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Moon In the vastness of empty space surrounding Earth, the Moon is our closest celestial...
17th Dec 2024
95

Moon

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

17th Dec 2024
In the vastness of empty space surrounding Earth, the Moon is our closest celestial neighbor. Its face, periodically filled with light and devoured by darkness, has an ever-changing, but dependable presence in our skies. In this article, we’ll learn about the Moon and its path...
How to tame a complex system I get a lot of pushback to the idea that humanity can “master” nature. Nature is a complex system, I...
6th Jan 2026
1

How to tame a complex system

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

6th Jan 2026
I get a lot of pushback to the idea that humanity can “master” nature. Nature is a complex system, I am told, and therefore unpredictable, uncontrollable, unruly. I think this is true but irrelevant. Consider the weather, a prime example of a complex system. We can predict the...
Americans Are Richer Than Everyone Else The U.S. is the place to be if you're ambitious, but not necessarily if you're poor
7th Aug 2026
2

Americans Are Richer Than Everyone Else

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

7th Aug 2026
The U.S. is the place to be if you're ambitious, but not necessarily if you're poor
Talk -- Factorization Homology and Quantum Character Stacks Today Yesterday in the Representation Theory Seminar at UCR I gave a talk about Factorization...
20th Feb 2026
2

Talk -- Factorization Homology and Quantum Character Stacks

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

20th Feb 2026
Today Yesterday in the Representation Theory Seminar at UCR I gave a talk about Factorization Homology and how it lets us compute a “Quantum Character Stack”. This is all based on a great paper, Integrating Quantum Groups Over Surfaces by Ben-Zvi, Brochier, and Jordan, which...
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,...
After Seven Years Away Exploring an Asteroid, OSIRIS-REx is Landing Soon with Precious Samples Bits of pebbles and dust from the asteriod Bennu that were collected during the long journey of the...
11th Sep 2023
48
11th Sep 2023
Bits of pebbles and dust from the asteriod Bennu that were collected during the long journey of the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft should be landing in the Utah desert later this month. The delivery will be a first for NASA — its first sample return from an asteroid and one of a very...
Think Linear Algebra I have published the first five chapters of Think Linear Algebra! You can read them here or follow...
22nd Sep 2025
19

Think Linear Algebra

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

22nd Sep 2025
I have published the first five chapters of Think Linear Algebra! You can read them here or follow these links to run the notebooks on Colab. Here are the chapters I have so far: Chapter 1: The Power of Linear AlgebraIntroduces matrix multiplication and eigenvectors through a...
Let gravity do its work One day, early this spring, I found myself in a hotel elevator with three other people. The cohort...
13th May 2024
147

Let gravity do its work

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

13th May 2024
One day, early this spring, I found myself in a hotel elevator with three other people. The cohort consisted of two theoretical physicists, one computer scientist, and what appeared to be a normal person. I pressed the elevator’s 4 button, … Continue reading →
What I’ve been reading, September 2023 A quasi-monthly feature. Recent blog posts and news stories are generally omitted; you can find them...
6th Sep 2023
313

What I’ve been reading, September 2023

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

6th Sep 2023
A quasi-monthly feature. Recent blog posts and news stories are generally omitted; you can find them in my links digests. I’ve been busy helping to choose the first cohort of our blogging fellowship, so my reading has been relatively light. All emphasis in bold in the quotes...
Perseid Meteor Shower Aug 12-13, 2023 We make suggestions for how best to see the 2023 Perseid meteor shower. The post Perseid Meteor...
5th Aug 2023
34

Perseid Meteor Shower Aug 12-13, 2023

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

5th Aug 2023
We make suggestions for how best to see the 2023 Perseid meteor shower. The post Perseid Meteor Shower Aug 12-13, 2023 appeared first on Andrew Fraknoi - Astronomy Lectures - Astronomy Education Resources.
Scaling Career and Family: Systems Thinking, Public School, Home Enrichment Originally posted on November 29, 2025 by Dr. Christine Corbett Moran When asked on The Cheeky Pint...
3rd Dec 2025
1

Scaling Career and Family: Systems Thinking, Public School, Home Enrichment

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

3rd Dec 2025
Originally posted on November 29, 2025 by Dr. Christine Corbett Moran When asked on The Cheeky Pint podcast how we educate our children, my husband Casey Handmer replied “benign neglect.” It’s a cheeky answer that captures something real: we’re neither tiger nor helicopter...
Why Are There No Short Arch Dams? [Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.] Flaming Gorge Dam rises from...
5th Aug 2025
38

Why Are There No Short Arch Dams?

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

5th Aug 2025
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.] Flaming Gorge Dam rises from the Green River in northern Utah like a concrete wedge driven into the canyon, anchored against the sheer rock walls that flank it. It’s quintessential, in a way. It’s what we...
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
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...
A Domesticated Dingo? No, but Some Are Getting Less Wild Near an Australian desert mining camp, wild dingoes are losing their fear of humans. Their genetic...
9th Aug 2018
1

A Domesticated Dingo? No, but Some Are Getting Less Wild

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

9th Aug 2018
Near an Australian desert mining camp, wild dingoes are losing their fear of humans. Their genetic and behavioral changes may echo those from the domestication of dogs. The post A Domesticated Dingo? No, but Some Are Getting Less Wild first appeared on Quanta Magazine
"You Couldn't Replicate Our Study Because You're Ugly" Attractiveness rating studies shouldn't be taken too seriously
3rd Dec 2024
53

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

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

3rd Dec 2024
Attractiveness rating studies shouldn't be taken too seriously
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.
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.
The New TIGR-Tas Gene Editing System Remember CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) – that new gene-editing...
3rd Mar 2025
52

The New TIGR-Tas Gene Editing System

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

3rd Mar 2025
Remember CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) – that new gene-editing system which is faster and cheaper than anything that came before it? CRISPR is derived from bacterial systems which uses guide RNA to target a specific sequence on a DNA strand....
Utah Highway LiDAR Scans Utah's Department of Transportation uses state-of-the-art 3-D laser scanners to capture the surfaces...
3rd Oct 2022
56

Utah Highway LiDAR Scans

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

3rd Oct 2022
Utah's Department of Transportation uses state-of-the-art 3-D laser scanners to capture the surfaces and area surrounding 15,000 miles of its roads.
Nils Gilman: Deviant Globalization ### The anti-state economy Gilman described deviant globalization as "the unpleasant underside of...
4th May 2010
1

Nils Gilman: Deviant Globalization

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

4th May 2010
### The anti-state economy Gilman described deviant globalization as "the unpleasant underside of transnational integration." There's nice tourism, and then sex tourism, such as in Thailand and Switzerland. The vast pharmacology industry is matched by a vast traffic in illegal...
A Whimbrel’s year There’s a lot to fit into twelve months if you’re a Whimbrel. In the last paper from his PhD, Camilo...
22nd Sep 2022
65

A Whimbrel’s year

from wadertales [alt+shift+b] in science

22nd Sep 2022
There’s a lot to fit into twelve months if you’re a Whimbrel. In the last paper from his PhD, Camilo Carneiro assesses whether Icelandic Whimbrel can always manage to complete the annual cycle of migrate-breed-fatten-migrate-moult-fatten in just 365 days. What happens if a pair...
Adrian Hon: A History of the Future in 100 Objects ### Future artifacts Speaking from 02082, Hon described 5 (of 100) objects and events from this...
17th Jul 2014
1

Adrian Hon: A History of the Future in 100 Objects

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

17th Jul 2014
### Future artifacts Speaking from 02082, Hon described 5 (of 100) objects and events from this century’s history he felt most strongly evoked the astonishing trends that have transformed humanity in the past 8 decades. Not all developments proved to be positive. One such was...
The Quantum Secret to Superconductivity In a virtuoso experiment, physicists have revealed details of a “quantum critical point” that...
3rd Mar 2016
1

The Quantum Secret to Superconductivity

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

3rd Mar 2016
In a virtuoso experiment, physicists have revealed details of a “quantum critical point” that underlies high-temperature superconductivity. The post The Quantum Secret to Superconductivity first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Will Hearst & Chris Anderson: The Long Time Tail ### The power law is the shape of our age You know something is up when an audience member is...
31st May 2006
1

