The Roots of...
What I’ve been reading, November 2023
A ~monthly feature. Recent blog posts and news stories are generally omitted; you can find them in...
7th Nov 2023
A ~monthly feature. Recent blog posts and news stories are generally omitted; you can find them in my links digests. All emphasis in bold in the quotes below was added by me.
Books
Finished Lynn White, Medieval Technology and Social Change (1962). Last time I talked about the...
Beautiful Public...
The footprints of every building in NYC
The landscape of NYC changes so much that the New York City Office of Technology and Innovation...
20th Jul 2026
The landscape of NYC changes so much that the New York City Office of Technology and Innovation updates a dataset of building footprint shapes weekly.
Explorations of an...
2024 (Part 2 of 2)
June and July
I always sound like a broken record each year when discussing June and July. I was...
1st Jan 2025
June and July
I always sound like a broken record each year when discussing June and July. I was fortunate to have a lot of field work in 2024 which kept me occupied for most of these two months. But it's one of the best jobs in the world as I spend each and every day outside,...
pcloadletter
The Monty Hall Problem, a side-by-side simulation
I saw a cool version of the Monty Hall game here recently: https://monty.donk.systems.
This is...
1st Jan 2026
I saw a cool version of the Monty Hall game here recently: https://monty.donk.systems.
This is really cool! But I had an itch I wanted to scratch: rather than manually test out the probabilities, I wanted to run two games side-by-side: one where a switch happened and one where a...
NeuroLogica Blog
The New TIGR-Tas Gene Editing System
Remember CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) – that new gene-editing...
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....
Conservation...
'My son's son will see this elephant'
6th Jul 2026
Quantum Frontiers
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
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 →
Cremieux Recueil
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
The U.S. is the place to be if you're ambitious, but not necessarily if you're poor
Works in Progress...
The golden age of vaccine development
The first vaccine was a lucky accident. Now we can design new vaccines in weeks, atom by atom.
7th Jan 2026
The first vaccine was a lucky accident. Now we can design new vaccines in weeks, atom by atom.
Eukaryote Writes...
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
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.”
Stephen Wolfram...
Ruliology of the “Forgotten” Code 10
My All-Time Favorite Science Discovery June 1, 1984—forty years ago today—is when it would be fair...
1st Jun 2024
My All-Time Favorite Science Discovery June 1, 1984—forty years ago today—is when it would be fair to say I made my all-time favorite science discovery. Like with basically all significant science discoveries (despite the way histories often present them) it didn’t happen without...
Inverted Passion
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
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...
Long Now
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
### 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...
The Roots of...
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
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...
Interaction Magic -...
The UX of LEGO Interface Panels
LEGO interface panels are beautiful, iconic, and great for learning interface design basics. I...
2nd Aug 2020
LEGO interface panels are beautiful, iconic, and great for learning interface design basics. I bought 52 of them from BrickLink to explore the design, layout and organisation of complex interfaces.
Casey Handmer's blog
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
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...
The Quanta Podcast
To Live Your Best Life, Do Mathematics
The ancient Greeks argued that the best life was filled with beauty, truth, justice, play and love....
2nd Mar 2017
The ancient Greeks argued that the best life was filled with beauty, truth, justice, play and love. The mathematician Francis Su knows just where to find them.
The post To Live Your Best Life, Do Mathematics first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Probably...
Announcing Think Stats 3e
The third edition of Think Stats is on its way to the printer! You can preorder now from...
6th Apr 2025
The third edition of Think Stats is on its way to the printer! You can preorder now from Bookshop.org and Amazon (those are affiliate links), or if you can’t wait to get a paper copy, you can read the free, online version here. Here’s the new cover, still featuring a...
The Quanta Podcast
Why Am I Left-Handed?
Why are only 10% of people left-handed? Geneticists, developmental biologists, neuroscientists, and...
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,...
Casey Handmer's blog
Potentially undervalued companies
I am routinely solicited for my technical opinion on new and interesting technologies and companies...
30th Aug 2024
I am routinely solicited for my technical opinion on new and interesting technologies and companies developing them. 90% of the time, my answer is “I don’t know” but it continues to concern me that aspects of technical feasibility are evidently not legible to financial types (and...
Chris Grossack's...
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
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...
ToughSF
Fusion Highways in Space
A transport system that can get spacecraft to Jupiter in 10 days, but without a massive onboard...
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...
The Roots of...
Cellular reprogramming, pneumatic launch systems, and terraforming Mars
In December, I went to the Foresight Institute’s Vision Weekend 2023 in San Francisco. I had a lot...
4th Jan 2024
In December, I went to the Foresight Institute’s Vision Weekend 2023 in San Francisco. I had a lot of fun talking to a bunch of weird and ambitious geeks about the glorious abundant technological future. Here are few things I learned about (with the caveat that this is mostly...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
2024 Healthcare Predictions, Out-Of-Pocket Style | Out-Of-Pocket
I'm not a fortune teller, I'm a fortune, teller
12th Dec 2023
I'm not a fortune teller, I'm a fortune, teller
SubAnima
When Does Life Begin?
What *actually* makes conception special?
15th Jul 2022
What *actually* makes conception special?
Works in Progress...
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
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?
Cremieux Recueil
Statins and Strength
Does lowering your LDL and saving your heart mean sacrificing muscular strength? No.
6th May 2026
Does lowering your LDL and saving your heart mean sacrificing muscular strength? No.
NeuroLogica Blog
A Fully Renewable Grid?
My long-stated position (although certainly modifiable in the face of any new evidence,...
2nd Feb 2026
My long-stated position (although certainly modifiable in the face of any new evidence, technological advance, or good arguments) is that the optimal pathway to most rapidly decarbonize our electrical infrastructure is to pursue all low-carbon options. I have not heard anything...
Damn Interesting
This is Dang Interesting
Happy New Year! This has nothing to do with the new year.
We at this website know, reluctantly, that...
2nd Jan 2023
Happy New Year! This has nothing to do with the new year.
We at this website know, reluctantly, that “d*mn” is not always a welcome word. Additionally, we are aware that we have a few articles sporting even saltier vocabularies (settle down, Colonel Sanders!). Countless school...
Long Now
James Holland Jones: The Science of Climate Fiction: Can Stories Lead to Social Action?
