemistry

from The Quanta Podcast [alt+shift+b] in science

10th Sep 2020
Only 170 million years ago, new plankton evolved. Their demand for carbon and calcium permanently transformed the seas as homes for life. The post How Jurassic Plankton Stole Control of the Ocean’s Chemistry first appeared on Quanta Magazine
John Baez: Zooming Out in Time ### Welcome to the Anthropocene The graphs we see these days, John Baez began, all look vertical--...
14th Oct 2006
1

John Baez: Zooming Out in Time

from Long Now [alt+shift+b] in science

14th Oct 2006
### Welcome to the Anthropocene The graphs we see these days, John Baez began, all look vertical-- carbon burning shooting up, CO2 in the air shooting up, global temperature shooting up, and population still shooting up. How can we understand what really going on? "It's like...
Plant Sounds My early adulthood coincided with the New Age movement and its belief in many discredited past...
5th Aug 2024
26

Plant Sounds

from Tikalon Blog by Dev Gualtieri [alt+shift+b] in science

5th Aug 2024
My early adulthood coincided with the New Age movement and its belief in many discredited past ideas, such as astrology. One New Age idea that seemed strange at the time was that talking to plants helped them to grow. What could be more New Age than a hippie chick talking to a...
The Fundamental Tension at the Heart of Math We tend to think of math as all about logic and rigor. But what “rigor” actually means has been...
7th Apr 2026
1

The Fundamental Tension at the Heart of Math

from The Quanta Podcast [alt+shift+b] in science

7th Apr 2026
We tend to think of math as all about logic and rigor. But what “rigor” actually means has been shaken up quite a few times over the past few centuries. The newest attempt to formalize math comes in the form of the computer program Lean. Mathematicians have mixed feelings. On...
Heat waves Why a hotter world might be a more dangerous, violent, and less productive one
12th Jul 2024
110

Heat waves

from The Works in Progress Newsletter [alt+shift+b] in science

12th Jul 2024
Why a hotter world might be a more dangerous, violent, and less productive one
After Work, We’ll Have Each Other Once you realize what that means, you’ll be giving two cheers for the American work ethic.
1st Sep 2026
1

After Work, We’ll Have Each Other

from Asterisk [alt+shift+b] in science

1st Sep 2026
Once you realize what that means, you’ll be giving two cheers for the American work ethic.
Drew Endy & Jim Thomas: Synthetic Biology Debate ### Terms of Biocontainment "I want to develop tools that make biology easy to engineer," Drew Endy...
18th Nov 2008
1

Drew Endy & Jim Thomas: Synthetic Biology Debate

from Long Now [alt+shift+b] in science

18th Nov 2008
### Terms of Biocontainment "I want to develop tools that make biology easy to engineer," Drew Endy began. The first purpose is better understanding fundamental biological mechanisms through "learning by building." The toolkit of Synthetic Biology starts with DNA construction...
6 Questions You Asked Yourself about Solar How fast will it take over, how fast are costs shrinking, why is it so cheap, what industries will...
2nd Nov 2024
43

6 Questions You Asked Yourself about Solar

from Uncharted Territories [alt+shift+b] in science

2nd Nov 2024
How fast will it take over, how fast are costs shrinking, why is it so cheap, what industries will it birth, how much surface will it take up, where will it appear first?
The Transition to Agriculture It is generally accepted that the transition from hunter-gatherer communities to agriculture was the...
3rd Apr 2025
38

The Transition to Agriculture

from NeuroLogica Blog [alt+shift+b] in science

3rd Apr 2025
It is generally accepted that the transition from hunter-gatherer communities to agriculture was the single most important event in human history, ultimately giving rise to all of civilization. The transition started to take place around 12,000 years ago in the Middle East,...
Back From Down Under I am back from an almost three week trip to LA, Sydney and Christchurch. Sorry I did not have time...
6th Aug 2026
1

