NeuroLogica Blog
Update on Self-Driving Cars
The story has become a classic of failed futurism – driverless or self-driving cars were supposed...
a year ago
The story has become a classic of failed futurism – driverless or self-driving cars were supposed start taking over the roads as early as 2020. But that didn’t happen – it turned that the last 5% of capability was about as difficult to develop as the first 95%. Around 2015 I...
Math Is Still...
Math’s ‘Game of Life’ Reveals Long-Sought Repeating Patterns
John Conway’s Game of Life, a famous cellular automaton, has been found to have periodic patterns of...
11 months ago
John Conway’s Game of Life, a famous cellular automaton, has been found to have periodic patterns of every possible length.
The post Math’s ‘Game of Life’ Reveals Long-Sought Repeating Patterns first appeared on Quanta Magazine
NeuroLogica Blog
Will Hydrogen BEV Hybrids Be A Thing?
I recently recorded a YouTube video on the notion of hydrogen fuel cell cars (it will be posted...
a year ago
I recently recorded a YouTube video on the notion of hydrogen fuel cell cars (it will be posted soon, and I will add the link when it’s up). One question I did not get into in the video, but which is an interesting thought experiment, is hydrogen – plug-in battery hybrid...
Math Is Still...
Tiny Tweaks to Neurons Can Rewire Animal Motion
Altering a protein in the neurons that coordinate a rattlesnake’s movement made a slow slither...
9 months ago
Altering a protein in the neurons that coordinate a rattlesnake’s movement made a slow slither neuron more like a speedy rattle neuron, showing one way evolution can generate new ways of moving.
The post Tiny Tweaks to Neurons Can Rewire Animal Motion first appeared...
Drew Ex Machina
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...
a year ago
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 […]
Math Is Still...
The Year in Physics
From the smallest scales to the largest, the physical world provided no shortage of surprises this...
a year ago
From the smallest scales to the largest, the physical world provided no shortage of surprises this year.
The post The Year in Physics first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Math Is Still...
Mathematicians Find Hidden Structure in a Common Type of Space
In 50 years of searching, mathematicians found only one example of a “subspace design” in a vector...
a year ago
In 50 years of searching, mathematicians found only one example of a “subspace design” in a vector space. A new proof reveals that there are infinitely more out there.
The post Mathematicians Find Hidden Structure in a Common Type of Space first appeared on Quanta...
NeuroLogica Blog
Electronic Noses
I am always sniffing around (pun intended) for new and interesting technology, especially anything...
2 months ago
I am always sniffing around (pun intended) for new and interesting technology, especially anything that I think is currently flying under the radar of public awareness but has the potential to transform our world in some way. I think electronic nose technology fits into this...
Math Is Still...
How Do Machines ‘Grok’ Data?
By apparently overtraining them, researchers have seen neural networks discover novel solutions to...
8 months ago
By apparently overtraining them, researchers have seen neural networks discover novel solutions to problems.
The post How Do Machines ‘Grok’ Data? first appeared on Quanta Magazine
symmetry magazine
Practice makes perfect (particle detectors)
Prototyping is an indispensable step in the development of particle physics experiments like DUNE...
a year ago
Prototyping is an indispensable step in the development of particle physics experiments like DUNE and projects like PIP-II.
When complete, the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, or DUNE, will be the world’s most comprehensive neutrino experiment—and...
Math Is Still...
The Colorful Problem That Has Long Frustrated Mathematicians
The four-color problem is simple to explain, but its complex proof continues to be both celebrated...
a year ago
The four-color problem is simple to explain, but its complex proof continues to be both celebrated and despised.
The post The Colorful Problem That Has Long Frustrated Mathematicians first appeared on Quanta Magazine
ToughSF
NTER: Nuclear Thermal-Electric Rocket
There
is a type of nuclear propulsion that can have most of the acceleration of a nuclear thermal...
over a year ago
There
is a type of nuclear propulsion that can have most of the acceleration of a nuclear thermal rocket but also the high Isp of an electric thruster.
Let’s have a look at nuclear ‘thermal-electric’ engines and
their advantages.
The title image is from 'dV: Rings of...
IEEE Spectrum
The Forgotten Story of How IBM Invented the Automated Fab
In 1970, Bill Harding envisioned a fully automated wafer-fabrication line that would produce...
3 weeks ago
In 1970, Bill Harding envisioned a fully automated wafer-fabrication line that would produce integrated circuits in less than one day. Not only was such a goal gutsy 54 years ago, it would be bold even in today’s billion-dollar fabs, where the fabrication time of an advanced IC...
Math Is Still...
‘Embryo Models’ Challenge Legal, Ethical and Biological Concepts
With embryolike constructs built entirely from stem cells, researchers can revolutionize our...
a year ago
With embryolike constructs built entirely from stem cells, researchers can revolutionize our understanding of development. But how close to an embryo is too close?
The post ‘Embryo Models’ Challenge Legal, Ethical and Biological Concepts first appeared on Quanta...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
How Health Data Gets Sold: Moving From Third-Party to First-Party | Out-Of-Pocket
The shift from third-party to first-party data consent, and how far should it go?
a year ago
The shift from third-party to first-party data consent, and how far should it go?
Math Is Still...
The Question of What’s Fair Illuminates the Question of What’s Hard
Computational complexity theorists have discovered a surprising new way to understand what makes...
6 months ago
Computational complexity theorists have discovered a surprising new way to understand what makes certain problems hard.
The post The Question of What’s Fair Illuminates the Question of What’s Hard first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Asterisk
The Wrong Kind of City?
How much can the way cities grow tell us about the economic trajectory of their countries? According...
3 months ago
How much can the way cities grow tell us about the economic trajectory of their countries? According to the father of modern sociology, quite a lot.
Math Is Still...
What Causes Giant Rogue Waves?
Once dismissed as myths, monstrous rogue waves that tower over ships and appear without warning are...
a year ago
Once dismissed as myths, monstrous rogue waves that tower over ships and appear without warning are real. Wave-science researcher Ton van den Bremer and Steven Strogatz discuss how rogue waves can form in relatively calm seas and whether their threat can be predicted. ...
Quantum Frontiers
A (quantum) complex legacy
Early in the fourth year of my PhD, I received a most John-ish email from John Preskill, my PhD...
a year ago
Early in the fourth year of my PhD, I received a most John-ish email from John Preskill, my PhD advisor. The title read, “thermodynamics of complexity,” and the message was concise the way that the Amazon River is damp: “Might … Continue reading →
The Roots of...
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...
a year ago
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...
Uncharted...
The Earth Is Better with More People
A world with 2 billion people would be decaying, poor, brutal, violent, hopeless. With 100B, it...
3 weeks ago
A world with 2 billion people would be decaying, poor, brutal, violent, hopeless. With 100B, it would be rich, beautiful, vibrant, peaceful, hopeful.
Willem Pennings
ClockSquared improvements
My ClockSquared project has a long history – it goes all the way back to 2015, when it was simply...
a year ago
My ClockSquared project has a long history – it goes all the way back to 2015, when it was simply called the “Birthday word clock”. I haven’t spent much time on the project in recent years, but I’ve upgraded the internals a while ago and finally felt like writing a post about it....
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Placebos Are Getting Stronger | Out-Of-Pocket
Should we incorporate them into clinical practice?
a year ago
Should we incorporate them into clinical practice?
The Works in...
Links in Progress: Expanding the Mediterranean's busiest port
Plus: New tunnels, monorails, canals, small modular reactors, and horseless carriages
a month ago
Plus: New tunnels, monorails, canals, small modular reactors, and horseless carriages
Stephen Wolfram...
Nestedly Recursive Functions
Yet Another Ruliological Surprise Integers. Addition. Subtraction. Maybe multiplication. Surely...
2 months ago
Yet Another Ruliological Surprise Integers. Addition. Subtraction. Maybe multiplication. Surely that’s not enough to be able to generate any serious complexity. In the early 1980s I had made the very surprising discovery that very simple programs based on cellular automata could...
Probably...
Destructive Testing
Here’s another installment in Data Q&A: Answering the real questions with Python. Previous...
7 months ago
Here’s another installment in Data Q&A: Answering the real questions with Python. Previous installments are available from the Data Q&A landing page. sample_size Sample Size Selection¶ Here’s a question from the Reddit statistics forum. Hi Redditors, I am a civil engineer trying...
symmetry magazine
How to put together an international physics experiment
To build the DUNE neutrino experiment and its associated accelerator upgrade, experts invent...
a year ago
To build the DUNE neutrino experiment and its associated accelerator upgrade, experts invent customized ways to transport fragile, expensive and highly specialized components.
On a late-September day, in the high-bay building of Daresbury Laboratory in the...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
ARISE ERISA | Out-Of-Pocket
Levity in the time of Coronavirus
a year ago
Levity in the time of Coronavirus
Math Is Still...
How Quickly Do Large Language Models Learn Unexpected Skills?
A new study suggests that so-called emergent abilities actually develop gradually and predictably,...
10 months ago
A new study suggests that so-called emergent abilities actually develop gradually and predictably, depending on how you measure them.
The post How Quickly Do Large Language Models Learn Unexpected Skills? first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Out-of-Pocket Blog
SWORD Health And Virtual Musculoskeletal Care | Out-Of-Pocket
A first person account
a year ago
NeuroLogica Blog
Using AI To Create Virtual Environments
Generative AI applications seem to be on the steep part of the development curve – not only is the...
8 months ago
Generative AI applications seem to be on the steep part of the development curve – not only is the technology getting better, but people are finding more and more uses for it. It’s a new powerful tool with broad applicability, and so there are countless startups and researchers...
pcloadletter
Quality is a hard sell in big tech
I have noticed a trend in a handful of products I've worked on at big tech companies. I have friends...
10 months ago
I have noticed a trend in a handful of products I've worked on at big tech companies. I have friends at other big tech companies that have noticed a similar trend: The products are kind of crummy.
Here are some experiences that I have often encountered:
the UI is flakey and/or...
The Works in...
Two Assault Rifles
A new section from Stewart Brand's Maintenance on Books in Progress
a year ago
A new section from Stewart Brand's Maintenance on Books in Progress
Asterisk
Salt, Sugar, Water, Zinc: How Scientists Learned to Treat the 20th Century’s Biggest Killer of...
