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Breck's Blog
The Internal Comparison Trap
2 months ago
Drew Ex Machina
The Largest Launch Vehicles in Service – 1957 to the Present With the successful launch of NASA’s Artemis I test flight, we now have a new holder of the title...
over a year ago
37
over a year ago
With the successful launch of NASA’s Artemis I test flight, we now have a new holder of the title “the largest launch vehicle in service”: the […]
Yale e360
A.I. Is Quietly Powering a Revolution in Weather Prediction Weather forecasts powered by artificial intelligence are usually more accurate — and require less...
2 months ago
1
2 months ago
Weather forecasts powered by artificial intelligence are usually more accurate — and require less computational energy and fewer human hours — than conventional predictions. But questions remain about A.I. systems’ reliability and their ability to forecast extreme weather...
Yale e360
How a Former Herder Protected Mongolia's Vast Grasslands Batmunkh Luvsandash has fought to protect more than a million acres of steppe lands in his native...
2 months ago
4
2 months ago
Batmunkh Luvsandash has fought to protect more than a million acres of steppe lands in his native Mongolia. In an interview with Yale Environment 360, he explains how, by drawing on the knowledge of local herders, he was able to take on the powerful mining industry and win. Read...
Many Worlds
The Evolving Science of Technosignatures The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) began decades ago as an effort to pick up radio...
a year ago
22
a year ago
The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) began decades ago as an effort to pick up radio signals from distant civilizations.  The effort was centered at the Green Bank Observatory in West Virginia and was by today’s standards quite rudimentary. A much broader search...
Marine Madness
Book Club: ‘How To Read Water: Clues and Patterns from Puddles to the Sea’ In this absolute must-have for all walkers, sailors, swimmers, divers, photographers, and nature...
over a year ago
57
over a year ago
In this absolute must-have for all walkers, sailors, swimmers, divers, photographers, and nature lovers, Natural Navigator Tristan Gooley shares his knowledge and skills to help you navigate and interpret the water around you. Combining elements of natural navigation history,...
NeuroLogica Blog
Is the AI Singularity Coming? Like it or not, we are living in the age of artificial intelligence (AI). Recent advances in large...
a year ago
91
a year ago
Like it or not, we are living in the age of artificial intelligence (AI). Recent advances in large language models, like ChatGPT, have helped put advanced AI in the hands of the average person, who now has a much better sense of how powerful these AI applications can be (and...
NeuroLogica Blog
Animals Adapting to Cities Humans are dramatically changing the environment of the Earth in many ways. Only about 23% of the...
a week ago
9
a week ago
Humans are dramatically changing the environment of the Earth in many ways. Only about 23% of the land surface (excluding Antarctica) is considered to be “wilderness”, and this is rapidly decreasing. What wilderness is left is also mostly managed conservation areas. Meanwhile,...
Quanta Magazine
How Scientists Are Tackling the Tricky Task of Solar Cycle Prediction Scientists have struggled to accurately forecast the strength of the sun’s 11-year cycle — even...
a year ago
37
a year ago
Scientists have struggled to accurately forecast the strength of the sun’s 11-year cycle — even after centuries of solar observations. The post How Scientists Are Tackling the Tricky Task of Solar Cycle Prediction first appeared on Quanta Magazine
brr
Brr Wants A Job 8 months post-ice, it's time for something new!
11 months ago
Yale e360
Carnivorous Squirrels Discovered in California Scientists have discovered that in addition to seeds and nuts, some California ground squirrels also...
6 months ago
7
6 months ago
Scientists have discovered that in addition to seeds and nuts, some California ground squirrels also eat voles. Read more on E360 →
Quanta Magazine
A New Approach to Computation Reimagines Artificial Intelligence By imbuing enormous vectors with semantic meaning, we can get machines to reason more abstractly —...
over a year ago
135
over a year ago
By imbuing enormous vectors with semantic meaning, we can get machines to reason more abstractly — and efficiently — than before. The post A New Approach to Computation Reimagines Artificial Intelligence first appeared on Quanta Magazine
The Works in...
How to redraw a city The planning trick that created Japan's famous urbanism
3 weeks ago
NeuroLogica Blog
Plastic Bag Policies Have An Effect There is a lot of talk concerning the growing plastic waste problem in the world, and that’s because...
2 weeks ago
13
2 weeks ago
There is a lot of talk concerning the growing plastic waste problem in the world, and that’s because it is a real and serious problem. The world produces about 430 tons of plastic waste per year, and this is steadily increasing over time. About 6 millions tons of this will end up...
IEEE Spectrum
How Antivirus Software Has Changed With the Internet We live in a world filled with computer viruses, and antivirus software is almost as old as the...
5 months ago
68
5 months ago
We live in a world filled with computer viruses, and antivirus software is almost as old as the Internet itself: The first version of what would become McAfee antivirus came out in 1987—just four years after the Internet booted up. For many of us, antivirus software is an...
Quanta Magazine
Cryptography Tricks Make a Hard Problem a Little Easier Researchers have shown how to find the simplest description of a data set faster than by simply ...
a year ago
67
a year ago
Researchers have shown how to find the simplest description of a data set faster than by simply checking every possibility. The post Cryptography Tricks Make a Hard Problem a Little Easier first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Yale e360
How Herbicide Drift from Farms Is Harming Trees in Midwest Researchers are starting to pay closer attention to the widespread damage wrought by agricultural...
2 months ago
7
2 months ago
Researchers are starting to pay closer attention to the widespread damage wrought by agricultural herbicides. Drifting sprays may not kill trees, shrubs, and other nontarget plants outright, but experts believe they are making them vulnerable to insects, fungi, and disease. Read...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Digital health needs more creative financing options | Out-Of-Pocket And does venture actually work for healthcare services?
a year ago
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Why are docs late? Why can’t I find prices for anything? | Out-Of-Pocket And why can’t I get my record into one place?
4 months ago
NeuroLogica Blog
Will AI Make Work Redundant? Artificial Intelligence (AI) is coming for your job. This, at least, is increasingly conventional...
a year ago
43
a year ago
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is coming for your job. This, at least, is increasingly conventional wisdom, but I’m not so sure. In a recent interview, Elon Musk predicted that AI would “make paid work redundant.” I encountered the same opinion watching the latest season of...
Sean Carroll
Thanksgiving This year we give thanks for one of the very few clues we have to the quantum nature of spacetime:...
over a year ago
39
over a year ago
This year we give thanks for one of the very few clues we have to the quantum nature of spacetime: black hole entropy. (We’ve previously given thanks for the Standard Model Lagrangian, Hubble’s Law, the Spin-Statistics Theorem, conservation of momentum, effective field theory,...
symmetry magazine
Life along the future DUNE beamline Unseen neutrinos, visible lives: A photographer journeys through the Midwest.
a year ago
Quanta Magazine
Physicists Spot Quantum Tornadoes Twirling in a ‘Supersolid’ New observations of microscopic vortices confirm the existence of a paradoxical phase of matter that...
8 months ago
53
8 months ago
New observations of microscopic vortices confirm the existence of a paradoxical phase of matter that may also arise inside neutron stars. The post Physicists Spot Quantum Tornadoes Twirling in a ‘Supersolid’ first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Blog - Practical...
HEAVY CONSTRUCTION of a Sewage Pump Station - Ep 1 Check out our new series! This is the first episode of a five-part pilot series to gauge your...
a year ago
30
a year ago
Check out our new series! This is the first episode of a five-part pilot series to gauge your interest in "How It's Made"-esque heavy construction videos. Drop a comment or send me an email to let me know what you think! Watch on YouTube above or ad-free on Nebula here.
The Works in...
Fermenting revolution The Victorian fight against bad bread and its role in women’s liberation
a year ago
nanoscale views
Seeing through tissue and Kramers-Kronig There is a paper in Science this week that is just a great piece of work.  The authors find that by...
10 months ago
11
10 months ago
There is a paper in Science this week that is just a great piece of work.  The authors find that by dyeing living tissue with a particular biocompatible dye molecule, they can make that tissue effectively transparent, so you can see through it.  The paper includes images (and...
Cremieux Recueil
Storks Take Orders From the State Pronatal benefits and economic booms lead to greater numbers of births
2 months ago
Asterisk
Why Worry?
over a year ago
NeuroLogica Blog
What Is a Grand Conspiracy? Ah, the categorization question again. This is an endless, but much needed, endeavor within human...
a year ago
60
a year ago
Ah, the categorization question again. This is an endless, but much needed, endeavor within human intellectual activity. We have the need to categorize things, if for no other reason than we need to communicate with each other about them. Often skeptics, like myself, talk about...
NeuroLogica Blog
RFK Jr., Joe Rogan, and Vaccines RFK Jr., who is now running for the Democratic presidential nomination, is anti-vaccine. He will...
over a year ago
39
over a year ago
RFK Jr., who is now running for the Democratic presidential nomination, is anti-vaccine. He will vehemently deny this, but I don’t buy it for a second. He is simply playing the, “I’m not anti-vaccine, I am pro-safe vaccine” gambit, which is disingenuous and always has been. We...
Quanta Magazine
How Pools of Genetic Diversity Affect a Species’ Fate A new, deeper understanding of how the breeding structure of species affects their genetic diversity...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
A new, deeper understanding of how the breeding structure of species affects their genetic diversity is giving conservationists better tools for saving animals. The post How Pools of Genetic Diversity Affect a Species’ Fate first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Uncharted...
Wind and Solar, a Perfect Match Also, why solar will beat wind, why they are so complementary, the nuclear renaissance, the poor...
8 months ago
36
8 months ago
Also, why solar will beat wind, why they are so complementary, the nuclear renaissance, the poor state of German energy, and more.
Casey Handmer's blog
Moon Escape! [One from the archives, a previously unpublished short story I wrote c. 2017 on the theme of BASE...
5 months ago
67
5 months ago
[One from the archives, a previously unpublished short story I wrote c. 2017 on the theme of BASE jumping.] Why anyone thought a prison on the Moon was a good idea was beyond me. Remote, dangerous, inhospitable, to be sure. But certainly not impossible to escape from, as I was...
NeuroLogica Blog
Some Thoughts on Aging If either of the two presumptive nominees for the major political parties in the US are elected in...
a year ago
88
a year ago
If either of the two presumptive nominees for the major political parties in the US are elected in November they will be the oldest person ever to be inaugerated as president. What implications does this have? As a neurologist who sees patients every workday of various ages,...
Quanta Magazine
What Can Jellyfish Teach Us About Fluid Dynamics? Jellyfish and other aquatic creatures embody solutions to diverse problems in engineering, medicine...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
Jellyfish and other aquatic creatures embody solutions to diverse problems in engineering, medicine and mathematics. John Dabiri, a fluid dynamics expert, talks with Steven Strogatz about what jellyfish can teach us about going with the flow. The post What Can...
Yale e360
In This Storied Egyptian City, Rising Seas are Causing Buildings to Crumble As waters rise along the Egyptian coast, hundreds of buildings in the historic port city of...
4 months ago
5
4 months ago
As waters rise along the Egyptian coast, hundreds of buildings in the historic port city of Alexandria have collapsed. Read more on E360 →
Casey Handmer's blog
Potentially undervalued companies I am routinely solicited for my technical opinion on new and interesting technologies and companies...
10 months ago
28
10 months ago
I am routinely solicited for my technical opinion on new and interesting technologies and companies developing them. 90% of the time, my answer is “I don’t know” but it continues to concern me that aspects of technical feasibility are evidently not legible to financial types (and...