The warming planet is increasingly the subject of all kinds of fiction. Beyond entertainment or...
4th Apr 2019
The warming planet is increasingly the subject of all kinds of fiction. Beyond entertainment or distraction could climate fiction (“Cli-Fi”) actually help us in solving the climate dilemma? Biological anthropologist and environmental scientist [James Holland...
Quantum Frontiers
Ten lessons I learned from John Preskill
Last August, Toronto’s Centre for Quantum Information and Quantum Control (CQIQC) gave me 35 minutes...
20th Jan 2025
Last August, Toronto’s Centre for Quantum Information and Quantum Control (CQIQC) gave me 35 minutes to make fun of John Preskill in public. CQIQC was hosting its biannual conference, also called CQIQC, in Toronto. The conference features the awarding of … Continue reading →
Cremieux Recueil
National IQs Are Valid
National IQ estimates are robust, reliable, and realistic
16th Jan 2025
National IQ estimates are robust, reliable, and realistic
Out-of-Pocket Blog
What Do Hospitals Care About? | Out-Of-Pocket
Let’s look at three big priorities and a real hospital
11th Feb 2025
Let’s look at three big priorities and a real hospital
Works in Progress...
The perks of being a mole rat
The secrets to extending human lifespans might lie in the animals that can already live for...
4th Feb 2026
The secrets to extending human lifespans might lie in the animals that can already live for centuries.
The Works in...
The road from serfdom
Using opt-ins to reform Russia's backwards tsarist agricultural sector
6th Mar 2024
Using opt-ins to reform Russia's backwards tsarist agricultural sector
brr
Showering at the South Pole
Potable water, and not much of it.
4th Feb 2023
Potable water, and not much of it.
brr
Polar Night
Surreal and otherworldly.
22nd May 2023
Surreal and otherworldly.
Works in Progress...
The beauty of concrete
Why are buildings today simple and austere, while buildings of the past were ornate and elaborately...
17th May 2024
Why are buildings today simple and austere, while buildings of the past were ornate and elaborately ornamented? The answer is not the cost of labor.
Peder M. Isager
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
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...
IEEE Spectrum
The Marimba Virtuoso’s Desktop Planetarium
The United States was at the time approaching “peak space.” The previous year, cosmonaut Yuri...
1st Oct 2023
The United States was at the time approaching “peak space.” The previous year, cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin had become the first human to reach outer space, and on 12 September 1962 President Kennedy would announce the United States’ intention to put a man on the moon before the...
Long Now
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
### 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...
Probably...
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
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...
Long Now
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
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...
Peder M. Isager
Why experiments are considered gold standard for answering causal questions
In this blog post, I will briefly explain why experimental designs are considered so valuable by...
7th Aug 2025
In this blog post, I will briefly explain why experimental designs are considered so valuable by scientists and why we often insist that randomized experiments are necessary for answering causal questions. I will use a practical example to illustrate this point. If you’re new to...
Works in Progress...
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
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...
The Quanta Podcast
What Actually Causes Lightning?
Thunderstorms have captivated humanity for millennia, and yet their inner workings remain deeply...
2nd Jun 2026
Thunderstorms have captivated humanity for millennia, and yet their inner workings remain deeply mysterious. On this episode of The Quanta Podcast, guest host and Quanta senior editor Hannah Waters speaks with staff writer Charlie Wood about the new technologies that are helping...
The Works in...
Notes on Progress: Artificial flavoring
"Artificial" didn't scare Americans in the 19th century. Why does it scare us now?
6th Apr 2023
"Artificial" didn't scare Americans in the 19th century. Why does it scare us now?
Andrew Fraknoi –...
Good Meteor Shower Coming August 11-12
The Perseid Meteor Shower is one of the best of the year for the untrained observer
The post Good...
27th Jul 2024
The Perseid Meteor Shower is one of the best of the year for the untrained observer
The post Good Meteor Shower Coming August 11-12 appeared first on Andrew Fraknoi - Astronomy Lectures - Astronomy Education Resources.
Long Now
James Fallows: Civilization's Infrastructure
### Infrastructure investment tricks
All societies under-invest in their infrastructure—in the...
7th Oct 2015
### Infrastructure investment tricks
All societies under-invest in their infrastructure—in the systems that allow them to thrive. There is hardware infrastructure: clean water, paved roads, sewer systems, airports, broadband; and, Fallows suggested, software infrastructure:...
Chris Grossack's...
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
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...
Quantum Frontiers
Spooky action nearby: Entangling logical qubits without physical operations
Einstein and I have both been spooked by entanglement. Einstein’s experience was more profound: in a...
3rd Feb 2026
Einstein and I have both been spooked by entanglement. Einstein’s experience was more profound: in a 1947 letter to Born, he famously dubbed it spukhafte Fernwirkung (or spooky action at a distance). Mine, more pedestrian. It came when I first … Continue reading →
Uncharted...
Should We Eradicate Mosquitoes?
They kill us and bother us, but is that enough to eradicate them, or their role in the environment...
2 weeks ago
They kill us and bother us, but is that enough to eradicate them, or their role in the environment is too important?
Stephen Wolfram...
Who Can Understand the Proof? A Window on Formalized Mathematics
Related writings: “Logic, Explainability and the Future of Understanding” (2018) » “The...
9th Jan 2025
Related writings: “Logic, Explainability and the Future of Understanding” (2018) » “The Physicalization of Metamathematics and Its Implications for the Foundations of Mathematics” (2022) » “Computational Knowledge and the Future of Pure Mathematics” (2014) » The Simplest Axiom...
Works in Progress...
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
We may not have flying cars but we do have incredible information technology. We’re mismeasuring the huge benefits it is bringing.
Beautiful Public...
WWII Japanese Mass Incarceration collections
Haunting photos and documents document a shameful chapter of America’s history—the forced...
18th Mar 2025
Haunting photos and documents document a shameful chapter of America’s history—the forced displacement and incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII.
Works in Progress...
How TV learned to sell itself
Sports solved a problem that nearly killed television.
11th Mar 2026
Sports solved a problem that nearly killed television.
Chris Grossack's...
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
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...
Probably...
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
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...
Long Now
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
**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...
SubAnima
Have We Already Found Life On Mars?
