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367 | Jared Diamond on the Course of History and the Role of Leaders The course of history is affected by many things, including the political and social situations of...
3 weeks ago
1

367 | Jared Diamond on the Course of History and the Role of Leaders

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

3 weeks ago
The course of history is affected by many things, including the political and social situations of large groups of people, […]
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Brian Fagan: We Are Not the First to Suffer Through Climate Change ### Catastrophic drought is coming back There are two kinds of historians, Brian Fagan says,...
10th Mar 2007
1

Brian Fagan: We Are Not the First to Suffer Through Climate Change

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

10th Mar 2007
### Catastrophic drought is coming back There are two kinds of historians, Brian Fagan says, parachutists and truffle hunters. Parachutists command an overview of the landscape, while truffle hunters dig deeply to uncover marvelous treasures. Fagan is a parachutist. In his talk...
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Margaret Levi: The Organized Pursuit of Knowledge The human quest to understand our world continues. The Director of Stanford’s [Center for Advanced...
18th Apr 2018
1

Margaret Levi: The Organized Pursuit of Knowledge

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

18th Apr 2018
The human quest to understand our world continues. The Director of Stanford’s [Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences (CASBS)](http://casbs.stanford.edu/) discusses how academics and researchers have organized the study of human action, society, and institutions...
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There was no great stagnation We may not have flying cars but we do have incredible information technology. We’re mismeasuring the...
12th Oct 2022
1

There was no great stagnation

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

12th Oct 2022
We may not have flying cars but we do have incredible information technology. We’re mismeasuring the huge benefits it is bringing.
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It is our responsibility to develop a healthy relationship with our technology Many technologies can be used in both healthy and unhealthy ways. You can indulge in food to the...
6th Nov 2025
1

It is our responsibility to develop a healthy relationship with our technology

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

6th Nov 2025
Many technologies can be used in both healthy and unhealthy ways. You can indulge in food to the point of obesity, or even make it the subject of anxiety. Media can keep us informed, but it can also steal our focus and drain our energy, especially social media. AI can help...
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The Army and Navy Style Guides These fascinating Army and Navy brand style guides define the look, feel and voice of our armed...
4th Oct 2023
168

The Army and Navy Style Guides

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

4th Oct 2023
These fascinating Army and Navy brand style guides define the look, feel and voice of our armed forces.
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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...
5th Nov 2024
68

Powering the Mars base

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

5th Nov 2024
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...
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Saturn Family Portrait From planetary.org: On July 29, 2011, Cassini captured five of Saturn’s moons in a single frame with...
1st Jul 2022
53

Saturn Family Portrait

from Wanderingspace [alt+shift+b] in science

1st Jul 2022
From planetary.org: On July 29, 2011, Cassini captured five of Saturn’s moons in a single frame with its narrow-angle camera: Janus, Pandora, Enceladus, Rhea, and Mimas. NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute. This is a full-color look at a view that was originally published in...
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The Lost Chapter I’m happy to report that Probably Overthinking It is available now in paperback. If you would like a...
4th Dec 2025
1

The Lost Chapter

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

4th Dec 2025
I’m happy to report that Probably Overthinking It is available now in paperback. If you would like a copy, you can order from Bookshop.org and Amazon (affiliate links). To celebrate, I’m publishing The Lost Chapter — that is, the chapter I cut from the published book. It’s about...
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In an Already Broiling Summer, El Niño Is About to Turn Up the Heat El Niño is expected to intensify in the weeks ahead, fueling more severe heat across the globe,...
3rd Aug 2026
1

In an Already Broiling Summer, El Niño Is About to Turn Up the Heat

from Yale E360 [alt+shift+b] in science

3rd Aug 2026
El Niño is expected to intensify in the weeks ahead, fueling more severe heat across the globe, according to the U.N. World Meteorological Organization. The forecast comes as blistering heat shatters temperature records from Europe to Asia. Read more on E360 →
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High seas treaty ‘a long time coming’
10th Jun 2025
1

High seas treaty ‘a long time coming’

from Conservation International [alt+shift+b] in science

10th Jun 2025
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Proposing a theory committee at the Psychological Science Accelerator (written in collaboration with Nicholas A. Coles) The Psychological Science Accelerator (PSA) is a...
25th Aug 2019
1

Proposing a theory committee at the Psychological Science Accelerator

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

25th Aug 2019
(written in collaboration with Nicholas A. Coles) The Psychological Science Accelerator (PSA) is a global network of psychological laboratories that organizes large-scale empirical research projects. The organization aims “to accelerate the accumulation of reliable and...
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Riding Sunbeams with Solar Sails Reset your expectations of solar sails. They are a fast and free way to travel to any point in the...
26th May 2023
1

Riding Sunbeams with Solar Sails

from ToughSF [alt+shift+b] in science

26th May 2023
Reset your expectations of solar sails. They are a fast and free way to travel to any point in the Solar System, as many times as you want, any time of the year. Solar sails can carry passengers and they have a nearly unlimited number of uses. You just have to... think...
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Games between Programs: The Ruliology of Competition The Basic Setup Whether one’s dealing with biology, economics, politics or a host of other fields,...
4th Jun 2026
1

Games between Programs: The Ruliology of Competition

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

4th Jun 2026
The Basic Setup Whether one’s dealing with biology, economics, politics or a host of other fields, it’s common to encounter situations that can be modeled as involving two agents that repeatedly compete with each other. One imagines that at each step each agent can take one of a...
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How TV learned to sell itself Sports solved a problem that nearly killed television.
11th Mar 2026
1

How TV learned to sell itself

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

11th Mar 2026
Sports solved a problem that nearly killed television.
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Ray Kurzweil: Kurzweil's Law ### Escape velocity Attempts to think long term, Ray Kurzweil began, keep making the mistake of...
24th Sep 2005
1

Ray Kurzweil: Kurzweil's Law

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

24th Sep 2005
### Escape velocity Attempts to think long term, Ray Kurzweil began, keep making the mistake of imagining that the pace of the future is like the pace of the past. Pondering the next ten years, we usually begin by studying the last ten years. He recommends studying the last...
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Let patients control their prescriptions | Out-Of-Pocket A walkthrough of how a digital prescription works and what Photon does to let patients control...
1st Sep 2026
1

Let patients control their prescriptions | Out-Of-Pocket

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

1st Sep 2026
A walkthrough of how a digital prescription works and what Photon does to let patients control prescriptions themselves
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Emily Levine & Jill Tarter: Long Conversation 4 of 19 **This is one conversation out of the 19 that took place as part of the Long Conversation.[Media...
16th Oct 2010
1

Emily Levine & Jill Tarter: Long Conversation 4 of 19

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

16th Oct 2010
**This is one conversation out of the 19 that took place as part of the Long Conversation.[Media links for the other Conversations are available here.](https://longnow.org/seminars/02010/oct/16/long-conversation/)** Long Conversation, an epic relay of one-to-one conversations...
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A (quantum) complex legacy Early in the fourth year of my PhD, I received a most John-ish email from John Preskill, my PhD...
30th Jan 2023
55

A (quantum) complex legacy

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

30th Jan 2023
Early in the fourth year of my PhD, I received a most John-ish email from John Preskill, my PhD advisor. The title read, “thermodynamics of complexity,” and the message was concise the way that the Amazon River is damp: “Might … Continue reading →
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How much of HN is AI? I have a complicated relationship with Hacker News. The site is the most important aggregator of...
12th Mar 2026
1

How much of HN is AI?

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

12th Mar 2026
I have a complicated relationship with Hacker News. The site is the most important aggregator of geek news and a major source of traffic to this blog. At the same time, it has a fair number of toxic commenters, making it a dependable source of insults hurled in my general...
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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...
14th Apr 2023
104

Eukaryote in Asterisk Magazine + New Patreon Per-post setup

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

14th Apr 2023
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?...
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Fusion Highways in Space A transport system that can get spacecraft to Jupiter in 10 days, but without a massive onboard...
11th Mar 2021
1

Fusion Highways in Space

from ToughSF [alt+shift+b] in science

11th Mar 2021
A transport system that can get spacecraft to Jupiter in 10 days, but without a massive onboard reactor, using antimatter fuel or riding a gigantic laser beam?  What we need instead is a Fusion Highway to connect the Solar System in unprecedented ways.  The art above is by...
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AC vs DC and other Power Questions I was away last week, first at CSICON and then at a conference in Dubai. I was invited to give a 9...
4th Nov 2024
75

AC vs DC and other Power Questions

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

4th Nov 2024
I was away last week, first at CSICON and then at a conference in Dubai. I was invited to give a 9 hour seminar on scientific skepticism for the Dubai Future Foundation. That sounds like a lot of time, but it isn’t. It was a good reminder of the vast body of knowledge that is...
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A Taste of Italy In the mid-1800s, Italy was consumed by two parallel fights: one to rid itself of Austrian...
14th May 2021
30

A Taste of Italy

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

14th May 2021
In the mid-1800s, Italy was consumed by two parallel fights: one to rid itself of Austrian domination (a holdover from the Holy Roman Empire) and the other for unification. At the time, Europe’s boot was a curious conglomeration of separate states, not all of which got along....
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I guess we’re doing Moon factories now A quick note collating a list of blogs I’ve written on the topic. I’ll update it with good third...
10th Feb 2026
2

I guess we’re doing Moon factories now

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

10th Feb 2026
A quick note collating a list of blogs I’ve written on the topic. I’ll update it with good third party write ups as I become aware of them. Context: SpaceX announced a refocus on lunar development. My best explanation for this is that SpaceX wants to accelerate human occupation...
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An Easy-Sounding Problem Yields Numbers Too Big for Our Universe Researchers prove that navigating certain systems of vectors is among the most complex computational...
4th Dec 2023
34