IEEE Spectrum
How Vannevar Bush Engineered the 20th Century In the summer of 1945, Robert J. Oppenheimer and other key members of the Manhattan Project gathered...
a year ago
95
a year ago
In the summer of 1945, Robert J. Oppenheimer and other key members of the Manhattan Project gathered in New Mexico to witness the first atomic bomb test. Among the observers was Vannevar Bush, who had overseen the Manhattan Project and served as the sole liaison to U.S. President...
Asterisk
The Misery Bomb Children across the Western world are getting less happy. If we can’t find a way to reverse the...
a year ago
14
a year ago
Children across the Western world are getting less happy. If we can’t find a way to reverse the trend, it might have an outsized impact on their future.
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Special Edition: A Toilet And A Neural Network | Out-Of-Pocket You didn't know you needed this. And you probably don't.
a year ago
The Works in...
How DC densified Washington, DC, has avoided the worst price rises that have plagued other American cities. Arlington...
3 months ago
27
3 months ago
Washington, DC, has avoided the worst price rises that have plagued other American cities. Arlington might be the reason.
Quanta Magazine
New Quantum Algorithm Factors Numbers With One Qubit The catch: It would require the energy of a few medium-size stars. The post New Quantum...
a month ago
18
a month ago
The catch: It would require the energy of a few medium-size stars. The post New Quantum Algorithm Factors Numbers With One Qubit first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Confessions of a...
A first step into the unknown world of academia……. At the beginning of this blog I did promise to include some writings that would at least be...
over a year ago
40
over a year ago
At the beginning of this blog I did promise to include some writings that would at least be semi-useful (hopefully!) to future students hoping to move into a career in marine science; so here it goes! From today I am beginning a year long Postgraduate Teaching Internship at UWA....
Wanderingspace
COMET 67P/CG ANIMATED FROM ROSETTA STILLS COMET #67P/CHURYUMOV-GERASIMENKO INTERNATIONAL #ROSETTA MISSION Date 18 jul 2015 Distance to...
over a year ago
35
over a year ago
COMET #67P/CHURYUMOV-GERASIMENKO INTERNATIONAL #ROSETTA MISSION Date 18 jul 2015 Distance to Target 182 km Orange+Blue filtershttps://t.co/ZuYVehJOLx ESA/Rosetta/MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA/J. Roger pic.twitter.com/Fg8rNmjbNy — landru79 (@landru79) June 13, 2022 Hit...
Quanta Magazine
The Hidden Connection That Changed Number Theory Quadratic reciprocity lurks around many corners in mathematics. By proving it, number theorists...
a year ago
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a year ago
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
Quanta Magazine
A New Generation of Mathematicians Pushes Prime Number Barriers New work attacks a long-standing barrier to understanding how prime numbers are distributed. ...
a year ago
38
a year ago
New work attacks a long-standing barrier to understanding how prime numbers are distributed. The post A New Generation of Mathematicians Pushes Prime Number Barriers first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Yale e360
Peruvian Farmer Sues German Energy Giant Over Its Role in Climate Change Hearings began Monday in a landmark climate case in Hamm, Germany, where a Peruvian farmer is suing...
3 months ago
1
3 months ago
Hearings began Monday in a landmark climate case in Hamm, Germany, where a Peruvian farmer is suing energy giant RWE over its role in warming. Read more on E360 →
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Running Tests on Generative AI with Autoblocks | Out-Of-Pocket How can we keep these bots in check??
2 months ago
Yale e360
In a Warming World, Why Is the Southern Ocean Getting Cooler? Climate models predict that as the planet warms, so will the Southern Ocean. But for decades, the...
3 months ago
4
3 months ago
Climate models predict that as the planet warms, so will the Southern Ocean. But for decades, the waters around Antarctica have grown mysteriously cooler. A new study shows why. Read more on E360 →
Quanta Magazine
The Astonishing Behavior of Recursive Sequences Some strange mathematical sequences are always whole numbers — until they’re not. The puzzling...
a year ago
32
a year ago
Some strange mathematical sequences are always whole numbers — until they’re not. The puzzling patterns have revealed ties to graph theory and prime numbers, awing mathematicians. The post The Astonishing Behavior of Recursive Sequences first appeared on Quanta...
Yale e360
Loss of Antarctic Sea Ice Is Giving Rise to More Frequent Storms The decline of sea ice around Antarctica is fueling more frequent storms in the Southern Ocean, a...
6 months ago
3
6 months ago
The decline of sea ice around Antarctica is fueling more frequent storms in the Southern Ocean, a new study finds. Read more on E360 →
Quanta Magazine
What a Contest of Consciousness Theories Really Proved A five-year “adversarial collaboration” of consciousness theorists led to a stagy showdown in front...
a year ago
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a year ago
A five-year “adversarial collaboration” of consciousness theorists led to a stagy showdown in front of an audience. It crowned no winners — but it can still claim progress. The post What a Contest of Consciousness Theories Really Proved first appeared on Quanta...
brr
Pressure Altitude Day-to-day variability at the South Pole.
a year ago
Yale e360
Trump Administration Fires Hundreds of Climate and Weather Specialists The Trump administration has re-fired hundreds of probationary workers at NOAA after a court ruling...
2 months ago
1
2 months ago
The Trump administration has re-fired hundreds of probationary workers at NOAA after a court ruling cleared the way. Read more on E360 →
Tikalon Blog by Dev...
Diophantine Equations Piebald is an unusual word that appears in the Archimedes' cattle problem, a Diophantine problem...
11 months ago
20
11 months ago
Piebald is an unusual word that appears in the Archimedes' cattle problem, a Diophantine problem supposedly communicated by Archimedes to his friend, Eratosthenes. It's a Diophantine equation system of seven equations in eight unknowns, but it can be solved with the requirement...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Start your healthcare company outside of the US | Out-Of-Pocket Gotta start somewhere...else?
a year ago
ToughSF
Moto-Orion: Mechanized Nuclear Pulse Propulsion The Orion nuclear pulse propulsion concept has been around for over six decades now. It is powerful...
over a year ago
27
over a year ago
The Orion nuclear pulse propulsion concept has been around for over six decades now. It is powerful and robust, but lacks the flexibility and features we expect from many more modern designs. Can we give it those additional capabilities? That cutaway is one of Matthew Paul...
Asterisk
Emotional Intelligence Amplification Love in the time of chatbots.
over a year ago
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Healthcare, but funny | Out-Of-Pocket US healthcare is a joke. Let's make it funny.
a year ago
nanoscale views
March Meeting 2025, Day 1 The APS Global Physics Summit is an intimate affair, with a mere 14,000 attendees, all apparently...
3 months ago
25
3 months ago
The APS Global Physics Summit is an intimate affair, with a mere 14,000 attendees, all apparently vying for lunch capacity for about 2,000 people.   The first day of the meeting was the usual controlled chaos of people trying to learn the layout of the convention center while...
Probably...
Algorithmic Fairness This is the last in a series of excerpts from Elements of Data Science, now available from Lulu.com...
5 months ago
18
5 months ago
This is the last in a series of excerpts from Elements of Data Science, now available from Lulu.com and online booksellers. This article is based on the Recidivism Case Study, which is about algorithmic fairness. The goal of the case study is to explain the statistical arguments...
NeuroLogica Blog
AI Copilots Are Coming I’m going to do something I rarely do and make a straight-up prediction – I think we are close to...
9 months ago
72
9 months ago
I’m going to do something I rarely do and make a straight-up prediction – I think we are close to having AI apps that will function as our all-purpose digital assistants. That’s not really a tough call, we already have digital assistants and they are progressing rapidly. So I am...
Blog - Practical...
How Do You Steer a Drill Below The Earth? [Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.] In December 2019, the City of...
over a year ago
51
over a year ago
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.] In December 2019, the City of Fort Lauderdale, Florida experienced a series of catastrophic ruptures in a critical wastewater transmission line, releasing raw sewage into local waterways and neighborhoods....
Chris Grossack's...
Life in Johnstone's Topological Topos 3 -- Bonus Axioms In the first post of the series, we talked about what the topological topos is, and how we can...
a year ago
81
a year ago
In the first post of the series, we talked about what the topological topos is, and how we can think about its objects (and, importantly, how we can relate computations in the topos $\mathcal{T}$ to computations with topological spaces in “the real world”). In part two, we...
The Roots of...
Why you, personally, should want a larger human population What is the ideal size of the human population? One common answer is “much smaller.” Paul Ehrlich,...
a year ago
59
a year ago
What is the ideal size of the human population? One common answer is “much smaller.” Paul Ehrlich, co-author of The Population Bomb (1968), has as recently as 2018 promoted the idea that “the world’s optimum population is less than two billion people,” a reduction of the current...
Yale e360
Microplastics Block Blood Flow in Brains of Mice A new study finds microplastics can block the flow of blood in the brains of mice. The study comes...
5 months ago
2
5 months ago
A new study finds microplastics can block the flow of blood in the brains of mice. The study comes on the heels of other research showing, for the first time, that microplastics can lodge in human brains. Read more on E360 →
Quanta Magazine
Chatbot Software Begins to Face Fundamental Limitations Recent results show that large language models struggle with compositional tasks, suggesting a hard...
5 months ago
52
5 months ago
Recent results show that large language models struggle with compositional tasks, suggesting a hard limit to their abilities. The post Chatbot Software Begins to Face Fundamental Limitations first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Asterisk
Deros and the Ur-Abduction What do Atlantean dwarves, witch trials, and tractor beams have in common?
6 months ago
The Works in...
How Airbus took off Why you can build a European airliner, but not a European Google
3 months ago
Out-of-Pocket Blog
How to measure ROI in healthcare (the right way) | Out-Of-Pocket The good, better, and best way to do it (+ a calculator)
a week ago
Quanta Magazine
Do We Need a New Theory of Gravity? Since Newton had his initial revelation about gravity, our understanding of this fundamental concept...
10 months ago
61
10 months ago
Since Newton had his initial revelation about gravity, our understanding of this fundamental concept has evolved in unexpected ways. In this week’s episode, theoretical physicist Claudia de Rham and co-host Janna Levin discuss the ways our current understanding of gravity needs...
Asterisk
When RAND Made Magic in Santa Monica RAND’s halcyon days lasted two decades, during which the corporation produced some of the most...
a year ago
17
a year ago
RAND’s halcyon days lasted two decades, during which the corporation produced some of the most influential developments in science and American foreign policy. So how did it become just another think tank?
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Big Changes Coming | Out-Of-Pocket What's temporary vs. permanent?
a year ago
Quanta Magazine
A Rosetta Stone for Mathematics In 1940 André Weil wrote a letter to his sister, Simone, outlining his vision for translating...
a year ago
63
a year ago
In 1940 André Weil wrote a letter to his sister, Simone, outlining his vision for translating between three distinct areas of mathematics. Eighty years later, it still animates many of the most exciting developments in the field. The post A Rosetta Stone for...
Asterisk
How We Can Regulate AI The chips used to train the most advanced AIs are scarce, expensive, and trackable — giving...
over a year ago
18
over a year ago
The chips used to train the most advanced AIs are scarce, expensive, and trackable — giving regulators a path forward.
Asterisk
Rarely is the Question Asked: Is Our Children Learning? Across the world, more students than ever are in school. But it’s not clear that they're learning...
7 months ago
40
7 months ago
Across the world, more students than ever are in school. But it’s not clear that they're learning more while there — or if that’s even the goal.
Yale e360
Warming Doubled the Odds of Record Fires in South Korea Warming fueled the hot, dry, windy weather that gave rise to a spate of record-breaking fires in...
2 months ago
8
2 months ago
Warming fueled the hot, dry, windy weather that gave rise to a spate of record-breaking fires in South Korea in March, an analysis finds. Read more on E360 →
The Works in...