Definitions are a funny thing..
4th May 2022
Definitions are a funny thing..
The Quanta Podcast
AI Filters Will Always Have Holes
Ask ChatGPT how to build a bomb, and it will flatly respond that it “can’t help with that.” But...
6th Jan 2026
Ask ChatGPT how to build a bomb, and it will flatly respond that it “can’t help with that.” But users have long played a cat-and-mouse game to try to trick language models into providing forbidden information. Just as quickly as these “jailbreaks” appear, AI companies patch them...
Works in Progress...
Libraries of matter
Libraries contain books, yes. But they also contain latex rubber, carbon fiber fabrics, and graphene...
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.
Quanta Magazine
A Thermometer for Measuring Quantumness
“Anomalous” heat flow, which at first appears to violate the second law of thermodynamics, gives...
1st Oct 2025
“Anomalous” heat flow, which at first appears to violate the second law of thermodynamics, gives physicists a way to detect quantum entanglement without destroying it.
The post A Thermometer for Measuring Quantumness first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Cremieux Recueil
Did Unions End Long Work Hours?
Is it growth or organized labor that's more responsible for giving us shorter workdays?
4th Sep 2024
Is it growth or organized labor that's more responsible for giving us shorter workdays?
Long Now
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
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...
Explorations of an...
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
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...
The Roots of...
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
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...
Long Now
Walter Mischel: The Marshmallow Test: Mastering Self-Control
### Thinking hot and cool
**In the 1960s, Mischel** and colleagues at Stanford launched a series of...
3rd May 2016
### Thinking hot and cool
**In the 1960s, Mischel** and colleagues at Stanford launched a series of delayed-gratification experiments with young children using a method that later came to be known as “the marshmallow test.” A researcher whom the child knew and trusted, after...
Quantum Frontiers
The Book of Mark
Mark Srednicki doesn’t look like a high priest. He’s a professor of physics at the University of...
9th Jul 2023
Mark Srednicki doesn’t look like a high priest. He’s a professor of physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB); and you’ll sooner find him in khakis than in sacred vestments. Humor suits his round face better than channeling … Continue reading →
ToughSF
The Lofstrom Loop: A Bridge to Space
Imagine you could take a train ride to space. Tracks that slope up into the sky, higher and higher,...
9th Dec 2023
Imagine you could take a train ride to space. Tracks that slope up into the sky, higher and higher, until you reach a plateau above the planet where it’s a straight line up to orbital velocity.
That’s what’s possible with a Lofstrom Loop. But sending you into orbit is just one...
Uncharted...
AI Weeks When Decades Happen
How fast AI is improving, and how that's impacting jobs today
6th Feb 2025
How fast AI is improving, and how that's impacting jobs today
Chris Grossack's...
$\mathsf{B}\text{Diff}(\Sigma)$ Classifies $\Sigma$-bundles
I’ve been trying to learn all about topological (quantum) field theories, the
cobordism hypothesis,...
21st Dec 2024
I’ve been trying to learn all about topological (quantum) field theories, the
cobordism hypothesis, and how to use $(\infty,n)$-categories. This is all
in service of some stuff I’m doing with skein algebras (which are part of a
“$3+1$ TQFT” often named after Crane–Yetter, but...
Yale E360
African Forests Have Become a Source of Carbon Emissions
Africa’s forests have turned from a carbon sink into a carbon source, according to research that...
1st Dec 2025
Africa’s forests have turned from a carbon sink into a carbon source, according to research that underscores the need for urgent action to save the world’s great natural climate stabilizers.
Read more on E360 →
Explorations of an...
A Month In Northern Peru, Part 18: Wattled Curassows at Muyuna Lodge (February 26, 2024)
February 26, 2024
As dawn broke, Laura, Moises and I slowly cruised along a quiet watercourse. The...
4th Apr 2025
February 26, 2024
As dawn broke, Laura, Moises and I slowly cruised along a quiet watercourse. The dawn chorus was active and included species like Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl, Zimmer's Woodcreeper and Black-tailed Antbird, but I stayed focused on the treeline, hoping that a...
Long Now
Stefan Kröpelin: Civilization’s Mysterious Desert Cradle
### The Sahara and civilization
“Almost everything breaks in the desert,” Kröpelin began. He showed...
11th Jun 2014
### The Sahara and civilization
“Almost everything breaks in the desert,” Kröpelin began. He showed trucks mired in sand, one vehicle blown up by a land mine, and a Unimog with an impossibly, hopelessly broken axle. (Using the attached backhoe, it hunched its way 50 miles back...
Long Now
Jennifer Pahlka: Fixing Government: Bottom Up and Outside In
## Toward agile government
Pahlka quoted: “Efficiency in government is a matter of social justice.”...
2nd Feb 2017
## Toward agile government
Pahlka quoted: “Efficiency in government is a matter of social justice.” (Mayor John Norquist) It is at the often maddening interface with government that the inefficiency and injustice play out. Two examples (both now fixed)… At the Veterans Affairs...
Asterisk
How Diplomats See the World
Inside the boring-by-design U.S. fact-checking machine.
4th Aug 2026
Inside the boring-by-design U.S. fact-checking machine.
Beautiful Public...
The Style Guide for America’s Highways: The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices
Driving across America, you will encounter a wide variety of cultures, landscapes, people and...
9th Jan 2023
Driving across America, you will encounter a wide variety of cultures, landscapes, people and animals. But the one consistent thing that will stay the same from Maine to California are the signs you pass on the highway. That is because America’s roads and highways have a big, fat...
The Works in...
Notes on Progress: A tale of two particles
Not all radioactivity is risky or harmful
5th Dec 2022
Not all radioactivity is risky or harmful
NeuroLogica Blog
Back From Down Under
I am back from an almost three week trip to LA, Sydney and Christchurch. Sorry I did not have time...
6th Aug 2026
I am back from an almost three week trip to LA, Sydney and Christchurch. Sorry I did not have time to keep up with my blog over that period – in which we recorded four live SGU shows, produced three days of conference content, put on two stage shows, and hosted several other...
Casey Handmer's blog
Sierras Projects
A short post where I collate some info related to the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, various...