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

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

4th Dec 2023
Researchers prove that navigating certain systems of vectors is among the most complex computational problems. The post An Easy-Sounding Problem Yields Numbers Too Big for Our Universe first appeared on Quanta Magazine
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(Ethically dubious) ways to give patients more choice | Out-Of-Pocket Do these ideas give you the ick? Or is there something interesting here
4th Sep 2025
31

(Ethically dubious) ways to give patients more choice | Out-Of-Pocket

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

4th Sep 2025
Do these ideas give you the ick? Or is there something interesting here
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Reflections of a postgrad lecturer-in-training: Part 1 In a previous post, I mentioned that I was beginning a stint as postgraduate teaching intern at UWA,...
9th Mar 2013
55

Reflections of a postgrad lecturer-in-training: Part 1

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

9th Mar 2013
In a previous post, I mentioned that I was beginning a stint as postgraduate teaching intern at UWA, and that part of the internship involved keeping a reflective journal.  So I’ve decided that instead of merely writing down my thoughts (and possibly becoming lazy about it as the...
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The Unlimited Horizon, part 1 Previously: The Problem-Solving Animal, part 1, part 2 and part 3. The acceleration that we saw...
15th Jul 2025
1

The Unlimited Horizon, part 1

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

15th Jul 2025
Previously: The Problem-Solving Animal, part 1, part 2 and part 3. The acceleration that we saw in Chapter 6 is driven by a feedback process in which growth itself improves the mechanisms of growth. When we zoom out to look at thousands of years, this process looks smooth and...
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Internal Group Actions as Enriched Functors Earlier today this month on the Category Theory Zulip, Bernd Losert asked an extremely natural...
18th Feb 2024
59

Internal Group Actions as Enriched Functors

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

18th Feb 2024
Earlier today this month on the Category Theory Zulip, Bernd Losert asked an extremely natural question about how we might study topological group actions via the functorial approach beloved by category theorists. The usual story is to treat a group $G$ as a one-object...
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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...
1st Mar 2022
73

Book Club: ‘How To Read Water: Clues and Patterns from Puddles to the Sea’

from Marine Madness [alt+shift+b] in science

1st Mar 2022
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,...
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Geoff Manaugh & Nicola Twilley: Until Proven Safe: The History and Future of Quarantine **Geoff Manaugh and Nicola Twilley** track the history and future of quarantine around the globe,...
8th Feb 2022
1

Geoff Manaugh & Nicola Twilley: Until Proven Safe: The History and Future of Quarantine

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

8th Feb 2022
**Geoff Manaugh and Nicola Twilley** track the history and future of quarantine around the globe, chasing the story of emergency isolation through time and space—from the crumbling lazarettos of the Mediterranean, built to contain the Black Death, to an experimental Ebola unit in...
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The story of Viktor Zhdanov Although Viktor Zhdanov’s name is little known today, he spearheaded one of the greatest projects in...
20th Aug 2020
1

The story of Viktor Zhdanov

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

20th Aug 2020
Although Viktor Zhdanov’s name is little known today, he spearheaded one of the greatest projects in history. Who was he and what did he do?
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The Anticipated Future of the Moon When the Earth was young, shortly after the moon formed, our planet was spinning so fast that a day...
15th Feb 2021
31

The Anticipated Future of the Moon

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

15th Feb 2021
When the Earth was young, shortly after the moon formed, our planet was spinning so fast that a day was approximately five hours long. During the intervening billions of years, the dragging effect of the moon’s gravity slowed the Earth’s spin to the 24-hour day we now observe....
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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,...
2nd Jun 2025
31

Telepathy Tapes Promotes Pseudoscience

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

2nd Jun 2025
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...
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Why Earth’s Cracked Crust May Be Essential for Life Life needs more than water alone. Recent discoveries suggest that plate tectonics has played a...
11th Apr 2019
1

Why Earth’s Cracked Crust May Be Essential for Life

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

11th Apr 2019
Life needs more than water alone. Recent discoveries suggest that plate tectonics has played a critical role in nourishing life on Earth. The findings carry major consequences for the search for life elsewhere in the universe. The post Why Earth’s Cracked Crust May Be...
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Astrobiology meets quantum computation? The origin of life appears to share little with quantum computation, apart from the difficulty of...
23rd Oct 2023
86

Astrobiology meets quantum computation?

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

23rd Oct 2023
The origin of life appears to share little with quantum computation, apart from the difficulty of achieving it and its potential for clickbait. Yet similar notions of complexity have recently garnered attention in both fields. Each topic’s researchers expect only … Continue...
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What’s a Chartist? Recently I heard the word “chartist” for the first time in my life (that I recall). And then later...
19th Nov 2024
17

What’s a Chartist?

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

19th Nov 2024
Recently I heard the word “chartist” for the first time in my life (that I recall). And then later the same day, I heard it again. So that raises two questions: To answer the second question first, it’s someone who supported chartism, which was “a working-class movement for...
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Paul Ehrlich: The Dominant Animal: Human Evolution and the Environment ### Becoming a Benign Dominant To track how humans became Earth's dominant animal, Ehrlich began...
28th Jun 2008
1

Paul Ehrlich: The Dominant Animal: Human Evolution and the Environment

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

28th Jun 2008
### Becoming a Benign Dominant To track how humans became Earth's dominant animal, Ehrlich began with a photo of a tarsier in a tree. The little primate had a predator's binocular vision and an insect-grabber's fingers. When (possibly) climate change drove some primates out of...
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A Modest Proposal To Turn Canada Into a Narco State Americans want cheap drugs and Canadians wants loads of money. I smell a deal.
30th Jul 2025
1

A Modest Proposal To Turn Canada Into a Narco State

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

30th Jul 2025
Americans want cheap drugs and Canadians wants loads of money. I smell a deal.
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Brain’s ‘Background Noise’ May Hold Clues to Persistent Mysteries By digging out signals hidden within the brain’s electrical chatter, scientists are getting new...
13th May 2021
1

Brain’s ‘Background Noise’ May Hold Clues to Persistent Mysteries

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

13th May 2021
By digging out signals hidden within the brain’s electrical chatter, scientists are getting new insights into sleep, aging and more. The post Brain’s ‘Background Noise’ May Hold Clues to Persistent Mysteries first appeared on Quanta Magazine
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Tim Flannery: Here on Earth ### Wallace beats Darwin The great insight of natural selection was published simultaneously by...
4th May 2011
1

Tim Flannery: Here on Earth

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

4th May 2011
### Wallace beats Darwin The great insight of natural selection was published simultaneously by Charles Darwin and Alfred Russell Wallace in 1858, Flannery pointed out, but their interpretations of the insight then diverged. Darwin's harsh view of "survival of the fittest" led...
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Typography Styles & Element Examples Font Sizes A A A A A A A A 6rem (96px) 5rem (80px) 3rem (48px) 2.25rem (36px) 1.5rem (24px)...
18th Feb 2019
1

Typography Styles & Element Examples

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

18th Feb 2019
Font Sizes A A A A A A A A 6rem (96px) 5rem (80px) 3rem (48px) 2.25rem (36px) 1.5rem (24px) 1.25rem (20px) 1rem (16px) .875rem (14px) Type Samples Head­line Sub­head­line Level 1 Heading One page to rule them all...well, not really. This page displays sample typography and page...
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Cory Doctorow: The Coming Century of War Against Your Computer ### Who governs digital trust? Doctorow framed the question this way: "Computers are everywhere....
1st Aug 2012
1

Cory Doctorow: The Coming Century of War Against Your Computer

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

1st Aug 2012
### Who governs digital trust? Doctorow framed the question this way: "Computers are everywhere. They are now something we put our whole bodies into---airplanes, cars---and something we put into our bodies---pacemakers, cochlear implants. They HAVE to be trustworthy." Sometimes...
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Some Climate Change Trends and Thoughts Climate change is a challenging issue on multiple levels – it’s challenging for scientists to...
2nd Dec 2024
76

Some Climate Change Trends and Thoughts

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

2nd Dec 2024
Climate change is a challenging issue on multiple levels – it’s challenging for scientists to understand all of the complexities of a changing climate, it’s difficult to know how to optimally communicate to the public about climate change, and of course we face an enormous...
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What Can We Gain by Losing Infinity? Most mathematicians take the notion of infinity for granted — it’s deeply rooted in math’s most...
5th May 2026
1

What Can We Gain by Losing Infinity?

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

5th May 2026
Most mathematicians take the notion of infinity for granted — it’s deeply rooted in math’s most fundamental assumptions. But a small group of researchers hopes to banish infinity completely. On this episode of The Quanta Podcast, host Samir Patel speaks with math editor Jordana...
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A Nihilist's Guide to Meaning I've never been plagued by the big existential questions. You know, like What's my purpose? or What...
11th Jul 2016
35

A Nihilist's Guide to Meaning

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

11th Jul 2016
I've never been plagued by the big existential questions. You know, like What's my purpose? or What does it all mean? Growing up I was a very science-minded kid — still am — and from an early age I learned… Read more ›
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Dorie Clark: The Long Game: How to be a long-term thinker in a short-term world Personal goals need a long-term strategy too. Dorie Clark offers concrete practices to sharpen...
18th May 2022
1

Dorie Clark: The Long Game: How to be a long-term thinker in a short-term world

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

18th May 2022
Personal goals need a long-term strategy too. Dorie Clark offers concrete practices to sharpen strategic thinking and incorporate a long-term perspective within a personal time scale. By reorienting ourselves to focus on the big picture, and using the power of small but...
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David Rumsey: Mapping Time ### Maps and time David Rumsey's spectacularly illustrated lecture, "Mapping Time" is not just...
15th May 2004
1

David Rumsey: Mapping Time

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

15th May 2004
### Maps and time David Rumsey's spectacularly illustrated lecture, "Mapping Time" is not just about maps. It is the future of data and knowledge handling. People literally gasp at the things Rumsey shows can be done. I love it when techies, artists, and historians all gasp at...
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The Frog Puzzle Here’s a probability puzzle from a TED-Ed video called Can you solve the frog riddle? by Derek...
4th Jun 2026
1

The Frog Puzzle

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

4th Jun 2026
Here’s a probability puzzle from a TED-Ed video called Can you solve the frog riddle? by Derek Abbott. It came up recently in this Reddit thread: You’re stranded in a rainforest after accidentally eating a poisonous mushroom. To survive the poison, you need to lick a certain...
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Sara Seager: Other Earths. Other Life. ## To find living exoplanets Thanks to recent exoplanet research, Seager began, we now know that...
11th Aug 2015
1

Sara Seager: Other Earths. Other Life.