Oral rehydration therapy is now the standard treatment for dehydration. It’s saved millions of...
a year ago
Oral rehydration therapy is now the standard treatment for dehydration. It’s saved millions of lives, and can be prepared at home in minutes. So why did it take so long to discover?
Beautiful Public...
Photologging Vans
These sequences are from New York and Connecticut’s state photolog archives, which I obtained...
over a year ago
These sequences are from New York and Connecticut’s state photolog archives, which I obtained through public records requests. Almost every state’s highway departments had highway photolog programs, some dating back as early as 1961. These sequences were captured by specially...
Asterisk
The Devil in the Details: Matthew Desmond’s Poverty by America
Matthew Desmond’s Poverty, by America is one of the most celebrated books on the subject....
a year ago
Matthew Desmond’s Poverty, by America is one of the most celebrated books on the subject. Unfortunately, carelessness about the ways we measure poverty undercuts its main argument.
symmetry magazine
Celebrating Dark Matter Day in Latin America
Scientists, artists, communicators and physics fans find creative ways to mark the unofficial...
a year ago
Scientists, artists, communicators and physics fans find creative ways to mark the unofficial holiday devoted to dark matter.
Out-of-Pocket Blog
How Much Info Should A Patient Get? | Out-Of-Pocket
A discussion question
a year ago
Asterisk
The Highway to NIMBYism
San Francisco’s history of collective decision-making helped prevent the city from being carved up...
7 months ago
San Francisco’s history of collective decision-making helped prevent the city from being carved up by highways. Today, that same legacy prevents the city from building what it desperately needs: more housing.
Beautiful Public...
The Mirror Fusion Test Facility
A decade-long effort to build a machine to unlock the promise of nuclear fusion fell victim to...
a year ago
A decade-long effort to build a machine to unlock the promise of nuclear fusion fell victim to budget constraints and competing science, and was shut down the day it was dedicated. It was never turned on.
Out-of-Pocket Blog
How Healthcare Payments Work with Candid Health | Out-Of-Pocket
A walkthrough of how money flows between payers and providers
a year ago
A walkthrough of how money flows between payers and providers
Math Is Still...
What Can Cave Life Tell Us About Alien Ecosystems?
Extremophiles, or microbes that live in the most seemingly hostile environments, are the darlings of...
2 months ago
Extremophiles, or microbes that live in the most seemingly hostile environments, are the darlings of astrobiologists, who study the potential for life beyond Earth. In this episode, co-host Janna Levin speaks with astrobiologist and cave explorer Penelope Boston about how life...
NeuroLogica Blog
Coal vs Natural Gas
In the last 18 years, since 2005, the US has decreased our CO2 emissions due to electricity...
a year ago
In the last 18 years, since 2005, the US has decreased our CO2 emissions due to electricity generation by 32%, 819 million metric tons of CO2 per year. Thirty percent of this decline can be attributed to renewable energy generation. But 65% is attributed to essentially replacing...
Math Is Still...
Thirty Years Later, a Speed Boost for Quantum Factoring
Shor’s algorithm will enable future quantum computers to factor large numbers quickly, undermining...
a year ago
Shor’s algorithm will enable future quantum computers to factor large numbers quickly, undermining many online security protocols. Now a researcher has shown how to do it even faster.
The post Thirty Years Later, a Speed Boost for Quantum Factoring first appeared on...
Probably...
Regrets and Regression
It’s another installment in Data Q&A: Answering the real questions with Python. Previous...
5 months ago
It’s another installment in Data Q&A: Answering the real questions with Python. Previous installments are available from the Data Q&A landing page. standardize Standardization and Normalization¶ Here’s a question from the Reddit statistics forum. I want to write a research...
Blog - Practical...
Which Is Easier To Pull? (Railcars vs. Road Cars)
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.]
Imagine the room you’re in...
a year ago
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.]
Imagine the room you’re in right now was filled to the top with gravel. (I promise I’m headed somewhere with this.) I don’t know the size of the room you’re in, but if it’s anywhere near an average-sized...
Confessions of a...
Predation of juvenile reef fish in coral patches at Ningaloo Reef
The second research article I have decided to discuss is one I had the pleasure to be involved with!...
over a year ago
The second research article I have decided to discuss is one I had the pleasure to be involved with! In fact, it was the first paper I was a co-author on, after linking up with the Department of Environment and Conservation through an ANNiMS internship program. The paper was...
Math Is Still...
The #1 Clue to Quantum Gravity Sits on the Surfaces of Black Holes
A black hole formula worked out in the 1970s remains the most concrete clue physicists have about...
2 months ago
A black hole formula worked out in the 1970s remains the most concrete clue physicists have about the threads of the space-time fabric.
The post The #1 Clue to Quantum Gravity Sits on the Surfaces of Black Holes first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Blog - Practical...
Why Railroads Don't Need Expansion Joints
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.]
One of the most common...
a year ago
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.]
One of the most common attributes folks imagine when they think of trains is the clickety-clack sound they make as they roll down the tracks. The thing is, most trains don’t make that sound anymore. Or really,...
Math Is Still...
Avi Wigderson, Complexity Theory Pioneer, Wins Turing Award
The prolific researcher found deep connections between randomness and computation and spent a career...
8 months ago
The prolific researcher found deep connections between randomness and computation and spent a career influencing cryptographers, complexity researchers and more.
The post Avi Wigderson, Complexity Theory Pioneer, Wins Turing Award first appeared on Quanta Magazine
nanoscale views
The fusion story of the day
There is a press conference going on right now announcing a breakthrough at the National Ignition...
over a year ago
There is a press conference going on right now announcing a breakthrough at the National Ignition Facility at Livermore. The NIF is an inertial confinement fusion facility that uses 192 laser beams to compress a fuel pellet containing deuterium and tritium. The pellet is...
Light from Space
The Path to the Pillars of Creation
Famously photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope, here's my first look at the Pillars of Creation...
over a year ago
Famously photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope, here's my first look at the Pillars of Creation in the Eagle Nebula (Messier 16).
Total exposure time: 16h 5m
Shot from my driveway near Tucson, AZ in April & May 2022
Telescope: William Optics RedCat 51 (250mm focal length ƒ
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...
a year ago
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...
Quantum Frontiers
Can Thermodynamics Resolve the Measurement Problem?
At the recent Quantum Thermodynamics conference in Vienna (coming next year to the University of...
a year ago
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 …...
Eukaryote Writes...
Internet Harvest (2024, 1)
Free covid treatment for everyone in the US, a novel orthopox virus, a really big machine, cameras...
9 months ago
Free covid treatment for everyone in the US, a novel orthopox virus, a really big machine, cameras used for good and evil, ant heaven now, and more.
NeuroLogica Blog
Hunger Circuitry
One of the organizing principles that govern living organisms is homeostasis. This is a key feature...
a year ago
One of the organizing principles that govern living organisms is homeostasis. This is a key feature of being alive – maintaining homeostatic equilibrium both internally and externally. Homeostatic systems usually involve multiple feedback loops that maintain some physiological...
The Works in...
Works in Progress: 2023 Wrapped
Our most read work of the year
a year ago
Our most read work of the year
brr
Mud Murdo
The beautiful ambiance of a McMurdo summer.
over a year ago
The beautiful ambiance of a McMurdo summer.
Drew Ex Machina
Pioneer 3: JPL’s First Moonshot Attempt
With the new push by the United States and other space faring powers to renew the exploration of the...
over a year ago
With the new push by the United States and other space faring powers to renew the exploration of the Moon, miniaturized spacecraft have been made part […]
Beautiful Public...
Wild Horses
The Bureau of Land Management wants to pay you $1,000 to adopt a wild horse. But the program has...
a year ago
The Bureau of Land Management wants to pay you $1,000 to adopt a wild horse. But the program has been criticized by animal rights advocates and subject to scrutiny by Congress.
Interaction Magic -...
3 tips for co-designing with kids
Designing future sports products with a group of 11 year olds.
a year ago
Designing future sports products with a group of 11 year olds.
Asterisk
Half A Million Kinksters Can’t Be Wrong
The story of how one independent researcher conducted the largest-ever survey on fetishes, and what...
a year ago
The story of how one independent researcher conducted the largest-ever survey on fetishes, and what it has to teach us about sex, pleasure, and social science methodology.
Math Is Still...
Swirling Forces, Crushing Pressures Measured in the Proton
Long-anticipated experiments that use light to mimic gravity are revealing the distribution of...
9 months ago
Long-anticipated experiments that use light to mimic gravity are revealing the distribution of energies, forces and pressures inside a subatomic particle for the first time.
The post Swirling Forces, Crushing Pressures Measured in the Proton first appeared on Quanta...
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...
4 months ago
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...
Math Is Still...
Why Mathematicians Re-Prove What They Already Know
It’s been known for thousands of years that the primes go on forever, but new proofs give fresh...
a year ago
It’s been known for thousands of years that the primes go on forever, but new proofs give fresh insights into how theorems depend on one another.
The post Why Mathematicians Re-Prove What They Already Know first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Six Stages Of Health Tech Grief Pt. 1 | Out-Of-Pocket
we should pay people to be healthy + building a new EMR
a year ago
we should pay people to be healthy + building a new EMR
Math Is Still...
How Failure Has Made Mathematics Stronger
The topologist Danny Calegari discusses the inevitability of disappointment in math, and how to...
7 months ago
The topologist Danny Calegari discusses the inevitability of disappointment in math, and how to learn from it.
The post How Failure Has Made Mathematics Stronger first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Math Is Still...
How Colorful Ribbon Diagrams Became the Face of Proteins
Proteins are often visualized as cascades of curled ribbons and twisted strings, which both reveal...
4 months ago
Proteins are often visualized as cascades of curled ribbons and twisted strings, which both reveal and conceal the mess of atoms that make up these impossibly complex molecules.
The post How Colorful Ribbon Diagrams Became the Face of Proteins first appeared on Quanta...
NeuroLogica Blog
Virtual Walking
When I use my virtual reality gear I do practical zero virtual walking – meaning that I don’t have...
9 months ago
When I use my virtual reality gear I do practical zero virtual walking – meaning that I don’t have my avatar walk while I am not walking. I general play standing up which means I can move around the space in my office mapped by my VR software – so I am physically walking to...
The Roots of...