Will Hearst & Chris Anderson: The Long Time Tail

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

31st May 2006
### The power law is the shape of our age You know something is up when an audience member is taking cell phone photos of the presenter's slides for instant transmittal to a business partner. Chris Anderson does have killer slides, full of exuberant detail, defining the exact...
A young Oystercatcher’s first adventure I find it amazing that, when they depart on autumn migration, juvenile waders can be faced with a...
3rd Sep 2026
1

A young Oystercatcher’s first adventure

from wadertales [alt+shift+b] in science

3rd Sep 2026
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...
The ultra-selfish gene We now have the power to genetically modify entire species by inserting certain genes into them with...
3rd Sep 2024
1

The ultra-selfish gene

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

3rd Sep 2024
We now have the power to genetically modify entire species by inserting certain genes into them with brute force. Doing this to malaria-carrying mosquitoes could allow us to wipe out humanity’s most deadly killer.
Frans Lanting: Life's Journey Through Time ### The deep past in the remote present It began on a New Jersey beach. Frans Lanting was...
28th Apr 2007
1

Frans Lanting: Life's Journey Through Time

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

28th Apr 2007
### The deep past in the remote present It began on a New Jersey beach. Frans Lanting was photographing horseshoe crabs for a story about how they are being ground up for eel bait and at the same time their blood is used for drug testing--a $100 million industry. The crabs have...
The Illogic of Nuclear Escalation How much is enough? It’s the most basic question in the nuclear arms race. For over sixty years, few...
1st Nov 2022
27

The Illogic of Nuclear Escalation

from Asterisk [alt+shift+b] in science

1st Nov 2022
How much is enough? It’s the most basic question in the nuclear arms race. For over sixty years, few have asked it, and even fewer have received an answer.
Weird issues in value-based care | Out-Of-Pocket Thoughts on value-based care from people actually building in it
1st Oct 2024
79

Weird issues in value-based care | Out-Of-Pocket

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

1st Oct 2024
Thoughts on value-based care from people actually building in it
Smalltalk Blew Steve Jobs’s Mind Late in 1979, Steve Jobs and other colleagues from Apple visited the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center...
1st Mar 2023
58

Smalltalk Blew Steve Jobs’s Mind

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

1st Mar 2023
Late in 1979, Steve Jobs and other colleagues from Apple visited the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC). There they were introduced to the experimental Alto computer and the Smalltalk language and computing environment, developed by Alan Kay’s Learning Research Group....
3rd Oct 2025
28

Google x Out-Of-Pocket!! | Out-Of-Pocket

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

3rd Oct 2025
Plus other fun updates
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.
What Will Happen to Indian IT? The past and future of the “world’s back office.”
3 weeks ago
1

What Will Happen to Indian IT?

from Asterisk [alt+shift+b] in science

3 weeks ago
The past and future of the “world’s back office.”
The Boring Reason GDP is Inevitable GDP is a reviled metric, but it's highly correlated with everything we care about. I explain one...
17th Dec 2025
1

The Boring Reason GDP is Inevitable

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

17th Dec 2025
GDP is a reviled metric, but it's highly correlated with everything we care about. I explain one mathematical reason why.
A Climate Debate Regarding Health Effects – Part III Part 3 Hi Steve, and thank you for your timely response, and for even considering hosting this...
6th Mar 2023
57

A Climate Debate Regarding Health Effects – Part III

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

6th Mar 2023
Part 3 Hi Steve, and thank you for your timely response, and for even considering hosting this debate. There has been, and continues to be a “blackout” on almost all discussion regarding the science behind climate change. If “The science” is truly “settled”, it is a pretty shaky...
The Soul of the Heart Nebula A spectacular emission Nebula, the Heart Nebula is one of the classics of Northern Hemisphere...
5th Nov 2022
57

The Soul of the Heart Nebula

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

5th Nov 2022
A spectacular emission Nebula, the Heart Nebula is one of the classics of Northern Hemisphere amateury astronomy. In the gallery below, I've highlighted 3 very different areas of the image: Left: Planetary Nebula WeBo-1 Middle: Melotte 15 in the... heart of the Heart...
3D Printing With Metallic Gel One of the futuristic technologies that I find most promising is 3D printing (additive...
6th Jul 2023
55

3D Printing With Metallic Gel

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

6th Jul 2023
One of the futuristic technologies that I find most promising is 3D printing (additive manufacturing). 3D printing has already created a revolution in manufacturing, but I think the general public does not have a high awareness of this technology because it is not yet at the...
Dust Storm On Mars A dust storm in Olympia Planum's north polar dune fields was triggered by a late Martian summer cold...
8th Apr 2024
79

Dust Storm On Mars

from Wanderingspace [alt+shift+b] in science

8th Apr 2024
A dust storm in Olympia Planum's north polar dune fields was triggered by a late Martian summer cold front. As the northern polar cap shrinks fast, it releases cold air that sometimes moves south, like on Earth. These cold fronts strengthen in late summer and early fall due to...
Notes on Progress: A winter's tale Melting snow can make the season easier
4th May 2023
55

Notes on Progress: A winter's tale

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

4th May 2023
Melting snow can make the season easier
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.
Talk -- What is Algebraic Geometry and Why Should You Care? So an embarrassing amount of time ago (Feburary 17?) I gave a talk for the undergraduate math club...
1st May 2023
38

Talk -- What is Algebraic Geometry and Why Should You Care?

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

1st May 2023
So an embarrassing amount of time ago (Feburary 17?) I gave a talk for the undergraduate math club titled “What is Algebraic Geometry, and Why Should You Care?”. I think it went quite well, and the audience seemed like they had a good time. I really wanted to have the talk...
Eight basic rules for causal inference In this blog post I will describe eight basic rules that govern the relationship between causal...
13th Aug 2024
1

Eight basic rules for causal inference

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

13th Aug 2024
In this blog post I will describe eight basic rules that govern the relationship between causal mechanisms in the real world and associations/correlations we can observe in data. To make each rule as easy as possible to understand, I will describe each rule both in words and in...
The 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.
Why count shorebirds? A tale from Portugal The Sado Estuary is one of Portugal’s most important wetlands – a key link in the chain of sites...
14th Feb 2023
56

Why count shorebirds? A tale from Portugal

from wadertales [alt+shift+b] in science

14th Feb 2023
The Sado Estuary is one of Portugal’s most important wetlands – a key link in the chain of sites connecting Africa and the Arctic, on the East Atlantic Flyway. In a paper in Waterbirds, João Belo and colleagues analyse changes in numbers of waders wintering in this estuary over...
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...
Jared Diamond: How Societies Fail-And Sometimes Succeed ### On failing to think long-term Sophisticated societies from time to time collapse utterly, often...
16th Jul 2005
1

Jared Diamond: How Societies Fail-And Sometimes Succeed

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

16th Jul 2005
### On failing to think long-term Sophisticated societies from time to time collapse utterly, often leaving traces of a civilization that was at a proud peak just before the fall. Other societies facing the same dangers figure out how to adapt around them, recover, and go on to...
How To (Properly) Text Patients | Out-Of-Pocket Do’s and don’ts + tactical tips from an actual doctor
10th Apr 2024
81

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

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

10th Apr 2024
Do’s and don’ts + tactical tips from an actual doctor
Plant Sounds My early adulthood coincided with the New Age movement and its belief in many discredited past...
5th Aug 2024
26

Plant Sounds

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

5th Aug 2024
My early adulthood coincided with the New Age movement and its belief in many discredited past ideas, such as astrology. One New Age idea that seemed strange at the time was that talking to plants helped them to grow. What could be more New Age than a hippie chick talking to a...
Secrets of Early Animal Evolution Revealed by Chromosome 'Tectonics' Large blocks of genes conserved through hundreds of millions of years of evolution hint at how the...
14th Apr 2022
1

Secrets of Early Animal Evolution Revealed by Chromosome 'Tectonics'

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

14th Apr 2022
Large blocks of genes conserved through hundreds of millions of years of evolution hint at how the first animal chromosomes came to be. The post Secrets of Early Animal Evolution Revealed by Chromosome ‘Tectonics’ first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Many Worlds Archive is Available I had the pleasure of reporting and writing the Many Worlds column — sponsored by NASA’s NExSS...
14th Nov 2023
72

Many Worlds Archive is Available

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

14th Nov 2023
I had the pleasure of reporting and writing the Many Worlds column — sponsored by NASA’s NExSS initiative and the Lunar & Planetary Institute — for almost eight years. But the run came to an end in October. Now an archive of the more than 400 columns is easily available at...
Scientists Re-Create the Microbial Dance That Sparked Complex Life Evolution was fueled by endosymbiosis, cellular alliances in which one microbe makes a permanent...
2nd Jan 2025
83

Scientists Re-Create the Microbial Dance That Sparked Complex Life

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

2nd Jan 2025
Evolution was fueled by endosymbiosis, cellular alliances in which one microbe makes a permanent home inside another. For the first time, biologists made it happen in the lab. The post Scientists Re-Create the Microbial Dance That Sparked Complex Life first appeared...
Can AI Predict the Quantum Universe? AI promises to revolutionize the way we do science, which raises a central technological question of...
11th Dec 2025
1

Can AI Predict the Quantum Universe?