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

11th Aug 2015
## To find living exoplanets Thanks to recent exoplanet research, Seager began, we now know that nearly all of our galaxy’s 300 billion stars are accompanied by planets, and a unexpectedly high number of them are rocky like Earth, and many of those orbit in a “habitable”...
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Daniel Kahneman: Thinking Fast and Slow ### On taking thought Before a packed house, Kahneman began with the distinction between what he...
14th Aug 2013
1

Daniel Kahneman: Thinking Fast and Slow

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

14th Aug 2013
### On taking thought Before a packed house, Kahneman began with the distinction between what he calls mental “System 1”---fast thinking, intuition---and “System 2”---slow thinking, careful consideration and calculation. System 1 operates on the illusory principle: _What you see...
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Notes on Progress: A tale of two particles Not all radioactivity is risky or harmful
5th Dec 2022
49

Notes on Progress: A tale of two particles

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

5th Dec 2022
Not all radioactivity is risky or harmful
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How LiDAR measures the toll of climate disasters Comparing LiDAR data from before and after the January 2025 fires in Los Angeles reveals the scale...
25th Aug 2025
36

How LiDAR measures the toll of climate disasters

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

25th Aug 2025
Comparing LiDAR data from before and after the January 2025 fires in Los Angeles reveals the scale of devastation in ways satellite imagery can’t match.
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Eight highlights from publishing a science book for the general public What’s it like to publish a book? I’ve faced the question again and again this year, as my book...
19th Dec 2022
55

Eight highlights from publishing a science book for the general public

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

19th Dec 2022
What’s it like to publish a book? I’ve faced the question again and again this year, as my book Quantum Steampunk hit bookshelves in April. Two responses suggest themselves. On the one hand, I channel the Beatles: It’s a hard … Continue reading →
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A Course Via Zoom on Atomic Science for Everyone I am teaching a new Zoom course on the mysterious world of the atom, with lots of visuals and no...
20th Sep 2025
36

A Course Via Zoom on Atomic Science for Everyone

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

20th Sep 2025
I am teaching a new Zoom course on the mysterious world of the atom, with lots of visuals and no math. It’s a six-week class for retired people: Join me for a richly illustrated tour of the atomic world that lies beneath our everyday conception of reality. Using historical...
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Why Is Argentina Poor? The root of its economic mismanagement
1st Nov 2025
1

Why Is Argentina Poor?

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

1st Nov 2025
The root of its economic mismanagement
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Getting people to donate their organs Too few people donate their organs, dead or alive. How can we make it easier?
2nd Apr 2024
107

Getting people to donate their organs

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

2nd Apr 2024
Too few people donate their organs, dead or alive. How can we make it easier?
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From MANUALS to YOUTUBE A new section from Stewart Brand's Maintenance on Books in Progress
14th Aug 2023
62

From MANUALS to YOUTUBE

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

14th Aug 2023
A new section from Stewart Brand's Maintenance on Books in Progress
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Was Jesus a Con Artist? Let me start out by saying that I think the answer to that question is no – but this requires lots...
1st Aug 2024
90

Was Jesus a Con Artist?

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

1st Aug 2024
Let me start out by saying that I think the answer to that question is no – but this requires lots of clarification. This was, however, the discussion here, while although poorly informed, does raise some interesting questions. This is a Tik Tok video of a popular podcast which...
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Why the Art of Invention Is Always Being Reinvented Every invention begins with a problem—and the creative act of seeing a problem where others might...
1st Nov 2024
81

Why the Art of Invention Is Always Being Reinvented

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

1st Nov 2024
Every invention begins with a problem—and the creative act of seeing a problem where others might just see unchangeable reality. For one 5-year-old, the problem was simple: She liked to have her tummy rubbed as she fell asleep. But her mom, exhausted from working two jobs, often...
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The Core of Fermat’s Last Theorem Just Got Superpowered By extending the scope of the key insight behind Fermat’s Last Theorem, four mathematicians have...
2nd Jun 2025
51

The Core of Fermat’s Last Theorem Just Got Superpowered

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

2nd Jun 2025
By extending the scope of the key insight behind Fermat’s Last Theorem, four mathematicians have made great strides toward building a “grand unified theory” of math. The post The Core of Fermat’s Last Theorem Just Got Superpowered first appeared on Quanta Magazine
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The failure of the land value tax Land value taxes are once again becoming a popular all-purpose solution to housing issues. But...
13th Mar 2025
1

The failure of the land value tax

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

13th Mar 2025
Land value taxes are once again becoming a popular all-purpose solution to housing issues. But implementing them in early 1900s Britain destroyed the then-dominant Liberal Party.
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Who invented knitting? The plot thickens Last time on Eukaryote Writes Blog: You learned about knitting history. You thought you were done...
4th Feb 2023
66

Who invented knitting? The plot thickens

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

4th Feb 2023
Last time on Eukaryote Writes Blog: You learned about knitting history. You thought you were done learning about knitting history? You fool. You buffoon. I wanted to double check some things in the last post and found out that the origins of knitting are even weirder than I...
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Harvesting Energy from Water Vapor I did not plan to write yet another post about energy, but this popped up and I had to write about...
1st Jun 2023
91

Harvesting Energy from Water Vapor

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

1st Jun 2023
I did not plan to write yet another post about energy, but this popped up and I had to write about it. UMASS researchers have produced a device that generates electricity by harvesting charge from water vapor. They write: The common feature of these materials is that they are...
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Raoul Adamchak & Pamela Ronald: Organically Grown and Genetically Engineered: The Food of the Future ### Engineered organic Organic farming teacher Raoul began the joint presentation with a checklist...
29th Jul 2009
1

Raoul Adamchak & Pamela Ronald: Organically Grown and Genetically Engineered: The Food of the Future

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

29th Jul 2009
### Engineered organic Organic farming teacher Raoul began the joint presentation with a checklist for truly sustainable agriculture in a global context. It must: Provide abundant safe and nutritious food…. Reduce environmentally harmful inputs…. Reduce energy use and...
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NASA Is Worth Saving Casey Handmer June 2025 Download a printable PDF. NASA was founded in 1958 in response to Sputnik...
12th Jun 2025
1

NASA Is Worth Saving

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

12th Jun 2025
Casey Handmer June 2025 Download a printable PDF. NASA was founded in 1958 in response to Sputnik and the emerging necessity of a robust, government supported space exploration and technology development program to safeguard US interests in space. NASA embodies the US ideals of...
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Adornment "Form follows function" is a maxim that an object's shape and appearance should be defined only by...
2nd Sep 2024
44

Adornment

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

2nd Sep 2024
"Form follows function" is a maxim that an object's shape and appearance should be defined only by its purpose or function. A quick perusal of any antique shop will show that this maxim is generally ignored. Humans (Homo sapiens) have been called "naked apes," but we and our...
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128 New Moons Found Around Saturn An international team of astronomers announced recently that they had discovered 128 new, small...
9th Apr 2025
50

128 New Moons Found Around Saturn

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

9th Apr 2025
An international team of astronomers announced recently that they had discovered 128 new, small moons orbiting the planet Saturn.  That brings the total number of moons known around the ringed planet to 274, breaking all planetary records. Jupiter, the runner-up, has “only” 95...
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News spotlight: Study buoys hope for rare axolotls
1st May 2025
1

News spotlight: Study buoys hope for rare axolotls

from Conservation International [alt+shift+b] in science

1st May 2025
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Stuff you should have been taught in college but weren’t As part of my job running Terraform Industries, I get to build an amazing team of super smart...
4th Feb 2025
83

Stuff you should have been taught in college but weren’t

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

4th Feb 2025
As part of my job running Terraform Industries, I get to build an amazing team of super smart people, and that involves interviewing hundreds of people. Over time certain patterns have become obvious, but I remember when they weren’t obvious to me on the other side of the table!...
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Moult, captured on camera Autumn moult is an important part of the annual cycle of migratory shorebirds, typically squeezed in...
9th Oct 2025
25

Moult, captured on camera

from wadertales [alt+shift+b] in science

9th Oct 2025
Autumn moult is an important part of the annual cycle of migratory shorebirds, typically squeezed in between chick-rearing and the onset of winter. The process of changing an individual’s feathers lasts as long as the whole of the breeding season but is far well less well...
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A Natural History of Beauty A mashup of ideas from David Deutsch, Geoffrey Miller, and Richard Prum, with a little César Hidalgo...
30th Oct 2018
47

A Natural History of Beauty

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

30th Oct 2018
A mashup of ideas from David Deutsch, Geoffrey Miller, and Richard Prum, with a little César Hidalgo thrown in for good measure. —— Of all the problems that can plague a discussion of beauty — and there are several — perhaps… Read more ›
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How Mutant Viral Swarms Spread Disease A new understanding of viral swarms is helping researchers predict how viruses will evolve and where...
3rd Sep 2015
1

How Mutant Viral Swarms Spread Disease

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

3rd Sep 2015
A new understanding of viral swarms is helping researchers predict how viruses will evolve and where disease is likely to spread. The post How Mutant Viral Swarms Spread Disease first appeared on Quanta Magazine
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In Mexico’s ‘Avocado Belt,’ Villagers Stand Up to Protect Their Lands A boom in avocado production in Mexico has led to illegal deforestation and an influx of drug...
2nd May 2025
4

In Mexico’s ‘Avocado Belt,’ Villagers Stand Up to Protect Their Lands

from Yale E360 [alt+shift+b] in science

2nd May 2025
A boom in avocado production in Mexico has led to illegal deforestation and an influx of drug cartels dominating the lucrative trade. But Indigenous communities have fought back against the gangs and turned to traditional practices to grow avocados and save their forests.  Read...
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Bacterial Complexity Revises Ideas About ‘Which Came First?’ Contrary to popular belief, bacteria have organelles too. Scientists are now studying them for...
7th May 2020
1

Bacterial Complexity Revises Ideas About ‘Which Came First?’