15th Aug 2025
A short post where I collate some info related to the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, various aspirational objectives and questions. Table Mountain Traverse Table Mountain is at the north west edge of the Kern River basin. It has numerous third and fourth class routes. I...
Yale E360
A Home Battery Revolution Is Reshaping the Power Grid
As residential batteries have become more energy dense, cheaper, and smaller, more households are...
1st Jul 2026
As residential batteries have become more energy dense, cheaper, and smaller, more households are storing their excess solar power. Now, utilities and energy companies in dozens of countries are buying up those electrons, bundling them together, and using them to balance the...
Many Worlds
The Makeup of Red Dwarf Solar Systems May Seriously Limit the Formation of Habitable Planets
Jupiter is often described as the “big brother” planet of our solar system that made the formation...
7th Jun 2023
Jupiter is often described as the “big brother” planet of our solar system that made the formation and evolution of Earth possible. In the early days of the solar system, massive Jupiter helped the planet grow rapidly while serving as a gravity well that shielded the planet from...
Works in Progress...
Machines for living in
Buildings are not just art – they are the places people live in, work in, and experience every day....
5th Dec 2024
Buildings are not just art – they are the places people live in, work in, and experience every day. True functionalism combines utility and beauty for the people who use it most.
Drew Ex Machina
Memories of Project RAMOS (Russian American Observation Satellites) 1991 – 2004
During the course of my professional career, one of the more important projects I had the pleasure...
29th Sep 2023
During the course of my professional career, one of the more important projects I had the pleasure to work on was the joint US/Russian Federation (RF) […]
Long Now
Mike Kuniavsky: Our Future in Algorithm Farming
Everything will be connected to the network, even things that shouldn’t be. From automobiles to egg...
1st Mar 2018
Everything will be connected to the network, even things that shouldn’t be. From automobiles to egg timers, Kuniavsky explains all these devices will try to get our attention and prove their value. They’ll also attempt to predict the future—at least the immediate future of our...
nanoscale views
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
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...
IEEE Spectrum
Chips Need to Chill Out
Diamonds, lasers, and oil aren’t the first things you may think of when considering ways to keep...
1st Nov 2025
Diamonds, lasers, and oil aren’t the first things you may think of when considering ways to keep chips and computers cool. But as modern chip designs pack and stack more transistors into ever smaller spaces, heat has emerged as a critical problem.
To solve it, the semiconductor...
Yale E360
In Decade Since Paris Agreement, Climate Outlook Has Improved Dramatically
A new report finds that the world is headed for around 2.8 degrees C of warming by the end of this...
3rd Nov 2025
A new report finds that the world is headed for around 2.8 degrees C of warming by the end of this century, far less than was forecast before the Paris Climate Agreement. Still, countries remain far off track from the international target of 2 degrees C.
Read more on E360 →
Works in Progress...
Every grain of rice
As climate change threatens crop yields, we need a second Green Revolution – one that, this time, is...
22nd May 2023
As climate change threatens crop yields, we need a second Green Revolution – one that, this time, is driven by genetic engineering.
Uncharted...
How AI Will Change Media
Work with me to make it happen
3rd Apr 2026
Work with me to make it happen
Long Now
Benjamin Bratton: A Philosophy of Planetary Computation
We find ourselves in a pre-paradigmatic moment in which our technology has outpaced our theories of...
20th Mar 2025
We find ourselves in a pre-paradigmatic moment in which our technology has outpaced our theories of what to do with it.
The task of philosophy today is to catch up.
In his Long Now Talk, Philosopher of Technology Benjamin Bratton took us on a whirlwind philosophical journey...
Long Now
Laura Cunningham: Ten Millennia of California Ecology
### Eco-continuity in California
California ecology used to be much more driven by floods and...
18th Oct 2011
### Eco-continuity in California
California ecology used to be much more driven by floods and fires, Cunningham said, showing with her paintings how the Great Valley would become a vast inland sea, like a huge vernal pool progressing each year from navigable water to intense...
wadertales
The call of the Whimbrel
The seven-note whistle of the Whimbrel is a classic sound, welcomed by Icelanders at the end of a...
6th Feb 2025
The seven-note whistle of the Whimbrel is a classic sound, welcomed by Icelanders at the end of a long, dark winter. These wonderful waders are responding badly to recent changes to Iceland’s landscape, such as the ever-expanding areas of non-native forestry and power...
Works in Progress...
The beauty of concrete
Why are buildings today simple and austere, while buildings of the past were ornate and elaborately...
17th May 2024
Why are buildings today simple and austere, while buildings of the past were ornate and elaborately ornamented? The answer is not the cost of labor.
Eukaryote Writes...
The rare, deadly virus lurking in the Southwest US, and the bigger picture
If you live in this one county in California, you might be more likely to die from Sin Nombre Virus...
14th Nov 2025
If you live in this one county in California, you might be more likely to die from Sin Nombre Virus than in a car crash.
Long Now
Alex Wright: Glut: Mastering Information Though the Ages
### A Series of Information Explosions
As usual, microbes led the way. Bacteria have swarmed in...
18th Aug 2007
### A Series of Information Explosions
As usual, microbes led the way. Bacteria have swarmed in intense networks for 3.5 billion years. Then a hierarchical form emerged with the first nucleated cells that were made up of an enclosed society of formerly independent...
Long Now
Geoffrey B West: The Universal Laws of Growth and Pace
## Why cities live forever
**West focussed on cities** in his discussion of the newly discovered...
24th May 2017
## Why cities live forever
**West focussed on cities** in his discussion of the newly discovered exponential scaling laws that govern everything alive. “We live,” he said, “in an exponentially expanding socio-economic universe.” Global urbanization has reached the point that...
Quanta Magazine
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
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...
Long Now
Anne Neuberger: Inside the NSA
## The NSA reaches out
Of her eight great-grandparents, seven were murdered at Auschwitz. “So my...
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...
Drew Ex Machina
Drew Ex Machina 10th Anniversary: Top Ten Posts
I find it difficult to believe but, it was ten years ago today that I posted the first article on my...
27th Mar 2024
I find it difficult to believe but, it was ten years ago today that I posted the first article on my then-new website, Drew Ex Machina. […]
Works in Progress...
The ultimate horse
Selective breeding has pushed horses to the limits of biology. But at what cost?