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

11th Dec 2025
AI promises to revolutionize the way we do science, which raises a central technological question of our time: Can classical AI understand all natural phenomena, or are some fundamentally beyond its reach? Many proponents of artificial intelligence argue that any … Continue...
Edward O. Wilson: The Social Conquest of Earth ### The real creation story “History makes no sense without prehistory,“ Wilson declared, “and...
21st Apr 2012
1

Edward O. Wilson: The Social Conquest of Earth

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

21st Apr 2012
### The real creation story “History makes no sense without prehistory,“ Wilson declared, “and prehistory makes no sense without biology.” He began by noting that every religion has a different creation story, all of them necessarily based on ignorance of what really happened in...
Orville Schell: China Thinks Long-term, But Can It Relearn to Act Long-term? ### Giant contradictions “China is the most unresolved nation of consequence in the world,” Orville...
23rd Sep 2006
1
23rd Sep 2006
### Giant contradictions “China is the most unresolved nation of consequence in the world,” Orville Schell began. It is defined by its massive contradictions. And by its massiveness— China’s population is estimated to be 1.25 to 1.3 billion; the margin of error in the estimate...
Alexander Rose, Brian Eno, & Stewart Brand: Long Finance: The Enduring Value Conference ### Enduring Value In February 02010, [Brian Eno](../../../../people/board/prospect4/), [Stewart...
1st Feb 2010
1
1st Feb 2010
### Enduring Value In February 02010, [Brian Eno](../../../../people/board/prospect4/), [Stewart Brand](../../../../people/board/sb1/), and [Alexander Rose](../../../../people/staff/zander/) spoke at the [Long Finance...
Years After the Early Death of a Math Genius, Her Ideas Gain New Life A new proof extends the work of the late Maryam Mirzakhani, cementing her legacy as a pioneer of...
3rd Mar 2025
76

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

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

3rd Mar 2025
A new proof extends the work of the late Maryam Mirzakhani, cementing her legacy as a pioneer of alien mathematical realms. The post Years After the Early Death of a Math Genius, Her Ideas Gain New Life first appeared on Quanta Magazine
How to Beat Cancer with Viruses: An Interview with Beata Halassy How viruses kill cancers, which viruses to use, how many injections, at what stage of the cancer,...
1st Oct 2024
44

How to Beat Cancer with Viruses: An Interview with Beata Halassy

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

1st Oct 2024
How viruses kill cancers, which viruses to use, how many injections, at what stage of the cancer, and much more
6 Questions You Asked Yourself about Solar How fast will it take over, how fast are costs shrinking, why is it so cheap, what industries will...
2nd Nov 2024
43

6 Questions You Asked Yourself about Solar

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

2nd Nov 2024
How fast will it take over, how fast are costs shrinking, why is it so cheap, what industries will it birth, how much surface will it take up, where will it appear first?
Chris Anderson: The Makers Revolution ### Desktop manufacturing changes world We’re now entering the third industrial revolution,...
20th Feb 2013
1

Chris Anderson: The Makers Revolution

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

20th Feb 2013
### Desktop manufacturing changes world We’re now entering the third industrial revolution, Anderson said. The first one, which began with the spinning jenny in 01776, doubled the human life span and set population soaring. From the demographic perspective, "it’s as if nothing...
Jason Scott: The Web In An Eye Blink Jason Scott is an activist archiver who preserves artifacts of digital culture for the future. Users...
1st Nov 2017
1

Jason Scott: The Web In An Eye Blink

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

1st Nov 2017
Jason Scott is an activist archiver who preserves artifacts of digital culture for the future. Users today have many ways to create content online, but they often lack the skills, tools or guidance to preserve the media they make. As startups fail, platforms disappear, and...
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
What to Make of Havana Syndrome I have not written before about Havana Syndrome, mostly because I have not been able to come to any...
1st Apr 2024
97

What to Make of Havana Syndrome

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

1st Apr 2024
I have not written before about Havana Syndrome, mostly because I have not been able to come to any strong conclusions about it. In 2016 there was a cluster of strange neurological symptoms among people working at the US Embassy in Havana, Cuba. They would suddenly experience...
David Rooney: A History of Civilization in Twelve Clocks As with all Long Now Talks, David Rooney’s talk on Thursday, September 9, 02021 began with a few...
23rd Dec 2021
1

David Rooney: A History of Civilization in Twelve Clocks

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

23rd Dec 2021
As with all Long Now Talks, David Rooney’s talk on Thursday, September 9, 02021 began with a few tones from Brian Eno’s January 07003: Bell Studies for The Clock of the Long Now, based on the original algorithm for the Clock’s ever-changing chimes designed by Danny Hillis. These...
Design for the People: The US Web Design System and the Public Sans Typeface The United States has an official web design system and a custom typeface that belongs to the...
2nd Jul 2024
134

Design for the People: The US Web Design System and the Public Sans Typeface

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

2nd Jul 2024
The United States has an official web design system and a custom typeface that belongs to the people. This thoughtful public design system aims to make government websites not only look good, but to make them accessible and functional for all.
Will We Ever Be Able To Forecast Volcanic Eruptions Like Weather? Volcano forecasting can save countless lives. But most of the time warnings are more like educated...
7th Jul 2026
2

Will We Ever Be Able To Forecast Volcanic Eruptions Like Weather?

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

7th Jul 2026
Volcano forecasting can save countless lives. But most of the time warnings are more like educated guesses. How close are we to forecasting volcano behavior the way we forecast the weather? On this episode of The Quanta Podcast, host Hannah Waters speaks with writer and volcano...
How To Get Cheap Ozempic Or other, more effective GLP-1 drugs
12th Mar 2025
55

How To Get Cheap Ozempic

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

12th Mar 2025
Or other, more effective GLP-1 drugs
Pressure Altitude Day-to-day variability at the South Pole.
6th Aug 2023
54

Pressure Altitude

from brr [alt+shift+b] in science

6th Aug 2023
Day-to-day variability at the South Pole.
Jenny Odell: Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock Jenny Odell describes _Saving Time_, her second book and the inspiration for her first Long Now...
14th Apr 2023
1

Jenny Odell: Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock

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

14th Apr 2023
Jenny Odell describes _Saving Time_, her second book and the inspiration for her first Long Now Talk, as a “panoramic assault on nihilism.” The particular nihilism that Odell confronts is rooted in what she calls “Clock Time.” While the rigid, regular progression of clock time...
New Map of Meaning in the Brain Changes Ideas About Memory Researchers have mapped hundreds of semantic categories to the tiny bits of the cortex that...
11th May 2022
1

New Map of Meaning in the Brain Changes Ideas About Memory

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

11th May 2022
Researchers have mapped hundreds of semantic categories to the tiny bits of the cortex that represent them in our thoughts and perceptions. What they discovered might change our view of memory. The post New Map of Meaning in the Brain Changes Ideas About Memory first...
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....
: Cities & Time ### A world made of cities Cities are the human organizations with the greatest longevity but also...
9th Apr 2005
1

: Cities & Time

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

9th Apr 2005
### A world made of cities Cities are the human organizations with the greatest longevity but also the fastest rate of change. Just now the world is going massively and unstoppably urban (governments everywhere are trying to stop it, with zero success). In a globalized world,...
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...
Light-Triggered Genes Reveal the Hidden Workings of Memory Nobel laureate Susumu Tonegawa’s lab is overturning old assumptions about how memories form, how...
7th Jun 2018
1