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

7th May 2020
Contrary to popular belief, bacteria have organelles too. Scientists are now studying them for insights into how complex cells evolved. The post Bacterial Complexity Revises Ideas About ‘Which Came First?’ first appeared on Quanta Magazine
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what's happened since the human genome project When the human genome project was deemed “complete” in 2003, it was met with incredible fanfare. The...
17th May 2022
33

what's happened since the human genome project

from Apoorva Srinivasan [alt+shift+b] in science

17th May 2022
When the human genome project was deemed “complete” in 2003, it was met with incredible fanfare. The entire project leading up to that moment had all the drama to keep its audience enthralled. Fierce rivalry between a public and private institution, multiple countries involved,...
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2015 Meta Time for my annual blogging review. And only 11 days late! I'll keep it brief. Blog stats I...
11th Jan 2016
35

2015 Meta

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

11th Jan 2016
Time for my annual blogging review. And only 11 days late! I'll keep it brief. Blog stats I published a paltry six full essays this year. Don't get me wrong: I'm proud of them. But still, six. It would be… Read more ›
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EUV lithography - a couple of quick links Welcome to the new year! I've written previously (see here, item #3) about the extreme ultraviolet...
2nd Jan 2026
1

EUV lithography - a couple of quick links

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

2nd Jan 2026
Welcome to the new year! I've written previously (see here, item #3) about the extreme ultraviolet lithography tools used in modern computer chip fabrication.   These machines are incredible, the size of a railway car, and cost hundreds of millions of dollars each.  Veritasium...
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1,000 Photos of Dolphin Fins Scars, scratches and wounds abound in these photos as encounters with unknown creatures and boat...
10th Apr 2023
157

1,000 Photos of Dolphin Fins

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

10th Apr 2023
Scars, scratches and wounds abound in these photos as encounters with unknown creatures and boat propellers leave their marks, imprinting a story of close escapes and cheating death.
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Statins and Strength Does lowering your LDL and saving your heart mean sacrificing muscular strength? No.
6th May 2026
1

Statins and Strength

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

6th May 2026
Does lowering your LDL and saving your heart mean sacrificing muscular strength? No.
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The developing world needs more roads The cities of the developing world could be its growth engine if their streets were not so...
11th Nov 2025
1

The developing world needs more roads

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

11th Nov 2025
The cities of the developing world could be its growth engine if their streets were not so gridlocked. The solution is laying out wider roads.
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Carl Sagan, nuking the moon, and not nuking the moon Most of us go about our lives comforted by the thought “I would never drop a nuclear weapon on the...
13th Apr 2024
123

Carl Sagan, nuking the moon, and not nuking the moon

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

13th Apr 2024
Most of us go about our lives comforted by the thought “I would never drop a nuclear weapon on the moon.” The truth is that given a lot of power, a nuclear weapon, and a lot of extremely specific circumstances, we too might find ourselves thinking “I should nuke the moon.”
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Niall Ferguson & Peter Schwartz: Historian vs. Futurist on Human Progress ### Past vs. Future In what turned out to be a riveting evening, historian Niall Ferguson and...
29th Apr 2008
1

Niall Ferguson & Peter Schwartz: Historian vs. Futurist on Human Progress

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

29th Apr 2008
### Past vs. Future In what turned out to be a riveting evening, historian Niall Ferguson and futurist Peter Schwartz fire-hosed each other with enough ideas, frames of reference, ripostes, and eloquences to lead to a clear conceptual divergence. At the same time, the two were...
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Event, Feb 29: “Towards a New Philosophy of Progress” in Boston and on Zoom On Thursday, February 29, I’ll be giving my talk “Towards a New Philosophy of Progress” to the New...
21st Feb 2024
109

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

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

21st Feb 2024
On Thursday, February 29, I’ll be giving my talk “Towards a New Philosophy of Progress” to the New England Legal Foundation, for their Economic Liberty Speaker Series. The talk will be held over breakfast at NELF’s offices in Boston, and will also be livestreamed over Zoom. See...
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Visualizing Ship Movements with AIS Data Explore the beautiful, intricate paths of ships over a year—tracked from America's busiest ports to...
17th Sep 2024
117

Visualizing Ship Movements with AIS Data

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

17th Sep 2024
Explore the beautiful, intricate paths of ships over a year—tracked from America's busiest ports to the open ocean via AIS marine tracking data.
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Patient Messaging Conundrum pt. 2 | Out-Of-Pocket Some thoughts from an academic, a behavioral scientist, a patient, and more
3rd Oct 2023
51

Patient Messaging Conundrum pt. 2 | Out-Of-Pocket

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

3rd Oct 2023
Some thoughts from an academic, a behavioral scientist, a patient, and more
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Scant Evidence of Power Laws Found in Real-World Networks A new study challenges one of the most celebrated and controversial ideas in network science. ...
11th Oct 2018
1

Scant Evidence of Power Laws Found in Real-World Networks

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

11th Oct 2018
A new study challenges one of the most celebrated and controversial ideas in network science. The post Scant Evidence of Power Laws Found in Real-World Networks first appeared on Quanta Magazine
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What did Henry George think about cities? Solving the terrible urban conditions of the 1800s by abolishing cities
9th May 2024
109

What did Henry George think about cities?

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

9th May 2024
Solving the terrible urban conditions of the 1800s by abolishing cities
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diffusion models for protein generation Introduction Proteins are nature's versatile nanomachines— they have evolved to perform virtually...
30th Dec 2024
81

diffusion models for protein generation

from Apoorva Srinivasan [alt+shift+b] in science

30th Dec 2024
Introduction Proteins are nature's versatile nanomachines— they have evolved to perform virtually every important task in living systems. While nature has produced an incredible range of protein functions, these represent only a tiny fraction of what's possible in the protein...
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Iran: The Day After What's going to happen in the coming days and weeks?
3rd Mar 2026
6

Iran: The Day After

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

3rd Mar 2026
What's going to happen in the coming days and weeks?
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The Art of Teaching Math and Science The impasse in math and science instruction runs deeper than test scores or the latest educational...
26th Jan 2017
1

The Art of Teaching Math and Science

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

26th Jan 2017
The impasse in math and science instruction runs deeper than test scores or the latest educational theory. What can we learn from the best teachers on the front lines? The post The Art of Teaching Math and Science first appeared on Quanta Magazine
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When Data Is Missing, Scientists Guess. Then Guess Again. Across the social and biological sciences, statisticians use a technique that leverages randomness...
2nd Oct 2024
69

When Data Is Missing, Scientists Guess. Then Guess Again.

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

2nd Oct 2024
Across the social and biological sciences, statisticians use a technique that leverages randomness to deal with the unknown. The post When Data Is Missing, Scientists Guess. Then Guess Again. first appeared on Quanta Magazine
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What distinguishes quantum from classical thermodynamics? Should you require a model for an Oxford don in a play or novel, look no farther than Andrew Briggs....
27th Nov 2025
1

What distinguishes quantum from classical thermodynamics?

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

27th Nov 2025
Should you require a model for an Oxford don in a play or novel, look no farther than Andrew Briggs. The emeritus professor of nanomaterials speaks with a southern-English accent as crisp as shortbread, exhibits manners to which etiquette influencer … Continue reading →
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How Much Do Couples Share Traits? Do birds of a feather flock together, or do opposites attract? These are both common aphorisms,...
5th Sep 2023
170

How Much Do Couples Share Traits?

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

5th Sep 2023
Do birds of a feather flock together, or do opposites attract? These are both common aphorisms, which means that they are commonly offered as generally accepted truths, but also that they may by wrong. People like pithy phrases, so they spread prolifically, but that does not mean...
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How A Single Metaphor Transformed Biology René Descartes kinda ruined biology
13th Sep 2022
21

How A Single Metaphor Transformed Biology

from SubAnima [alt+shift+b] in science

13th Sep 2022
René Descartes kinda ruined biology
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Computer Scientists Expand the Frontier of Verifiable Knowledge The universe of problems that a computer can check has grown. The researchers’ secret ingredient?...
9th Apr 2020
1

Computer Scientists Expand the Frontier of Verifiable Knowledge

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

9th Apr 2020
The universe of problems that a computer can check has grown. The researchers’ secret ingredient? Quantum entanglement. The post Computer Scientists Expand the Frontier of Verifiable Knowledge first appeared on Quanta Magazine
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Why aren’t things changing faster? Been wondering lately that given everyone has a consultant with all the world’s knowledge in their...
4th May 2026
2

Why aren’t things changing faster?