Back From Down Under

from NeuroLogica Blog [alt+shift+b] in science

6th Aug 2026
I am back from an almost three week trip to LA, Sydney and Christchurch. Sorry I did not have time to keep up with my blog over that period – in which we recorded four live SGU shows, produced three days of conference content, put on two stage shows, and hosted several other...
A Month In Northern Peru, Part 15: More From Explorama Lodge (February 20 - 21, 2024) February 20, 2024 A Great Potoo was the first bird I heard this morning shortly after my alarm went...
1st Feb 2025
49

A Month In Northern Peru, Part 15: More From Explorama Lodge (February 20 - 21, 2024)

from Explorations of an Ecologist [alt+shift+b] in science

1st Feb 2025
February 20, 2024 A Great Potoo was the first bird I heard this morning shortly after my alarm went off at 5:00 AM. It was going to be a good day.  At dinner the previous night Luis, Laura and I had come up with a plan for our full day at Explorama Lodge. We would begin by taking...
After Seven Years Away Exploring an Asteroid, OSIRIS-REx is Landing Soon with Precious Samples Bits of pebbles and dust from the asteriod Bennu that were collected during the long journey of the...
11th Sep 2023
48
11th Sep 2023
Bits of pebbles and dust from the asteriod Bennu that were collected during the long journey of the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft should be landing in the Utah desert later this month. The delivery will be a first for NASA — its first sample return from an asteroid and one of a very...
A Course on Aliens in Science & Science Fiction for People Over 50 I am teaching a fun, 6-week, non-credit course on the search for intelligent life among the stars,...
23rd Sep 2026
1

A Course on Aliens in Science & Science Fiction for People Over 50

from Andrew Fraknoi – Astronomy Lectures – Astronomy Education Resources [alt+shift+b] in science

23rd Sep 2026
I am teaching a fun, 6-week, non-credit course on the search for intelligent life among the stars, offered (by zoom or in person) through the San Francisco State University Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, starting Sept. 30.  It’s part of a program of courses for retired...
The New History of the Milky Way Over the past two years, astronomers have rewritten the story of our galaxy. The post...
4th Mar 2021
1

The New History of the Milky Way

from The Quanta Podcast [alt+shift+b] in science

4th Mar 2021
Over the past two years, astronomers have rewritten the story of our galaxy. The post The New History of the Milky Way first appeared on Quanta Magazine
A (quantum) complex legacy: Part deux I didn’t fancy the research suggestion emailed by my PhD advisor. A 2016 email from John Preskill...
20th Feb 2023
63

A (quantum) complex legacy: Part deux

from Quantum Frontiers [alt+shift+b] in science

20th Feb 2023
I didn’t fancy the research suggestion emailed by my PhD advisor. A 2016 email from John Preskill led to my publishing a paper about quantum complexity in 2022, as I explained in last month’s blog post. But I didn’t explain … Continue reading →
128 New Moons Found Around Saturn An international team of astronomers announced recently that they had discovered 128 new, small...
9th Apr 2025
50

128 New Moons Found Around Saturn

from Andrew Fraknoi – Astronomy Lectures – Astronomy Education Resources [alt+shift+b] in science

9th Apr 2025
An international team of astronomers announced recently that they had discovered 128 new, small moons orbiting the planet Saturn.  That brings the total number of moons known around the ringed planet to 274, breaking all planetary records. Jupiter, the runner-up, has “only” 95...
Who regulates the regulators? IRBs Scott Alexander reviews a book about institutional review boards (IRBs), the panels that review...
4th May 2023
97

Who regulates the regulators?

from The Roots of Progress | Articles [alt+shift+b] in science

4th May 2023
IRBs Scott Alexander reviews a book about institutional review boards (IRBs), the panels that review the ethics of medical trials: From Oversight to Overkill, by Dr. Simon Whitney. From the title alone, you can see where this is going. IRBs are supposed to (among other things)...
The housing theory of everything Western housing shortages do not just prevent many from ever affording their own home. They also...
14th Sep 2021
1