Highlights from The Industrial Revolution, by T. S. Ashton
The Industrial Revolution, 1760-1830, by Thomas S. Ashton, is classic in the field, published in...
a year ago
The Industrial Revolution, 1760-1830, by Thomas S. Ashton, is classic in the field, published in 1948. Here are some of my highlights from it. (Emphasis in bold added by me.)
The role of chance
What was the role of chance in the inventions of the Industrial Revolution?
It is true...
Probably...
Standard deviation of a count
This post is part of a new project with the working title Data Q&A: Answering the real questions...
8 months ago
This post is part of a new project with the working title Data Q&A: Answering the real questions with Python. In each installment, I’ll take a question from Reddit’s statistics forum and answer it, using Python code to demonstrate. My answer is in a Jupyter notebook — see the...
Blog - Practical...
HEAVY CONSTRUCTION of a Sewage Pump Station - Ep 1
Check out our new series! This is the first episode of a five-part pilot series to gauge your...
a year ago
Check out our new series! This is the first episode of a five-part pilot series to gauge your interest in "How It's Made"-esque heavy construction videos. Drop a comment or send me an email to let me know what you think! Watch on YouTube above or ad-free on Nebula here.
nanoscale views
Materials families: Halide perovskites
Looking back, I realized that I haven't written much about halide perovskites, which is quite an...
6 months ago
Looking back, I realized that I haven't written much about halide perovskites, which is quite an oversight given how much research impact they're having. I'm not an expert, and there are multiple extensive review articles out there (e.g. here, here, here, here, here), so this...
NeuroLogica Blog
The Role of Plausibility in Science
I have been writing blog posts and engaging in science communication long enough that I have a...
a year ago
I have been writing blog posts and engaging in science communication long enough that I have a pretty good sense how much engagement I am going to get from a particular topic. Some topics are simply more divisive than others (although there is an unpredictable element from social...
Math Is Still...
In Highly Connected Networks, There’s Always a Loop
Mathematicians show that graphs of a certain common type must contain a route that visits each point...
6 months ago
Mathematicians show that graphs of a certain common type must contain a route that visits each point exactly once.
The post In Highly Connected Networks, There’s Always a Loop first appeared on Quanta Magazine
NeuroLogica Blog
Localizing Hidden Consciousness
What’s going on in the minds of people who appear to be comatose? This has been an enduring...
a year ago
What’s going on in the minds of people who appear to be comatose? This has been an enduring neurological question from the beginning of neurology as a discipline. Recent technological advances have completely changed the game in terms of evaluating comatose patients, and now a...
Blog - Practical...
The Wild Story of the Taum Sauk Dam Failure
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.]
Early in the morning of...
2 months ago
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.]
Early in the morning of December 14, 2005, pumps were nearly finished filling the upper reservoir at the Taum Sauk power station, marking the end of the daily cycle. Water rose to the top of the rockfill...
Uncharted...
Become a World-Class Communicator
I’m running a 2nd cohort of my course: How to Become a World-Class Communicator, starting in two...
2 months ago
I’m running a 2nd cohort of my course: How to Become a World-Class Communicator, starting in two weeks, on November 4th!
NeuroLogica Blog
Making Fuel from Sunshine
When it comes to big problems it’s generally a good idea to remember some basic principles. One is...
a year ago
When it comes to big problems it’s generally a good idea to remember some basic principles. One is that there is no free lunch. This is a cliche because it’s true. Another way to put this is – there are no solutions, only trade offs. Sometimes there is a genuine advance that does...
NeuroLogica Blog
Tong Test for Artificial General Intelligence
Most readers are probably familiar with the Turing Test – a concept proposed by early computing...
a year ago
Most readers are probably familiar with the Turing Test – a concept proposed by early computing expert Alan Turing in 1950, and originally called “The Imitation Game”. The original paper is enlightening to read. Turing was not trying to answer the question “can machines think”....
Math Is Still...
To Defend the Genome, These Cells Destroy Their Own DNA
Under a microscope, cells in a worm embryo deliberately eliminated one-third of their genome — an...
a year ago
Under a microscope, cells in a worm embryo deliberately eliminated one-third of their genome — an uncompromising tactic that may combat harmful genetic parasites.
The post To Defend the Genome, These Cells Destroy Their Own DNA first appeared on Quanta Magazine
NeuroLogica Blog
The Conversation Gets it Wrong on GMOs
Even high quality media outlets will get it wrong from time to time. I notice this tends to happen...
a year ago
Even high quality media outlets will get it wrong from time to time. I notice this tends to happen when there is a mature and sophisticated propaganda campaign that has had enough time and reach to essentially gaslight a major portion of the public, and further where a particular...
The Roots of...
What does it mean to “trust science”?
And this, my children, is why we do not say things like “I believe in science”. I mean, don’t get me...
a year ago
And this, my children, is why we do not say things like “I believe in science”. I mean, don’t get me wrong, science definitely exists—I’ve seen it. But not everything that calls itself science is science, and even good science sometimes gets wrong results. –Megan McArdle
Should...
NeuroLogica Blog
Managing Plastic Waste
The world produces 350-400 million metric tons of plastic waste. Less than 10% of this waste is...
a month ago
The world produces 350-400 million metric tons of plastic waste. Less than 10% of this waste is recycled, while 25% is mismanaged or littered. About 1.7 million tons ends up in the ocean. This is not sustainable, but whose responsibility is it to deal with this issue? The debate...
Math Is Still...
An Explorer of Abyssal Depths Looks to Oceans on Other Worlds
The marine geochemist Chris German brings decades of experience studying seafloor hydrothermal vents...
a year ago
The marine geochemist Chris German brings decades of experience studying seafloor hydrothermal vents to NASA’s preparations for visits to other ocean worlds in our solar system.
The post An Explorer of Abyssal Depths Looks to Oceans on Other Worlds first appeared on...
Explorations of an...
Chaco Birding, And A Rare Monjita
The Gran Chaco (or simply, "Chaco"), is a sparsely populated plain in central South America, known...
a year ago
The Gran Chaco (or simply, "Chaco"), is a sparsely populated plain in central South America, known for its hot, semi-arid environment. It doesn't refer to one particular ecosystem, but rather, it includes a number of different types of forest, scrub, savannah and grassland. Most...
Blog - Practical...
HEAVY CONSTRUCTION of a Sewage Pump Station - Ep 5
This is the fifth and final episode of a five-part pilot series to gauge your interest in "How It's...
a year ago
This is the fifth and final episode of a five-part pilot series to gauge your interest in "How It's Made"-esque heavy construction videos. Drop a comment or send me an email to let me know what you think! Watch on YouTube above or ad-free on Nebula here.
Damn Interesting
The Comforts of the Throne
In the days when hunting was a more common pursuit than it is today, those involved in the job...
over a year ago
In the days when hunting was a more common pursuit than it is today, those involved in the job cultivated a taxonomy for the various droppings they might encounter and use for tracking. Thus, rather than merely looking out for scat, those stalking deer would keep an eye peeled...
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...
6 months ago
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 →
IEEE Spectrum
Saving the Big Bang (Antenna)
The antenna that discovered a cosmic microwave background coming from all directions in...
a year ago
The antenna that discovered a cosmic microwave background coming from all directions in space—cementing the theory that the universe was created in a big bang—now stares down its own topsy-turvy future. Its owner says the hardware will be preserved, but the fate of the historical...
Math Is Still...
Cells Across the Body Talk to Each Other About Aging
Biologists discovered that mitochondria in different tissues talk to each other to repair injured...
11 months ago
Biologists discovered that mitochondria in different tissues talk to each other to repair injured cells. When their signal fails, the biological clock starts winding down.
The post Cells Across the Body Talk to Each Other About Aging first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Probably...
Elements of Data Science
I’m excited to announce the launch of my newest book, Elements of Data Science. As the subtitle...
5 months ago
I’m excited to announce the launch of my newest book, Elements of Data Science. As the subtitle suggests, it is about “Getting started with Data Science and Python”. Order now from Lulu.com and get 20% off! I am publishing this book myself, which has one big advantage: I can...
Math Is Still...
The Computing Pioneer Helping AI See
Alexei Efros has spent his career learning how machines see differently from humans. Now he’s...
a year ago
Alexei Efros has spent his career learning how machines see differently from humans. Now he’s helping to bridge the gap.
The post The Computing Pioneer Helping AI See first appeared on Quanta Magazine
wadertales
Curlew nest survival
The Eurasian Curlew is designated as ‘Near-Threatened’ by IUCN/BirdLife. It is Red-listed in the UK,...
a year ago
The Eurasian Curlew is designated as ‘Near-Threatened’ by IUCN/BirdLife. It is Red-listed in the UK, largely due to a rapid decline in breeding numbers. In this context, the fact that there are a few pink squares (indicating increased numbers) on the map showing breeding...
Probably...
Young Americans are Marrying Later or Never
I’ve written before about changes in marriage patterns in the U.S., and it’s one of the examples in...
a week ago
I’ve written before about changes in marriage patterns in the U.S., and it’s one of the examples in Chapter 13 of the new third edition of Think Stats. My analysis uses data from the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG). Today they released the most recent data, from surveys...
Asterisk
Democracy by Mistake
Most political scientists see democracy as the natural consequence of economic development or the...
10 months ago
Most political scientists see democracy as the natural consequence of economic development or the result of strategic and rational choice. A detailed look through history suggests democracy emerges as often as not by another path: human error.
Wanderingspace
JUPITER FROM JUNO
An unusual perspective, captured by NASA's Juno spacecraft in 2018.
a year ago
An unusual perspective, captured by NASA's Juno spacecraft in 2018.
Asterisk
Read This, Not That: The Hidden Cost of Nutrition Misinformation
Our daily lives are inundated with misleading claims about nutrition. That’s not just distracting —...
a year ago
Our daily lives are inundated with misleading claims about nutrition. That’s not just distracting — it’s also harming our health.
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...
7 months ago
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 →
brr
Sunset
Hunkering down for the winter!
a year ago
Hunkering down for the winter!
Quantum Frontiers
Caltech’s Ginsburg Center
Editor’s Note: On 10 August 2023, Caltech celebrated the groundbreaking for the Dr. Allen and...
a year ago
Editor’s Note: On 10 August 2023, Caltech celebrated the groundbreaking for the Dr. Allen and Charlotte Ginsburg Center for Quantum Precision Measurement, which will open in 2025. At a lunch following the ceremony, John Preskill made these remarks. Hello everyone. … Continue...