5th Aug 2026
Selective breeding has pushed horses to the limits of biology. But at what cost?
Drew Ex Machina
First Pictures: NASA’s Mars Pathfinder – July 4, 1997
During the morning hours of July 4, 1997, I experienced a strange sense of déjà vu as I sat glued to...
4th Jul 2022
During the morning hours of July 4, 1997, I experienced a strange sense of déjà vu as I sat glued to the television set watching live […]
Conservation...
3 things our experts loved in May
26th Jun 2024
IEEE Spectrum
Lord Kelvin and His Analog Computer
William Thomson, mourning the death of his wife and flush with cash from various patents related to...
2nd Jun 2024
William Thomson, mourning the death of his wife and flush with cash from various patents related to the laying of the first transatlantic telegraph cable, decided to buy a yacht. His schooner, the Lalla Rookh, became Thomson’s summer home and his base for hosting scientific...
Drew Ex Machina
First Pictures: View of the Earth from NASA’s Explorer 6 – August 14, 1959
Today we take for granted that we can instantly access images of almost any part of the Earth taken...
14th Aug 2024
Today we take for granted that we can instantly access images of almost any part of the Earth taken from space using an ever growing collection […]
Explorations of an...
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
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...
Andrew Fraknoi –...
A 1-Day Virtual Symposium on Future of Astronomy
For those of you with a deeper interest in astronomy and how we learn about the universe, this may...
8th Aug 2025
For those of you with a deeper interest in astronomy and how we learn about the universe, this may be of interest. There is a good discount if you register before Aug. 10. The Astronomical Society of the Pacific Presents: Eyes on the Cosmos: Cutting Edge Instruments and Ideas in...
Casey Handmer's blog
Terraform Talent Development
Originally posted at the Terraform Blog on November 17, 2025. Terraform Industries is the vehicle by...
24th Nov 2025
Originally posted at the Terraform Blog on November 17, 2025. Terraform Industries is the vehicle by which I build the people that build the team I need to build the future I am determined to build. One of the unexpected privileges of founding an ambitious, future-oriented...
The Quanta Podcast
Dark Matter Recipe Calls for One Part Superfluid
A different kind of dark matter could help to resolve an old celestial conundrum.
The...
25th Aug 2017
A different kind of dark matter could help to resolve an old celestial conundrum.
The post Dark Matter Recipe Calls for One Part Superfluid first appeared on Quanta Magazine
The Quanta Podcast
The Most Famous Paradox in Physics Nears Its End
In a landmark series of calculations, physicists have proved that black holes can shed information. ...
4th Feb 2021
In a landmark series of calculations, physicists have proved that black holes can shed information.
The post The Most Famous Paradox in Physics Nears Its End first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Quantum Frontiers
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
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...
IEEE Spectrum
How the Computer Graphics Industry Got Started at the University of Utah
Animation has come a long way since 1900, when J. Stuart Blackton created The Enchanted Drawing, the...
9th Jun 2023
Animation has come a long way since 1900, when J. Stuart Blackton created The Enchanted Drawing, the earliest known animated film. The 90-second movie was created using stop-motion techniques, as flat characters, props, and backgrounds were drawn on an easel or made from...
The Works in...
Readers from Canada, Australia and the EU can now subscribe to Works in Progress
Our first print edition ships in two weeks.
4th Nov 2025
Our first print edition ships in two weeks.
Explorations of an...
A Month In Northern Peru, Part 10: The Owlet Lodge (February 11 and 12, 2024)
February 11, 2024
Laura and I were looking forward to our one-night visit to the Owlet Lodge. Up to...
20th Jul 2024
February 11, 2024
Laura and I were looking forward to our one-night visit to the Owlet Lodge. Up to this point we had only stayed at cheap hotels, while we had also eaten simply, with at least two meals each day consisting of sandwiches/snacks that we prepared. For once, someone...
ToughSF
The Laser Revolution Part I: Megawatt beams to the skies
There’s a laser revolution coming: a time when megawatt-scale beams will radically transform how we ...
19th May 2025
There’s a laser revolution coming: a time when megawatt-scale beams will radically transform how we produce electricity, conduct war and even upset the nuclear world order. All they have to do it reach a certain convergence of price and power.
And by current projections, it...
Beautiful Public...
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
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.
Quantum Frontiers
Congratulations, class of 2025! Words from a new graduate
Editor’s note (Nicole Yunger Halpern): Jade LeSchack, the Quantum Steampunk Laboratory’s first...
10th Jun 2025
Editor’s note (Nicole Yunger Halpern): Jade LeSchack, the Quantum Steampunk Laboratory’s first undergraduate, received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland this spring. Kermit the Frog presented the valedictory address, but Jade gave the following speech at the...
Long Now
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
### 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...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
2026 Healthcare Predictions Part 2 | Out-Of-Pocket
[add]
5th Jan 2026
Conservation...
What on Earth is ‘sustainable’ coffee?
15th Aug 2024
Asterisk
No Retvrn
An American tradition of embracing modernity.
4th Aug 2025
An American tradition of embracing modernity.
Long Now
Julia Watson: Design by Radical Indigenism
Responding to climate change by building hard infrastructures and favoring high-tech homogenous...
6th Oct 2020
Responding to climate change by building hard infrastructures and favoring high-tech homogenous design, we are ignoring millennia-old knowledge of how to live in symbiosis with nature. Without implementing soft systems that use biodiversity as a building block, designs remain...
Long Now
Brewster Kahle: Universal Access to All Knowledge
### All knowledge, to all people, for all time, for free
Universal access to all knowledge, Kahle...
1st Dec 2011
### All knowledge, to all people, for all time, for free
Universal access to all knowledge, Kahle declared, will be one of humanity's greatest achievements. We are already well on the way. "We're building the Library of Alexandria, version 2. We can one-up the Greeks!"
Start...
Cremieux Recueil
Are All the Good Men Married?
Why do married men earn so much? Is it because the good men get married, or does marriage make men...
13th Sep 2025
Why do married men earn so much? Is it because the good men get married, or does marriage make men good?
IEEE Spectrum
This 1945 TV Console Showed Two Programs at Once
As I try to write this article, my friend and I have six different screens attached to three types...