The housing theory of everything

from Works in Progress RSS Feed [alt+shift+b] in science

14th Sep 2021
Western housing shortages do not just prevent many from ever affording their own home. They also drive inequality, climate change, low productivity growth, obesity, and even falling fertility rates.
The State of American Science Funding (For the Next Five Minutes) A comprehensive but nowhere near exhaustive overview of how the Trump Administration is impacting...
1st Jul 2025
1

The State of American Science Funding (For the Next Five Minutes)

from Asterisk [alt+shift+b] in science

1st Jul 2025
A comprehensive but nowhere near exhaustive overview of how the Trump Administration is impacting American science.
India Says Its Grasslands Are 'Wastelands.' Medieval Folklore Suggests Otherwise The sprawling grasslands of western India are, in the popular imagination, the remains of woodlands...
2nd Feb 2026
1
2nd Feb 2026
The sprawling grasslands of western India are, in the popular imagination, the remains of woodlands that were leveled under British rule — areas to be reforested, rather than conserved. But a recent analysis of stories, songs, and poems from centuries past reveals that western...
James Holland Jones: The Science of Climate Fiction: Can Stories Lead to Social Action? The warming planet is increasingly the subject of all kinds of fiction. Beyond entertainment or...
4th Apr 2019
1
4th Apr 2019
The warming planet is increasingly the subject of all kinds of fiction. Beyond entertainment or distraction could climate fiction (“Cli-Fi”) actually help us in solving the climate dilemma? Biological anthropologist and environmental scientist [James Holland...
Metaphors mold minds Every good design is founded on a great metaphor. How to use metaphors to design more a inclusive...
21st Mar 2022
26

Metaphors mold minds

from Interaction Magic - George Cave [alt+shift+b] in science

21st Mar 2022
Every good design is founded on a great metaphor. How to use metaphors to design more a inclusive future for our cities. My IXDA Interaction 22 conference talk.
Where Do Those Undergraduate Divisibility Problems Come From? Oftentimes in your “intro to proofs” class or your first “discrete math” class or something...
16th Jan 2025
73

Where Do Those Undergraduate Divisibility Problems Come From?

from Chris Grossack's Blog [alt+shift+b] in science

16th Jan 2025
Oftentimes in your “intro to proofs” class or your first “discrete math” class or something similar, you’ll be shown problems of the form “prove that for $n^6 + n^3 + 2n^2 + 2n$ is a multiple of $6$ for every $n$”… But where do these problems come from? And have you ever...
James Dewar: Long-term Policy Analysis ### Long-term policy analysis Dewar is head of RAND’s Pardee Center on very long-term policy—35 to...
14th Feb 2004
1

James Dewar: Long-term Policy Analysis

from Long Now [alt+shift+b] in science

14th Feb 2004
### Long-term policy analysis Dewar is head of RAND’s Pardee Center on very long-term policy—35 to 200 years For over half a century the RAND Corporation has influenced national policy and invented major intellectual tools. Packet switching (Paul Baran) came from RAND; so did...
Chuck E. Cheese’s Animatronics Band Bows Out That may have been the last time I entered a Chuck E. Cheese pizzeria. And yet, when I heard that...
2nd Dec 2024
135

Chuck E. Cheese’s Animatronics Band Bows Out

from IEEE Spectrum [alt+shift+b] in science

2nd Dec 2024
That may have been the last time I entered a Chuck E. Cheese pizzeria. And yet, when I heard that the company was phasing out the animatronic bands from all but five locations by the end of this year, I felt a twinge of nostalgia. Much to my surprise, I was truly sad that the...
The ChatGPT wrapper product boom is an uncanny valley hellscape Here we go again: I'm so tired of crypto web3 LLMs. I'm positive there are wonderful applications...
20th May 2024
153