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

4th May 2026
Been wondering lately that given everyone has a consultant with all the world’s knowledge in their pockets, we should be seeing efficiency rise across the board everywhere. Literally everyone can now get personalised advise on how to serve their customers better, improve quality...
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3 things our experts loved in May
26th Jun 2024
1

3 things our experts loved in May

from Conservation International [alt+shift+b] in science

26th Jun 2024
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Quantifying the corroboration of a finding A summary of the pros and cons of multiple candidate statistics.
12th Apr 2019
1

Quantifying the corroboration of a finding

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

12th Apr 2019
A summary of the pros and cons of multiple candidate statistics.
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Colliding the familiar and the anti-familiar at CERN toise me at CERN was a box of chocolates. CERN is a multinational particle-physics collaboration....
22nd Jan 2024
116

Colliding the familiar and the anti-familiar at CERN

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

22nd Jan 2024
toise me at CERN was a box of chocolates. CERN is a multinational particle-physics collaboration. Based in Geneva, CERN is famous for having “the world’s largest and most powerful accelerator,” according to its website. So a physicist will take for … Continue reading →
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Not everything is physics The first book I ever read was The Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking. I liked it so much that...
1st Sep 2024
124

Not everything is physics

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

1st Sep 2024
The first book I ever read was The Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking. I liked it so much that I re-read it 8 times. As a young boy, the book had made a lasting impression on me, making me fall in love with ideas such as the arrow of time, black holes, entropy,… Read...
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Sunset Hunkering down for the winter!
9th Apr 2023
66

Sunset

from brr [alt+shift+b] in science

9th Apr 2023
Hunkering down for the winter!
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Multiple Regression with StatsModels This is the third is a series of excerpts from Elements of Data Science which available from...
4th Dec 2024
24

Multiple Regression with StatsModels

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

4th Dec 2024
This is the third is a series of excerpts from Elements of Data Science which available from Lulu.com and online booksellers. It’s from Chapter 10, which is about multiple regression. You can read the complete chapter here, or run the Jupyter notebook on Colab. In the previous...
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A climate ally needs support — but at what cost?
8th Jul 2025
1

A climate ally needs support — but at what cost?

from Conservation International [alt+shift+b] in science

8th Jul 2025
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Estimating a Difference of Products Wow, it’s been a long time! Both since my last blog post, and since my last quick analysis trick....
28th Aug 2023
30

Estimating a Difference of Products

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

28th Aug 2023
Wow, it’s been a long time! Both since my last blog post, and since my last quick analysis trick. But I’ve been itching to write more blog posts lately, and I thought that something quick and easy like this would be a good way to get back into it without the kind of effort...
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2023 Hottest Year on Record What everyone knew was coming is now official – 2023 was the warmest year on record. This means we...
2nd Jan 2024
50

2023 Hottest Year on Record

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

2nd Jan 2024
What everyone knew was coming is now official – 2023 was the warmest year on record. This means we can also say that the last 10 years are the hottest decade on record. 2023 dethrones 2016 as the previous warmest year and bumps 2010 out of the top 10. Further, in the last half of...
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Should You Be Able to Experiment on Your Own Cancer? A researcher in virology and immunotherapy got bad news: Her cancer was back with a vengeance; the...
26th Sep 2024
33

Should You Be Able to Experiment on Your Own Cancer?

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

26th Sep 2024
A researcher in virology and immunotherapy got bad news: Her cancer was back with a vengeance; the treatments weren’t working. She decided to treat it herself.
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Is a Random Perfect Group Nontrivial? So it’s finals season, and earlier today some of the younger grad students were asking me for...
20th Mar 2026
1

Is a Random Perfect Group Nontrivial?

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

20th Mar 2026
So it’s finals season, and earlier today some of the younger grad students were asking me for help studying for their topology finals. One of their practice problems was to build a cell complex with one 0-cell, two 1-cells, and two 2-cells which has nontrivial $\pi_1$ but...
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A truly incredible fact about the number 37 So I was on math stackexchange the other day, and I saw a cute post looking for a book which lists,...
8th Nov 2023
42

A truly incredible fact about the number 37

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

8th Nov 2023
So I was on math stackexchange the other day, and I saw a cute post looking for a book which lists, for many many integers, facts that Ramanujan could have told Hardy if he’d taken a cab other than 1729. A few days ago OP answered their own question, saying that the book in...
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When RAND Made Magic in Santa Monica RAND’s halcyon days lasted two decades, during which the corporation produced some of the most...
1st Jun 2024
27

When RAND Made Magic in Santa Monica

from Asterisk [alt+shift+b] in science

1st Jun 2024
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?
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Mark Lynas: The Nine Planetary Boundaries ### The Quantified Planet “About 74,000 years ago,” Lynas began, “a volcanic event nearly wiped out...
7th Mar 2012
1

Mark Lynas: The Nine Planetary Boundaries

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

7th Mar 2012
### The Quantified Planet “About 74,000 years ago,” Lynas began, “a volcanic event nearly wiped out humanity. We were down to just a thousand or so embattled breeding pairs. We’ve made a bit of a comeback since then. We’re over seven billion strong. In half a million years we’ve...
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Tim O'Reilly: Birth of the Global Mind ### The global mind is us, augmented As a student of the classics at Harvard in the 1970s, O’Reilly...
6th Sep 2012
1

Tim O'Reilly: Birth of the Global Mind

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

6th Sep 2012
### The global mind is us, augmented As a student of the classics at Harvard in the 1970s, O’Reilly was impressed by a book titled _The Discovery of the Mind: In Greek Philosophy and Literature_ , by Bruno Snell. In the four centuries between Homer and classical Athens, wrote...
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Fossil Discoveries Challenge Ideas About Earth’s Start A series of fossil finds suggests that life on Earth started earlier than anyone thought, calling...
5th Jul 2018
1

Fossil Discoveries Challenge Ideas About Earth’s Start

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

5th Jul 2018
A series of fossil finds suggests that life on Earth started earlier than anyone thought, calling into question a widely held theory of the solar system’s beginnings. The post Fossil Discoveries Challenge Ideas About Earth’s Start first appeared on Quanta Magazine
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WWII Tank, Aircraft, and Ship Identification guides How do you tell friend from foe in a split second? These beautifully designed WWII guides used...
a week ago
1

WWII Tank, Aircraft, and Ship Identification guides

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

a week ago
How do you tell friend from foe in a split second? These beautifully designed WWII guides used silhouettes and vehicle details into a system for recognizing tanks, planes, and ships on sight.
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How Covid brought the future back Crises upend plans, force people to re-evaluate their priorities, and bring into focus new goals....
8th Feb 2021
1

How Covid brought the future back

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

8th Feb 2021
Crises upend plans, force people to re-evaluate their priorities, and bring into focus new goals. Financial markets give us hints of what we can expect from the aftermath of Covid-19.
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Little ray of sunshine A common saying goes, you should never meet your heroes, because they’ll disappoint you. But you...
28th Jul 2025
33

Little ray of sunshine

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

28th Jul 2025
A common saying goes, you should never meet your heroes, because they’ll disappoint you. But you shouldn’t trust every common saying; some heroes impress you more, the better you know them. Ray Laflamme was such a hero. I first heard … Continue reading →
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The Unlimited Horizon, part 2 Previously: The Unlimited Horizon, part 1. Is there really that much more progress to be made in the...
27th Aug 2025
1

The Unlimited Horizon, part 2

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

27th Aug 2025
Previously: The Unlimited Horizon, part 1. Is there really that much more progress to be made in the future? How many problems are left to solve? How much better could life really get? After all, we are pretty comfortable today. We have electricity, clean running water, heating...
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0.9999... ≊ 1 What is infinity, and why it's not trivial to show that 0.9999... is equal to 1.
1st Jun 2025
1

0.9999... ≊ 1

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

1st Jun 2025
What is infinity, and why it's not trivial to show that 0.9999... is equal to 1.
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How to write for Works in Progress We’re looking for new authors and article pitches.
4th Apr 2025
1

How to write for Works in Progress

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

4th Apr 2025
We’re looking for new authors and article pitches.
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A young Oystercatcher’s first adventure I find it amazing that, when they depart on autumn migration, juvenile waders can be faced with a...
4 weeks ago
1

A young Oystercatcher’s first adventure

from wadertales [alt+shift+b] in science

4 weeks ago
I find it amazing that, when they depart on autumn migration, juvenile waders can be faced with a journey of hundreds or thousands of kilometres. In the latest phase of their Oystercatcher studies in Iceland, Verónica Méndez and colleagues have been tagging young birds, just at...
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South Pole Signage Please close doors quietly!
23rd Jul 2023
28

South Pole Signage

from brr [alt+shift+b] in science

23rd Jul 2023
Please close doors quietly!
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The road from serfdom Unwinding Russian serfdom took half a century. To eventually do it in the face of powerful...
16th Feb 2024
1

The road from serfdom

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

16th Feb 2024
Unwinding Russian serfdom took half a century. To eventually do it in the face of powerful opposition took a remarkable approach that let peasants vote themselves into freedom.
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What I’ve been reading, July–August 2023 A quasi-monthly feature (I skipped it last month, so this is a double portion). This is a longish...
7th Aug 2023
32

What I’ve been reading, July–August 2023

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

7th Aug 2023
A quasi-monthly feature (I skipped it last month, so this is a double portion). This is a longish post covering many topics; feel free to skim and skip around. Recent blog posts and news stories are generally omitted; you can find them in my links digests. These updates are less...
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What Are My Politics? And my unrefined thoughts on US politics
1st Apr 2025
44

What Are My Politics?