3rd Jul 2025
As I try to write this article, my friend and I have six different screens attached to three types of devices. We’re working in the same room but on our own projects—separate yet together, a comfortable companionship.
I had never really thought of the proliferation of screens as...
Works in Progress...
Interview: Ted Nordhaus on ecomodernism
Are technology and the environment friends or foes? In this wide-ranging conversation, we discuss...
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.
The Roots of...
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
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...
Damn Interesting
The Rube’s Dilemma
It all started with a hat. A straw boater, to be precise, with a flat, round brim and brightly...
28th Oct 2022
It all started with a hat. A straw boater, to be precise, with a flat, round brim and brightly colored ribbon tied around the crown. Originally popularized by gondoliers in Venice, this jaunty accessory had reached the height of American couture by the turn of the 20th century....
The Quanta Podcast
Mongrel Microbe Tests Story of Complex Life
A newly discovered class of microbe could help to resolve one of the biggest and most controversial...
12th Nov 2015
A newly discovered class of microbe could help to resolve one of the biggest and most controversial mysteries in evolution — how simple microbes transformed into the complex cells that produced animals, plants and fungi.
The post Mongrel Microbe Tests Story of Complex...
Long Now
Iqbal Quadir: Technology Empowers the Poorest
### Making Money WITH the Poor
When Iqbal Quadir applied to US colleges from his home town in...
22nd May 2008
### Making Money WITH the Poor
When Iqbal Quadir applied to US colleges from his home town in Bangladesh he was surprised to discover that not all American universities were found in Washington, DC. That's how it was in Bangladesh, where everything of importance was centralized...
lcamtuf’s thing
Meta: 7,000
Although I try to keep navel-gazing to a minimum, I’m happy to report that this publication has...
4th Aug 2026
Although I try to keep navel-gazing to a minimum, I’m happy to report that this publication has crossed 7,000 email subscribers (plus an unknown number of RSS weirdos).
Chris Grossack's...
Life in Johnstone's Topological Topos 1 -- Fundamentals
I’ve been thinking a lot about the internal logic of topoi again, and I
want to have more examples...
3rd Jul 2024
I’ve been thinking a lot about the internal logic of topoi again, and I
want to have more examples of topoi that I understand well enough to
externalize some statements. There’s more to life than just a localic
$\mathsf{Sh}(B)$, and since I’m starting to feel like I understand...
Andrew Fraknoi –...
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
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...
Inverted Passion
Getting things done by not trying
I recently finished a very short book with an intriguing title: Why Greatness Cannot be Planned....
20th Oct 2024
I recently finished a very short book with an intriguing title: Why Greatness Cannot be Planned. It’s an unconventional self-help book disguised as a computer science research exposition (that’s why the publisher is Springer). I strongly recommend reading it. Here is a taste of...
The Quanta Podcast
How to Cut Cake Fairly and Finally Eat It Too
Computer scientists have come up with a bounded algorithm that can fairly divide a cake among any...
10th Nov 2016
Computer scientists have come up with a bounded algorithm that can fairly divide a cake among any number of people.
The post How to Cut Cake Fairly and Finally Eat It Too first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Drew Ex Machina
Recollections of NASA’s Apollo 11 Mission
Like a lot of kids who grew up during the ‘60s and ‘70s, I had a fascination with spaceflight. This...
20th Jul 2024
Like a lot of kids who grew up during the ‘60s and ‘70s, I had a fascination with spaceflight. This interest started honestly enough back around […]
Quanta Magazine
Tracing the Hidden Hand of Magnetism in the Galaxy
Susan Clark is helping to unravel the mysterious workings of the Milky Way’s magnetic field, a...
1st Jul 2024
Susan Clark is helping to unravel the mysterious workings of the Milky Way’s magnetic field, a critical missing piece of the galactic puzzle.
The post Tracing the Hidden Hand of Magnetism in the Galaxy first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Long Now
Rip Anderson & Gwyneth Cravens: Power to Save the World
### Nuclear Footprint
In the early 1980s Gwyneth Cravens was one of the protesters against the...
15th Sep 2007
### Nuclear Footprint
In the early 1980s Gwyneth Cravens was one of the protesters against the Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant on Long Island, and also participated in ban-the-bomb rallies. After 15 years of deepening familiarity with nuclear power, she says she still would ban the...
Light from Space
The Soul of the Heart Nebula
A spectacular emission Nebula, the Heart Nebula is one of the classics of Northern Hemisphere...
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...
Stephen Wolfram...
Foundations of Biological Evolution: More Results & More Surprises
This is a follow-on to Why Does Biological Evolution Work? A Minimal Model for Biological Evolution...
5th Dec 2024
This is a follow-on to Why Does Biological Evolution Work? A Minimal Model for Biological Evolution and Other Adaptive Processes [May 3, 2024]. Even More from an Extremely Simple Model A few months ago I introduced an extremely simple “adaptive cellular automaton” model that...
The Works in...
The eye of the tiger
What makes tigers different from one another?
8th Jun 2023
What makes tigers different from one another?
Beautiful Public...
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
These fascinating Army and Navy brand style guides define the look, feel and voice of our armed forces.
The Quanta Podcast
How the Physics of Nothing Underlies Everything
The key to understanding the origin and fate of the universe may be a more complete understanding of...
7th Dec 2022
The key to understanding the origin and fate of the universe may be a more complete understanding of the vacuum. Read more at QuantaMagazine.org. Music is “Pulse” by Geographer.
Eukaryote Writes...
COVID-19 FAQ
A lot of people have been asking me questions about the COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) outbreak, in my...
12th Mar 2020
A lot of people have been asking me questions about the COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) outbreak, in my informal capacity as “local biodefense person”.
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Transforming Healthcare Data with Tuva Health | Out-Of-Pocket
The nitty, gritty, and shitty of working with health data
1st Nov 2023
The nitty, gritty, and shitty of working with health data
Eukaryote Writes...
Learn to write well BEFORE you have something worth saying
Lessons learned from trip reports and journal articles.
29th Dec 2024
Lessons learned from trip reports and journal articles.
Long Now
John Rendon: Long-term Policy to Make the War on Terror Short
### Only connect
John Rendon, head of The Rendon Group, is a senior communications consultant to...