Issue 11: Nuclear sandboxes Plus: Why Britain can’t seem to fix its housing market, gene-edited super-rice, and one weird trick...
over a year ago
94
over a year ago
Plus: Why Britain can’t seem to fix its housing market, gene-edited super-rice, and one weird trick to reverse climate change.
Quanta Magazine
Teen Mathematicians Tie Knots Through a Mind-Blowing Fractal Three high schoolers and their mentor revisited a century-old theorem to prove that all knots can be...
7 months ago
50
7 months ago
Three high schoolers and their mentor revisited a century-old theorem to prove that all knots can be found in a fractal called the Menger sponge. The post Teen Mathematicians Tie Knots Through a Mind-Blowing Fractal first appeared on Quanta Magazine
NeuroLogica Blog
Hunger Circuitry One of the organizing principles that govern living organisms is homeostasis. This is a key feature...
a year ago
34
a year ago
One of the organizing principles that govern living organisms is homeostasis. This is a key feature of being alive – maintaining homeostatic equilibrium both internally and externally. Homeostatic systems usually involve multiple feedback loops that maintain some physiological...
Yale e360
How Climate Change Puts the Safety of Drinking Water at Risk Wildfires, floods, intense heat, droughts, and other extreme events fueled by climate change are...
4 months ago
2
4 months ago
Wildfires, floods, intense heat, droughts, and other extreme events fueled by climate change are threatening water systems in the U.S. and around the globe. Experts warn of the increasing threat of contamination and the need to improve infrastructure to keep drinking water...
NeuroLogica Blog
The Alef Flying Car The flying car is an icon of futuristic technology – in more ways than one. This is partly why I...
4 months ago
41
4 months ago
The flying car is an icon of futuristic technology – in more ways than one. This is partly why I can’t resist a good flying car story. I was recently sent this YouTube video on the Alef flying car. The company says his is a street-legal flying car, with vertical take off and...
Yale e360
Grass-Fed Beef No Better for Climate Than Industrial Beef, Study Finds New research finds that, pound for pound, grazing cattle generate at least as much heat-trapping gas...
3 months ago
2
3 months ago
New research finds that, pound for pound, grazing cattle generate at least as much heat-trapping gas as those raised in feedlots. Read more on E360 →
NeuroLogica Blog
Using AI To Create Virtual Environments Generative AI applications seem to be on the steep part of the development curve – not only is the...
a year ago
104
a year ago
Generative AI applications seem to be on the steep part of the development curve – not only is the technology getting better, but people are finding more and more uses for it. It’s a new powerful tool with broad applicability, and so there are countless startups and researchers...
Yale e360
In California, Hummingbird Beaks Have Been Transformed by Feeders The profusion of hummingbird feeders in California homes has not only allowed some hummingbirds to...
a month ago
2
a month ago
The profusion of hummingbird feeders in California homes has not only allowed some hummingbirds to expand their range, but has also altered the shape of their beaks. Read more on E360 →
Out-of-Pocket Blog
2022 Healthcare Predictions | Out-Of-Pocket Nikstradamus strikes again
a year ago
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Two new courses! And ~*fun*~ Out-Of-Pocket updates | Out-Of-Pocket
10 months ago
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Structuring the Unstructured and ScienceIO | Out-Of-Pocket how to train your model, the animated movie
a year ago
Quanta Magazine
How Math Achieved Transcendence Transcendental numbers include famous examples like e and π, but it took mathematicians centuries to...
over a year ago
65
over a year ago
Transcendental numbers include famous examples like e and π, but it took mathematicians centuries to understand them. The post How Math Achieved Transcendence first appeared on Quanta Magazine
pcloadletter
RSS is still pretty great I think a lot about information and information consumption. The way the Internet made information...
a year ago
39
a year ago
I think a lot about information and information consumption. The way the Internet made information readily available is phenomenal. Sadly, the signal-to-noise ratio here is pretty low. For me, consuming RSS feeds[1] offers the best way to read the kind of high-quality information...
Cremieux Recueil
Ozempic and Muscle Mass Are GLP-1 drugs causing excess muscle loss compared to non-pharmacological weight loss?
2 months ago
Yale e360
As Wind and Solar Grow, China Ships More Coal Overseas A slowing economy and the rapid growth of wind and solar have blunted demand for coal in China....
2 weeks ago
11
2 weeks ago
A slowing economy and the rapid growth of wind and solar have blunted demand for coal in China. Increasingly, producers are selling coal overseas. Read more on E360 →
Quanta Magazine
Why Is It So Hard to Define a Species? The idea of a species is fundamental to the way that many people understand the structure of life on...
8 months ago
40
8 months ago
The idea of a species is fundamental to the way that many people understand the structure of life on Earth. But ask 10 specialists how they define the concept and you might get 10 answers. In this episode, co-host Janna Levin speaks with evolutionary biologist Kevin de Queiroz...
Eukaryote Writes...
Eukaryote Skips Town – why I’m leaving DC I’m hesitant to write this piece because it’s directly about my EA ambitions, and I’ve talked to a...
3 months ago
32
3 months ago
I’m hesitant to write this piece because it’s directly about my EA ambitions, and I’ve talked to a lot of EAs trying to get into biosecurity who want advice, and I have no idea what they should take away from my story or if any of this should be taken as any kind of advice.
symmetry magazine
Searching for the matter that hides its shine Just because matter is visible doesn’t mean it’s easy to see.
over a year ago
Yale e360
With 'Big Beautiful Bill,' U.S. to Reverse Course on Clean Energy The Republican spending bill, signed into law Friday, will reset the course for the U.S. energy...
3 days ago
1
3 days ago
The Republican spending bill, signed into law Friday, will reset the course for the U.S. energy sector, analyses show. The law rapidly phases out tax credits for wind, solar, and electric cars, while making it cheaper to drill and mine for fossil fuels on federal lands.  Read...
Beautiful Public...
Wild Horses The Bureau of Land Management wants to pay you $1,000 to adopt a wild horse. But the program has...
a year ago
123
a year ago
The Bureau of Land Management wants to pay you $1,000 to adopt a wild horse. But the program has been criticized by animal rights advocates and subject to scrutiny by Congress.
NeuroLogica Blog
Bury Broadband and Electricity We may have a unique opportunity to make an infrastructure investment that can demonstrably save...
2 months ago
22
2 months ago
We may have a unique opportunity to make an infrastructure investment that can demonstrably save money over the long term – by burying power and broadband lines. This is always an option, of course, but since we are in the early phases of rolling out fiber optic service, and also...
NeuroLogica Blog
Robots and a Sense of Self Humans (assuming you all experience roughly what I experience, which is a reasonable assumption)...
7 months ago
68
7 months ago
Humans (assuming you all experience roughly what I experience, which is a reasonable assumption) have a sense of self. This sense has several components – we feel as if we occupy our physical bodies, that our bodies are distinct entities separate from the rest of the universe,...
SubAnima
The Problem With Richard Dawkins How should we view The Selfish Gene 50 years on?
over a year ago
Yale e360
How a Former Herder Protected Mongolia's Vast Grasslands Batmunkh Luvsandash has fought to protect more than a million acres of steppe lands in his native...
2 months ago
8
2 months ago
Batmunkh Luvsandash has fought to protect more than a million acres of steppe lands in his native Mongolia. In an interview with Yale Environment 360, he explains how, by drawing on the knowledge of local herders, he was able to take on the powerful mining industry and win. Read...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Did The FDA Mess Up With Aduhelm? | Out-Of-Pocket Rethinking the approval, coverage, and reimbursement dynamic
a year ago
NeuroLogica Blog
Nuclear Microreactors The first nuclear powered vessel was completed in 1959. Since then there have been nuclear powered...
over a year ago
63
over a year ago
The first nuclear powered vessel was completed in 1959. Since then there have been nuclear powered vessels in the oceans, including many nuclear submarines. The obvious advantage is that is such vessels can stay at see for long periods of time without refueling. These ships use...
Cremieux Recueil
How To Get Cheap Ozempic Or other, more effective GLP-1 drugs
3 months ago
Melting Asphalt
Crony Beliefs [Note: if you prefer audio, you can listen to this essay narrated by Grognor on his excellent...
over a year ago
22
over a year ago
[Note: if you prefer audio, you can listen to this essay narrated by Grognor on his excellent podcast Second Enumerations. —Ed.]   Credits up front: This essay draws heavily from Overcoming Bias, Less Wrong, Slate Star Codex, Robert Kurzban, Robert… Read more ›
Yale e360
Spread of Dark Algae Could Hasten Melt of Greenland Ice Sheet Dark algae are spreading across the Greenland ice sheet as snow retreats. Their dark color causes...
4 months ago
1
4 months ago
Dark algae are spreading across the Greenland ice sheet as snow retreats. Their dark color causes ice to absorb more heat from the sun, accelerating melting, and according to a new study, the harsh conditions atop the ice sheet will do little to slow their advance. Read more on...
Quanta Magazine
He Seeks Mystery Magnetic Fields With His Quantum Compass Alex Sushkov is updating an old technology with new quantum tricks in hopes of sensing the magnetic...
a year ago
101
a year ago
Alex Sushkov is updating an old technology with new quantum tricks in hopes of sensing the magnetic influence of dark matter. The post He Seeks Mystery Magnetic Fields With His Quantum Compass first appeared on Quanta Magazine
NeuroLogica Blog
Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carriers as Fuel The press release for a recent study declares: “New catalyst could provide liquid hydrogen fuel of...
a year ago
25
a year ago
The press release for a recent study declares: “New catalyst could provide liquid hydrogen fuel of the future.” But don’t get excited – the optimism is more than a bit gratuitous. I have written about hydrogen fuel before, and the reasons I am not optimistic about hydrogen as a...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Ciitizen And The Patient Data Marketplace | Out-Of-Pocket The path to our personal health record
a year ago
NeuroLogica Blog
Hunter-Gatherers and Childcare What is “natural” for humans? It’s often hard to say, and in my opinion this is a highly overused...
a year ago
26
a year ago
What is “natural” for humans? It’s often hard to say, and in my opinion this is a highly overused concept. Primarily this is because humans are adaptable – we adapt to our environment, our situation, and our culture. So it is “natural” for us not to have a natural state. But this...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Actually good 2024 healthcare predictions | Out-Of-Pocket I know, enough predictions. But these are good!
a year ago
Yale e360
Will U.S. Push on Seabed Mining End Global Consensus on Oceans? President Trump’s recent order to expedite permits to begin deep-sea mining bypasses international...
2 months ago
4
2 months ago
President Trump’s recent order to expedite permits to begin deep-sea mining bypasses international agreements that protect oceans. By moving unilaterally, says the Ocean Conservancy’s Jeff Watters, the U.S. could endanger fragile marine ecosystems and set a troubling...
NeuroLogica Blog
Nobel Prize for Attosecond Physics One attosecond (as) is 1×10−18 seconds. An attosecond is to one second what one second is to the age...
a year ago
19
a year ago
One attosecond (as) is 1×10−18 seconds. An attosecond is to one second what one second is to the age of the universe. It is an extremely tiny slice of time. This year’s Nobel Prize in physics goes to three scientists, Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz, and Anne L’Huillier, whose...
NeuroLogica Blog
3D Printed Rocket Launches This is one of those technology news stories where the implications of the technology is greater...
over a year ago
47
over a year ago
This is one of those technology news stories where the implications of the technology is greater than the thing itself. Relativity Space, a rocket company based in California, launched their first Terran-1 rocket. The launch ultimately failed when the second stage failed to...
NeuroLogica Blog
More On Electric Vehicles I recently wrote about electric vehicles, which sparked a lively discussion in the comments. There...
a year ago
35
a year ago
I recently wrote about electric vehicles, which sparked a lively discussion in the comments. There was enough discussion that I wanted to pull my responses together into a new post. Before I get to the details, some general observations. The conversation, in my opinion, nicely...