Asterisk
The Myth of the Loneliness Epidemic
Are we really living through a uniquely lonely moment in American history? When it comes to...
a month ago
Are we really living through a uniquely lonely moment in American history? When it comes to friendship, this isn’t the first time that authorities have cried wolf.
Probably...
Rip-off ETF?
An article in a recent issue of The Economist suggests, right in the title, “Investors should avoid...
3 months ago
An article in a recent issue of The Economist suggests, right in the title, “Investors should avoid a new generation of rip-off ETFs”. An ETF is an exchange-traded fund, which holds a collection of assets and trades on an exchange like a single stock. For example, the SPDR S&P...
Math Is Still...
Ecologists Struggle to Get a Grip on ‘Keystone Species’
More than 50 years after Bob Paine’s experiment with starfish, hundreds of species have been...
8 months ago
More than 50 years after Bob Paine’s experiment with starfish, hundreds of species have been pronounced “keystones” in their ecosystems. Has the powerful metaphor lost its mathematical meaning?
The post Ecologists Struggle to Get a Grip on ‘Keystone Species’ first...
Math Is Still...
A Triplet Tree Forms One of the Most Beautiful Structures in Math
The Markov numbers reveal the secrets of irrational numbers and the patterns of the Fibonacci...
a year ago
The Markov numbers reveal the secrets of irrational numbers and the patterns of the Fibonacci sequence. But there’s one question about them that has resisted proof for over a century.
The post A Triplet Tree Forms One of the Most Beautiful Structures in Math first...
Probably...
PMFs and PDFs
It’s another installment in Data Q&A: Answering the real questions with Python. Previous...
5 months ago
It’s another installment in Data Q&A: Answering the real questions with Python. Previous installments are available from the Data Q&A landing page. If you get this post by email, the formatting is not good — you might want to read it on the site. pmf_and_pdf PMFs and PDFs¶ Here’s...
symmetry magazine
A cosmological headache
For over a century, scientists have wondered what is counteracting the force of gravity in the...
a year ago
For over a century, scientists have wondered what is counteracting the force of gravity in the universe.
The Works in...
The San Diego infinite housing glitch
How a bonus ADU program allows 'granny towers' in gardens
2 months ago
How a bonus ADU program allows 'granny towers' in gardens
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Mental Health And The Weird Fixation With Employers | Out-Of-Pocket
an uncomfortable conversation about mental health access
a year ago
an uncomfortable conversation about mental health access
nanoscale views
What is a metal-insulator transition?
The recent excitement about the alleged high temperature superconductor "LK99" has introduced some...
a year ago
The recent excitement about the alleged high temperature superconductor "LK99" has introduced some in the public to the idea of a metal-insulator or insulator-metal transition (MIT/IMT). For example, one strong candidate explanation for the sharp drop in resistance as a function...
The Roots of...
The Commission for Stopping Further Improvements
On May 24, 1847, a bridge over the Dee River in Chester, England, collapsed. A passenger train...
a year ago
On May 24, 1847, a bridge over the Dee River in Chester, England, collapsed. A passenger train plunged into the river; five people were killed and nine seriously injured.
The subsequent investigation blamed the bridge’s cast iron girders. Cast iron, like concrete but unlike...
Math Is Still...
When Data Is Missing, Scientists Guess. Then Guess Again.
Across the social and biological sciences, statisticians use a technique that leverages randomness...
2 months ago
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
Asterisk
Feeding the World Without Sunlight
In 1815, the largest volcanic eruption in recorded history led to harvest failures across the globe....
a year ago
In 1815, the largest volcanic eruption in recorded history led to harvest failures across the globe. Today, a nuclear winter could bring the global food system crashing down. Is it possible to feed the world in the aftermath of a catastrophe?
Uncharted...
The Latest on Healthcare Research
Cancer research, AI in healthcare, aging research, and much more
a month ago
Cancer research, AI in healthcare, aging research, and much more
Math Is Still...
The Quest for Simple Rules to Build a Microbial Community
Microbiologists are searching for a universal theory of how bacteria form communities based not on...
11 months ago
Microbiologists are searching for a universal theory of how bacteria form communities based not on their species but on the roles they play.
The post The Quest for Simple Rules to Build a Microbial Community first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Math Is Still...
Data Compression Drives the Internet. Here’s How It Works.
One student’s desire to get out of a final exam led to the ubiquitous algorithm that shrinks data...
a year ago
One student’s desire to get out of a final exam led to the ubiquitous algorithm that shrinks data without sacrificing information.
The post Data Compression Drives the Internet. Here’s How It Works. first appeared on Quanta Magazine
nanoscale views
The need for energy-efficient computing
Computing is consuming a large and ever-growing
fraction of the world's energy capacity.
I've seen...
over a year ago
Computing is consuming a large and ever-growing
fraction of the world's energy capacity.
I've seen the essential data in this figure several times over the last few months, and it has convinced me that the need for energy-efficient computing hardware is genuinely pressing. This...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Cool Facts About Health Insurance Enrollment with Aleka Gurel | Out-Of-Pocket
Tis the season
a year ago
Math Is Still...
Monumental Proof Settles Geometric Langlands Conjecture
In work that has been 30 years in the making, mathematicians have proved a major part of a profound...
5 months ago
In work that has been 30 years in the making, mathematicians have proved a major part of a profound mathematical vision called the Langlands program.
The post Monumental Proof Settles Geometric Langlands Conjecture first appeared on Quanta Magazine
NeuroLogica Blog
The Potential of AI + CRISPR
In my book, which I will now shamelessly promote – The Skeptics’ Guide to the Future – my coauthors...
3 months ago
In my book, which I will now shamelessly promote – The Skeptics’ Guide to the Future – my coauthors and I discuss the incredible potential of information-based technologies. As we increasingly transition to digital technology, we can leverage the increasing power of computer...
NeuroLogica Blog
England Allows Gene-Edited Crops
This has been somewhat of a quiet revolution, but a new law in England may bring it to the...
a year ago
This has been somewhat of a quiet revolution, but a new law in England may bring it to the foreground. The Precision Breeding Act will now allow gene-edited plants to be developed and marketed in England (not Northern Ireland, Wales, or Scotland). The innovation is that the law...
Asterisk
Is Cultivated Meat For Real?
Cultivated meat faces a wall of scientific skepticism, but investors haven’t been deterred. A decade...
a year ago
Cultivated meat faces a wall of scientific skepticism, but investors haven’t been deterred. A decade in, how close are we to seeing it on our plates?
Blog - Practical...
Why Some Roadways Are Made of Styrofoam
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.]
If you’ve ever driven or...
a year ago
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.]
If you’ve ever driven or ridden in an automobile, there’s a near 100% chance you’ve hit a bump in the road as you transition onto or off of a bridge. In fact, some studies estimate that it happens on a quarter...
NeuroLogica Blog
Is the AI Singularity Coming?
Like it or not, we are living in the age of artificial intelligence (AI). Recent advances in large...
9 months ago
Like it or not, we are living in the age of artificial intelligence (AI). Recent advances in large language models, like ChatGPT, have helped put advanced AI in the hands of the average person, who now has a much better sense of how powerful these AI applications can be (and...
Math Is Still...
What a Contest of Consciousness Theories Really Proved
A five-year “adversarial collaboration” of consciousness theorists led to a stagy showdown in front...
a year ago
A five-year “adversarial collaboration” of consciousness theorists led to a stagy showdown in front of an audience. It crowned no winners — but it can still claim progress.
The post What a Contest of Consciousness Theories Really Proved first appeared on Quanta...
Math Is Still...
Ninth Dedekind Number Found by Two Independent Groups
The numbers count a variety of seemingly unrelated mathematical structures.
The post...
a year ago
The numbers count a variety of seemingly unrelated mathematical structures.
The post Ninth Dedekind Number Found by Two Independent Groups first appeared on Quanta Magazine
NeuroLogica Blog
Concrete Battery
I know it’s only been a couple of weeks since I wrote about cement, but now I need to write about...
6 months ago
I know it’s only been a couple of weeks since I wrote about cement, but now I need to write about concrete, or potential version of concrete that is able to function as a battery. If we can get the technology to work this could an extremely useful item for a future of green...
Math Is Still...
Memories Help Brains Recognize New Events Worth Remembering
Memories may affect how well the brain will learn about future events by shifting our perceptions of...
a year ago
Memories may affect how well the brain will learn about future events by shifting our perceptions of the world.
The post Memories Help Brains Recognize New Events Worth Remembering first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Chris Grossack's...
Proving Another "Real Theorem" with Topos Theory
Another day, another post that starts with “So I was on mse…”, lol.
Somebody asked whether...
9 months ago
Another day, another post that starts with “So I was on mse…”, lol.
Somebody asked whether maximizing over a compact set is a continuous thing
to do. That is, given a continuous function $f : K \times X \to \mathbb{R}$ is the
function $x \mapsto \max_{k \in K} f(k,x)$...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Ciitizen And The Patient Data Marketplace | Out-Of-Pocket
The path to our personal health record
a year ago
The path to our personal health record
Math Is Still...
‘Groups’ Underpin Modern Math. Here’s How They Work.
What do the integers have in common with the symmetries of a triangle? In the 19th century,...
3 months ago
What do the integers have in common with the symmetries of a triangle? In the 19th century, mathematicians invented groups as an answer to this question.
The post ‘Groups’ Underpin Modern Math. Here’s How They Work. first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Dental Insurance, Value-Based Dental, and Beam Benefits | Out-Of-Pocket
Why doesn’t dental have value-based care?
a year ago
Why doesn’t dental have value-based care?
nanoscale views
The difficult need for creativity on demand
Thoughts at the end of another busy year…. Good science is a creative enterprise. Some stereotypes...
a year ago
Thoughts at the end of another busy year…. Good science is a creative enterprise. Some stereotypes paint most scientists as toiling away, so deeply constrained by logic that they function more like automatons grinding out the next incremental advance in a steady if slow march of...
NeuroLogica Blog
Using Cement for Energy Storage
Imagine if every house, every building, came with 1-2 days (or possibly more) of energy storage....
a year ago
Imagine if every house, every building, came with 1-2 days (or possibly more) of energy storage. What if every wind turbine could store a day’s worth of the energy it produces on average? How beneficial would it be if the most common building material the world could be used to...