15th Jul 2006
### Only connect
John Rendon, head of The Rendon Group, is a senior communications consultant to the White Houses and Departments of Defense. His subject in this talk is how to replace tactical, reactive response to terror with long-term strategic initative.
I think that people...
Bartosz Ciechanowski
Bicycle
There is something delightful about riding a bicycle. Once mastered, the simple action of pedaling...
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...
pcloadletter
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
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,...
Melting Asphalt
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
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 ›
Apoorva Srinivasan
diffusion models for protein generation
Introduction
Proteins are nature's versatile nanomachines— they have evolved to perform virtually...
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...
Quanta Magazine
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
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
Long Now
Neil Gaiman: How Stories Last
## How stories last
Stories are alive. The ones that last, Gaiman said, outcompete other stories by...
10th Jun 2015
## How stories last
Stories are alive. The ones that last, Gaiman said, outcompete other stories by changing over time. They make it from medium to medium—from oral to written to film and beyond. They lose uninteresting elements but hold on to the most compelling bits or even...
Cremieux Recueil
American Elections Are Unfair
Unfortunately, unfairness is baked in
5th Nov 2024
Unfortunately, unfairness is baked in
pcloadletter
Somewhere along the way we forgot about software craftsmanship
"Ship it!"
"We're agile now, baby. Move fast and break things!""
"We measure our engineers by the...
5th Feb 2024
"Ship it!"
"We're agile now, baby. Move fast and break things!""
"We measure our engineers by the impact they have!"
Somewhere along the way, in the midst of the agilification of software, or the software engineer salary gold rush, we forgot about craftsmanship.
I have been in...
The Quanta Podcast
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
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
Andrew Fraknoi –...
Two of My Science-Fiction Stories Published in May
View this email in your browser A Change of Pace from Astronomy News As you may know, I have been...
2nd Jun 2025
View this email in your browser A Change of Pace from Astronomy News As you may know, I have been writing science-fiction stories based on good astronomy as my retirement project. After a good number of rejections from the finest sci-fi magazines the world over, I am now...
Long Now
David Grinspoon: Earth in Human Hands
## Cognitive planet
**Thanks to the growing human domination** of natural systems on Earth, people...
20th Sep 2017
## Cognitive planet
**Thanks to the growing human domination** of natural systems on Earth, people say we are entering an Anthropocene Epoch, Grinspoon began, but what if the term “epoch” understates the consequence of what is going on? Astrobiologists recently learned that...
Beautiful Public...
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
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.
Eukaryote Writes...
Book review: Air-borne by Carl Zimmer
Man, it’s embarrassing to be part of a field of study (biosecurity, in this case) that had such a...
15th Jun 2025
Man, it’s embarrassing to be part of a field of study (biosecurity, in this case) that had such a public moment of unambiguously whiffing it.
Long Now
Geoffrey B West: Why Cities Keep on Growing, Corporations Always Die, and Life Gets Faster
### Superlinear Cities
"It's hard to kill a city," West began, "but easy to kill a company." The...
26th Jul 2011
### Superlinear Cities
"It's hard to kill a city," West began, "but easy to kill a company." The mean life of companies is 10 years. Cities routinely survive even nuclear bombs. And "cities are the crucible of civilization." They are the major source of innovation and wealth...
The Quanta Podcast
Landmark Algorithm Breaks 30-Year Impasse
Computer scientists are abuzz over a fast new algorithm for solving one of the central problems in...
14th Jan 2016
Computer scientists are abuzz over a fast new algorithm for solving one of the central problems in the field.
The post Landmark Algorithm Breaks 30-Year Impasse first appeared on Quanta Magazine
lcamtuf’s thing
See it with your lying ears
This blog has a history of answering questions that no one should be asking. Today, we continue that...
10th Jan 2026
This blog has a history of answering questions that no one should be asking. Today, we continue that proud legacy.
The Quanta Podcast
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
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...
SubAnima
Could There Be Laws Of Biology?
Physics has such nice equations and universal laws. Could we ever expect to find similar principles...
10th Mar 2023
Physics has such nice equations and universal laws. Could we ever expect to find similar principles or axioms for biology?
Quantum Frontiers
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
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 →
Stephen Wolfram...
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
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...
Quantum Frontiers
Winners of the Quantum-Steampunk Short-Story Contest
During the past seven months, I’ve steamed across the Atlantic, sailed in a flying castle,...
1st May 2023
During the past seven months, I’ve steamed across the Atlantic, sailed in a flying castle, teleported across the globe, and shuttled forward and backward in time. Literarily, not literally—the Quantum-Steampunk Short-Story Contest began welcoming submissions in October 2022. We...
The Roots of...
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
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...
Long Now
John Brockman: Possible Minds
John Brockman's newly released book [_Possible Minds: Twenty-Five Ways of Looking at...
13th Mar 2019
John Brockman's newly released book [_Possible Minds: Twenty-Five Ways of Looking at AI_](https://smile.amazon.com/Possible-Minds-Twenty-Five-Ways-Looking-ebook/dp/B07D6C1X3X/ref=sr_1_1) is the springboard for this Seminar on Artificial Intelligence. Brockman will interview...
Quantum Frontiers
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
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 →
Cremieux Recueil
Tylenol and Autism: A Replication!
A Japanese sibling control study, probabilistic sensitivity analysis, and negative control study...
3rd Oct 2025
A Japanese sibling control study, probabilistic sensitivity analysis, and negative control study all-in-one paper confirms there's no link!
Long Now
Matt Ridley: Deep Optimism
### Undeniable Progress
Hominids had upright walking, stone tools, fire, even language but still...
23rd Mar 2011
### Undeniable Progress
Hominids had upright walking, stone tools, fire, even language but still remained in profound stasis. What led to humanity's global takeoff, Ridley argues, was the invention of exchange about 120,000 years ago. "That's ten times older than...
Articles - Chris...
My $500M Mars Rover Mistake: A Failure Story
Some mistakes feel worse than death.
27th Nov 2023
Some mistakes feel worse than death.
Peder M. Isager
What is Worth Replicating? - SIPS 2020 Unconference session
Given that most research is original and we have limited resources available for replication, we...