Quanta Magazine
First-Year Graduate Student Finds Paradoxical Set No two pairs have the same sum; add three numbers together, and you can get any whole number. ...
over a year ago
55
over a year ago
No two pairs have the same sum; add three numbers together, and you can get any whole number. The post First-Year Graduate Student Finds Paradoxical Set first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Quanta Magazine
‘Magical’ Error Correction Scheme Proved Inherently Inefficient Locally correctable codes need barely any information to fix errors, but they’re extremely long. Now...
a year ago
52
a year ago
Locally correctable codes need barely any information to fix errors, but they’re extremely long. Now we know that the simplest versions can’t get any shorter. The post ‘Magical’ Error Correction Scheme Proved Inherently Inefficient first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Out-of-Pocket Blog
The Out-Of-Pocket Game plan | Out-Of-Pocket How to build the on-boarding system for healthcare
a year ago
The Works in...
How the world's first electric grid was built When Britain actually made something
a month ago
Yale e360
China’s Mega Dam Project Poses Big Risks for Asia’s Grand Canyon China’s plans to build a massive hydro project in Tibet have sparked fears about the environmental...
a month ago
4
a month ago
China’s plans to build a massive hydro project in Tibet have sparked fears about the environmental impacts on the world’s longest and deepest canyon. It has also alarmed neighboring India, which fears that China could hold back or even weaponize river water it depends on. Read...
Explorations of an...
Monsoon Season In Arizona, Part 5: Portal Back To Phoenix September 4, 2024 Our day began with coffee and breakfast on the deck, watching the bird feeders hum...
9 months ago
14
9 months ago
September 4, 2024 Our day began with coffee and breakfast on the deck, watching the bird feeders hum with activity. It was, sadly, our final morning in this region and we packed up and headed out. It would have been nice to have an extra night or two here, though you could say...
Yale e360
A.I. Model Can Predict When Lightning Will Spark Wildfires Researchers have developed an AI model that can predict with 90 percent accuracy when and where...
3 months ago
1
3 months ago
Researchers have developed an AI model that can predict with 90 percent accuracy when and where lightning will ignite wildfires. Read more on E360 →
Out-of-Pocket Blog
More 2022 predictions | Out-Of-Pocket A curation of your 2022 predictions
a year ago
The Roots of...
Why consumerism is good actually “Consumerism” came up in my recent interview with Elle Griffin of The Post. Here’s what I had to say...
over a year ago
42
over a year ago
“Consumerism” came up in my recent interview with Elle Griffin of The Post. Here’s what I had to say (off the cuff): I have to admit, I’ve never 100% understood what “consumerism” is, or what it’s supposed to be. I have the general sense of what people are gesturing at, but it...
Probably...
Hazard and Survival Here’s a question from the Reddit statistics forum. If I have a tumor that I’ve been told has a...
7 months ago
10
7 months ago
Here’s a question from the Reddit statistics forum. If I have a tumor that I’ve been told has a malignancy rate of 2% per year, does that compound? So after 5 years there’s a 10% chance it will turn malignant? This turns out to be an interesting question, because the answer...
Probably...
Download the World in Data Our World in Data recently announced that they are providing APIs to access their data....
7 months ago
10
7 months ago
Our World in Data recently announced that they are providing APIs to access their data. Coincidentally, I am using one of their datasets in my workshop on time series analysis at PyData Global 2024. So I took this opportunity to update my example using the new API – this notebook...
NeuroLogica Blog
Converting CO2 to Carbon Nanofibers One of the dreams of a green economy where the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere is stable, and not...
a year ago
37
a year ago
One of the dreams of a green economy where the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere is stable, and not slowly increasing, is the ability to draw CO2 from the atmosphere and convert it to a solid form. Often referred to as carbon capture, some form of this is going to be necessary...
Yale e360
Birds vs. Wind Turbines: New Research Aims to Prevent Deaths Window collisions and cats kill more birds than wind farms do, but ornithologists say turbine...
a month ago
1
a month ago
Window collisions and cats kill more birds than wind farms do, but ornithologists say turbine impacts must be taken seriously. Scientists are testing a range of technologies to reduce bird strikes — from painting stripes to using artificial intelligence — to keep birds safe. Read...
Blog - Practical...
Every Type of Railcar Explained in 15 Minutes [Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.] A train is a simple thing at...
a year ago
83
a year ago
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.] A train is a simple thing at first glance: a locomotive (or several) pull a string of cars along a railroad. But not all those railcars are equal, and there are some fascinating details if you take minute to...
Yale e360
Koalas Spend Just 10 Minutes a Day on the Ground — That's Usually When They're Killed Koalas, which spend most of their lives high up in eucalyptus trees, usually die while on the...
yesterday
2
yesterday
Koalas, which spend most of their lives high up in eucalyptus trees, usually die while on the ground, often mauled by dogs or hit by cars. More striking, a new study reveals that the amount of time they spend on the ground is only around 10 minutes a day. Read more on E360 →
Light from Space
Lagoon and the Hourglass A view of the center region of the Lagoon Nebula (Messier 8, Sharpless 25). There's several other...
over a year ago
39
over a year ago
A view of the center region of the Lagoon Nebula (Messier 8, Sharpless 25). There's several other objects visible, notably the Hourglass Nebula and open star cluster NGC 6530, as well as numerous Bok globules (the small dark clouds, that will one day form new stars). Click...
NeuroLogica Blog
A Lifecycle Analysis of Electric Vehicles This article is part of my informal series on EVs, sorting through the claims, reality, and...
a year ago
34
a year ago
This article is part of my informal series on EVs, sorting through the claims, reality, and propaganda. There are many complicated factors to sort through, but overall, in my opinion, most concerns about EVs are outdated or overblown. There are definitely locations and use...
The Works in...
The failure of the land value tax Implementing them in Britain destroyed the then-dominant Liberal Party.
2 months ago
IEEE Spectrum
Sony Kills Recordable Blu-Ray And Other Vintage Media Physical media fans need not panic yet—you’ll still be able to buy new Blu-Ray movies for your...
5 months ago
56
5 months ago
Physical media fans need not panic yet—you’ll still be able to buy new Blu-Ray movies for your collection. But for those who like to save copies of their own data onto the discs, the remaining options just became more limited: Sony announced last week that it’s ending all...
The Works in...
Getting people to donate their organs Too few people donate their organs, dead or alive. How can we make it easier?
a year ago
Yale e360
Meta Said A.I. Could Help Tackle Warming. An Early Experiment Underwhelmed Last year Meta identified 135 materials that could potentially be used to draw down carbon dioxide,...
a week ago
6
a week ago
Last year Meta identified 135 materials that could potentially be used to draw down carbon dioxide, work it described as "groundbreaking." But when scientists tried to reproduce the results, they found that none of the materials could perform as promised and that some did not...
The Works in...
Chinese towers and American blocks The difference comes down to regulation, not culture.
3 months ago
nanoscale views
What is "static electricity"/"contact electrification"/triboelectricity? An early physics demonstration that many of us see in elementary school is that of static...
4 months ago
25
4 months ago
An early physics demonstration that many of us see in elementary school is that of static electricity:  an electrical insulator like a wool cloth or animal fur is rubbed on a glass or plastic rod, and suddenly the rod can pick up pieces of styrofoam or little bits of paper. ...
Wanderingspace
Phobos over mount Sharp Taken by the Curiosity rover. This is one of Mars tiny moons as seen from the ground. Impressive as...
over a year ago
37
over a year ago
Taken by the Curiosity rover. This is one of Mars tiny moons as seen from the ground. Impressive as it is only 14 long and you can actually see its shape from the surface. See Phobos below for reference.
IEEE Spectrum
The Tremendous VR and CG Systems—of the 1960s Ivan Sutherland has blazed a truly unique trail through computing over the past six decades. One of...
over a year ago
27
over a year ago
Ivan Sutherland has blazed a truly unique trail through computing over the past six decades. One of the most influential figures in the story of computing, he helped to open new pathways for others to explore and dramatically extend: interactive computer graphics, virtual...
Blog - Practical...
How This Bridge Was Rebuilt in 15 Days After Hurricane Ian [Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.] On September 28, 2022,...
over a year ago
52
over a year ago
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.] On September 28, 2022, Hurricane Ian made landfall on the western coast of Florida as a Category 4 storm, bringing enormous volumes of rainfall and extreme winds to the state. Ian was the deadliest hurricane to...
Damn Interesting
To Hell With Facebook The earliest known version of the idiom “the straw that broke the camel’s back” was written by the...
over a year ago
28
over a year ago
The earliest known version of the idiom “the straw that broke the camel’s back” was written by the English philosopher Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury in 1677, though it was concerned with horses and feathers: “The last Dictate of the Judgement, concerning the Good or Bad, that may...
Uncharted...
What Is the Earth’s Carrying Capacity? Most "experts" don't understand technology or economics
7 months ago
Damn Interesting
Breaking a Bit It’s been a busy summer, and the large shortfall in donations last month has been demoralizing, so...
a year ago
97
a year ago
It’s been a busy summer, and the large shortfall in donations last month has been demoralizing, so we’re taking a week off to rest and recuperate. The curated links section will be (mostly) silent, and behind the scenes we’ll be taking a brief break from our usual researching,...
Quanta Magazine
How Does Graph Theory Shape Our World? Maria Chudnovsky reflects on her journey in graph theory, her groundbreaking solution to the...
a week ago
11
a week ago
Maria Chudnovsky reflects on her journey in graph theory, her groundbreaking solution to the long-standing perfect graph problem, and the unexpected ways this abstract field intersects with everyday life. The post How Does Graph Theory Shape Our World? first appeared...
Quanta Magazine
What Causes Giant Rogue Waves? Once dismissed as myths, monstrous rogue waves that tower over ships and appear without warning are...
over a year ago
66
over a year ago
Once dismissed as myths, monstrous rogue waves that tower over ships and appear without warning are real. Wave-science researcher Ton van den Bremer and Steven Strogatz discuss how rogue waves can form in relatively calm seas and whether their threat can be predicted. ...
Many Worlds
The Familiar, Yet So Different, Hydrocarbon Rivers of Titan There are three planets or moons in our solar system known to now have, or once had, surface rivers,...
a year ago
31
a year ago
There are three planets or moons in our solar system known to now have, or once had, surface rivers, lakes, deltas and a hydrologic system.  There’s Earth, of course, Mars long ago when it was warmer and wetter, and the so different yet so similar rivers of hydrocarbons on...
Damn Interesting
Capital, Punished Located 350 km (217 miles) southeast of Puerto Rico, the British island of Montserrat is sometimes...
over a year ago
25
over a year ago
Located 350 km (217 miles) southeast of Puerto Rico, the British island of Montserrat is sometimes called ‘The Emerald Isle of the Caribbean’ for its verdancy and early Irish settlers. However, far from a paradise, Montserrat also boasts an unfortunate history, and not just...
NeuroLogica Blog
The Threat of Technology In my second book (shameless plug alert) – The Skeptics’ Guide to the Future – my coauthors and I...
a year ago
19
a year ago
In my second book (shameless plug alert) – The Skeptics’ Guide to the Future – my coauthors and I try to imagine both the utopian and dystopian versions of the future, brought about by technology, either individually or collectively. This topic has come up multiple times recently...
NeuroLogica Blog
Telepathy Tapes Promotes Pseudoscience I was away on vacation the last week, hence no posts, but am now back to my usual schedule. In fact,...
a month ago
15
a month ago
I was away on vacation the last week, hence no posts, but am now back to my usual schedule. In fact, I hope to be a little more consistent starting this summer because (if you follow me on the SGU you already know this) I am retiring from my day job at Yale at the […] The post...