NeuroLogica Blog
Diamond Batteries Again
Why does news reporting of science and technology have to be so terrible at baseline? I know the...
a week ago
Why does news reporting of science and technology have to be so terrible at baseline? I know the answers to this question – lack of expertise, lack of a business model to support dedicated science news infrastructure, the desire for click-bait and sensationalism – but it is still...
Math Is Still...
What Happens in a Mind That Can’t ‘See’ Mental Images
Neuroscience research into people with aphantasia, who don’t experience mental imagery, is revealing...
4 months ago
Neuroscience research into people with aphantasia, who don’t experience mental imagery, is revealing how imagination works and demonstrating the sweeping variety in our subjective experiences.
The post What Happens in a Mind That Can’t ‘See’ Mental Images first...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Christian Health Insurance | Out-Of-Pocket
Love thy neighbor, pay for thy neighbor
a year ago
Love thy neighbor, pay for thy neighbor
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Newsletter One + Patient Zero | Out-Of-Pocket
Shall we begin?
a year ago
Quantum Frontiers
Quantum Frontiers salutes an English teacher
If I ever mention a crazy high-school English teacher to you, I might be referring to Mr. Lukacs....
6 months ago
If I ever mention a crazy high-school English teacher to you, I might be referring to Mr. Lukacs. One morning, before the first bell rang, I found him wandering among the lockers, wearing a white beard and a mischievous grin. … Continue reading →
nanoscale views
Meetings this week
This week is the 2023 DOE experimental condensed matter physics PI meeting - in the past I’ve...
a year ago
This week is the 2023 DOE experimental condensed matter physics PI meeting - in the past I’ve written up highlights of these here (2021), here (2019), here (2017), here (2015), and here (2013). This year, I am going to have to present remotely, however, because I am giving a...
Math Is Still...
How (Nearly) Nothing Might Solve Cosmology’s Biggest Questions
By measuring the universe’s emptiest spaces, scientists can study how matter clumps together and how...
a year ago
By measuring the universe’s emptiest spaces, scientists can study how matter clumps together and how fast it flies apart.
The post How (Nearly) Nothing Might Solve Cosmology’s Biggest Questions first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Exits & Outcomes Is Good | Out-Of-Pocket
moar newsletters
a year ago
Interaction Magic -...
Plastic archeology
The history, science and engineering of Lego bricks, on the cusp between trash and treasure.
a year ago
The history, science and engineering of Lego bricks, on the cusp between trash and treasure.
NeuroLogica Blog
Is The Boring Company Useful?
Elon Musk has a complicated legacy. Most people I encounter who bother to express an opinion tend to...
a year ago
Elon Musk has a complicated legacy. Most people I encounter who bother to express an opinion tend to be either a fan or hater. I am neither. He’s a complicated and flawed person who has accomplished some interesting things, but also has had some epic failures. People like a clean...
Wanderingspace
Mars Express is Still Making Great Images 20 Years Later
Mars Express was launched by the European Space Agency in 2003, and is ESA’s first Mars mission. In...
3 months ago
Mars Express was launched by the European Space Agency in 2003, and is ESA’s first Mars mission. In one shot, you can see Mars as a half-lit disk, with Phobos, its tiny moon, hovering above. Right below Phobos is Olympus Mons, the solar system's largest volcano, towering 22 km...
Math Is Still...
How Did Altruism Evolve?
If evolution favors the survival of the fittest, where did the impulse to help others come from?...
10 months ago
If evolution favors the survival of the fittest, where did the impulse to help others come from? Host Janna Levin speaks with Stephanie Preston, a neuropsychologist who studies the biology of altruism.
The post How Did Altruism Evolve? first appeared on Quanta...
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...
4 months ago
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.
Explorations of an...
Borneo: Quest For The Bulwer's Pheasant
The Bulwer's Pheasant was one of the first birds to grab hold of my attention when I first flipped...
3 weeks ago
The Bulwer's Pheasant was one of the first birds to grab hold of my attention when I first flipped through the pages of my Borneo field guide many years ago. This pheasant of Bornean hill forest is nearly unbelievable-looking (the male, that is). He has a deep maroon chest and a...
Explorations of an...
The Terror Bird's Relative
January 21, 2023
Laura and I left Salta before dawn so that we could be at our first birding...
a year ago
January 21, 2023
Laura and I left Salta before dawn so that we could be at our first birding location nice and early. The forecasted weather would be few degrees warmer than normal summer temperatures, and we wanted to make the most of our morning.
Our goal for the day was to...
Probably...
Density and Likelihood
It’s another installment in Data Q&A: Answering the real questions with Python. Previous...
5 months ago
It’s another installment in Data Q&A: Answering the real questions with Python. Previous installments are available from the Data Q&A landing page. If you get this post by email, the formatting might be broken — if so, you might want to read it on the site. likelihood Density and...
Quantum Frontiers
Identical twins and quantum entanglement
“If I had a nickel for every unsolicited and very personal health question I’ve gotten at parties,...
a year ago
“If I had a nickel for every unsolicited and very personal health question I’ve gotten at parties, I’d have paid off my medical school loans by now,” my doctor friend complained. As a physicist, I can somewhat relate. I occasionally … Continue reading →
IEEE Spectrum
How Tech Automated the January 6 Investigations
Josh Coker’s Facebook page doesn’t show any MAGA memes or Trump quotes. He wasn’t live-streaming on...
11 months ago
Josh Coker’s Facebook page doesn’t show any MAGA memes or Trump quotes. He wasn’t live-streaming on 6 January 2021, and no one has ever stepped forward to identify him as one of the mob that stormed the US Capitol that day.
Oregon, Ohio, with five counts connected to the failed...
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...
6 months ago
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...
Casey Handmer's blog
Why do we need a Department of Government Efficiency?
President Trump’s recent sweeping electoral victory is a clear mandate for change. There is some...
2 weeks ago
President Trump’s recent sweeping electoral victory is a clear mandate for change. There is some urgency, and Trump has assembled the early stages of a team and coalition that can deliver it. It’s not exactly a mystery what Elon and Vivek plan for The Department of Government...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
What's The Deal With Telemedicine? | Out-Of-Pocket
we're in the weird in-between stage of adoption
a year ago
we're in the weird in-between stage of adoption
The Roots of...
Developing a technology with safety in mind
If a technology may introduce catastrophic risks, how do you develop it?
It occurred to me that the...
a year ago
If a technology may introduce catastrophic risks, how do you develop it?
It occurred to me that the Wright Brothers’ approach to inventing the airplane might make a good case study.
The catastrophic risk for them, of course, was dying in a crash. This is exactly what happened...
nanoscale views
Desirable properties for a superconductor
Given the present interest, let's talk about what kind of properties one wants in a superconductor,...
a year ago
Given the present interest, let's talk about what kind of properties one wants in a superconductor, as some people on social media seem ready to jump straight on the "what does superconductivity mean for bitcoin?" train.
First, the preliminaries. Superconductivity is a state of...
Math Is Still...
Animal Mutation Rates Reveal Traits That Speed Evolution
The first large-scale comparison of mutation rates gives insights into how quickly species can...
a year ago
The first large-scale comparison of mutation rates gives insights into how quickly species can evolve.
The post Animal Mutation Rates Reveal Traits That Speed Evolution first appeared on Quanta Magazine
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...
10 months ago
"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...
Math Is Still...
Two Students Unravel a Widely Believed Math Conjecture
Mathematicians thought they were on the cusp of proving a conjecture about the ancient structures...
a year ago
Mathematicians thought they were on the cusp of proving a conjecture about the ancient structures known as Apollonian circles. But a summer project would lead to its downfall.
The post Two Students Unravel a Widely Believed Math Conjecture first appeared on Quanta...
Math Is Still...
Quantum Computers Cross Critical Error Threshold
In a first, researchers have shown that adding more “qubits” to a quantum computer can make it more...
a week ago
In a first, researchers have shown that adding more “qubits” to a quantum computer can make it more resilient. It’s an essential step on the long road to practical applications.
The post Quantum Computers Cross Critical Error Threshold first appeared on Quanta...
Math Is Still...
A Very Big Small Leap Forward in Graph Theory
Four mathematicians have found a new upper limit to the “Ramsey number,” a crucial property...
a year ago
Four mathematicians have found a new upper limit to the “Ramsey number,” a crucial property describing unavoidable structure in graphs.
The post A Very Big Small Leap Forward in Graph Theory first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Math Is Still...
How ‘Idle’ Egg Cells Defend Their DNA From Damage
How do immature egg cells maintain genetic quality for decades before they mature? Scientists find...
7 months ago
How do immature egg cells maintain genetic quality for decades before they mature? Scientists find unusual safeguards in this quiescent cell that may inform research into fertility.
The post How ‘Idle’ Egg Cells Defend Their DNA From Damage first appeared on Quanta...
The Works in...
Communities of Practice: The Soul of Maintaining a New Machine
The first section of Ch. 3 of Stewart Brand’s Maintenance on Books in Progress
4 months ago
The first section of Ch. 3 of Stewart Brand’s Maintenance on Books in Progress
NeuroLogica Blog
The Future of (Unpaid) Work
If we think of the top inventions that had a positive impact on human society and our quality of...
a year ago
If we think of the top inventions that had a positive impact on human society and our quality of life most lists would contain things like the printing press, the wheel, or the computer. One invention that should be on everyone’s list but is easy to overlook is – the washing...
The Works in...
Notes on Progress: An environmentalist gets lunch
Why being an effective environmentalist can often feel like being a bad one
over a year ago
Why being an effective environmentalist can often feel like being a bad one
NeuroLogica Blog
Is Mars the New Frontier?
In the excellent sci fi show, The Expanse, which takes place a couple hundred years in the future,...
11 months ago
In the excellent sci fi show, The Expanse, which takes place a couple hundred years in the future, Mars has been settled and is an independent self-sustaining society. In fact, Mars is presented as the most scientifically and technologically advanced society of humans in the...
Inverted Passion
A primer on dopamine
1/ I recently made notes on the book “Hooked” but wasn’t satisfied by the depth of explanation in...
11 months ago
1/ I recently made notes on the book “Hooked” but wasn’t satisfied by the depth of explanation in it. 2/ I wanted to get down into neuroscience of habit-forming products and that inevitably lead me to the (in)famous neurotransmitter dopamine. 3/ Before we dive into what dopamine...