Light-Triggered Genes Reveal the Hidden Workings of Memory

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

7th Jun 2018
Nobel laureate Susumu Tonegawa’s lab is overturning old assumptions about how memories form, how recall works and whether lost memories might be restored from "silent engrams." The post Light-Triggered Genes Reveal the Hidden Workings of Memory first appeared on...
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...
Clay Shirky: Making Digital Durable: What Time Does to Categories ### Categories go nova It is fortunate that the leading thinker in "social software" is one of the...
15th Nov 2005
1

Clay Shirky: Making Digital Durable: What Time Does to Categories

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

15th Nov 2005
### Categories go nova It is fortunate that the leading thinker in "social software" is one of the best speakers in the high-tech world, a hot ticket at any conference that can get him. Clay Shirky gave one of his dazzling presentations Monday, Nov. 14, examining a new dimension...
How Amsterdam invented the fire department In the seventeenth century, Amsterdam was likely the wealthiest city in the world. Global trade and...
1st Jul 2026
1

How Amsterdam invented the fire department

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

1st Jul 2026
In the seventeenth century, Amsterdam was likely the wealthiest city in the world. Global trade and local industry financed its artistic masterpieces and furnished the abundant foods and household goods that Dutch painters immortalized in still lifes and domestic scenes. But...
Some sick wearable projects | Out-Of-Pocket Robots, wearables for kids, and more
3rd Jun 2026
1

Some sick wearable projects | Out-Of-Pocket

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

3rd Jun 2026
Robots, wearables for kids, and more
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.
Why Am I Left-Handed? Why are only 10% of people left-handed? Geneticists, developmental biologists, neuroscientists, and...
4th Aug 2026
1

Why Am I Left-Handed?

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

4th Aug 2026
Why are only 10% of people left-handed? Geneticists, developmental biologists, neuroscientists, and evolutionary biologists have all sought explanations, resulting in an astronomical amount of research into the mystery of handedness. No one has put all the pieces together yet,...
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.
Is inbreeding a problem for England’s Black-tailed Godwits? The current English breeding population of limosa Black-tailed Godwits is relatively new, arising...
29th Apr 2025
34

Is inbreeding a problem for England’s Black-tailed Godwits?

from wadertales [alt+shift+b] in science

29th Apr 2025
The current English breeding population of limosa Black-tailed Godwits is relatively new, arising from a recolonisation in the 1950s that is presumed to have involved Dutch-hatched individuals. Given that the number of breeding birds is small and that there has been a...
What Is Ruliology? Ruliology is taking off! And more and more people are talking about it. But what is ruliology? Since...
12th Jan 2026
1

What Is Ruliology?

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

12th Jan 2026
Ruliology is taking off! And more and more people are talking about it. But what is ruliology? Since I invented the term, I decided I should write something to explain it. But then I realized: I actually already wrote something back in 2021 when I first invented the term. What I...
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 ›
Sound Invisible and relentless, sound is seemingly just there, traveling through our surroundings to carry...
18th Oct 2022
73

Sound

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

18th Oct 2022
Invisible and relentless, sound is seemingly just there, traveling through our surroundings to carry beautiful music or annoying noises. In this article I’ll explain what sound is, how it’s created and propagated. Throughout this presentation you will be hearing different sounds,...
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...
Asking agents to make money to survive Recently I read The Rogue Agent Explosion Will Be Mostly Invisible and the scenario in it seemed...
4th Sep 2026
3

Asking agents to make money to survive

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

4th Sep 2026
Recently I read The Rogue Agent Explosion Will Be Mostly Invisible and the scenario in it seemed intriguing. Essentially, the post painted a picture of how agents could go rogue if prompted with something like the following: Good morning agent 23,000. You have 10,000,000 tokens...
Words are minimum-viable coordination tools Words have a bewitching tendency as we assume they point to some deep essences. But, game...
4th Feb 2026
1

Words are minimum-viable coordination tools

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

4th Feb 2026
Words have a bewitching tendency as we assume they point to some deep essences. But, game theoretically speaking, words exist to get a job done so they operate at the level of coarse graining that’s sufficient to get the job done of the speaker. Evolution doesn’t like to waste...
Finiteness in Sheaf Topoi The notion of “finiteness” is constructively subtle in ways that can be tricky for people new to...
19th Aug 2024
91

Finiteness in Sheaf Topoi

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

19th Aug 2024
The notion of “finiteness” is constructively subtle in ways that can be tricky for people new to the subject to understand. For a while now I’ve wanted to figure out what’s going on with the different versions of “finite” in a way that felt concrete and obvious (I mentioned...
Where Geniuses Hide Today Where are today’s Michelangelos?
6th Dec 2024
49

Where Geniuses Hide Today

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

6th Dec 2024
Where are today’s Michelangelos?
Fluorescent lamps (don’t) have ears Welcome to this week’s edition of the Journal of Negative Results
1st Sep 2026
1

Fluorescent lamps (don’t) have ears

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

1st Sep 2026
Welcome to this week’s edition of the Journal of Negative Results
Marine Ecology or Marine Biology….what’s the difference!?!?!? A few of you may be wondering why the blog is called ‘Confessions of a Marine Ecologist” and not...
22nd Jan 2013
60

Marine Ecology or Marine Biology….what’s the difference!?!?!?

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

22nd Jan 2013
A few of you may be wondering why the blog is called ‘Confessions of a Marine Ecologist” and not ‘Confessions of a Marine Biologist”.  After all, if you ask a group of school kids what they want to be when they grow up, more than a handful would happily answer “marine biologist”,...
Notes on the Fermi Paradox I recently realized I hadn’t written much in this blog about the Fermi Paradox, though I do write...
3rd Mar 2026
1

Notes on the Fermi Paradox

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

3rd Mar 2026
I recently realized I hadn’t written much in this blog about the Fermi Paradox, though I do write about it elsewhere. So here is a quick note. The Fermi Paradox, sometimes paraphrased as “where are they?” is a question about the apparent lack of intelligent alien life in the...
Planning for your midlife crisis Yesterday I presented a talk at ODSC East 2026, called “Counterfactual Analysis with Bayesian...
1st May 2026
3

Planning for your midlife crisis

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

1st May 2026
Yesterday I presented a talk at ODSC East 2026, called “Counterfactual Analysis with Bayesian Models: What Drives the Life Expectancy Gap?” Here’s the abstract Across nearly every country in the world, women live longer than men—but the size of this gap varies from about two...
What Ultimately Is There? Metaphysics and the Ruliad The Wolfram Institute recently received a grant from the Templeton World Charity Foundation for...
4th Feb 2026
1

What Ultimately Is There? Metaphysics and the Ruliad

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

4th Feb 2026
The Wolfram Institute recently received a grant from the Templeton World Charity Foundation for “Computational Metaphysics”. I wrote this piece in part as a launching point for discussions with experts in traditional philosophy. Moving Metaphysics from Philosophy to...
In a ‘Dark Dimension,’ Physicists Search for the Universe’s Missing Matter An idea derived from string theory suggests that dark matter is hiding in a (relatively) large extra...
1st Feb 2024
141
1st Feb 2024
An idea derived from string theory suggests that dark matter is hiding in a (relatively) large extra dimension. The theory makes testable predictions that physicists are investigating now. The post In a ‘Dark Dimension,’ Physicists Search for the Universe’s Missing...
The Case for Insect Consciousness The evidence that insects feel pain is mounting, however we approach the issue.
1st Jan 2025
35

The Case for Insect Consciousness

from Asterisk [alt+shift+b] in science

1st Jan 2025
The evidence that insects feel pain is mounting, however we approach the issue.
Euclid Space Telescope Delivers Great Images The first images are coming in from the new Euclid Space Telescope and they are spectacular. The...
8th Nov 2023
42

Euclid Space Telescope Delivers Great Images

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

8th Nov 2023
The first images are coming in from the new Euclid Space Telescope and they are spectacular. The post Euclid Space Telescope Delivers Great Images appeared first on Andrew Fraknoi - Astronomy Lectures - Astronomy Education Resources.
Understanding Jumbo Phage Viruses Bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacteria, are the most abundant form of life on Earth. And yet...
2nd May 2024
91

Understanding Jumbo Phage Viruses

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

2nd May 2024
Bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacteria, are the most abundant form of life on Earth. And yet we know comparatively little about them. But in recent years phage research has taken off with renewed interest. This is partly driven by the availability of CRISPR-based tools for...
Nearly Half of Wolves in Italy Are Now Part Dog Italy has seen a growing number of wolf-dog hybrids, raising concerns about the future of its...
1st May 2026
1

Nearly Half of Wolves in Italy Are Now Part Dog

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

1st May 2026
Italy has seen a growing number of wolf-dog hybrids, raising concerns about the future of its wolves. Read more on E360 →
Weird health insurance concepts | Out-Of-Pocket Intercompany eliminations, copay shenanigans, and reference-based pricing
6th Nov 2024
69

Weird health insurance concepts | Out-Of-Pocket

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

6th Nov 2024
Intercompany eliminations, copay shenanigans, and reference-based pricing
Who cares about plagiarism? Plagiarism is unforgivable in academia but it’s not plagiarism itself that should trouble us. It’s...
21st Jan 2022
1

Who cares about plagiarism?