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

1st Apr 2025
And my unrefined thoughts on US politics
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How a Human Smell Receptor Works Is Finally Revealed After decades of frustration, researchers have finally determined how an airborne scent molecule...
1st May 2023
158

How a Human Smell Receptor Works Is Finally Revealed

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

1st May 2023
After decades of frustration, researchers have finally determined how an airborne scent molecule links to a human smell receptor. The post How a Human Smell Receptor Works Is Finally Revealed first appeared on Quanta Magazine
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Get your fine, handcrafted artisanal essays right here I don’t use AI to draft my writing. These are fine handcrafted artisanal essays, every word placed...
10th Jun 2026
1

Get your fine, handcrafted artisanal essays right here

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

10th Jun 2026
I don’t use AI to draft my writing. These are fine handcrafted artisanal essays, every word placed individually with loving care. I use AI a lot for researching, occasionally for brainstorming, and increasingly for fact-checking. But not for outlining, drafting, or directly...
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Making energy too cheap to meter The great slowdown began when we started rationing energy. Restarting progress means getting energy...
12th Oct 2022
1

Making energy too cheap to meter

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

12th Oct 2022
The great slowdown began when we started rationing energy. Restarting progress means getting energy that is so abundant that it’s almost free.
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How to share your data online with OSF The Open Science movement is here to stay. However, incorporating open practices like data sharing...
2nd Oct 2018
1

How to share your data online with OSF

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

2nd Oct 2018
The Open Science movement is here to stay. However, incorporating open practices like data sharing into your work flow can seem like a challenging task. If you have never made data available online before, the process can feel a bit daunting. Where should I put the data? What...
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A Nice (Almost Total) Eclipse of the Moon Aug. 27 How to get information about viewing the eclipse of the Moon Aug. 27 The post A Nice (Almost Total)...
22nd Aug 2026
2

A Nice (Almost Total) Eclipse of the Moon Aug. 27

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

22nd Aug 2026
How to get information about viewing the eclipse of the Moon Aug. 27 The post A Nice (Almost Total) Eclipse of the Moon Aug. 27 appeared first on Andrew Fraknoi - Astronomy Lectures - Astronomy Education Resources.
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The end of lead How a single taxi ride saved millions of lives
3rd Jul 2025
41

The end of lead

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

3rd Jul 2025
How a single taxi ride saved millions of lives
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Monoidal Monoidoidoids So I was on the nlab the other day, and I saw a fantastic joke: A 2-category is “just” a monoidal...
21st Aug 2022
33

Monoidal Monoidoidoids

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

21st Aug 2022
So I was on the nlab the other day, and I saw a fantastic joke: A 2-category is “just” a monoidal monoidoidoid! Here’s a screenshot in case the nlab page for 2-categories changes someday: There’s a thing called the Category Theorist’s “Just”, which describes the joy that many...
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Inland feeding by coastal godwits Species such as Dunlin and Knot are well-served by conservation measures that aim to protect...
10th Nov 2022
54

Inland feeding by coastal godwits

from wadertales [alt+shift+b] in science

10th Nov 2022
Species such as Dunlin and Knot are well-served by conservation measures that aim to protect estuaries but the same is not necessarily true for Black-tailed Godwits. In a 2022 paper in the journal Wader Study, Clément Jourdan and colleagues describe the movements of ten tagged...
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Energy storage in the internal states of molecules - old and new A science story first, then a US research ecosystem story later. When we think about using molecules...
2nd May 2026
1

Energy storage in the internal states of molecules - old and new

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

2nd May 2026
A science story first, then a US research ecosystem story later. When we think about using molecules to store energy, it's usually in the context of food or fuel, so that chemical reactions take place - bonds are broken and remade, and in an exothermic reaction, the products end...
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Why didn’t suicides rise during Covid? Covid-19 brought death, suffering and financial straits, so it was unsurprising that depression rose...
20th May 2021
1

Why didn’t suicides rise during Covid?

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

20th May 2021
Covid-19 brought death, suffering and financial straits, so it was unsurprising that depression rose around the world. But when the data came in, we found suicide did not – and it’s a mystery why.
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Common healthcare questions I get | Out-Of-Pocket Some of your FAQs finally answered
4th Dec 2024
88

Common healthcare questions I get | Out-Of-Pocket

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

4th Dec 2024
Some of your FAQs finally answered
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The Demons of Non-Denoms Religion in America was once the domain of institutions. How did it grow to be dominated by cults of...
1st Sep 2025
1

The Demons of Non-Denoms

from Asterisk [alt+shift+b] in science

1st Sep 2025
Religion in America was once the domain of institutions. How did it grow to be dominated by cults of personality — and what can the process tell us about the rest of American culture?
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It's all a blur If you follow information security discussions on the internet, you might have heard that blurring...
6th Feb 2026
1

It's all a blur

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

6th Feb 2026
If you follow information security discussions on the internet, you might have heard that blurring an image is not a good way of redacting its contents.
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Winter Solstice Arrives on Sunday Dec 21 Dec. 21 is the winter solstice. We explain what this means and how the seasons come about. The post...
19th Dec 2025
1

Winter Solstice Arrives on Sunday Dec 21

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

19th Dec 2025
Dec. 21 is the winter solstice. We explain what this means and how the seasons come about. The post Winter Solstice Arrives on Sunday Dec 21 appeared first on Andrew Fraknoi - Astronomy Lectures - Astronomy Education Resources.
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Why we didn’t get a malaria vaccine sooner Hundreds of thousands of people die from malaria each year, but it took 141 years to develop a...
7th Sep 2023
1

Why we didn’t get a malaria vaccine sooner

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

7th Sep 2023
Hundreds of thousands of people die from malaria each year, but it took 141 years to develop a vaccine for it. Advance market commitments could speed things up next time.
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Nanotyrannus Controversy Solved One of the things I like about following paleontology news is that new evidence can just be...
3rd Nov 2025
15

Nanotyrannus Controversy Solved

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

3rd Nov 2025
One of the things I like about following paleontology news is that new evidence can just be discovered, and sometimes these new pieces to the puzzle can significantly change what we think about past life. One such controversy I have been following for a while is whether or not...
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Reproducibility in materials research, and an anecdote Yesterday I attended the 40th annual summer research colloquium of the Smalley-Curl Institute at...
8th Aug 2026
1

Reproducibility in materials research, and an anecdote

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

8th Aug 2026
Yesterday I attended the 40th annual summer research colloquium of the Smalley-Curl Institute at Rice, a fun internal conference that provides a great opportunity for undergrads (including visitors), graduate students, and a few postdocs to present their work.  The keynote...
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The Promise of MIDAS: The First Experimental Early Warning Satellites Today in the United States we almost take for granted the military’s ability to detect missile...
19th Jul 2023
63

The Promise of MIDAS: The First Experimental Early Warning Satellites

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

19th Jul 2023
Today in the United States we almost take for granted the military’s ability to detect missile launches anywhere on the planet and quickly determine whether it […]
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The Lunar Tourist Attraction the Artemis Astronauts Will be Looking For I hope you are allowing the trip four humans are taking around the Moon to distract you a bit from...
7th Apr 2026
1

The Lunar Tourist Attraction the Artemis Astronauts Will be Looking For

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

7th Apr 2026
I hope you are allowing the trip four humans are taking around the Moon to distract you a bit from all the problems we are facing down here on Earth! Artemis II is mostly designed to test the engineering of the Orion spacecraft and all the systems that keep humans alive.  The...
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The Perplexing Appeal of <i>The Telepathy Tapes</i> The Telepathy Tapes claims that autistic children have the ability to read minds. Where do their...
6th Nov 2025
1

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

from Asterisk [alt+shift+b] in science

6th Nov 2025
The Telepathy Tapes claims that autistic children have the ability to read minds. Where do their claims come from — and why do so many people believe them?
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How much of HN is AI? TL;DR: As of June 2026, ~50% of daily top stories are about AI or generated by AI.
12th Mar 2026
1

How much of HN is AI?

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

12th Mar 2026
TL;DR: As of June 2026, ~50% of daily top stories are about AI or generated by AI.
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The Gambia, Part 1 of 2 In November I visited The Gambia along with ten travellers from Quest Nature Tours. Why The Gambia,...
19th Dec 2025
1

The Gambia, Part 1 of 2

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

19th Dec 2025
In November I visited The Gambia along with ten travellers from Quest Nature Tours. Why The Gambia, you may ask? This tiny country is not well-known to the international community, but it is an attractive ecotourism destination. The Gambia is a stable, English-speaking democracy...
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Lessons in frustration Assa Auerbach’s course was the most maddening course I’ve ever taken.  I was a master’s student in...
17th Feb 2025
64

Lessons in frustration

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

17th Feb 2025
Assa Auerbach’s course was the most maddening course I’ve ever taken.  I was a master’s student in the Perimeter Scholars International program at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. Perimeter trotted in world experts to lecture about modern physics. Many … Continue...
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Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart AIs Are? Scientists have repeatedly failed to recognize the complexity of animal cognition. Will we make the...
1st Jun 2023
26

Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart AIs Are?

from Asterisk [alt+shift+b] in science

1st Jun 2023
Scientists have repeatedly failed to recognize the complexity of animal cognition. Will we make the same mistakes with AI?
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Life beyond the screen Since early 2020, I've been teaching courses in Interaction Technologies and Prototyping. Switches,...
15th Jul 2021
25

Life beyond the screen

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

15th Jul 2021
Since early 2020, I've been teaching courses in Interaction Technologies and Prototyping. Switches, light, gesture, motion, sound, haptics: this is all about exploring life beyond the screen.
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Nicole’s guide to interviewing for faculty positions Snow is haunting weather forecasts, home owners are taking down Christmas lights, stores are...
5th Jan 2026
1