NeuroLogica Blog
Gradient Nanostructured Steel
Science fiction writers, who have to think deeply about the possible nature of future technology,...
a year ago
Science fiction writers, who have to think deeply about the possible nature of future technology, often invent new sci-fi materials in order to make their future technology seem plausible. They seem to understand the critical role that material science plays in advancing...
Math Is Still...
Michel Talagrand Wins Abel Prize for Work Wrangling Randomness
The French mathematician spent decades developing a set of tools now widely used for taming random...
9 months ago
The French mathematician spent decades developing a set of tools now widely used for taming random processes.
The post Michel Talagrand Wins Abel Prize for Work Wrangling Randomness first appeared on Quanta Magazine
ToughSF
Advanced Solar Energy in Space: Part II
In this post, we continue looking at high power density options for solar energy.
Brayton...
over a year ago
In this post, we continue looking at high power density options for solar energy.
Brayton cycle
We commonly see the Brayton cycle used to convert heat into work in jet engines and the steam turbines of power plants. There are three main components: a compressor, a heat...
Math Is Still...
The Physicist Who’s Challenging the Quantum Orthodoxy
For decades, physicists have struggled to develop a quantum theory of gravity. But what if gravity —...
a year ago
For decades, physicists have struggled to develop a quantum theory of gravity. But what if gravity — and space-time — are fundamentally classical?
The post The Physicist Who’s Challenging the Quantum Orthodoxy first appeared on Quanta Magazine
IEEE Spectrum
Jean Sammet: An Accidental Computer Programmer
Jean Sammet rarely let anything get in the way of her professional goals. As a young student, she...
a week ago
Jean Sammet rarely let anything get in the way of her professional goals. As a young student, she was barred from attending prestigious all-boys schools, so she pursued her love of mathematics at the best institutions she could find that were open to girls and women. Following...
NeuroLogica Blog
JET Fusion Experiment Sets New Record
Don’t get excited. It’s always nice to see incremental progress being made with the various fusion...
10 months ago
Don’t get excited. It’s always nice to see incremental progress being made with the various fusion experiments happening around the world, but we are still a long way off from commercial fusion power, and this experiment doesn’t really bring us any close, despite the headlines....
Math Is Still...
Mathematicians Cross the Line to Get to the Point
A new paper establishes a long-conjectured bound about the size of the overlap between sets of lines...
a year ago
A new paper establishes a long-conjectured bound about the size of the overlap between sets of lines and points.
The post Mathematicians Cross the Line to Get to the Point first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Math Is Still...
The Physics of Cold Water May Have Jump-Started Complex Life
When seawater gets cold, it gets viscous. This fact could explain how single-celled ocean creatures...
5 months ago
When seawater gets cold, it gets viscous. This fact could explain how single-celled ocean creatures became multicellular when the planet was frozen during “Snowball Earth,” according to experiments.
The post The Physics of Cold Water May Have Jump-Started Complex Life...
Melting Asphalt
Minimum Viable Superorganism
Originally published at Ribbonfarm. Of all the remarkable things about our species — and there are...
over a year ago
Originally published at Ribbonfarm. Of all the remarkable things about our species — and there are many — perhaps the most striking of all is our ability to band together and act as a united, coherent superorganism. E pluribus unum.…
Read more ›
IEEE Spectrum
What Is an Electronic Sackbut?
If you, like me, think of musical synthesizers as an artifact of 1970s rock and disco, then you,...
10 months ago
If you, like me, think of musical synthesizers as an artifact of 1970s rock and disco, then you, like me, will be surprised to learn that the first electronic synthesizer predates those genres by several decades
In 1945, Hugh Le Caine, a physicist at Canada’s National Research...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Announcing the Out-Of-Pocket Job Board! | Out-Of-Pocket
Recruiting a ton? Get your healthcare jobs in front of the right people
a year ago
Recruiting a ton? Get your healthcare jobs in front of the right people
symmetry magazine
SAGE Journey program ignites interest in STEM
Three SAGE alumni talk about their experiences with a program meant to broaden gender diversity in...
a year ago
Three SAGE alumni talk about their experiences with a program meant to broaden gender diversity in STEM.
IEEE Spectrum
The First Virtual Meeting Was in 1916
At 8:30 p.m. on 16 May 1916, John J. Carty banged his gavel at the Engineering Societies Building in...
a month ago
At 8:30 p.m. on 16 May 1916, John J. Carty banged his gavel at the Engineering Societies Building in New York City to call to order a meeting of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers. This was no ordinary gathering. The AIEE had decided to conduct a live national meeting...
Math Is Still...
What Happens in the Brain to Cause Depression?
Drugs that target the neurotransmitter serotonin have long been prescribed to treat depression. Now...
7 months ago
Drugs that target the neurotransmitter serotonin have long been prescribed to treat depression. Now the spotlight is turning to other aspects of brain chemistry. In this episode, the neuropharmacologist John Krystal shares findings that are overturning our understanding of...
Asterisk
Artificial Wombs When?
What to expect when you’re expecting in 2050.
5 months ago
What to expect when you’re expecting in 2050.
Drew Ex Machina
You Can’t Fail Unless You Try: NASA’s Pioneer P-3 Lunar Orbiter
Space enthusiasts of a certain age, like myself, grew up learning about the trio of NASA’s unmanned...
3 weeks ago
Space enthusiasts of a certain age, like myself, grew up learning about the trio of NASA’s unmanned programs which provided scientists and engineers with vital information […]
Blog - Practical...
What Happens When a Reservoir Goes Dry?
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.]
In June of 2022, the level in...
over a year ago
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.]
In June of 2022, the level in Lake Mead, the largest water reservoir in the United States formed by the Hoover Dam, reached yet another all-time low of 175 feet or 53 meters below full, a level that hasn’t been...
The Works in...
The road from serfdom
Using opt-ins to reform Russia's backwards tsarist agricultural sector
9 months ago
Using opt-ins to reform Russia's backwards tsarist agricultural sector
Math Is Still...
Mathematicians Identify the Best Versions of Iconic Shapes
Researchers are discovering the shortest knots and fattest Möbius strips, among other “optimal...
11 months ago
Researchers are discovering the shortest knots and fattest Möbius strips, among other “optimal shapes.”
The post Mathematicians Identify the Best Versions of Iconic Shapes first appeared on Quanta Magazine
The Works in...
Notes on Progress: The stats gap
Students understand just enough statistics to get by
a year ago
Students understand just enough statistics to get by
Math Is Still...
What Could Explain the Gallium Anomaly?
Physicists have ruled out a mundane explanation for the strange findings of an old Soviet...
5 months ago
Physicists have ruled out a mundane explanation for the strange findings of an old Soviet experiment, leaving open the possibility that the results point to a new fundamental particle.
The post What Could Explain the Gallium Anomaly? first appeared on Quanta Magazine
The Works in...
Fermenting revolution
The Victorian fight against bad bread and its role in women’s liberation
a year ago
The Victorian fight against bad bread and its role in women’s liberation
brr
Redeployment Part Three
Off-continent after 446 days!
11 months ago
Off-continent after 446 days!
The Roots of...
Making every researcher seek grants is a broken model
When Galileo wanted to study the heavens through his telescope, he got money from those legendary...
11 months ago
When Galileo wanted to study the heavens through his telescope, he got money from those legendary patrons of the Renaissance, the Medici. To win their favor, when he discovered the moons of Jupiter, he named them the Medicean Stars. Other scientists and inventors offered flashy...
Light from Space
Lagoon and the Hourglass
A view of the center region of the Lagoon Nebula (Messier 8, Sharpless 25). There's several other...
over a year ago
A view of the center region of the Lagoon Nebula (Messier 8, Sharpless 25). There's several other objects visible, notably the Hourglass Nebula and open star cluster NGC 6530, as well as numerous Bok globules (the small dark clouds, that will one day form new stars).
Click...
Math Is Still...
Covid-19 mRNA Vaccines Win Nobel Prize for Medicine 2023
Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman have been awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine...
a year ago
Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman have been awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries leading to mRNA vaccines, such as those that protect against COVID-19.
The post Covid-19 mRNA Vaccines Win Nobel Prize for Medicine 2023 first appeared on...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
The College Health Opportunity | Out-Of-Pocket
We can make college healthcare better! And honestly we have to
a year ago
We can make college healthcare better! And honestly we have to
Drew Ex Machina
Failure to Launch: The First Moon Race 1958-60
While it has been a few months since I have published a new post on the Drew Ex Machina website,...
a year ago
While it has been a few months since I have published a new post on the Drew Ex Machina website, that doesn’t mean that I haven’t […]
The Works in...
The asbestos times
How asbestos saved cities, before we realized its risks
11 months ago
How asbestos saved cities, before we realized its risks
NeuroLogica Blog
Cultural Blindness
One of the core tenets of scientific skepticism is what I call neuropsychological humility – the...
a year ago
One of the core tenets of scientific skepticism is what I call neuropsychological humility – the recognition that while the human brain is a powerful information processing machine, it also has many frailties. One of those frailties is perception – we do not perceive the world in...
NeuroLogica Blog
Oldest Evidence of Humans In Americas
Exactly when Homo sapiens came to the Americas has not been firmly established, and new evidence has...
a year ago
Exactly when Homo sapiens came to the Americas has not been firmly established, and new evidence has just thrown another curve ball into the controversy. There is evidence of a large culture of humans throughout North America from 12-13,000 years ago, called the Clovis Culture....
NeuroLogica Blog
Nuclear Microreactors
The first nuclear powered vessel was completed in 1959. Since then there have been nuclear powered...
a year ago
The first nuclear powered vessel was completed in 1959. Since then there have been nuclear powered vessels in the oceans, including many nuclear submarines. The obvious advantage is that is such vessels can stay at see for long periods of time without refueling. These ships use...
Quantum Frontiers
Astrobiology meets quantum computation?
The origin of life appears to share little with quantum computation, apart from the difficulty of...
a year ago
The origin of life appears to share little with quantum computation, apart from the difficulty of achieving it and its potential for clickbait. Yet similar notions of complexity have recently garnered attention in both fields. Each topic’s researchers expect only … Continue...
Probably...
Zipf’s Law
Elements of Data Science is in print now, available from Lulu.com and online booksellers. To...
a month ago
Elements of Data Science is in print now, available from Lulu.com and online booksellers. To celebrate, I’ll post some excerpts here, starting with one of my favorite examples, Zipf’s Law. You can read the complete chapter here, or run the Jupyter notebook on Colab. In almost any...