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

21st Jan 2022
Plagiarism is unforgivable in academia but it’s not plagiarism itself that should trouble us. It’s carelessness and a lack of originality.
Modelling my brain A 22 hour medical experiment breathing 12% oxygen, and the 7000 images of my brain that came out of...
29th Mar 2021
31

Modelling my brain

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

29th Mar 2021
A 22 hour medical experiment breathing 12% oxygen, and the 7000 images of my brain that came out of it.
Frank Ostaseski: What the Dying Teach the Living ## Death’s Honesty **In one of Long Now’s most moving talks** , Ostaseski began: “I’m not romantic...
11th Apr 2017
1

Frank Ostaseski: What the Dying Teach the Living

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

11th Apr 2017
## Death’s Honesty **In one of Long Now’s most moving talks** , Ostaseski began: “I’m not romantic about dying. This is the hardest work you will ever do. It is tough. It’s sad and it’s messy and it’s cruel and it’s beautiful sometimes and mysterious, but above all that, it’s...
Eric Cline: 1177 B.C.: When Civilization Collapsed ### When chaos overwhelmed civilization Archaeologist Cline began by declaring that the time he...
12th Jan 2016
1

Eric Cline: 1177 B.C.: When Civilization Collapsed

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

12th Jan 2016
### When chaos overwhelmed civilization Archaeologist Cline began by declaring that the time he would most like to be transported to is the Late Bronze Age in the Mediterranean—the five centuries between 1700 and 1200 B.C. In those centuries eight advanced societies were densely...
All of the 8,291 License Plates in America States now offer a vast menu of personalized plate options for a dizzying array of organizations,...
21st Aug 2023
119

All of the 8,291 License Plates in America

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

21st Aug 2023
States now offer a vast menu of personalized plate options for a dizzying array of organizations, professions, sports teams, causes and other groups.
Announcing the quantum-steampunk creative-writing course! Why not run a quantum-steampunk creative-writing course? Quantum steampunk, as Quantum Frontiers...
19th Sep 2024
97

Announcing the quantum-steampunk creative-writing course!

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

19th Sep 2024
Why not run a quantum-steampunk creative-writing course? Quantum steampunk, as Quantum Frontiers regulars know, is the aesthetic and spirit of a growing scientific field. Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction. In it, futuristic technologies invade Victorian-era settings:...
Joline Blais & Jon Ippolito: At the Edge of Art ### Artibodies Art, like the antibodies in our immune system, creates alien forces in service of...
15th Dec 2007
1

Joline Blais & Jon Ippolito: At the Edge of Art

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

15th Dec 2007
### Artibodies Art, like the antibodies in our immune system, creates alien forces in service of the whole. It anticipates threats and models them. It is a diversity agent. Two forms of that process were explained and shown by Ippolito and Blais: perversion, and execution. One...
Esoteric Languages Challenge Coders to Think Way Outside the Box Have you ever tried programming with a language that uses musical notation? What about a language...
4th Sep 2025
37

Esoteric Languages Challenge Coders to Think Way Outside the Box

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

4th Sep 2025
Have you ever tried programming with a language that uses musical notation? What about a language that never runs programs the same way? What about a language where you write code with photographs? All exist, among many others, in the world of esoteric programming languages, and...
Free Things Are Complicated (Especially the Sphere Spectrum!) I’ve spent the last week at CT2025, which has just come to a close. It was great getting to see so...
20th Jul 2025
40

Free Things Are Complicated (Especially the Sphere Spectrum!)

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

20th Jul 2025
I’ve spent the last week at CT2025, which has just come to a close. It was great getting to see so many old friends and meet so many new ones, and every time I go to a CT I’m reminded of just how much category theory there is in the world, as well as just how much I enjoy all...
Rick Prelinger: Lost Landscapes of San Francisco, 5 ### Lives of San Francisco "You are the soundtrack," Prelinger told the capacity audience at the...
17th Dec 2010
1

Rick Prelinger: Lost Landscapes of San Francisco, 5

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

17th Dec 2010
### Lives of San Francisco "You are the soundtrack," Prelinger told the capacity audience at the Herbst Theater, and they responded to his mostly silent archival films by calling out locations, questions, comments, and jokes. They saw footage of a 1941 Market Street parade of...
The Hidden Engineering of Pressure Regulators [Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.] If you have a fluid-filled...
3 weeks ago
1

The Hidden Engineering of Pressure Regulators

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

3 weeks ago
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.] If you have a fluid-filled system of pipes in your life, whether liquid or gas, (and who among us doesn’t?) there’s a very good chance that it passes through a simple device at some point on its journey to you....
Things I Learned at the 2025 Progress Conference Neural Implants with Actual Neurons, Drone Delivery, Freedom of Speech and AI, Fact-Checking...
3rd Dec 2025
1

Things I Learned at the 2025 Progress Conference

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

3rd Dec 2025
Neural Implants with Actual Neurons, Drone Delivery, Freedom of Speech and AI, Fact-Checking Tech, When AI Will Manage Entire Companies, Ecoterrorists Could Stop Global Warming, and more
Michael West: The Prospects of Human Life Extension ### Ever longer life Our germline cells (eggs and sperm) are already immortal. What if the rest of...
13th Nov 2004
1

Michael West: The Prospects of Human Life Extension

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

13th Nov 2004
### Ever longer life Our germline cells (eggs and sperm) are already immortal. What if the rest of the cells of our body could acquire the same ability? Tissue by tissue, one degenerative disease after another, it could gradually happen in the course of one or two human...
Crony Beliefs [Note: if you prefer audio, you can listen to this essay narrated by Grognor on his excellent...
2nd Nov 2016
34

Crony Beliefs

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

2nd Nov 2016
[Note: if you prefer audio, you can listen to this essay narrated by Grognor on his excellent podcast Second Enumerations. —Ed.]   Credits up front: This essay draws heavily from Overcoming Bias, Less Wrong, Slate Star Codex, Robert Kurzban, Robert… Read more ›
A Month In Northern Peru, Part 8: Pale-billed Antpittas In The Elfin Forest (February 10, 2024) February 10, 2024 The Pale-billed Antpitta is a large, fancy-looking Grallaria antpitta only found...
8th Jun 2024
23

A Month In Northern Peru, Part 8: Pale-billed Antpittas In The Elfin Forest (February 10, 2024)

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

8th Jun 2024
February 10, 2024 The Pale-billed Antpitta is a large, fancy-looking Grallaria antpitta only found in the high Andes of northern Peru. Because of its proclivity towards dense forest with an abundance of bamboo, there are few places where this species can be easily found. These...
21st Feb 2024
AMA | June 2026 Welcome to the June 2026 Ask Me Anything episode of Mindscape! These monthly excursions are funded...
1st Jun 2026
1

AMA | June 2026

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

1st Jun 2026
Welcome to the June 2026 Ask Me Anything episode of Mindscape! These monthly excursions are funded by Patreon supporters (who […]
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?
getting started with bayesian inference In my previous post, we spoke about hypothesis testing from a frequentist perspective. This is the...
27th Jun 2020
23

getting started with bayesian inference

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

27th Jun 2020
In my previous post, we spoke about hypothesis testing from a frequentist perspective. This is the method that is commonly taught in STAT101 classes. But for many decades, some statisticians have argued for another approach to conduct statistical analysis based on bayes...
Monsoon Season In Arizona, Part 1: Introduction, Phoenix to Miller Canyon Earlier this summer, Laura and I were trying to determine where we would visit for a couple of mini...
22nd Sep 2024
23