The ChatGPT wrapper product boom is an uncanny valley hellscape

from pcloadletter [alt+shift+b] in science

20th May 2024
Here we go again: I'm so tired of crypto web3 LLMs. I'm positive there are wonderful applications for LLMs. The ChatGPT web UI seems great for summarizing information from various online sources (as long as you're willing to verify the things that you learn). But a lot fo the "AI...
The beauty of concrete Why are buildings today simple and austere, while buildings of the past were ornate and elaborately...
17th May 2024
1

The beauty of concrete

from Works in Progress RSS Feed [alt+shift+b] in science

17th May 2024
Why are buildings today simple and austere, while buildings of the past were ornate and elaborately ornamented? The answer is not the cost of labor.
In a ‘Dark Dimension,’ Physicists Search for the Universe’s Missing Matter An idea derived from string theory suggests that dark matter is hiding in a (relatively) large extra...
1st Feb 2024
141
1st Feb 2024
An idea derived from string theory suggests that dark matter is hiding in a (relatively) large extra dimension. The theory makes testable predictions that physicists are investigating now. The post In a ‘Dark Dimension,’ Physicists Search for the Universe’s Missing...
What I’ve been reading, June 2023 A monthly feature. As usual, recent blog posts and news stories are omitted from this; you can find...
5th Jun 2023
187

What I’ve been reading, June 2023

from The Roots of Progress | Articles [alt+shift+b] in science

5th Jun 2023
A monthly feature. As usual, recent blog posts and news stories are omitted from this; you can find them in my links digests. In all quotes below, any emphasis in bold was added by me. Books Thomas S. Ashton, The Industrial Revolution, 1760–1830 (1948). A classic in the field,...
New Whale Fossil – Possibly Heaviest Animal Ever The largest and heaviest animal to ever live on the Earth, as far as we know, is the blue whale,...
3rd Aug 2023
27

New Whale Fossil – Possibly Heaviest Animal Ever

from NeuroLogica Blog [alt+shift+b] in science

3rd Aug 2023
The largest and heaviest animal to ever live on the Earth, as far as we know, is the blue whale, which is extant today. The blue whale is larger than any dinosaur, even the giant sauropods. The average weight of a blue whale is 160 tons, with the largest specimen being 190 tons,...
Outbreak Harry Stevens at The Washington Post recently published a very elegant simulation of how a disease...
17th Mar 2020
47

Outbreak

from Melting Asphalt [alt+shift+b] in science

17th Mar 2020
Harry Stevens at The Washington Post recently published a very elegant simulation of how a disease like COVID-19 spreads. If you haven't already, I highly recommend checking it out. Today I want to follow up with something I've been working… Read more ›
Do We Have Free Will? Let’s dive head first into one of the internet’s most contentious questions – do we have true free...
1st Dec 2023
32

Do We Have Free Will?

from NeuroLogica Blog [alt+shift+b] in science

1st Dec 2023
Let’s dive head first into one of the internet’s most contentious questions – do we have true free will? This comes up not infrequently whenever I write here about neuroscience, most recently when I wrote about hunger circuitry, because the notion of the brain as a physical...
Notes on doing science and research I know it’s been awfully quiet here. I’ve not posted for a while. But I’ve been writing prolifically...
23rd Oct 2025
28

Notes on doing science and research

from Inverted Passion [alt+shift+b] in science

23rd Oct 2025
I know it’s been awfully quiet here. I’ve not posted for a while. But I’ve been writing prolifically somewhere else. Earlier this year, I started an AI lab called Lossfunk and that is what has kept me (happily) busy. We have a newsletter there called Lossfunk Letters where I...
GOES Video of Solar Eclipse – October 14, 2023 Solar eclipses have fascinated humanity since ancient times and the annular eclipse of October 14,...
14th Oct 2023
71