Yale e360
In Test, A.I. Weather Model Fails to Predict Freak Storm Artificial intelligence is powering weather forecasts that are generally more accurate than...
a month ago
1
a month ago
Artificial intelligence is powering weather forecasts that are generally more accurate than conventional forecasts and are faster and cheaper to produce. But new research shows A.I. may fail to predict unprecedented weather events, a troubling finding as warming fuels new...
The Works in...
To change a norm How the war on drunk driving was won
a year ago
Yale e360
Reciprocity: Rethinking Our Relationship with the Natural World Robin Wall Kimmerer, the bestselling author of Braiding Sweetgrass, recently published The...
4 months ago
7
4 months ago
Robin Wall Kimmerer, the bestselling author of Braiding Sweetgrass, recently published The Serviceberry, which explores the economies of nature. In an e360 interview, the Native American ecologist discusses reciprocity, gratitude, and aligning human law with ecological law. Read...
Yale e360
U.S. Solar and Batteries Headed for Record Year Solar panels and batteries will account for more than 80 percent of new power capacity installed in...
4 months ago
1
4 months ago
Solar panels and batteries will account for more than 80 percent of new power capacity installed in the U.S. this year, officials say. Both technologies are set for record growth, helping to hasten the decline of coal power. Read more on E360 →
The Works in...
Britain’s interwar apartment boom A decade of Art Deco densification
a year ago
nanoscale views
Fiber optics + a different approach to fab Two very brief items of interest: This article is a nice popular discussion of the history of...
9 months ago
10
9 months ago
Two very brief items of interest: This article is a nice popular discussion of the history of fiber optics and the remarkable progress it's made for telecommunications.  If you're interested in a more expansive but very accessible take on this, I highly recommend City of...
Yale e360
In Europe, Solar Power Overtakes Coal For the first time in the EU, solar supplied more power than coal did last year, a new analysis...
5 months ago
1
5 months ago
For the first time in the EU, solar supplied more power than coal did last year, a new analysis finds. Read more on E360 →
Yale e360
How Restored Wetlands Can Protect Europe from Russian Invasion The flooding of Ukraine’s Irpin valley thwarted Russia’s assault on Kyiv in 2022. Now, scientists...
4 weeks ago
1
4 weeks ago
The flooding of Ukraine’s Irpin valley thwarted Russia’s assault on Kyiv in 2022. Now, scientists are proposing Europe create a band of restored and protected wetlands along its eastern borders to deter future Russian aggression, and military strategists are taking notice. Read...
Quantum Frontiers
Quantum computing vs. Grubhub pon receiving my speaking assignments for the Tucson Festival of Books, I mentally raised my...
over a year ago
66
over a year ago
pon receiving my speaking assignments for the Tucson Festival of Books, I mentally raised my eyebrows. I’d be participating in a panel discussion with Mike Evans, the founder of Grubhub? But I hadn’t created an app that’s a household name. I … Continue reading →
NeuroLogica Blog
DNA Nanorobot Kill Switch for Cancer How’s that for a provocative title? But it is technically accurate. The title of the paper in...
a year ago
74
a year ago
How’s that for a provocative title? But it is technically accurate. The title of the paper in question is: “A DNA robotic switch with regulated autonomous display of cytotoxic ligand nanopatterns.” The study is a proof of concept in an animal model, so we are still years away...
NeuroLogica Blog
The Role of Plausibility in Science I have been writing blog posts and engaging in science communication long enough that I have a...
over a year ago
77
over a year ago
I have been writing blog posts and engaging in science communication long enough that I have a pretty good sense how much engagement I am going to get from a particular topic. Some topics are simply more divisive than others (although there is an unpredictable element from social...
Casey Handmer's blog
Powering the Mars base This post is part of the series on space topics. This post is not the last word on this topic. The...
8 months ago
51
8 months ago
This post is part of the series on space topics. This post is not the last word on this topic. The usual caveats apply. I’m curious if you have strong opinions on different fuel mixes. A growing Mars base has a prodigious need for power. I’ve previously written two posts on...
Uncharted...
10 Interesting Facts on Relationships & Sex Q1 2025
3 months ago
Quantum Frontiers
May I have this dance? This July, I came upon a museum called the Haus der Musik in one of Vienna’s former palaces. The...
a year ago
55
a year ago
This July, I came upon a museum called the Haus der Musik in one of Vienna’s former palaces. The museum contains a room dedicated to Johann Strauss II, king of the waltz. The room, dimly lit, resembles a twilit gazebo. … Continue reading →
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Malpractice, Expert Witnesses, and Lawsuits with Dr. Eric Funk | Out-Of-Pocket Suits and White Coats
a year ago
Yale e360
Global Economy More Vulnerable to Warming Than Previously Thought A new study finds warming could inflict far more damage to the global economy than previously...
3 months ago
Out-of-Pocket Blog
It’s Time For Physician Independence | Out-Of-Pocket Why it might be easier to start a practice today
a year ago
Confessions of a...
Cottesloe Fish Habitat Protection Area Today I am teaching my first tutorial in the second year unit ‘Marine Systems‘, which will introduce...
over a year ago
92
over a year ago
Today I am teaching my first tutorial in the second year unit ‘Marine Systems‘, which will introduce students to their major project, which is centred around a field trip to the Cottelsoe Fish Habitat Protection Area (CFHPA).  I’m pretty excited to introduce a few of my new ideas...
nanoscale views
US science situation updates and what's on deck Many things have been happening in and around US science.  This is a non-exhaustive list of recent...
2 months ago
24
2 months ago
Many things have been happening in and around US science.  This is a non-exhaustive list of recent developments and links: There have been very large scale personnel cuts across HHS, FDA, CDC, NIH - see here.  This includes groups like the people who monitor lead in drinking...
Quanta Magazine
New AI Tools Predict How Life’s Building Blocks Assemble Google DeepMind’s AlphaFold3 and other deep learning algorithms can now predict the shapes of...
a year ago
111
a year ago
Google DeepMind’s AlphaFold3 and other deep learning algorithms can now predict the shapes of interacting complexes of protein, DNA, RNA and other molecules, better capturing cells’ biological landscapes. The post New AI Tools Predict How Life’s Building Blocks...
Andrew Fraknoi –...
Euclid Space Telescope Delivers Great Images The first images are coming in from the new Euclid Space Telescope and they are spectacular. The...
a year ago
27
a year ago
The first images are coming in from the new Euclid Space Telescope and they are spectacular. The post Euclid Space Telescope Delivers Great Images appeared first on Andrew Fraknoi - Astronomy Lectures - Astronomy Education Resources.
Quanta Magazine
How Hans Bethe Stumbled Upon Perfect Quantum Theories Quantum calculations amount to sophisticated estimates. But in 1931, Hans Bethe intuited precisely...
4 months ago
51
4 months ago
Quantum calculations amount to sophisticated estimates. But in 1931, Hans Bethe intuited precisely how a chain of particles would behave — an insight that had far-reaching consequences. The post How Hans Bethe Stumbled Upon Perfect Quantum Theories first appeared on...
IEEE Spectrum
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...
a year ago
31
a year ago
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...
Uncharted...
The Most Important Time in History Is Now AGI Is Coming Sooner Due to o3, DeepSeek, and Other Cutting-Edge AI Developments
5 months ago
Eukaryote Writes...
A point of clarification on infohazard terminology “Infohazard” means any kind of information that could be harmful in some fashion. Let’s use “memetic...
over a year ago
46
over a year ago
“Infohazard” means any kind of information that could be harmful in some fashion. Let’s use “memetic hazard” to describe information that could specifically harm the person who knows it.
Quanta Magazine
Cells Across the Body Talk to Each Other About Aging Biologists discovered that mitochondria in different tissues talk to each other to repair injured...
a year ago
32
a year ago
Biologists discovered that mitochondria in different tissues talk to each other to repair injured cells. When their signal fails, the biological clock starts winding down. The post Cells Across the Body Talk to Each Other About Aging first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Yale e360
Retreating Arctic Glaciers Have Exposed 1,500 Miles of Coastline Since 2000, the melting of Arctic glaciers has exposed some 1,500 miles of coastline, a study...
3 months ago
NeuroLogica Blog
Do We Have Free Will? Let’s dive head first into one of the internet’s most contentious questions – do we have true free...
a year ago
23
a year ago
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...
Quanta Magazine
She Tracks the DNA of Elusive Species That Hide in Harsh Places On Mount Everest and in the Peruvian Andes, Tracie Seimon uses DNA to study how species and...
over a year ago
45
over a year ago
On Mount Everest and in the Peruvian Andes, Tracie Seimon uses DNA to study how species and ecosystems respond to climate change, pathogens and other influences. The post She Tracks the DNA of Elusive Species That Hide in Harsh Places first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Uncharted...
Deserts, Tornadoes, Hurricanes, Snow, Paradises, Swamps: Why Do People Live Where They Live in the... Deserts, Tornadoes, Hurricanes, Snow, Paradises, Swamps
6 months ago
IEEE Spectrum
Why Engineers Still Need the Humanities Ada Lovelace, Grace Hopper, or Katherine Johnson, but there are many other women in engineering you...
2 months ago
16
2 months ago
Ada Lovelace, Grace Hopper, or Katherine Johnson, but there are many other women in engineering you should know about. Linda Hall Library of Science, Engineering, and Technology, in Kansas City, Mo., and I’m currently working through the unpublished papers of the American...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
The Curious Case of Professional Employer Organizations | Out-Of-Pocket A tale about complexity, risk skimming, and what counts as an “employee” or “company”
10 months ago
Asterisk
Democracy by Mistake Most political scientists see democracy as the natural consequence of economic development or the...
a year ago
17
a year ago
Most political scientists see democracy as the natural consequence of economic development or the result of strategic and rational choice. A detailed look through history suggests democracy emerges as often as not by another path: human error.
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Application reminder, new virtual discussion, new course | Out-Of-Pocket quick housekeeping things
a year ago
IEEE Spectrum
100 Years Ago, IBM Was Born Happy birthday, IBM! You’re 100 years old! Or are you? It’s true that the businesses that formed IBM...
a year ago
89
a year ago
Happy birthday, IBM! You’re 100 years old! Or are you? It’s true that the businesses that formed IBM began in the late 1800s. But it’s also true that a birth occurred in February 1924, with the renaming of the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Co. as the International Business...
Articles - Chris...
Moved to tears 20 years ago, on January 15 2004, a little before 2 AM Pacific time, was the payoff. It was...
a year ago
96
a year ago
20 years ago, on January 15 2004, a little before 2 AM Pacific time, was the payoff. It was cause for celebration. But first, I wept.
Quanta Magazine
Covid-19 mRNA Vaccines Win Nobel Prize for Medicine 2023 Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman have been awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine...
a year ago
15
a year ago
Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman have been awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries leading to mRNA vaccines, such as those that protect against COVID-19. The post Covid-19 mRNA Vaccines Win Nobel Prize for Medicine 2023 first appeared on...
Quanta Magazine
The Geometric Tool That Solved Einstein’s Relativity Problem Tensors are used all over math and science to reveal hidden geometric truths. What are they? ...