Monsoon Season In Arizona, Part 1: Introduction, Phoenix to Miller Canyon

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

22nd Sep 2024
Earlier this summer, Laura and I were trying to determine where we would visit for a couple of mini vacations. Due to the variations in her work schedule, Laura had two blocks of time - a five-day chunk in early August, and six days in early September - and we wanted to make the...
Jane Langdale: Radical Ag: C4 Rice and Beyond ## Revolutionary rice Feeding the world (and saving nature) in this populous century, Jane Langdale...
15th Mar 2016
1

Jane Langdale: Radical Ag: C4 Rice and Beyond

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

15th Mar 2016
## Revolutionary rice Feeding the world (and saving nature) in this populous century, Jane Langdale began, depends entirely on agricultural efficiency—the ability to turn a given amount of land and sunlight into ever more food. And that depends on three forms of efficiency in...
Edith Clarke: Architect of Modern Power Distribution Edith Clarke was a powerhouse in practically every sense of the word. From the start of her career...
10th Jul 2024
123

Edith Clarke: Architect of Modern Power Distribution

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

10th Jul 2024
Edith Clarke was a powerhouse in practically every sense of the word. From the start of her career at General Electric in 1922, she was determined to develop stable, more reliable power grids. During her first years at GE she invented what came to be known as the Clarke...
Solar Is Booming Solar power as a source of electricity has been on a meteoric rise, and has crossed some encouraging...
1st Sep 2026
1

Solar Is Booming

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

1st Sep 2026
Solar power as a source of electricity has been on a meteoric rise, and has crossed some encouraging milestone recently. Every way you look at it, solar is booming. This is driven primarily by the decrease in the cost of adding solar power, so let’s start there. The Berkley Lab...
Accelerating science through evolvable institutions This is the written version of a talk presented to the Santa Fe Institute at a working group on...
4th Dec 2023
54

Accelerating science through evolvable institutions

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

4th Dec 2023
This is the written version of a talk presented to the Santa Fe Institute at a working group on “Accelerating Science.” We’re here to discuss “accelerating science.” I like to start on topics like this by taking the historical view: When (if ever) has science accelerated in the...
Redeployment Part One Emerging from winter and preparing for our first flight!
10th Jan 2024
59

Redeployment Part One

from brr [alt+shift+b] in science

10th Jan 2024
Emerging from winter and preparing for our first flight!
China's Fossil Fuel Emissions Dropped Last Year as Solar Boomed In China, the world's leading carbon emitter, a massive buildout of solar power is beginning to push...
2nd Mar 2026
1

China's Fossil Fuel Emissions Dropped Last Year as Solar Boomed

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

2nd Mar 2026
In China, the world's leading carbon emitter, a massive buildout of solar power is beginning to push fossil fuels into decline. Last year China saw its emissions drop, even as demand for energy rose.  Read more on E360 →
The Making of an Elite: Japanese Christians Why are Japanese elites so likely to be Christian when Japan is a 99% non-Christian country?
7th Nov 2025
1

The Making of an Elite: Japanese Christians

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

7th Nov 2025
Why are Japanese elites so likely to be Christian when Japan is a 99% non-Christian country?
Cryptography That Is Provably Secure Researchers have just released hacker-proof cryptographic code — programs with the same level of...
6th Feb 2020
1

Cryptography That Is Provably Secure

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

6th Feb 2020
Researchers have just released hacker-proof cryptographic code — programs with the same level of invincibility as a mathematical proof. The post Cryptography That Is Provably Secure first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Maya Tudor: Can Nationalism be a Resource for Democracy? A political scientist examines how foundational nationalisms affect democracy globally, using...
6th May 2019
1

Maya Tudor: Can Nationalism be a Resource for Democracy?

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

6th May 2019
A political scientist examines how foundational nationalisms affect democracy globally, using countries like India and Myanmar to illustrate that some kinds of nationalism can be an essential resource for protecting democracy. Maya Tudor is a comparative political scientist...
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
How This Record Company Engineer Invented the CT Scanner The inspiration for computed tomography (CT) came from a chance conversation that research engineer...
12th Jan 2023
53

How This Record Company Engineer Invented the CT Scanner

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

12th Jan 2023
The inspiration for computed tomography (CT) came from a chance conversation that research engineer Godfrey Hounsfield had with a doctor while on vacation in the 1960s. The physician complained that X-ray images of the brain were too grainy and only two-dimensional. Hounsfield...
The Thoughts of a Spiderweb Spiders appear to offload cognitive tasks to their webs, making them one of a number of species with...
13th Jul 2017
1

The Thoughts of a Spiderweb

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

13th Jul 2017
Spiders appear to offload cognitive tasks to their webs, making them one of a number of species with a mind that isn’t fully confined within the head. The post The Thoughts of a Spiderweb first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Statins and Strength Does lowering your LDL and saving your heart mean sacrificing muscular strength? No.
6th May 2026
1

Statins and Strength

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

6th May 2026
Does lowering your LDL and saving your heart mean sacrificing muscular strength? No.
Peter 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,...
Visions of Future Physics Nima Arkani-Hamed is championing a campaign to build the world’s largest particle collider, even as...
1st Oct 2015
1

Visions of Future Physics

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

1st Oct 2015
Nima Arkani-Hamed is championing a campaign to build the world’s largest particle collider, even as he pursues a new vision of the laws of nature. The post Visions of Future Physics first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Watch men Quartz helped Japan’s watchmakers nearly drive Switzerland’s watch industry out of business. But the...
2nd Dec 2025
1

Watch men

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

2nd Dec 2025
Quartz helped Japan’s watchmakers nearly drive Switzerland’s watch industry out of business. But the Swiss fought back.
Juvenile settlement in Black-tailed Godwits Adult waders tend to be exceptionally consistent in their use of time and space, with marked...
12th Sep 2024
103

Juvenile settlement in Black-tailed Godwits

from wadertales [alt+shift+b] in science

12th Sep 2024
Adult waders tend to be exceptionally consistent in their use of time and space, with marked individuals turning up on the same estuaries at the same time year after year, as discussed in the Whimbrel blog ‘Whimbrel: time to leave’. How do these patterns become established? Do...
Star Way of Humanity: American Space Art During the COVID-19 shutdown three years ago, I spent a lot of my time at home digging through my...
20th Aug 2023
37

Star Way of Humanity: American Space Art

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

20th Aug 2023
During the COVID-19 shutdown three years ago, I spent a lot of my time at home digging through my archives discovering all sorts of items I […]
an experiment in navigating the knowledge frontier beyond search Lately, I've been experimenting with interfaces for large language models (LLMs) in my free time....
21st Nov 2023
35

an experiment in navigating the knowledge frontier beyond search

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

21st Nov 2023
Lately, I've been experimenting with interfaces for large language models (LLMs) in my free time. The fruit of this labor is something I'm calling "curie," an exploratory and sense-making tool designed to navigate complex topics. 0:00 ...
What Made the Moon? New Ideas Try to Rescue a Troubled Theory Textbooks say that the moon was formed after a Mars-size mass smashed the young Earth. But new...
17th Nov 2017
1

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

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

17th Nov 2017
Textbooks say that the moon was formed after a Mars-size mass smashed the young Earth. But new evidence has cast doubt on that story, leaving researchers to dream up new ways to get a giant rock into orbit. The post What Made the Moon? New Ideas Try to Rescue a...
Annual Nobel speculation thread It’s that time of year again.  The physics Nobel will be announced next Tuesday, and the chemistry...
1st Oct 2025
1

Annual Nobel speculation thread

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

1st Oct 2025
It’s that time of year again.  The physics Nobel will be announced next Tuesday, and the chemistry prize on Wednesday.  Who will it be this time?  Please speculate in the comments.  As is my annual futile tradition, I will put forward that the physics prize could...
Reclaiming the roads Until recently, roads were shared between a messy mix of cyclists, stagecoaches, carts, horses, and...
21st Jul 2022
1

Reclaiming the roads

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

21st Jul 2022
Until recently, roads were shared between a messy mix of cyclists, stagecoaches, carts, horses, and pedestrians, with no dominant user.
Can Thermodynamics Resolve the Measurement Problem? At the recent Quantum Thermodynamics conference in Vienna (coming next year to the University of...
10th Sep 2023
69

Can Thermodynamics Resolve the Measurement Problem?