GOES Video of Solar Eclipse – October 14, 2023

from Drew Ex Machina [alt+shift+b] in science

14th Oct 2023
Solar eclipses have fascinated humanity since ancient times and the annular eclipse of October 14, 2023 was no different. Unlike a total solar eclipse where the […]
2023 Hottest Year on Record What everyone knew was coming is now official – 2023 was the warmest year on record. This means we...
2nd Jan 2024
50

2023 Hottest Year on Record

from NeuroLogica Blog [alt+shift+b] in science

2nd Jan 2024
What everyone knew was coming is now official – 2023 was the warmest year on record. This means we can also say that the last 10 years are the hottest decade on record. 2023 dethrones 2016 as the previous warmest year and bumps 2010 out of the top 10. Further, in the last half of...
Ken Dychtwald: The Consequences of Human Life Extension ### What long life means Ken Dychtwald gave a terrific talk Friday evening to a standing-room...
4th Dec 2004
1

Ken Dychtwald: The Consequences of Human Life Extension

from Long Now [alt+shift+b] in science

4th Dec 2004
### What long life means Ken Dychtwald gave a terrific talk Friday evening to a standing-room audience on "The Consequences of Human Life Extension." The growing--and soon overwhelming--prevalence of the old in developed nations is leading to a "new old." Ken described meeting...
Advancing antivenom Snakebites kill between 80,000 and 140,000 people every year. Better antivenom should be a high...
8th Dec 2022
1

Advancing antivenom

from Works in Progress RSS Feed [alt+shift+b] in science

8th Dec 2022
Snakebites kill between 80,000 and 140,000 people every year. Better antivenom should be a high priority – thankfully new technology can help.
A Fully Renewable Grid? My long-stated position (although certainly modifiable in the face of any new evidence,...
2nd Feb 2026
0

A Fully Renewable Grid?

from NeuroLogica Blog [alt+shift+b] in science

2nd Feb 2026
My long-stated position (although certainly modifiable in the face of any new evidence, technological advance, or good arguments) is that the optimal pathway to most rapidly decarbonize our electrical infrastructure is to pursue all low-carbon options. I have not heard anything...
Counting breeding shorebirds using listening devices With more demands upon the space that is currently occupied by breeding waders, from developments...
4th Dec 2024
102

Counting breeding shorebirds using listening devices

from wadertales [alt+shift+b] in science

4th Dec 2024
With more demands upon the space that is currently occupied by breeding waders, from developments such as wind turbines and monoculture forestry, conservationists are often asked to assess the potential effects of landscape change. Do passive acoustic devices have a role to play...
How to write for Works in Progress We’re looking for new authors and article pitches.
4th Apr 2025
1

How to write for Works in Progress

from Works in Progress RSS Feed [alt+shift+b] in science

4th Apr 2025
We’re looking for new authors and article pitches.
Did photos of the 1917 Miracle of the Sun at Fatima prove the sun was at an impossible place in the... I do agree that if these photos showed that the sun was at an odd angle, that would be evidence for...
1st Oct 2025
24
1st Oct 2025
I do agree that if these photos showed that the sun was at an odd angle, that would be evidence for a miracle. But I read Dalleur (2021) and I’m really not sold that the photos indicate anything celestially weird going on.
Ray Kurzweil: Kurzweil's Law ### Escape velocity Attempts to think long term, Ray Kurzweil began, keep making the mistake of...
24th Sep 2005
1

Ray Kurzweil: Kurzweil's Law

from Long Now [alt+shift+b] in science

24th Sep 2005
### Escape velocity Attempts to think long term, Ray Kurzweil began, keep making the mistake of imagining that the pace of the future is like the pace of the past. Pondering the next ten years, we usually begin by studying the last ten years. He recommends studying the last...
Building Objects with Category Theory Typically category theory is useful for showing the uniqueness of certain objects by checking that...
20th Feb 2023
30