11 months ago
82
11 months ago
Tensors are used all over math and science to reveal hidden geometric truths. What are they? The post The Geometric Tool That Solved Einstein’s Relativity Problem first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Light from Space
The Path to the Pillars of Creation Famously photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope, here's my first look at the Pillars of Creation...
over a year ago
39
over a year ago
Famously photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope, here's my first look at the Pillars of Creation in the Eagle Nebula (Messier 16). Total exposure time: 16h 5m Shot from my driveway near Tucson, AZ in April & May 2022 Telescope: William Optics RedCat 51 (250mm focal length ƒ
Quanta Magazine
These Cells Spark Electricity in the Brain. They’re Not Neurons. For decades, researchers have debated whether brain cells called astrocytes can signal like neurons....
a year ago
24
a year ago
For decades, researchers have debated whether brain cells called astrocytes can signal like neurons. Researchers recently published the best evidence yet that some astrocytes are part of the electrical conversation. The post These Cells Spark Electricity in the Brain....
brr
The Last Egg Five more months until freshies...
over a year ago
wadertales
Counting breeding shorebirds using listening devices With more demands upon the space that is currently occupied by breeding waders, from developments...
7 months ago
82
7 months ago
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...
Yale e360
Deadly Encounter: Mountain Lion Attacks Spark Controversy A mountain lion attack that killed a young California man last year has reignited a debate over how...
5 months ago
4
5 months ago
A mountain lion attack that killed a young California man last year has reignited a debate over how the big cats should be managed. Some are calling for renewed hunting of the animals, while others are advocating nonlethal methods of instilling a fear of humans in the big...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Out-Of-Pocket’s 2025 Predictions | Out-Of-Pocket I’m like 50% right every year, I just never know which 50%
6 months ago
Wanderingspace
Uranus is not as boring as we thought “An animation of three near-infrared images of Uranus captured by the JWST Space Telescope with...
7 months ago
72
7 months ago
“An animation of three near-infrared images of Uranus captured by the JWST Space Telescope with assigned representative colors. During processing, I aligned the rings separately to reduce the bubbling effect caused by different inclinations, making the planet appear to rotate on...
Many Worlds
A Real ET Discovery With Promise, Amid Some Other Quite Questionable Claims Beware easy answers to the question of whether life exists beyond Earth. Be they “alien” skeletons...
a year ago
31
a year ago
Beware easy answers to the question of whether life exists beyond Earth. Be they “alien” skeletons in Mexico City, interstellar probes that briefly pass through our solar system, UFOs of all sorts and claims to have found “biosignature” chemical byproducts of life around planets...
Beautiful Public...
Special Database 18: 3,248 Mugshots Used for Training Image Recognition Systems The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has maintained a dataset of mugshot photos...
over a year ago
50
over a year ago
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has maintained a dataset of mugshot photos of 1,573 people for decades, including 175 minors, until we asked about them.
The Works in...
Youtube Rules A new section from Stewart Brand's Maintenance on Books in Progress
a year ago
Quanta Magazine
Most Life on Earth is Dormant, After Pulling an ‘Emergency Brake’ Many microbes and cells are in deep sleep, waiting for the right moment to activate. Biologists...
a year ago
73
a year ago
Many microbes and cells are in deep sleep, waiting for the right moment to activate. Biologists discovered a widespread protein that abruptly shuts down a cell’s activity — and turns it back on just as fast. The post Most Life on Earth is Dormant, After Pulling an...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
OOP Slack Application is Open! And A New FREE Course!! | Out-Of-Pocket Plus we’re running an experiment…
3 weeks ago
Many Worlds
Preparing For The Habitable Worlds Observatory, Our Best Shot at Finding ET Life In a solar system far, far away, life of some sort is just waiting to be found.  Or so the world of...
a year ago
32
a year ago
In a solar system far, far away, life of some sort is just waiting to be found.  Or so the world of astrobiology sure hopes it is. The new player in the astrobiology world, now called the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO), is planned to launch in the 2040s if all goes well. ...
Andrew Fraknoi –...
An Eclipse of the Sun Coming to N. America April 8th A rare eclipse of the Sun will be visible all over North America on April 8th. The post An Eclipse...
a year ago
36
a year ago
A rare eclipse of the Sun will be visible all over North America on April 8th. The post An Eclipse of the Sun Coming to N. America April 8th appeared first on Andrew Fraknoi - Astronomy Lectures - Astronomy Education Resources.
Confessions of a...
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,...
over a year ago
56
over a year ago
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...
NeuroLogica Blog
Hunter-Gatherers and Childcare What is “natural” for humans? It’s often hard to say, and in my opinion this is a highly overused...
a year ago
16
a year ago
What is “natural” for humans? It’s often hard to say, and in my opinion this is a highly overused concept. Primarily this is because humans are adaptable – we adapt to our environment, our situation, and our culture. So it is “natural” for us not to have a natural state. But this...
Asterisk
Methods Section
a year ago
Quanta Magazine
A Tower of Conjectures That Rests Upon a Needle On its surface, the Kakeya conjecture is a simple statement about rotating needles. But it underlies...
a year ago
69
a year ago
On its surface, the Kakeya conjecture is a simple statement about rotating needles. But it underlies a wealth of mathematics. The post A Tower of Conjectures That Rests Upon a Needle first appeared on Quanta Magazine
NeuroLogica Blog
Biofrequency Gadgets are a Total Scam I was recently asked what I thought about the Solex AO Scan. The website for the product includes...
a year ago
62
a year ago
I was recently asked what I thought about the Solex AO Scan. The website for the product includes this claim: AO Scan Technology by Solex is an elegant, yet simple-to-use frequency technology based on Tesla, Einstein, and other prominent scientists’ discoveries. It uses delicate...
Yale e360
Environmental Enforcement Slows Under Trump Federal enforcement of environmental laws has slowed significantly under President Trump. Read more...
2 months ago
16
2 months ago
Federal enforcement of environmental laws has slowed significantly under President Trump. Read more on E360 →
Quanta Magazine
Math That Connects Where We’re Going to Where We’ve Been Recursion builds bridges between ideas from across different math classes and illustrates the power...
a year ago
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a year ago
Recursion builds bridges between ideas from across different math classes and illustrates the power of creative mathematical thinking. The post Math That Connects Where We’re Going to Where We’ve Been first appeared on Quanta Magazine
wadertales
Curlew nest survival The Eurasian Curlew is designated as ‘Near-Threatened’ by IUCN/BirdLife. It is Red-listed in the UK,...
over a year ago
47
over a year ago
The Eurasian Curlew is designated as ‘Near-Threatened’ by IUCN/BirdLife. It is Red-listed in the UK,  largely due to a rapid decline in breeding numbers. In this context, the fact that there are a few pink squares (indicating increased numbers) on the map showing breeding...
Yale e360
Planned EV Battery Plant Threatens Uncontacted Tribe in Indonesia A planned EV battery factory in Indonesia poses a grave threat to an uncontacted tribe, a watchdog...
a week ago
9
a week ago
A planned EV battery factory in Indonesia poses a grave threat to an uncontacted tribe, a watchdog group warns. Read more on E360 →
nanoscale views
Items for discussion, including google's latest quantum computing result As we head toward the end of the calendar year, a few items: Google published a new result in...
6 months ago
16
6 months ago
As we head toward the end of the calendar year, a few items: Google published a new result in Nature a few days ago.  This made a big news splash, including this accompanying press piece from google themselves, this nice article in Quanta, and the always thoughtful blog post by...
brr
Cape Crozier A nearby field camp, and my first helicopter flight!
over a year ago
The Works in...
The end of lead How a single taxi ride saved millions of lives
a week ago
Quanta Magazine
How Much Energy Does It Take To Think? Studies of neural metabolism reveal our brain’s effort to keep us alive and the evolutionary...
a month ago
14
a month ago
Studies of neural metabolism reveal our brain’s effort to keep us alive and the evolutionary constraints that sculpted our most complex organ. The post How Much Energy Does It Take To Think? first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Yale e360
Facing High Tariffs in U.S., Chinese Solar Flows to Poorer Countries Facing high tariffs in the U.S. and Europe, Chinese solar and battery companies have been selling a...
2 months ago
8
2 months ago
Facing high tariffs in the U.S. and Europe, Chinese solar and battery companies have been selling a growing share of their products to poorer countries, a new analysis finds. Read more on E360 →
Asterisk
My Primal Scream of Rage: The Big Alcohol Study That Didn't Happen Five years ago, the National Institutes of Health cancelled the largest study on alcohol ever...
over a year ago
19
over a year ago
Five years ago, the National Institutes of Health cancelled the largest study on alcohol ever planned. Here’s why — and why you should be mad too.
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Healthcare should NOT be local | Out-Of-Pocket Let's think bigger
a year ago
ToughSF
Thermal Decomposition of CO2 with Nuclear Heat A lot of effort must and will be put into combating climate change. We can however directly attack...
over a year ago
16
over a year ago
A lot of effort must and will be put into combating climate change. We can however directly attack the root cause of it by reducing the amount of CO2 that we have released into the atmosphere. We can enlist the help of ultra-high-temperature nuclear reactors to do this rapidly...
nanoscale views
This week in the arXiv: quantum geometry, fluid momentum "tunneling", and pasta sauce Three papers caught my eye the other day on the arXiv at the start of the new year: arXiv:2501.00098...
6 months ago
19
6 months ago
Three papers caught my eye the other day on the arXiv at the start of the new year: arXiv:2501.00098 - J. Yu et al., "Quantum geometry in quantum materials" - I hope to write up something about quantum geometry soon, but I wanted to point out this nice review even if I haven't...
The Roots of...
What I’ve been reading, September 2023 A quasi-monthly feature. Recent blog posts and news stories are generally omitted; you can find them...
a year ago
299
a year ago
A quasi-monthly feature. Recent blog posts and news stories are generally omitted; you can find them in my links digests. I’ve been busy helping to choose the first cohort of our blogging fellowship, so my reading has been relatively light. All emphasis in bold in the quotes...
The Works in...
Degrowth and the monkey's paw Fifteen years ago, when I worked in the “social innovation” field, there was a world-view that was...
over a year ago
120
over a year ago
Fifteen years ago, when I worked in the “social innovation” field, there was a world-view that was very popular among my colleagues about what was wrong with society and how to fix it. The idea was that people and governments needed to stop seeing economic growth as a good thing,...
The Works in...
The Power of the Earth On the future of geothermal energy
a year ago
NeuroLogica Blog
Trust in New Technology In an optimally rational person, what should govern their perception of risk? Of course, people are...
a year ago
87
a year ago
In an optimally rational person, what should govern their perception of risk? Of course, people are generally not “optimally rational”. It’s therefore an interesting thought experiment – what would be optimal, and how does that differ from how people actually assess risk? Risk is...
Quantum Frontiers
The Book of Mark Mark Srednicki doesn’t look like a high priest. He’s a professor of physics at the University of...
over a year ago
43
over a year ago
Mark Srednicki doesn’t look like a high priest. He’s a professor of physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB); and you’ll sooner find him in khakis than in sacred vestments. Humor suits his round face better than channeling … Continue reading →
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Dental Insurance, Value-Based Dental, and Beam Benefits | Out-Of-Pocket Why doesn’t dental have value-based care?
a year ago
Wanderingspace
Triton Image from Voyager Colored Nice update to an old Voyager image with colors added based on actual colors captured in other...
over a year ago
37
over a year ago
Nice update to an old Voyager image with colors added based on actual colors captured in other images. See original post here by Jason Major.
The Works in...
How pour-over coffee got good While popular with enthusiasts, pour-over coffee frustrated shops because it takes so long to make,...
7 months ago
78
7 months ago
While popular with enthusiasts, pour-over coffee frustrated shops because it takes so long to make, but that's changing.