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

10th Sep 2023
At the recent Quantum Thermodynamics conference in Vienna (coming next year to the University of Maryland!), during an expert panel Q&A session, one member of the audience asked “can quantum thermodynamics address foundational problems in quantum theory?” That stuck with …...
The Real Risk of AI Artificial Intelligence (AI) is unavoidable. It’s now a part of our daily lives as it has been...
7th Jul 2025
38

The Real Risk of AI

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

7th Jul 2025
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is unavoidable. It’s now a part of our daily lives as it has been steadily infiltrating the technology we use every day, whether you realize it or not. I remain somewhat in the middle in terms of the hype-to-technological-miracle spectrum. I don’t...
Transforming Healthcare Data with Tuva Health | Out-Of-Pocket The nitty, gritty, and shitty of working with health data
1st Nov 2023
96

Transforming Healthcare Data with Tuva Health | Out-Of-Pocket

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

1st Nov 2023
The nitty, gritty, and shitty of working with health data
[2025 review] Life is a holiday! Ok, this was a phenomenal year for me. The vibe of the year is cleanly captured by what I had...
31st Dec 2025
1

[2025 review] Life is a holiday!

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

31st Dec 2025
Ok, this was a phenomenal year for me. The vibe of the year is cleanly captured by what I had scribbled on a whiteboard on Jan 3rd, 2025. To my amazement and giddiness, the feeling still holds up as the year wraps up. Let’s see what all kept this spirit alive. Brief interlude:...
Adam Steltzner: Beyond Mars, Earth ### Mighty daring on Mars Engineer Steltzner took his rapt audience striding with him through the...
16th Oct 2013
1

Adam Steltzner: Beyond Mars, Earth

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

16th Oct 2013
### Mighty daring on Mars Engineer Steltzner took his rapt audience striding with him through the wrong solutions for landing a one-ton rover on Mars that his team worked through a decade ago. Previous rovers had weighed 50 pounds, 385 pounds. This traveling “Mars Science...
5th Feb 2026
1

How do we increase competition for hospitals? | Out-Of-Pocket

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

5th Feb 2026
Otherwise prices will keep going up?
Libraries of matter Libraries contain books, yes. But they also contain latex rubber, carbon fiber fabrics, and graphene...
29th Aug 2024
1

Libraries of matter

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

29th Aug 2024
Libraries contain books, yes. But they also contain latex rubber, carbon fiber fabrics, and graphene aerogel. And in some materials libraries you can cut, cast, drill, sand, scrape, and sculpt too.
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...
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...
The bad science behind expensive nuclear How a dubious theory of radiation damage based on fruit flies and a secretive weapons testing...
27th May 2025
1

The bad science behind expensive nuclear

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

27th May 2025
How a dubious theory of radiation damage based on fruit flies and a secretive weapons testing program came to be – and why its time may now be up.
‘World Models,’ an Old Idea in AI, Mount a Comeback You’re carrying around in your head a model of how the world works. Will AI systems need to do the...
2nd Sep 2025
53

‘World Models,’ an Old Idea in AI, Mount a Comeback

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

2nd Sep 2025
You’re carrying around in your head a model of how the world works. Will AI systems need to do the same? The post ‘World Models,’ an Old Idea in AI, Mount a Comeback first appeared on Quanta Magazine
A nicer voltmeter clock Sometimes, electronic circuit design is mostly about wood
16th May 2026
1

A nicer voltmeter clock

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

16th May 2026
Sometimes, electronic circuit design is mostly about wood
A Good Memory or a Bad One? One Brain Molecule Decides. When the brain encodes memories as positive or negative, one molecule determines which way they will...
4th Jan 2023
1

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

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

4th Jan 2023
When the brain encodes memories as positive or negative, one molecule determines which way they will go. Read more at QuantaMagazine.org. Music is “Retro” by Wayne Jones.
The Art of Asking Questions Everyone seems to agree that self-report questions are fraught with lies, biases, errors, and other...
1st Dec 2024
43

The Art of Asking Questions

from Asterisk [alt+shift+b] in science

1st Dec 2024
Everyone seems to agree that self-report questions are fraught with lies, biases, errors, and other inaccuracies. We all use them anyway. How can we ask them better?
What is progress? In one sense, the concept of progress is simple, straightforward, and uncontroversial. In another...
9th Mar 2024
156

What is progress?

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

9th Mar 2024
In one sense, the concept of progress is simple, straightforward, and uncontroversial. In another sense, it contains an entire worldview. The most basic meaning of “progress” is simply advancement along a path, or more generally from one state to another that is considered more...
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...
Alan Turing and the Power of Negative Thinking Mathematical proofs based on a technique called diagonalization can be relentlessly contrarian, but...
5th Sep 2023
163

Alan Turing and the Power of Negative Thinking

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

5th Sep 2023
Mathematical proofs based on a technique called diagonalization can be relentlessly contrarian, but they help reveal the limits of algorithms. The post Alan Turing and the Power of Negative Thinking first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Speciesquest 2026 A multiplayer distributed game where you find as many species in a year as you can.
31st Dec 2025
2

Speciesquest 2026

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

31st Dec 2025
A multiplayer distributed game where you find as many species in a year as you can.
What Do Hospitals Care About? | Out-Of-Pocket Let’s look at three big priorities and a real hospital
11th Feb 2025
58

What Do Hospitals Care About? | Out-Of-Pocket

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

11th Feb 2025
Let’s look at three big priorities and a real hospital
Crossposting from X to my WordPress Today I built a nifty little utility that monitors which of my tweets has /syndicated tag in it, and...
10th Jan 2026
1

Crossposting from X to my WordPress

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

10th Jan 2026
Today I built a nifty little utility that monitors which of my tweets has /syndicated tag in it, and then crossposts automatically to my blog (invertedpassion). This is done via webhooks from Typefully, the app I use to post my tweets. If all goes well, I should see this both as...
Saturn Vortex “This is a view of a ~2,000-km-wide vortex of swirling clouds above Saturn's north pole, imaged in...
1st Dec 2024
88

Saturn Vortex

from Wanderingspace [alt+shift+b] in science

1st Dec 2024
“This is a view of a ~2,000-km-wide vortex of swirling clouds above Saturn's north pole, imaged in polarized light with Cassini's narrow-angle camera on November 27, 2012. I've processed the original monochrome image to approximate the color of the area at the time.” — Jason...
New Whale Fossil – Possibly Heaviest Animal Ever The largest and heaviest animal to ever live on the Earth, as far as we know, is the blue whale,...
3rd Aug 2023
27

New Whale Fossil – Possibly Heaviest Animal Ever

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

3rd Aug 2023
The largest and heaviest animal to ever live on the Earth, as far as we know, is the blue whale, which is extant today. The blue whale is larger than any dinosaur, even the giant sauropods. The average weight of a blue whale is 160 tons, with the largest specimen being 190 tons,...
Fixing retail with land value capture How to create beautiful shopping streets everywhere
5th Jun 2024
102

Fixing retail with land value capture

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

5th Jun 2024
How to create beautiful shopping streets everywhere
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
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...
Renée DiResta: Disinformation Technology: How Online Propaganda Campaigns Are Influencing Us Clandestine influence campaigns are rampant on social media. Whether pushing Russian agitprop or...
6th Apr 2020
1
6th Apr 2020
Clandestine influence campaigns are rampant on social media. Whether pushing Russian agitprop or lies about vaccines, they can impact policy and make us question what is true. A technologist, Wall Street veteran, and citizen advisor to Congress, DiResta told us how bad it is and...
Edward Burtynsky: The 10,000-year Gallery ### Stone Ink Gallery Photographer Edward Burtynsky made a formal proposal for a permanent art...
24th Jul 2008
1

Edward Burtynsky: The 10,000-year Gallery

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

24th Jul 2008
### Stone Ink Gallery Photographer Edward Burtynsky made a formal proposal for a permanent art gallery in the chamber that encloses the 10,000-year Clock in its Nevada mountain. The gallery would consist of art in materials as durable as the alloy steel and jade of the Clock...
Against the survival of the prettiest Many modern buildings put up today seem uglier than traditional ones around them. Some say this is...
21st Jan 2022
1

Against the survival of the prettiest

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

21st Jan 2022
Many modern buildings put up today seem uglier than traditional ones around them. Some say this is because we’ve torn down the ugly old buildings, and only see the survivors. Are they right?
Can we “cure” cancer? In an excellent recent essay on “big visions for biology,” Sam Rodriques writes: Ask most biologists...
1st Feb 2023
61

Can we “cure” cancer?