Nicole’s guide to interviewing for faculty positions

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

5th Jan 2026
Snow is haunting weather forecasts, home owners are taking down Christmas lights, stores are discounting exercise equipment, and faculty-hiring committees are winnowing down applications. In-person interviews often take place between January and March but can extend from December...
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Career Development Guide for Job Seekers Context October 2025: With the government shut down and NASA JPL business in apparent terminal...
3rd Oct 2025
1

Career Development Guide for Job Seekers

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

3rd Oct 2025
Context October 2025: With the government shut down and NASA JPL business in apparent terminal decline, I have received numerous inbounds from former colleagues and friends asking for advice in post-NASA career development. At the same time, in my day job running Terraform...
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The Fossil Footprint Nebula A rarely imaged target as it is very dim. This image took me over 50h of total exposure time. Total...
12th Jan 2024
72

The Fossil Footprint Nebula

from Light from Space [alt+shift+b] in science

12th Jan 2024
A rarely imaged target as it is very dim. This image took me over 50h of total exposure time. Total exposure time: 52h 40' Image resolution: 4,490 × 4,552px (0.96″/px) Shot from my driveway near Tucson, AZ in late 2023 Telescope: William Optics RedCat
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You've Been Lied To About Genetics Should we give Mendel's peas a chance? Nah, we've moved on.
20th Jan 2023
39

You've Been Lied To About Genetics

from SubAnima [alt+shift+b] in science

20th Jan 2023
Should we give Mendel's peas a chance? Nah, we've moved on.
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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,...
19th Jul 2023
45

The Familiar, Yet So Different, Hydrocarbon Rivers of Titan

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

19th Jul 2023
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...
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Why Indigenous rights matter
1st Aug 2025
1

Why Indigenous rights matter

from Conservation International [alt+shift+b] in science

1st Aug 2025
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The great reinforcer Alongside all the successes of science in the Covid era, the pandemic has also sparked an outbreak...
8th Feb 2021
1

The great reinforcer

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

8th Feb 2021
Alongside all the successes of science in the Covid era, the pandemic has also sparked an outbreak of viral misinformation and sloppy research, revealing the glaring flaws in our scientific system.
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Anne Neuberger: Inside the NSA ## The NSA reaches out Of her eight great-grandparents, seven were murdered at Auschwitz. “So my...
7th Aug 2014
1

Anne Neuberger: Inside the NSA

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

7th Aug 2014
## The NSA reaches out Of her eight great-grandparents, seven were murdered at Auschwitz. “So my family’s history burned into me a fear of what occurs when the power of a state is turned against its people or other people.” Seeking freedom from threats like that brought her...
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SLS is still a national disgrace Four years ago, unable to find a comprehensive summary of the ongoing abject failure known as the...
2nd Oct 2024
51

SLS is still a national disgrace

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

2nd Oct 2024
Four years ago, unable to find a comprehensive summary of the ongoing abject failure known as the NASA SLS (Space Launch System), I wrote one. If you’re unfamiliar with the topic, you should read it first.  It is hard to …
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Interview: Ted Nordhaus on ecomodernism Are technology and the environment friends or foes? In this wide-ranging conversation, we discuss...
20th May 2021
1

Interview: Ted Nordhaus on ecomodernism

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

20th May 2021
Are technology and the environment friends or foes? In this wide-ranging conversation, we discuss climate policy, activism and ecomodernism with Ted Nordhaus.
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What&#8217;s Special about Life? Bulk Orchestration and the Rulial Ensemble in Biology and Beyond Towards a Theory of Bulk Orchestration It’s a key feature of living systems, perhaps even in some...
11th Nov 2025
1

What&#8217;s Special about Life? Bulk Orchestration and the Rulial Ensemble in Biology and Beyond

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

11th Nov 2025
Towards a Theory of Bulk Orchestration It’s a key feature of living systems, perhaps even in some ways the key feature: that even right down to a molecular scale, things are orchestrated. Molecules (or at least large ones) don’t just move around randomly, like in a liquid or a...
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Evolution Isn't Always For The Best Evolution is not, I repeat, NOT natural selection
17th Mar 2022
19

Evolution Isn't Always For The Best

from SubAnima [alt+shift+b] in science

17th Mar 2022
Evolution is not, I repeat, NOT natural selection
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DNA of Giant ‘Corpse Flower’ Parasite Surprises Biologists The bizarre genome of the world’s most mysterious flowering plants shows how far parasites will go...
5th Aug 2021
1

DNA of Giant ‘Corpse Flower’ Parasite Surprises Biologists

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

5th Aug 2021
The bizarre genome of the world’s most mysterious flowering plants shows how far parasites will go in stealing, deleting and duplicating DNA. The post DNA of Giant ‘Corpse Flower’ Parasite Surprises Biologists first appeared on Quanta Magazine
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Neal Stephenson: ANATHEM Book Launch Event ### _Anathem_ book launch Neal Stephenson's nearly thousand page tome...
9th Sep 2008
1

Neal Stephenson: ANATHEM Book Launch Event

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

9th Sep 2008
### _Anathem_ book launch Neal Stephenson's nearly thousand page tome [_Anathem_](https://longnow.org/anathem/) was inspired in part by Long Now's [10,000 Year Clock](https://longnow.org/projects/clock/) project, and so a collaboration on the launch event was a natural fit. With...
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AI After Drug Development Coming up with drug candidates isn’t the bottleneck on finding new treatments. Can AI help with the...
1st Jan 1970
1

AI After Drug Development

from Asterisk [alt+shift+b] in science

1st Jan 1970
Coming up with drug candidates isn’t the bottleneck on finding new treatments. Can AI help with the things that are?
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Human behavior is an intuition-pump for AI risk I just finished this excellent book: If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies. This book influenced my...
17th Nov 2025
1

Human behavior is an intuition-pump for AI risk

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

17th Nov 2025
I just finished this excellent book: If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies. This book influenced my opinions on p(doom). Before reading the book, I was uncertain about whether AI could pose an existential risk for humanity. After reading the book, I’m starting to entertain the...
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Bicycle There is something delightful about riding a bicycle. Once mastered, the simple action of pedaling...
28th Mar 2023
162

Bicycle

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

28th Mar 2023
There is something delightful about riding a bicycle. Once mastered, the simple action of pedaling to move forward and turning the handlebars to steer makes bike riding an effortless activity. In the demonstration below, you can guide the rider with the slider, and you can also...
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Nassim Nicholas Taleb: The Future Has Always Been Crazier Than We Thought ### Dispatches from Extremistan A "black swan," Taleb explained, is an event which is 1) Hard to...
5th Feb 2008
1

Nassim Nicholas Taleb: The Future Has Always Been Crazier Than We Thought

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

5th Feb 2008
### Dispatches from Extremistan A "black swan," Taleb explained, is an event which is 1) Hard to predict; 2) Highly consequential; 3) Wrongly retro-predicted. We pretend we know why the big event happened, and so entrench our inability to deal with the next world-changing...
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The Race Question As a scientific concept – does race exist? Is it a useful construct, or is it more misleading than...
5th May 2025
40

The Race Question

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

5th May 2025
As a scientific concept – does race exist? Is it a useful construct, or is it more misleading than useful? I wrote about this question in 2016, and my thinking has evolved a bit since then. My bottom line conclusion has not changed – the answer is, it depends. There is no fully...
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You Can’t Fail Unless You Try: NASA’s Pioneer P-3 Lunar Orbiter Space enthusiasts of a certain age, like myself, grew up learning about the trio of NASA’s unmanned...
26th Nov 2024
90

You Can’t Fail Unless You Try: NASA’s Pioneer P-3 Lunar Orbiter

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

26th Nov 2024
Space enthusiasts of a certain age, like myself, grew up learning about the trio of NASA’s unmanned programs which provided scientists and engineers with vital information […]
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Think outside the screen Nobody likes stroking a pane of glass, so why do we love touchscreens so much? Let's build...
10th Nov 2018
26

Think outside the screen

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

10th Nov 2018
Nobody likes stroking a pane of glass, so why do we love touchscreens so much? Let's build distributed interfaces that work.
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The Case Against Dark Matter A proposed theory of gravity does away with dark matter, even as new astrophysical findings...
8th Dec 2016
1

The Case Against Dark Matter

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

8th Dec 2016
A proposed theory of gravity does away with dark matter, even as new astrophysical findings challenge the need for galaxies full of the invisible mystery particles. The post The Case Against Dark Matter first appeared on Quanta Magazine
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Eric Ries: Long-Term Stock Exchange Companies that operate with a long-term mindset tend to outperform their peers over time. But the...
3rd Mar 2020
1

Eric Ries: Long-Term Stock Exchange

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

3rd Mar 2020
Companies that operate with a long-term mindset tend to outperform their peers over time. But the pressure to achieve short-term quarterly gains often works against longer-term sustainable growth, and can push even the most visionary company into a short-term mindset. In 02019,...
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The Saga of AD-X2, the Battery Additive That Roiled the NBS Senate hearings, a post office ban, the resignation of the director of the National Bureau of...
1st Aug 2024
93

The Saga of AD-X2, the Battery Additive That Roiled the NBS

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

1st Aug 2024
Senate hearings, a post office ban, the resignation of the director of the National Bureau of Standards, and his reinstatement after more than 400 scientists threatened to resign. Who knew a little box of salt could stir up such drama? What was AD-X2? It all started in 1947 when...
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Upzoning New Zealand How a small country started building a lot of homes
1st Feb 2024
54