Quanta Magazine
Quanta Relaunches Hyperjumps Math Game Explore a universe of numbers and arithmetic in our new and improved interactive math game,...
a year ago
48
a year ago
Explore a universe of numbers and arithmetic in our new and improved interactive math game, Hyperjumps! The post Quanta Relaunches Hyperjumps Math Game first appeared on Quanta Magazine
NeuroLogica Blog
Reading The Mind with fMRI and AI This is pretty exciting neuroscience news – Semantic reconstruction of continuous language from...
over a year ago
67
over a year ago
This is pretty exciting neuroscience news – Semantic reconstruction of continuous language from non-invasive brain recordings. What this means is that researchers have been able to, sort of, decode the words that subjects were thinking of simply by reading their fMRI scan. They...
Yale e360
Global Economy More Vulnerable to Warming Than Previously Thought A new study finds warming could inflict far more damage to the global economy than previously...
3 months ago
Yale e360
Penguin Droppings May Be Seeding Clouds, Study Finds Penguin droppings may play a role in the formation of clouds over Antarctica, new research...
a month ago
11
a month ago
Penguin droppings may play a role in the formation of clouds over Antarctica, new research finds. Read more on E360 →
Asterisk
Greening the Solar System A future where life flourishes beyond Earth is closer than you think. How, precisely, will we get...
4 months ago
21
4 months ago
A future where life flourishes beyond Earth is closer than you think. How, precisely, will we get there?
Quanta Magazine
In the Milky Way’s Stars, a History of Violence Our galaxy's stars keep a record of its past. By reading those stories, astronomers are learning...
a year ago
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a year ago
Our galaxy's stars keep a record of its past. By reading those stories, astronomers are learning more about how the Milky Way came to be — and about the galaxy we live in today. The post In the Milky Way’s Stars, a History of Violence first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Out-of-Pocket Blog
What does longevity medicine actually mean? | Out-Of-Pocket An interview with a practicing longevity medicine doctor
8 months ago
Quanta Magazine
Mollusk Eyes Reveal How Future Evolution Depends on the Past The visual systems of an obscure group of mollusks provide a rare natural example of path-dependent...
a year ago
57
a year ago
The visual systems of an obscure group of mollusks provide a rare natural example of path-dependent evolution, in which a critical fork in the creatures’ past determined their evolutionary futures. The post Mollusk Eyes Reveal How Future Evolution Depends on the Past...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
OOP's 3 year anniversary | Out-Of-Pocket some thoughts/reflections
a year ago
IEEE Spectrum
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...
7 months ago
90
7 months ago
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 Roots of...
Do we get better or worse at adapting to change? Verner Vinge, in a classic 1993 essay, described “the Singularity” as an era where progress becomes...
over a year ago
61
over a year ago
Verner Vinge, in a classic 1993 essay, described “the Singularity” as an era where progress becomes “an exponential runaway beyond any hope of control.” The idea that technological change might accelerate to a pace faster than we can keep up with is a common concern. Almost three...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Licensing and Credentialing Nonsense with Assured | Out-Of-Pocket
7 months ago
Quanta Magazine
An Enormous Gravity ‘Hum’ Moves Through the Universe Astronomers have found a background din of exceptionally long-wavelength gravitational waves...
over a year ago
43
over a year ago
Astronomers have found a background din of exceptionally long-wavelength gravitational waves pervading the cosmos. The post An Enormous Gravity ‘Hum’ Moves Through the Universe first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Weird issues in value-based care | Out-Of-Pocket Thoughts on value-based care from people actually building in it
9 months ago
Quanta Magazine
The Two Faces of Space-Time A mysterious phenomenon known as duality often leads to new discoveries in physics. This time,...
9 months ago
65
9 months ago
A mysterious phenomenon known as duality often leads to new discoveries in physics. This time, space-time itself can sometimes be two things at once. The post The Two Faces of Space-Time first appeared on Quanta Magazine
wadertales
Juvenile settlement in Black-tailed Godwits Adult waders tend to be exceptionally consistent in their use of time and space, with marked...
10 months ago
73
10 months ago
Adult waders tend to be exceptionally consistent in their use of time and space, with marked individuals turning up on the same estuaries at the same time year after year, as discussed in the Whimbrel blog ‘Whimbrel: time to leave’. How do these patterns become established? Do...
The Works in...
Growing Forests As countries develop, deforestation drops
a year ago
IEEE Spectrum
From Punch Cards to Python In today’s digital world, it’s easy for just about anyone to create a mobile app or write software,...
9 months ago
79
9 months ago
In today’s digital world, it’s easy for just about anyone to create a mobile app or write software, thanks to Java, JavaScript, Python, and other programming languages. But that wasn’t always the case. Because the primary language of computers is binary code, early programmers...
Quantum Frontiers
Can Thermodynamics Resolve the Measurement Problem? At the recent Quantum Thermodynamics conference in Vienna (coming next year to the University of...
a year ago
57
a year ago
At the recent Quantum Thermodynamics conference in Vienna (coming next year to the University of Maryland!), during an expert panel Q&A session, one member of the audience asked “can quantum thermodynamics address foundational problems in quantum theory?” That stuck with …...
Wanderingspace
Colorized View of Perseverance Landing An artificially colorized view of Jezero Crater, showing the bird’s eye view of Perseverance...
over a year ago
43
over a year ago
An artificially colorized view of Jezero Crater, showing the bird’s eye view of Perseverance screaming towards Mars’s surface. The above image was enhanced by Kevin Gill into full color, taking images captured by Perseverance’s Lander Vision System Camera just after the heat...
Yale e360
Head of African Bank Warns of "Carbon Grabs" by Foreign Firms Akinwumi Adesina, outgoing president of the African Development Bank, is warning that foreign firms...
3 months ago
8
3 months ago
Akinwumi Adesina, outgoing president of the African Development Bank, is warning that foreign firms are underpaying for carbon credits from African forests. Read more on E360 →
NeuroLogica Blog
JET Fusion Experiment Sets New Record Don’t get excited. It’s always nice to see incremental progress being made with the various fusion...
a year ago
42
a year ago
Don’t get excited. It’s always nice to see incremental progress being made with the various fusion experiments happening around the world, but we are still a long way off from commercial fusion power, and this experiment doesn’t really bring us any close, despite the headlines....
Yale e360
To Help Growers and the Grid, Build Solar on Farmland, Research Says Two new studies suggest that devoting a small fraction of U.S. farmland to solar power would be a...
2 months ago
8
2 months ago
Two new studies suggest that devoting a small fraction of U.S. farmland to solar power would be a boon both for the energy system and for farmers themselves. Read more on E360 →
NeuroLogica Blog
Washington Post on Past Lives Generally speaking the mainstream media does a terrible job of reporting anything in the realm of...
a year ago
104
a year ago
Generally speaking the mainstream media does a terrible job of reporting anything in the realm of pseudoscience or the paranormal. The Washington Post’s recent article on children who apparently remember their past lives is no exception. Journalists generally don’t have the...
Andrew Fraknoi –...
New Telescope to Take Movie of Entire Sky Astronomers unveiled first pictures from the amazing Rubin Observatory, which is getting ready to...
2 weeks ago
15
2 weeks ago
Astronomers unveiled first pictures from the amazing Rubin Observatory, which is getting ready to take the deepest, widest movie of the entire sky. The post New Telescope to Take Movie of Entire Sky appeared first on Andrew Fraknoi - Astronomy Lectures - Astronomy Education...
NeuroLogica Blog
How To Keep AIs From Lying We had a fascinating discussion on this week’s SGU that I wanted to bring here – the subject of...
3 months ago
34
3 months ago
We had a fascinating discussion on this week’s SGU that I wanted to bring here – the subject of artificial intelligence programs (AI), specifically large language models (LLMs), lying. The starting point for the discussion was this study, which looked at punishing LLMs as a...
Quanta Magazine
In a Monster Star’s Light, a Hint of Darkness Astronomers are scouring the cosmos for fingerprints of the invisible — tiny clumps of pure dark...
a year ago
24
a year ago
Astronomers are scouring the cosmos for fingerprints of the invisible — tiny clumps of pure dark matter that might solve a long-standing cosmic mystery. The post In a Monster Star’s Light, a Hint of Darkness first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Yale e360
Uncertain Future for Clean Tech Boom Underway in Republican Strongholds Government support for clean energy has spurred new projects across the U.S., with more than 80...
4 months ago
1
4 months ago
Government support for clean energy has spurred new projects across the U.S., with more than 80 percent of the spending flowing to Republican districts. But since President Trump took office, new project announcements have seen a precipitous drop. Read more on E360 →
Quanta Magazine
Is It Real or Imagined? How Your Brain Tells the Difference. New experiments show that the brain distinguishes between perceived and imagined mental images by...
over a year ago
326
over a year ago
New experiments show that the brain distinguishes between perceived and imagined mental images by checking whether they cross a “reality threshold.” The post Is It Real or Imagined? How Your Brain Tells the Difference. first appeared on Quanta Magazine
NeuroLogica Blog
Rats! What killed off the dodo? Humans first arrived at Mauritius island in the late 1500s. They found on...
a year ago
108
a year ago
What killed off the dodo? Humans first arrived at Mauritius island in the late 1500s. They found on this island fat flightless birds who nested on the ground and were a convenient way to restock their ship’s food supply. Within 80 years the dodo went extinct. But hunting was not...
Quanta Magazine
How Quantum Physicists Explained Earth’s Oscillating Weather Patterns By treating Earth as a topological insulator — a state of quantum matter — physicists found a...
a year ago
23
a year ago
By treating Earth as a topological insulator — a state of quantum matter — physicists found a powerful explanation for the movements of the planet’s air and seas. The post How Quantum Physicists Explained Earth’s Oscillating Weather Patterns first appeared on Quanta...
Quanta Magazine
Mathematicians Identify the Best Versions of Iconic Shapes Researchers are discovering the shortest knots and fattest Möbius strips, among other “optimal...
a year ago
77
a year ago
Researchers are discovering the shortest knots and fattest Möbius strips, among other “optimal shapes.” The post Mathematicians Identify the Best Versions of Iconic Shapes first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Wanderingspace
OSIRIS-REX Leaves Bennu The OSIRIS-REX mission in on a two year trajectory back to Earth after capturing fragments of the...
over a year ago
33
over a year ago
The OSIRIS-REX mission in on a two year trajectory back to Earth after capturing fragments of the near Earth asteroid Bennu after successfully executing a sample touchdown last fall. [LINK] The sampling of of the asteroid’s surface is shown above.
NeuroLogica Blog
Giant Eels, Loch Ness, and Probability At this point it is pretty clear that the Loch Ness Monster (Nessie) does not exist. I know,...
a year ago
21
a year ago
At this point it is pretty clear that the Loch Ness Monster (Nessie) does not exist. I know, logically it is impossible to prove a negative, so if we want to be technical we can say that the probability of a large creature similar to that believed to be Nessie approaches zero....
Melting Asphalt
Going Critical Background: This is an interactive blog post. I wanted to host it here, but don't know how to make...
over a year ago
27
over a year ago
Background: This is an interactive blog post. I wanted to host it here, but don't know how to make it play nice with WordPress. So I decided to host it on another part of the site instead. Click here for… Read more ›
Quanta Magazine
Mathematicians Attempt to Glimpse Past the Big Bang By studying the geometry of model space-times, researchers offer alternative views of the universe’s...
a year ago
106
a year ago
By studying the geometry of model space-times, researchers offer alternative views of the universe’s first moments. The post Mathematicians Attempt to Glimpse Past the Big Bang first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Asterisk
PEPFAR and the Costs of Cost-Benefit Analysis In the early aughts, economists said it was a bad use of money to send antiretroviral drugs to treat...
a year ago
15
a year ago
In the early aughts, economists said it was a bad use of money to send antiretroviral drugs to treat HIV in low-income countries. Twenty years later, we can ask why they got it wrong.