NeuroLogica Blog
How To Prove Prevention Works
Homer: Not a bear in sight. The Bear Patrol must be working like a charm. Lisa: That’s specious...
10 months ago
Homer: Not a bear in sight. The Bear Patrol must be working like a charm. Lisa: That’s specious reasoning, Dad. Homer: Thank you, dear. Lisa: By your logic I could claim that this rock keeps tigers away. Homer: Oh, how does it work? Lisa: It doesn’t work. Homer: Uh-huh. Lisa:...
nanoscale views
What is turbulence? (And why are helicopters never quiet?)
Fluid mechanics is very often left out of the undergraduate physics curriculum. This is a shame, as...
6 months ago
Fluid mechanics is very often left out of the undergraduate physics curriculum. This is a shame, as it's very interesting and directly relevant to many broad topics (atmospheric science, climate, plasma physics, parts of astrophysics). Fluid mechanics is a great example of how...
Confessions of a...
Shark Bay: a pristine template for marine ecosystems worldwide
Here in Western Australia, we are lucky to be in the global centre of seagrass diversity. As such,...
over a year ago
Here in Western Australia, we are lucky to be in the global centre of seagrass diversity. As such, we have a coastline dominated by many different species of seagrasses – from large, temperate seagrasses like Posidonia australis to small, tropical species like Halodule...
nanoscale views
Electronic structure and a couple of fun links
Real life has been very busy recently. Posting will hopefully pick up soon.
One brief item. ...
8 months ago
Real life has been very busy recently. Posting will hopefully pick up soon.
One brief item. Earlier this week, Rice hosted Gabi Kotliar for a distinguished lecture, and he gave a very nice, pedagogical talk about different approaches to electronic structure calculations. ...
Asterisk
The Next Revolution in Animal Agriculture
The technologies of precision livestock farming could reshape animal agriculture. How will that go...
5 months ago
The technologies of precision livestock farming could reshape animal agriculture. How will that go for the animals?
nanoscale views
Very brief end of the year round-up
It's hard to believe that it's already the end of 2023. It's been a busy year for condensed matter;...
11 months ago
It's hard to believe that it's already the end of 2023. It's been a busy year for condensed matter; it's unfortunate that two of the biggest stories (problems with high pressure superconductivity papers; the brief excitement about LK99, the not-actually-a-superconductor) were...
Explorations of an...
Uruguay Part 1: Relaxed Birding In The Countryside
Uruguay is one of the smallest countries in South America and the only one that is entirely situated...
a year ago
Uruguay is one of the smallest countries in South America and the only one that is entirely situated south of the Tropic of Capricorn. Uruguay was first settled by hunter-gatherers around 13,000 years ago, while the predominate tribe when Europeans arrived was the Charrúa people....
Quantum Frontiers
Let the great world spin
I first heard the song “Fireflies,” by Owl City, shortly after my junior year of college. During the...
a year ago
I first heard the song “Fireflies,” by Owl City, shortly after my junior year of college. During the refrain, singer Adam Young almost whispers, “I’d like to make myself believe / that planet Earth turns slowly.” Goosebumps prickled along my … Continue reading →
NeuroLogica Blog
Factory Farming is Better Than Organic Farming
Some narratives are simply ubiquitous in our culture (every culture has its universal narratives)....
5 days ago
Some narratives are simply ubiquitous in our culture (every culture has its universal narratives). Sometimes these narratives emerge out of shared values, like liberty and freedom. Sometimes they emerge out of foundational beliefs (the US still has a puritanical bent). And...
Math Is Still...
Can Space-Time Be Saved?
Curious connections between physics and math suggest to Latham Boyle that space-time may survive the...
2 months ago
Curious connections between physics and math suggest to Latham Boyle that space-time may survive the jump to the next theory of reality.
The post Can Space-Time Be Saved? first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Math Is Still...
Will Better Superconductors Transform the World?
Scientists are pursuing materials that can conduct electricity with perfect efficiency under ambient...
7 months ago
Scientists are pursuing materials that can conduct electricity with perfect efficiency under ambient conditions. In this episode, the physicist Siddharth Shanker Saxena tells co-host Janna Levin about what makes this hunt so difficult and consequential.
The post Will...
NeuroLogica Blog
UFOs and the Pandemic
Did UFO reporting increase during the pandemic? A group of researchers set out to answer that...
a year ago
Did UFO reporting increase during the pandemic? A group of researchers set out to answer that question, and recently published their results. Their hypothesis was two-fold, including the notion that people had more free time during the shutdown and perhaps spent more time out...
Probably...
Too many bronze medals?
In a recent video, Hank Green nerd-sniped me by asking a question I couldn’t not answer. At one...
4 months ago
In a recent video, Hank Green nerd-sniped me by asking a question I couldn’t not answer. At one point in the video, he shows “a graph of the last 20 years of Olympic games showing the gold, silver, and bronze medals from continental Europe. And it “shows continental Europe having...
Quantum Frontiers
Sculpting quantum steampunk
In 2020, many of us logged experiences that we’d never anticipated. I wrote a nonfiction book and...
a month ago
In 2020, many of us logged experiences that we’d never anticipated. I wrote a nonfiction book and got married outside the Harvard Faculty Club (because nobody was around to shoo us away). Equally unexpectedly, I received an invitation to collaborate … Continue reading →
Blog - Practical...
Is the World Really Running Out of Sand?
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.]
If you have to know the answer...
2 months ago
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.]
If you have to know the answer right away, it’s no; or at least, my goal with this video is to convince you that the world is not running out of sand. But if it were that simple, I wouldn’t be here (right?) and...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
The Out-Of-Pocket Game plan | Out-Of-Pocket
How to build the on-boarding system for healthcare
a year ago
How to build the on-boarding system for healthcare
NeuroLogica Blog
The Clipper Europa Mission
I wrote earlier this week about the latest successful test of Starship and the capture of the Super...
2 months ago
I wrote earlier this week about the latest successful test of Starship and the capture of the Super Heavy booster by grabbing arms of the landing tower. This was quite a feat, but it should not eclipse what was perhaps even bigger space news this week – the launch of NASAs...
Probably...
What does a confidence interval mean?
Here’s another installment in Data Q&A: Answering the real questions with Python. In general, I will...
8 months ago
Here’s another installment in Data Q&A: Answering the real questions with Python. In general, I will try to focus on practical problems, but this one is a little more philosophical. confidence What does a confidence interval mean?¶ Here’s a question from the Reddit statistics...
Blog - Practical...
These Metals Destroy Themselves to Prevent Rust
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.]
This is the old Howard...
over a year ago
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.]
This is the old Howard Frankland Bridge that carries roughly 180,000 vehicles per day across Old Tampa Bay between St. Petersburg and Tampa, Florida. A replacement for the bridge is currently under...
NeuroLogica Blog
Elizabeth Holmes Going to Prison
I first wrote about the Theranos scandal in 2016, and I guess it should not be surprising that it...
a year ago
I first wrote about the Theranos scandal in 2016, and I guess it should not be surprising that it took 7 years to follow this story through to the end. Elizabeth Holmes, founder of the company Theranos, was convicted of defrauding investors and sentenced to 11 years in prison....
NeuroLogica Blog
Robots and a Sense of Self
Humans (assuming you all experience roughly what I experience, which is a reasonable assumption)...
a month ago
Humans (assuming you all experience roughly what I experience, which is a reasonable assumption) have a sense of self. This sense has several components – we feel as if we occupy our physical bodies, that our bodies are distinct entities separate from the rest of the universe,...
The Works in...
What did Henry George think about cities?
Solving the terrible urban conditions of the 1800s by abolishing cities
7 months ago
Solving the terrible urban conditions of the 1800s by abolishing cities
NeuroLogica Blog
Do We Have Free Will?
Let’s dive head first into one of the internet’s most contentious questions – do we have true free...
a year ago
Let’s dive head first into one of the internet’s most contentious questions – do we have true free will? This comes up not infrequently whenever I write here about neuroscience, most recently when I wrote about hunger circuitry, because the notion of the brain as a physical...
NeuroLogica Blog
What Is Orbitronics
You have definitely heard of electronics. You may (if you are a tech nerd like me) have heard of...
2 months ago
You have definitely heard of electronics. You may (if you are a tech nerd like me) have heard of spintronics and photonics. Now there is also the possibility of orbitronics. What do these cool-sounding words mean? Electronic technology is one of those core technologies that has...
Tikalon Blog by Dev...
Wiedemann-Franz Law
Science is most useful when it makes predictions. Predictions are based on theory, and one problem...
6 months ago
Science is most useful when it makes predictions. Predictions are based on theory, and one problem with most theories in materials science is that they are based on data that might not exist for all of the intended class of materials. Simple rules were developed to remedy this...
Asterisk
The Great Inflection? A Debate About AI and Explosive Growth
A conversation about what happens to the economy when intelligence becomes too cheap to meter.
a year ago
A conversation about what happens to the economy when intelligence becomes too cheap to meter.
Interaction Magic -...
Engineering beneath the ice sheet
Living in Greenland, deploying electronic beacons deep beneath the ice.
3 weeks ago
Living in Greenland, deploying electronic beacons deep beneath the ice.
nanoscale views
Some interesting links - useful lecture notes, videos
Proposal writing, paper writing, and course prep are eating a lot of my bandwidth right now, but I...
a year ago
Proposal writing, paper writing, and course prep are eating a lot of my bandwidth right now, but I wanted to share a few things:
David Tong at Cambridge is a gifted educator and communicator who has written lecture notes that span a wide swath of the physics curriculum, from...
Math Is Still...
How Quantum Physicists Explained Earth’s Oscillating Weather Patterns
By treating Earth as a topological insulator — a state of quantum matter — physicists found a...
a year ago
By treating Earth as a topological insulator — a state of quantum matter — physicists found a powerful explanation for the movements of the planet’s air and seas.
The post How Quantum Physicists Explained Earth’s Oscillating Weather Patterns first appeared on Quanta...
Math Is Still...
The Best Qubits for Quantum Computing Might Just Be Atoms
In the search for the most scalable hardware to use for quantum computers, qubits made of individual...
9 months ago
In the search for the most scalable hardware to use for quantum computers, qubits made of individual atoms are having a breakout moment.