30th Jun 2020
Given that most research is original and we have limited resources available for replication, we need guidelines for study selection in replication research. But what makes a study worth replicating? In our unconference session at SIPS this year, we had the pleasure of discussing...
Cremieux Recueil
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
Why are Japanese elites so likely to be Christian when Japan is a 99% non-Christian country?
Long Now
Carl Zimmer: Viral Time
### What's time to a virus?
"Everything about viruses is extreme," Zimmer began. The number of...
8th Jun 2011
### What's time to a virus?
"Everything about viruses is extreme," Zimmer began. The number of viruses on Earth is estimated to be 1 followed by 31 zeroes. Small as they are, if you stacked them all up, the stack would reach 100 million light years. They are the planet's most...
Quantum Frontiers
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
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...
wadertales
How do wader chicks respond to being handled?
Every wader researcher knows that their actions can have negative consequences for the birds they...
5th Oct 2024
Every wader researcher knows that their actions can have negative consequences for the birds they are studying. Given that most shorebird species are in trouble or causing concern, conservation science is a tricky balancing act between ‘need to understand’ and ‘disturbance’. In...
nanoscale views
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
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...
Quantum Frontiers
Quantum Algorithms: A Call To Action
Quantum computing finds itself in a peculiar situation. The number one question asked about quantum...
21st Apr 2025
Quantum computing finds itself in a peculiar situation. The number one question asked about quantum computers by outsiders is very common sensical: What are they good for? The honest answer reveals an elephant in the room: We don’t fully know yet. For theorists like me, it’s an...
The Quanta Podcast
Interspecies Hybrids Play a Vital Role in Evolution
Hybrids, once treated as biological misfits, play a vital role in the evolution of many animal...
18th Jan 2018
Hybrids, once treated as biological misfits, play a vital role in the evolution of many animal species. Now conservationists are trying to reconcile that truth with policies.
The post Interspecies Hybrids Play a Vital Role in Evolution first appeared on Quanta...
Many Worlds
The Familiar, Yet So Different, Hydrocarbon Rivers of Titan
There are three planets or moons in our solar system known to now have, or once had, surface rivers,...
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...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
The New Wave of Concierge Medicine | Out-Of-Pocket
This episode of Out-Of-Pocket is brought to you by…
9th Jul 2024
This episode of Out-Of-Pocket is brought to you by…
The Quanta Podcast
Brain Chemical Helps Signal to Neurons When to Start a Movement
Dopamine, a neurochemical often associated with reward behavior, also seems to help organize...
6th Jul 2022
Dopamine, a neurochemical often associated with reward behavior, also seems to help organize precisely when the brain initiates movements. It’s the latest revelation about the power of neuromodulators. Read more at quantamagazine.org. Music is “Pulse” by Geographer.
Long Now
Timothy Ferriss: Accelerated Learning in Accelerated Times
### Learning to learn fast
To acquire "the meta-skill of acquiring skills," Ferriss recommends...
15th Sep 2011
### Learning to learn fast
To acquire "the meta-skill of acquiring skills," Ferriss recommends approaching any subject with some contrarian analysis: "What if I try the opposite of best practices?" Some conventional wisdom---"children learn languages faster than adults" (no they...
Chris Grossack's...
Externalizing Some Simple Topos Statements
Hey all! It’s been a minute. I’ve been super busy with
the UC strike and honestly I haven’t done...
13th Dec 2022
Hey all! It’s been a minute. I’ve been super busy with
the UC strike and honestly I haven’t done math in any
serious capacity for almost the past month. It’s been a
lot of hard work trying to get fair contracts out of the UC,
but I had a lot of travel plans this December to...
Long Now
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
### 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...
Works in Progress...
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
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?
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Can patients be good healthcare shoppers? | Out-Of-Pocket
Should their be limits to patient agency?
8th Aug 2024
Should their be limits to patient agency?
Quanta Magazine
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
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
Uncharted...
The Top 50 US Cities: Why Are They Where They Are?
The geographic and historical reasons that have made some spots in the country the most populated...
8th Jan 2025
The geographic and historical reasons that have made some spots in the country the most populated ones
wadertales
How are migration sites connected?
Which are the most important migration sites and how are breeding, moulting, staging and wintering...
9th Jan 2025
Which are the most important migration sites and how are breeding, moulting, staging and wintering locations linked? Forty-four authors have collaborated to bring together ringing, colour-ringing and GPS tracking data in a paper entitled Site-level connectivity identified from...
IEEE Spectrum
Tiny Exploding Houses Promoted 18th-Century Lightning Rods
Imagine if engineers were required to build a working model to demonstrate every new technological...
1st Apr 2023
Imagine if engineers were required to build a working model to demonstrate every new technological concept to the general public. Done right, tech literacy might soar! A compelling visual example can really help people understand the applications and implications of new...
The Quanta Podcast
Heat-Loving Microbes, Once Dormant, Thrive Over Decades-Old Fire
In harsh ecosystems around the world, microbiologists are finding evidence that “microbial seed...
12th Mar 2020
In harsh ecosystems around the world, microbiologists are finding evidence that “microbial seed banks” protect biodiversity from changing conditions.
The post Heat-Loving Microbes, Once Dormant, Thrive Over Decades-Old Fire first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Long Now
Paul Hawken: The Long Green
### The long green
The environmental movement has moved on. It has become so deep and wide that it...
16th Oct 2004
### The long green
The environmental movement has moved on. It has become so deep and wide that it adds up to something new entirely, still unnamed. Whatever it is, it is now the largest movement in the world and the least ideological. Driven by science and patience, it is...
Quanta Magazine
What Is a Manifold?
In the mid-19th century, Bernhard Riemann conceived of a new way to think about mathematical spaces,...
3rd Nov 2025
In the mid-19th century, Bernhard Riemann conceived of a new way to think about mathematical spaces, providing the foundation for modern geometry and physics.
The post What Is a Manifold? first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Marine Madness
Culture Club: Time to let the cetaceans in?
Up until recently, culture has been thought of as a primarily human characteristic. However, recent...
29th Jul 2021
Up until recently, culture has been thought of as a primarily human characteristic. However, recent studies shine a light on the fact that non-human animals including Cetaceans (dolphins and whales), may also possess it. They live in tightly-knit social communities, exhibit...
Long Now
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
### 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...
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