Asterisk
Why We Shut Down In international development, it’s not enough to try to do good. We need the tools to tell if a...
a year ago
16
a year ago
In international development, it’s not enough to try to do good. We need the tools to tell if a project is really working — and the incentive to end it if it’s not.
Quanta Magazine
Dogged Dark Matter Hunters Find New Hiding Places to Check Perhaps dark matter is made of an entirely different kind of particle than the ones physicists have...
a year ago
72
a year ago
Perhaps dark matter is made of an entirely different kind of particle than the ones physicists have been searching for. New experiments are springing up to look for these ultra-lightweight phantoms. The post Dogged Dark Matter Hunters Find New Hiding Places to Check...
Yale e360
Out of the Wild: How A.I. Is Transforming Conservation Science Artificial intelligence is being called a game changer for enabling scientists and conservationists...
a month ago
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a month ago
Artificial intelligence is being called a game changer for enabling scientists and conservationists to process vast troves of data collected remotely. But some warn its use could keep biologists from getting out in the field with the animals and ecosystems they are studying. Read...
nanoscale views
March Meeting 2025, Day 0 Technically, this year the conference is known as the APS Global Physics Summit rather than the...
3 months ago
35
3 months ago
Technically, this year the conference is known as the APS Global Physics Summit rather than the March Meeting, but I'm keeping my blog post titles consistent with previous years.   Over 14,000 physicists have descended upon Anaheim, and there are parallel events in more than a...
Quanta Magazine
Neural Networks Need Data to Learn. Even If It’s Fake. Real data can be hard to get, so researchers are turning to synthetic data to train their artificial...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
Real data can be hard to get, so researchers are turning to synthetic data to train their artificial intelligence systems. The post Neural Networks Need Data to Learn. Even If It’s Fake. first appeared on Quanta Magazine
NeuroLogica Blog
Trust in Science How much does the public trust in science and scientists? Well, there’s some good news and some bad...
a year ago
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a year ago
How much does the public trust in science and scientists? Well, there’s some good news and some bad news. Let’s start with the bad news – a recent Pew survey finds that trust in scientist has been in decline for the last few years. From its recent peak in 2019, those who answered...
Uncharted...
Rise Up, Europe! The Five Beliefs That Cripple a Continent
3 months ago
NeuroLogica Blog
Gene Editing Chickens to Resist Bird Flu There are 33 billion chickens in the world, mostly domestic species raised for egg-laying or meat....
a year ago
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a year ago
There are 33 billion chickens in the world, mostly domestic species raised for egg-laying or meat. They are a high efficiency source of high quality protein. It’s the kind of thing we need to do if we want to feed 8 billion people. Similarly we have planted 4.62 billion acres of...
NeuroLogica Blog
The Clipper Europa Mission I wrote earlier this week about the latest successful test of Starship and the capture of the Super...
8 months ago
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8 months ago
I wrote earlier this week about the latest successful test of Starship and the capture of the Super Heavy booster by grabbing arms of the landing tower. This was quite a feat, but it should not eclipse what was perhaps even bigger space news this week – the launch of NASAs...
NeuroLogica Blog
Let’s Talk About Cement Industry is responsible for 23% of carbon emissions, close to the amount of electricity production...
a year ago
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a year ago
Industry is responsible for 23% of carbon emissions, close to the amount of electricity production (25%) and transportation (28%). We talk a lot about transportation and energy, but industrial carbon is a harder nut to crack. Also, the 23% is direct carbon release from industrial...
Yale e360
Discarded U.K. Clothing Dumped in Protected Wetlands in Ghana Heaps of discarded clothing from the U.K. have been dumped in protected wetlands in Ghana, an...
3 weeks ago
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3 weeks ago
Heaps of discarded clothing from the U.K. have been dumped in protected wetlands in Ghana, an investigation found. Read more on E360 →
Wanderingspace
Dust Storm On Mars A dust storm in Olympia Planum's north polar dune fields was triggered by a late Martian summer cold...
a year ago
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a year ago
A dust storm in Olympia Planum's north polar dune fields was triggered by a late Martian summer cold front. As the northern polar cap shrinks fast, it releases cold air that sometimes moves south, like on Earth. These cold fronts strengthen in late summer and early fall due to...
Yale e360
Russia’s War Has Destroyed Forest Twice the Size of New York City Ukraine lost roughly 600 square miles of forest in the first two years of its war with Russia, an...
4 months ago
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4 months ago
Ukraine lost roughly 600 square miles of forest in the first two years of its war with Russia, an area of woodland twice the size of New York City. Read more on E360 →
Asterisk
The Making of Community Notes The team that built X’s Community Notes talks about their design process and the philosophy behind...
8 months ago
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8 months ago
The team that built X’s Community Notes talks about their design process and the philosophy behind their approach to combatting false information on the platform.
Eukaryote Writes...
Eukaryote in Asterisk Magazine + New Patreon Per-post setup Eukaryote elsewhere I have an article in the latest issue of Asterisk Magazine. After you get really...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
Eukaryote elsewhere I have an article in the latest issue of Asterisk Magazine. After you get really deep into the weeds of invertebrate sentience and fish welfare and the scale of factory farming, what do you do with that information vis-a-vis what you feel comfortable eating?...
NeuroLogica Blog
Using CRISPR To Treat HIV CRISPR has been big scientific news since it was introduced in 2012. The science actually goes back...
a year ago
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a year ago
CRISPR has been big scientific news since it was introduced in 2012. The science actually goes back to 1987, but the CRISPR/Cas9 system was patented in 2012, and the developers won the Noble Prize in Chemistry in 2020. The system gives researchers the ability to quickly and...
IEEE Spectrum
Inside the Three-Way Race to Create the Most Widely Used Laser The semiconductor laser, invented more than 60 years ago, is the foundation of many of today’s...
12 months ago
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12 months ago
The semiconductor laser, invented more than 60 years ago, is the foundation of many of today’s technologies including barcode scanners, fiber-optic communications, medical imaging, and remote controls. The tiny, versatile device is now an IEEE Milestone. The possibilities of...
Yale e360
Carbon Dioxide Levels Highest in 800,000 Years Temperatures and carbon dioxide levels hit new highs last year, according to a U.N. report detailing...
3 months ago
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3 months ago
Temperatures and carbon dioxide levels hit new highs last year, according to a U.N. report detailing the dire state of the global climate. Read more on E360 →
IEEE Spectrum
How the Rubin Observatory Will Reinvent Astronomy Night is falling on Cerro Pachón. Stray clouds reflect the last few rays of golden light as the...
2 weeks ago
15
2 weeks ago
Night is falling on Cerro Pachón. Stray clouds reflect the last few rays of golden light as the sun dips below the horizon. I focus my camera across the summit to the westernmost peak of the mountain. Silhouetted within a dying blaze of red and orange light looms the sphinxlike...
NeuroLogica Blog
New Theory Unites Gravity and Quantum Mechanics One of the greatest mysteries of modern science is how to unite the two overarching theories of...
a year ago
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a year ago
One of the greatest mysteries of modern science is how to unite the two overarching theories of physics – quantum mechanics and general relativity. If physicists could somehow unite these two theories, which currently do not play well together, then we might get to a deeper “one...
Quantum Frontiers
Finding Ed Jaynes’s ghost You might have heard of the conundrum “What do you give the man who has everything?” I discovered a...
6 months ago
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6 months ago
You might have heard of the conundrum “What do you give the man who has everything?” I discovered a variation on it last October: how do you celebrate the man who studied (nearly) everything? Physicist Edwin Thompson Jaynes impacted disciplines from quantum information theory to...
Drew Ex Machina
Webb’s First Glimpse of Jupiter, Its Moons & Rings A long time ago when I was a budding amateur astronomer, one of the first targets I would observe...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
A long time ago when I was a budding amateur astronomer, one of the first targets I would observe each evening with my new telescope was […]
Yale e360
In California, Hummingbird Beaks Have Been Transformed by Feeders The profusion of hummingbird feeders in California homes has not only allowed some hummingbirds to...
a month ago
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a month ago
The profusion of hummingbird feeders in California homes has not only allowed some hummingbirds to expand their range, but has also altered the shape of their beaks. Read more on E360 →
NeuroLogica Blog
Using Plants as Biofactories When you think about it, plants are self-reproducing solar-powered biological factories. They are...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
When you think about it, plants are self-reproducing solar-powered biological factories. They are powered by the sun, extract raw material from the air and soil, and make all sorts of useful molecules. Mostly we use them to make edible molecules (food), but also to make textiles,...
Yale e360
How African Communities Are Taking Lead on Protecting Wildlife A new analysis shows that African wildlife increasingly depend on lands managed by villagers and...
5 months ago
5
5 months ago
A new analysis shows that African wildlife increasingly depend on lands managed by villagers and herders. In many areas, locally-run conservancies now more effectively protect wildlife than national parks do, with communities reaping tourism revenue and other benefits. Read more...
nanoscale views
What are parastatistics? While I could certainly write more about what is going on in the US these days (ahh, trying to...
4 months ago
22
4 months ago
While I could certainly write more about what is going on in the US these days (ahh, trying to dismantle organizations you don't understand), instead I want to briefly highlight a very exciting result from my colleagues, published in Nature last month.  (I almost titled this post...
Quanta Magazine
The Physicist Who’s Challenging the Quantum Orthodoxy For decades, physicists have struggled to develop a quantum theory of gravity. But what if gravity —...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
For decades, physicists have struggled to develop a quantum theory of gravity. But what if gravity — and space-time — are fundamentally classical? The post The Physicist Who’s Challenging the Quantum Orthodoxy first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Pitching to payers, pilots, and what makes Blue Cross distinct with Tricia Garland | Out-Of-Pocket so you want to know what health insurers are looking for?
a year ago
Yale e360
U.S. Aid Cuts Are Hitting Global Conservation Projects Hard The Trump Administration’s dismantling of USAID has done more than cut off life-saving humanitarian...
2 months ago
1
2 months ago
The Trump Administration’s dismantling of USAID has done more than cut off life-saving humanitarian assistance. It has also eliminated funding for environmental protection and conservation work in dozens of countries, with many programs now being forced to shut down. Read more on...
Yale e360
Growing Risk of 'Thirstwaves' as the Planet Warms The atmosphere is getting thirstier. A new study finds that warming is leading to more frequent...
3 months ago
6
3 months ago
The atmosphere is getting thirstier. A new study finds that warming is leading to more frequent bouts of hot, dry weather that cause soils to lose large volumes of water to evaporation. Read more on E360 →
Out-of-Pocket Blog
SWORD Health And Virtual Musculoskeletal Care | Out-Of-Pocket A first person account
a year ago
Quanta Magazine
The Fastest Way Yet to Color Graphs Researchers have devised a scheme for painting the edges of a graph that’s almost as speedy as...
a month ago
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a month ago
Researchers have devised a scheme for painting the edges of a graph that’s almost as speedy as possible. The post The Fastest Way Yet to Color Graphs first appeared on Quanta Magazine
NeuroLogica Blog
Decarbonizing Aviation and Agriculture When we talk about reducing carbon release in order to slow down and hopefully stop anthropogenic...
9 months ago
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9 months ago
When we talk about reducing carbon release in order to slow down and hopefully stop anthropogenic global warming much of the focus is on the energy and transportation sectors. There is a good reason for this – the energy sector is responsible for 25% of greenhouse gas (GHG)...
Asterisk
Pew Problems A conversation about religion, fertility, and the American family.
a year ago
symmetry magazine
Collaboration builds fantastical stories from nuggets of truth What happens when you pair CERN scientists with science fiction writers to create short stories...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
What happens when you pair CERN scientists with science fiction writers to create short stories inspired by particle physics?