Building Objects with Category Theory

from Chris Grossack's Blog [alt+shift+b] in science

20th Feb 2023
Typically category theory is useful for showing the uniqueness of certain objects by checking that they satisfy some universal property. This makes them unique up to unique isomorphism. However, category theory can also be used in order to show that objects exist at all, usually...
The physicists of Florence A scientist in Florence can’t avoid bumping into colleagues.  When visiting the Renaissance’s...
29th Jun 2026
2

The physicists of Florence

from Quantum Frontiers [alt+shift+b] in science

29th Jun 2026
A scientist in Florence can’t avoid bumping into colleagues.  When visiting the Renaissance’s birthplace last summer, I ran into a fellow physicist even on a Saturday morning. I was wandering around the Uffizi Gallery, a museum blessed with some of … Continue reading →
Eight basic rules for causal inference In this blog post I will describe eight basic rules that govern the relationship between causal...
13th Aug 2024
1

Eight basic rules for causal inference

from Peder M. Isager [alt+shift+b] in science

13th Aug 2024
In this blog post I will describe eight basic rules that govern the relationship between causal mechanisms in the real world and associations/correlations we can observe in data. To make each rule as easy as possible to understand, I will describe each rule both in words and in...
The end of lead How a single taxi ride saved millions of lives
3rd Jul 2025
41

The end of lead

from The Works in Progress Newsletter [alt+shift+b] in science

3rd Jul 2025
How a single taxi ride saved millions of lives
Saturn Vortex “This is a view of a ~2,000-km-wide vortex of swirling clouds above Saturn's north pole, imaged in...
1st Dec 2024
88

Saturn Vortex

from Wanderingspace [alt+shift+b] in science

1st Dec 2024
“This is a view of a ~2,000-km-wide vortex of swirling clouds above Saturn's north pole, imaged in polarized light with Cassini's narrow-angle camera on November 27, 2012. I've processed the original monochrome image to approximate the color of the area at the time.” — Jason...
Borneo: Ridiculous Mothing At Trus Madi Entomology Camp When doing research on the few possible "lifer" birds that I could find on this trip to Sabah, and...
14th Dec 2024
46

Borneo: Ridiculous Mothing At Trus Madi Entomology Camp

from Explorations of an Ecologist [alt+shift+b] in science

14th Dec 2024
When doing research on the few possible "lifer" birds that I could find on this trip to Sabah, and in particular, looking for sites to find the Bornean Frogmouth, I read about the Trus Madi Entomology Camp. This piqued my interest, as there is almost nothing I like more than...
Stephen Pyne: Fire Slow, Fire Fast, Fire Deep ### Ecological wildfire “We are uniquely fire creatures,” Pyne began, “on a uniquely fire planet.”...
10th Feb 2016
1

Stephen Pyne: Fire Slow, Fire Fast, Fire Deep

from Long Now [alt+shift+b] in science

10th Feb 2016
### Ecological wildfire “We are uniquely fire creatures,” Pyne began, “on a uniquely fire planet.” Life itself is a form of slow metabolic combustion—which eventually created oxygen and burnable vegetation that allowed fast combustion, ignited by lightning. Humans came along and...
The bad science behind expensive nuclear How a dubious theory of radiation damage based on fruit flies and a secretive weapons testing...
27th May 2025
1

The bad science behind expensive nuclear

from Works in Progress RSS Feed [alt+shift+b] in science

27th May 2025
How a dubious theory of radiation damage based on fruit flies and a secretive weapons testing program came to be – and why its time may now be up.
What If We Had Bigger Brains? Imagining Minds beyond Ours Cats Don’t Talk We humans have perhaps 100 billion neurons in our brains. But what if we had many...
21st May 2025
1

What If We Had Bigger Brains? Imagining Minds beyond Ours

from Stephen Wolfram Writings [alt+shift+b] in science

21st May 2025
Cats Don’t Talk We humans have perhaps 100 billion neurons in our brains. But what if we had many more? Or what if the AIs we built effectively had many more? What kinds of things might then become possible? At 100 billion neurons, we know, for example, that compositional...
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