Upzoning New Zealand

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

1st Feb 2024
How a small country started building a lot of homes
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Clickbait and Misinformation Which is worse – clickbaity headlines for news articles that are factually correct, but may be...
3rd Jun 2024
96

Clickbait and Misinformation

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

3rd Jun 2024
Which is worse – clickbaity headlines for news articles that are factually correct, but may be playing up a sensational angle, or straight-up misinformation? It depends on what you mean by “worse”. A new study tries to address this information, with some interesting findings....
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Outbreak Harry Stevens at The Washington Post recently published a very elegant simulation of how a disease...
17th Mar 2020
47

Outbreak

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

17th Mar 2020
Harry Stevens at The Washington Post recently published a very elegant simulation of how a disease like COVID-19 spreads. If you haven't already, I highly recommend checking it out. Today I want to follow up with something I've been working… Read more ›
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Ralph Cavanagh & Peter Schwartz: Nuclear Power, Climate Change and the Next 10,000 Years ### Climate change and nuclear prospects Given the power to decide who would go first-- anti-nuke...
14th Jan 2006
1

Ralph Cavanagh & Peter Schwartz: Nuclear Power, Climate Change and the Next 10,000 Years

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

14th Jan 2006
### Climate change and nuclear prospects Given the power to decide who would go first-- anti-nuke Ralph Cavanagh from Natural Resources Defense Counsel or pro-nuke Peter Schwartz from Global Business Network-- the large audience Friday night voted for Schwartz to make the...
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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...
26th Mar 2025
63

Eukaryote Skips Town – why I’m leaving DC

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

26th Mar 2025
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.
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How Jurassic Plankton Stole Control of the Ocean’s Chemistry Only 170 million years ago, new plankton evolved. Their demand for carbon and calcium permanently...
10th Sep 2020
1

How Jurassic Plankton Stole Control of the Ocean’s Chemistry

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

10th Sep 2020
Only 170 million years ago, new plankton evolved. Their demand for carbon and calcium permanently transformed the seas as homes for life. The post How Jurassic Plankton Stole Control of the Ocean’s Chemistry first appeared on Quanta Magazine
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Government Comic Books Government comics have taught Americans how to prevent forest fires, survive a nuclear blast, and...
27th Nov 2023
66

Government Comic Books

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

27th Nov 2023
Government comics have taught Americans how to prevent forest fires, survive a nuclear blast, and how soldiers should handle homosexuality in the military.
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Sander van der Leeuw: The Archaeology of Innovation ### History of Innovation The development of human mental ability can be tracked through the...
19th Nov 2009
1

Sander van der Leeuw: The Archaeology of Innovation

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

19th Nov 2009
### History of Innovation The development of human mental ability can be tracked through the progressive crafting of stone tools, Van der Leeuw explained. First we learned to shape an edge---a line---then the surface, then the whole volume of the tool, then the sophisticated...
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How Math Has Changed the Shape of Gerrymandering New tools make it possible to detect hidden manipulation of maps. The post How Math Has...
1st Jun 2023
107

How Math Has Changed the Shape of Gerrymandering

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

1st Jun 2023
New tools make it possible to detect hidden manipulation of maps. The post How Math Has Changed the Shape of Gerrymandering first appeared on Quanta Magazine
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Sierpiński triangle? In my bitwise AND? Exploring a peculiar bit-twiddling hack at the intersection of 1980s geek sensibilities.
10th May 2025
61

Sierpiński triangle? In my bitwise AND?

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

10th May 2025
Exploring a peculiar bit-twiddling hack at the intersection of 1980s geek sensibilities.
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A New Twist Reveals Superconductivity’s Secrets An unexpected superconductor was beginning to look like a fluke, but a new theory and a second...
8th Jul 2021
1

A New Twist Reveals Superconductivity’s Secrets

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

8th Jul 2021
An unexpected superconductor was beginning to look like a fluke, but a new theory and a second discovery have revealed that emergent quasiparticles may be behind the effect. The post A New Twist Reveals Superconductivity’s Secrets first appeared on Quanta Magazine
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Using Sound to Modulate the Brain The technique is called holographic transcranial ultrasound neuromodulation – which sounds like a...
6th Oct 2025
28

Using Sound to Modulate the Brain

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

6th Oct 2025
The technique is called holographic transcranial ultrasound neuromodulation – which sounds like a mouthful but just means using multiple sound waves in the ultrasonic frequency to affect brain function. Most people know about ultrasound as an imaging technique, used, for example,...
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What’s Really Going On in Machine Learning? Some Minimal Models The Mystery of Machine Learning It’s surprising how little is known about the foundations of machine...
22nd Aug 2024
88

What’s Really Going On in Machine Learning? Some Minimal Models

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

22nd Aug 2024
The Mystery of Machine Learning It’s surprising how little is known about the foundations of machine learning. Yes, from an engineering point of view, an immense amount has been figured out about how to build neural nets that do all kinds of impressive and sometimes almost...
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Good posts from the Inkhaven blogging residency Cannot stress this enough: literally everyone at the writing residency was good at this. Maybe...
28th Feb 2026
1

Good posts from the Inkhaven blogging residency

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

28th Feb 2026
Cannot stress this enough: literally everyone at the writing residency was good at this. Maybe you'll find a new favorite blog among these.
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AI hype is excessive, but its productivity gains are real I'm kind of writing this to "past" me, who I assume is "current" you for a number of folks out...
19th Oct 2025
31

AI hype is excessive, but its productivity gains are real

from pcloadletter [alt+shift+b] in science

19th Oct 2025
I'm kind of writing this to "past" me, who I assume is "current" you for a number of folks out there. For the rest of you, this might just sound like ramblings of an old fogey super late to the party. Yes, AI is over-hyped. LLMs will not solve every problem under the sun but,...
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Engineering beneath the ice sheet Living in Greenland, deploying electronic beacons deep beneath the ice.
25th Nov 2024
59

Engineering beneath the ice sheet

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

25th Nov 2024
Living in Greenland, deploying electronic beacons deep beneath the ice.
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The Race between Waymo, Cybercab, and Uber One of the big tech transformations of 2026 will be robotaxis.
1st Jan 2026
1

The Race between Waymo, Cybercab, and Uber

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

1st Jan 2026
One of the big tech transformations of 2026 will be robotaxis.
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Advancing antivenom Snakebites kill between 80,000 and 140,000 people every year. Better antivenom should be a high...
8th Dec 2022
1

Advancing antivenom

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

8th Dec 2022
Snakebites kill between 80,000 and 140,000 people every year. Better antivenom should be a high priority – thankfully new technology can help.
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Every US Electrical Outlet Explained [Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.] I love the periodic table of...
2 weeks ago
-2

Every US Electrical Outlet Explained

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

2 weeks ago
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.] I love the periodic table of the elements. I love it because it reveals the deeper order of what seems like an otherwise wildly disparate collection of atoms with different physical forms, chemical properties,...
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Robert Fuller: Patient Revolution: Human Rights Past and Future ### The culminating human right What does it take to change human habits of cruelty (such as...
13th Aug 2005
1

Robert Fuller: Patient Revolution: Human Rights Past and Future

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

13th Aug 2005
### The culminating human right What does it take to change human habits of cruelty (such as slavery, genocide) and humiliation (racism, sexism)? What do past and present efforts for human rights tell about their future?… Robert Fuller is author of the ground-breaking...
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What Can We Learn about Engineering and Innovation from Half a Century of the Game of Life Cellular... Metaengineering and Laws of Innovation Things are invented. Things are discovered. And somehow...
18th Mar 2025
89

What Can We Learn about Engineering and Innovation from Half a Century of the Game of Life Cellular Automaton?

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

18th Mar 2025
Metaengineering and Laws of Innovation Things are invented. Things are discovered. And somehow there’s an arc of progress that’s formed. But are there what amount to “laws of innovation” that govern that arc of progress? There are some exponential and other laws that purport to...
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If only we had taller been Ray Bradbury once explained with a poem why he writes science fiction and why space travel is so...
4th Mar 2017
1

If only we had taller been

from John Salvatier [alt+shift+b] in science

4th Mar 2017
Ray Bradbury once explained with a poem why he writes science fiction and why space travel is so important to him. It is perhaps my favorite poem. Text version: The fence we walked between the years We ached and almost touched that stuff; O, Thomas, will a Race one day stand...
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3 ways to prevent the next pandemic with nature, according to science
18th Oct 2024
1

3 ways to prevent the next pandemic with nature, according to science

from Conservation International [alt+shift+b] in science

18th Oct 2024
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Peter Calthorpe: Urban Planet Throughout Peter Calthorpe's decade-spanning career in urban design, planning, and architecture, he...
6th Aug 2020
1

Peter Calthorpe: Urban Planet

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

6th Aug 2020
Throughout Peter Calthorpe's decade-spanning career in urban design, planning, and architecture, he has developed and practiced the key principles of [New Urbanism](https://www.cnu.org/resources/what-new-urbanism): that the most successful places are diverse in uses and users,...
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New updates + tetrahedra, tunneling times, and more Here are a number of items from the past week or so that I think readers of this blog might find...
9th Jul 2025
1

New updates + tetrahedra, tunneling times, and more

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

9th Jul 2025
Here are a number of items from the past week or so that I think readers of this blog might find interesting: Essentially all the news pertaining to the US federal funding of science continues to be awful.  This article from Science summarizes the situation well, as does this...
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Samurai city For three hundred years, Japan enjoyed enviable stability and peace. All it took was locking up its...
2nd Jun 2026
1

Samurai city

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

2nd Jun 2026
For three hundred years, Japan enjoyed enviable stability and peace. All it took was locking up its warlike samurai elite in the world’s least efficient city.
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