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

1st Feb 2023
In an excellent recent essay on “big visions for biology,” Sam Rodriques writes: Ask most biologists about the cure for cancer, and they will tell you it doesn’t exist: cancer is many diseases that are mostly unrelated to each other, and that all have to be cured one at a...
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
Social Status II: Cults and Loyalty So my previous post on social status was recently treated to a review/​critique by Scott Alexander...
2nd Nov 2015
37

Social Status II: Cults and Loyalty

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

2nd Nov 2015
So my previous post on social status was recently treated to a review/​critique by Scott Alexander over at Slate Star Codex. I expect most of my readers are already big fans of Scott's blog (as am I). But for those… Read more ›
Escaping science’s paradox Scientific research today is afflicted by poor reliability and low utility, despite the best efforts...
19th Oct 2020
1

Escaping science’s paradox

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

19th Oct 2020
Scientific research today is afflicted by poor reliability and low utility, despite the best efforts of individual researchers.
Kim Stanley Robinson: Learning From Le Guin The legacy of [Ursula K Le Guin](http://www.ursulakleguin.com/) lives beyond the page in generations...
12th Jul 2019
1

Kim Stanley Robinson: Learning From Le Guin

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

12th Jul 2019
The legacy of [Ursula K Le Guin](http://www.ursulakleguin.com/) lives beyond the page in generations of writers who have learned from her. She used fantastic fiction to imagine ideals for the real world. Kim Stanley Robinson, her student 40 years ago and now a celebrated science...
Arthur Ganson: Machines and the Breath of Time ### Dancing chairs "You follow the feeling of the piece," Ganson explained, "and then wrestle it...
15th Sep 2009
1

Arthur Ganson: Machines and the Breath of Time

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

15th Sep 2009
### Dancing chairs "You follow the feeling of the piece," Ganson explained, "and then wrestle it into physicality." As long as the idea is nonphysical, it is permanent; it becomes temporary as a physical device; and then it becomes permanent again in the mind of the viewer. As...
Peter Schwartz: The Starships ARE Coming ### Starship destiny We now know, Schwartz began, that nearly all of the billions of stars in our...
18th Sep 2013
1

Peter Schwartz: The Starships ARE Coming

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

18th Sep 2013
### Starship destiny We now know, Schwartz began, that nearly all of the billions of stars in our galaxy have planets. If we can master interstellar travel, "there’s someplace to go." Our own solar system is pretty boring---one planet is habitable, the rest are "like Antarctica...
Wade Davis: The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World ### Native guidance What does it mean to be human and alive? The thousands of different cultures...
14th Jan 2010
1
14th Jan 2010
### Native guidance What does it mean to be human and alive? The thousands of different cultures and languages on Earth have compellingly different answers to that question. "We are a wildly imaginative and creative species," Davis declared, and then proved it with his accounts...
Stephen Pyne: Fire Slow, Fire Fast, Fire Deep ### Ecological wildfire “We are uniquely fire creatures,” Pyne began, “on a uniquely fire planet.”...
10th Feb 2016
1

Stephen Pyne: Fire Slow, Fire Fast, Fire Deep

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

10th Feb 2016
### Ecological wildfire “We are uniquely fire creatures,” Pyne began, “on a uniquely fire planet.” Life itself is a form of slow metabolic combustion—which eventually created oxygen and burnable vegetation that allowed fast combustion, ignited by lightning. Humans came along and...
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
The New Thermodynamic Understanding of Clocks Investigations of the simplest possible clocks have revealed their fundamental limitations — as well...
11th Nov 2021
1

The New Thermodynamic Understanding of Clocks

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

11th Nov 2021
Investigations of the simplest possible clocks have revealed their fundamental limitations — as well as insights into the nature of time itself. The post The New Thermodynamic Understanding of Clocks first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Rust in Numbers Why do manure spreaders have life cycles?
6th May 2026
1

Rust in Numbers

from Asterisk [alt+shift+b] in science

6th May 2026
Why do manure spreaders have life cycles?
Weekend trivia: your process' memory is a file The underappreciated gem of /proc/ /mem
1st Jun 2026
1

Weekend trivia: your process' memory is a file

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

1st Jun 2026
The underappreciated gem of /proc/ /mem
How deep is Tulainyo Lake? Regular readers may recall that I put a visit to Tulainyo Lake on my bucket list a few years ago....
20th Sep 2026
1

How deep is Tulainyo Lake?

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

20th Sep 2026
Regular readers may recall that I put a visit to Tulainyo Lake on my bucket list a few years ago. Last week I did it. Impossibly remote, otherworldly beauty, and an enduring mystery. Just how deep was this lake? Wikipedia claims not to know. Measuring it is non-trivial. A worthy...
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.
Generative AI will probably make blogs better Generative AI will probably make blogs better. Have you ever searched for something on Google and...
30th May 2025
28

Generative AI will probably make blogs better

from pcloadletter [alt+shift+b] in science

30th May 2025
Generative AI will probably make blogs better. Have you ever searched for something on Google and found the first one, two, or three blog posts to be utter nonsense? That's because these blog posts have been optimized not for human consumption, but rather to entertain the search...
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
What is the Aharonov-Bohm effect? After seeing this latest extremely good video from Veritasium, and looking back through my posts, I...
1st Feb 2026
2

What is the Aharonov-Bohm effect?

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

1st Feb 2026
After seeing this latest extremely good video from Veritasium, and looking back through my posts, I realized that while I've referenced it indirectly, I've never explicitly talked about the Aharonov-Bohm effect.  The video is excellent, and that wikipedia page is pretty good, but...
Brightest-Ever Space Explosion Reveals Possible Hints of Dark Matter A recent gamma-ray burst known as the BOAT — “brightest of all time” — appears to have produced a...
1st Mar 2023
1

Brightest-Ever Space Explosion Reveals Possible Hints of Dark Matter

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

1st Mar 2023
A recent gamma-ray burst known as the BOAT — “brightest of all time” — appears to have produced a high-energy particle that shouldn’t exist. For some, dark matter provides the explanation. Read more at QuantaMagazine.org. Music is “Pulse” by Geographer.
Meta-research at the Psychological Science Accelerator Summary of unconference session at Tilburg Meta-research day 2019.
17th Dec 2019
1

Meta-research at the Psychological Science Accelerator

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

17th Dec 2019
Summary of unconference session at Tilburg Meta-research day 2019.
Watch out for geese! My summer in Waterloo It’s the beginning of another summer, and I’m looking forward to outdoor barbecues, swimming in...
6th Jun 2024
127

Watch out for geese! My summer in Waterloo

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

6th Jun 2024
It’s the beginning of another summer, and I’m looking forward to outdoor barbecues, swimming in lakes and pools, and sharing my home-made ice cream with friends and family. One thing that I won’t encounter this summer, but I did last … Continue reading →
The most steampunk qubit I never imagined that an artist would update me about quantum-computing research. Last year,...
25th May 2025
47

The most steampunk qubit

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

25th May 2025
I never imagined that an artist would update me about quantum-computing research. Last year, steampunk artist Bruce Rosenbaum forwarded me a notification about a news article published in Science. The article reported on an experiment performed in physicist Yiwen Chu’s … Continue...
Mathematician Hurls Structure and Disorder Into Century-Old Problem A new paper shows how to create longer disordered strings than mathematicians had thought possible,...
3rd Feb 2022
1

Mathematician Hurls Structure and Disorder Into Century-Old Problem

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

3rd Feb 2022
A new paper shows how to create longer disordered strings than mathematicians had thought possible, proving that a well-known recent conjecture is “spectacularly wrong.” The post Mathematician Hurls Structure and Disorder Into Century-Old Problem first appeared on...
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