The post The Best Qubits for Quantum Computing Might Just Be Atoms first appeared on Quanta Magazine
The Works in...
Issue 15: To change a norm
Plus: bland buildings can't be blamed on labor costs, reasons to be sceptical about prediction...
7 months ago
Plus: bland buildings can't be blamed on labor costs, reasons to be sceptical about prediction markets, and gentrification policies that actually help.
The Roots of...
The origins of the steam engine
This is a guest post written by Anton Howes and animated by Matt Brown of Extraordinary Facility....
a year ago
This is a guest post written by Anton Howes and animated by Matt Brown of Extraordinary Facility. This project was sponsored by The Roots of Progress, with funding generously provided by The Institute.
Steam power did not begin with the steam engine. Long before...
Math Is Still...
Mathematical Thinking Isn’t What You Think It Is
The mathematician David Bessis claims that everyone is capable of, and can benefit greatly from,...
a month ago
The mathematician David Bessis claims that everyone is capable of, and can benefit greatly from, mathematical thinking.
The post Mathematical Thinking Isn’t What You Think It Is first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Asterisk
Through a Glass Darkly
Nobody predicted the AI revolution, except for the 352 experts who were asked to predict it.
a year ago
Nobody predicted the AI revolution, except for the 352 experts who were asked to predict it.
The Roots of...
Links digest, 2023-10-12
I’ve been traveling for a while, so this is a long one, covering the last ~month. I tried to cut it...
a year ago
I’ve been traveling for a while, so this is a long one, covering the last ~month. I tried to cut it down, but there have been so many amazing announcements, opportunities, etc.! Feel free to skim and jump around:
From the Roots of Progress fellows
Connor O’Brien and Adam Ozimek...
Wanderingspace
We don’t post enough Mars Scenic Views
I mean… we don’t post enough in general.
over a year ago
I mean… we don’t post enough in general.
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...
a year ago
These fascinating Army and Navy brand style guides define the look, feel and voice of our armed forces.
The Works in...
The concept of sustainment
A new section from Stewart Brand's Maintenance on Books in Progress
a year ago
A new section from Stewart Brand's Maintenance on Books in Progress
Math Is Still...
A Century Later, New Math Smooths Out General Relativity
Mathematicians prove a theorem that illuminates the geometry of universes with tiny amounts of mass....
a year ago
Mathematicians prove a theorem that illuminates the geometry of universes with tiny amounts of mass.
The post A Century Later, New Math Smooths Out General Relativity first appeared on Quanta Magazine
NeuroLogica Blog
The Threat of Technology
In my second book (shameless plug alert) – The Skeptics’ Guide to the Future – my coauthors and I...
a year ago
In my second book (shameless plug alert) – The Skeptics’ Guide to the Future – my coauthors and I try to imagine both the utopian and dystopian versions of the future, brought about by technology, either individually or collectively. This topic has come up multiple times recently...
Explorations of an...
Marsh Birding In Ceibas And Otamendi
February 18, 2023
Laura and I left Parque Nacional El Palmar and continued south towards Buenos...
a year ago
February 18, 2023
Laura and I left Parque Nacional El Palmar and continued south towards Buenos Aires and beyond. We had just five days remaining in our Argentina trip, with ferry tickets purchased that would take us to Uruguay on February 23. At this point in the trip, potential...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Canvas: A Bet On New EMRs | Out-Of-Pocket
what if EMRs didn't totally suck?
a year ago
what if EMRs didn't totally suck?
symmetry magazine
Physics fashion and collider couture
Symmetry is back with more physics-themed Halloween costumes.
a year ago
Symmetry is back with more physics-themed Halloween costumes.
Wanderingspace
Ganymede Sets Behind Jupiter as Seen by Hubble
An image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope reminds us of how powerful this aging scope really is....
over a year ago
An image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope reminds us of how powerful this aging scope really is. Magnitudes sharper than the images originally sent by Pioneer as it passed by in the 1970s.
NeuroLogica Blog
Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carriers as Fuel
The press release for a recent study declares: “New catalyst could provide liquid hydrogen fuel of...
a year ago
The press release for a recent study declares: “New catalyst could provide liquid hydrogen fuel of the future.” But don’t get excited – the optimism is more than a bit gratuitous. I have written about hydrogen fuel before, and the reasons I am not optimistic about hydrogen as a...
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...
4 months ago
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 […]
The Works in...
Notes on Progress: A winter's tale
Melting snow can make the season easier
a year ago
Melting snow can make the season easier
The Roots of...
Quote quiz answer
Here’s the answer to the recent quote quiz:
The author was Ted Kaczynski, aka the Unabomber. The...
a year ago
Here’s the answer to the recent quote quiz:
The author was Ted Kaczynski, aka the Unabomber. The quote was taken from his manifesto, “Industrial Society and Its Future.” Here’s a slightly longer, and unaltered, quote:
First let us postulate that the computer scientists succeed in...
Blog - Practical...
What Really Happened with the Substation Attack in North Carolina?
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.]
At around 7PM on the balmy...
a year ago
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.]
At around 7PM on the balmy evening of Saturday, December 3, 2022, nearly every electric customer in Moore County, North Carolina was simultaneously plunged into darkness. Amid the confusion, the power utility...
NeuroLogica Blog
Indigenous Knowledge
I recently received the following question to the SGU e-mail: “I have had several conversations with...
8 months ago
I recently received the following question to the SGU e-mail: “I have had several conversations with friends/colleagues lately regarding indigenous beliefs/stories. They assert that not believing these based on oral histories alone is morally wrong and ignoring a different...
Explorations of an...
Frustrating Times at Parque Nacional El Palmar
Parque Nacional El Palmar is located near Argentina's eastern border, a few hours north of Buenos...
a year ago
Parque Nacional El Palmar is located near Argentina's eastern border, a few hours north of Buenos Aires. The main habitat found in this national park is palm savannah, a severely fragmented ecosystem found in northeastern Argentina, Uruguay and barely into southern Brazil. PN El...
Blog - Practical...
When Natural Gas Had No Smell
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.]
Excitement and hope permeated...
5 months ago
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.]
Excitement and hope permeated the crowds gathered in a dusty farm carved from the piney woods in east Texas. The rumor was that Columbus Joiner had struck oil. At 70 years old, Joiner had already won and lost...
NeuroLogica Blog
A Climate Rebuttal
The climate change discussion would benefit most from good-faith evidence and science-based...
a year ago
The climate change discussion would benefit most from good-faith evidence and science-based discussion. Unfortunately, humans tend to prefer emotion, ideology, motivated reasoning, and confirmation bias. As an example, I was sent an excerpt from a climate change podcast as a...
Blog - Practical...
Why Bridges Need Sensors (and other structures too)
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.]
Almost immediately after I...
a year ago
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.]
Almost immediately after I started making videos about engineering, people started asking me to play video games on the channel. Apparently there’s roughly a billion people who watch online gaming these days,...
The Roots of...
The epistemic virtue of scope matching
Something a little bit different today. I’ll tie it in to progress, I promise.
I keep noticing a...
a year ago
Something a little bit different today. I’ll tie it in to progress, I promise.
I keep noticing a particular epistemic pitfall (not exactly a “fallacy”), and a corresponding epistemic virtue that avoids it. I want to call this out and give it a name.
The virtue is: identifying the...
Math Is Still...
The Hidden Connection That Changed Number Theory
Quadratic reciprocity lurks around many corners in mathematics. By proving it, number theorists...
a year ago
Quadratic reciprocity lurks around many corners in mathematics. By proving it, number theorists reimagined their whole field.
The post The Hidden Connection That Changed Number Theory first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Math Is Still...
Perplexing the Web, One Probability Puzzle at a Time
The mathematician Daniel Litt has driven social media users to distraction with a series of...
3 months ago
The mathematician Daniel Litt has driven social media users to distraction with a series of simple-seeming but counterintuitive probability puzzles.
The post Perplexing the Web, One Probability Puzzle at a Time first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Marine Madness
Book Club: ‘Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia’ by Christina Thompson
Who first settled the islands of the remote Pacific? Where did they come from? How did they get...
over a year ago
Who first settled the islands of the remote Pacific? Where did they come from? How did they get there, and how do we know? The answers to these and more questions are all explored in this mesmerizing novel by Pacific historian Christina Thompson. For over a millennium,...
Math Is Still...
Neural Networks Need Data to Learn. Even If It’s Fake.
Real data can be hard to get, so researchers are turning to synthetic data to train their artificial...
a year ago
Real data can be hard to get, so researchers are turning to synthetic data to train their artificial intelligence systems.
The post Neural Networks Need Data to Learn. Even If It’s Fake. first appeared on Quanta Magazine
The Works in...
Anemia and Malaria
In malaria endemic regions, being anemic could be keeping children safe
2 months ago
In malaria endemic regions, being anemic could be keeping children safe
pcloadletter
Impact-based performance evaluation in big tech is terrible
My theory is that some performance consultants got paid a lot of money one day for a single word:...
10 months ago
My theory is that some performance consultants got paid a lot of money one day for a single word: "impact."
If you have worked in big tech, you're probably all too familiar with this word because your annual performance evaluations are based on your impact.
As an employee,...
Interaction Magic -...
Life beyond the screen
Since early 2020, I've been teaching courses in Interaction Technologies and Prototyping. Switches,...
over a year ago
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.
The Works in...
From MANUALS to YOUTUBE
A new section from Stewart Brand's Maintenance on Books in Progress
a year ago
A new section from Stewart Brand's Maintenance on Books in Progress
Probably...
Probably the Book
Last week I had the pleasure of presenting a keynote at posit::conf(2024). When the video is...
4 months ago
Last week I had the pleasure of presenting a keynote at posit::conf(2024). When the video is available, I will post it here. In the meantime, you can read the slides, if you don’t mind spoilers. For people at the conference who don’t know me, this might be a good time to...
Cremieux Recueil
Just Pay Them Off
The International Longshoremen's Association is protecting people whose jobs are no longer...
2 months ago
The International Longshoremen's Association is protecting people whose jobs are no longer necessary. Stop fighting and just pay them so they go away.
Uncharted...
The Players of the Syrian Chessboard
What will Israel, Russia, Turkey, the Kurds, Europe, and Lebanon do?
a week ago
What will Israel, Russia, Turkey, the Kurds, Europe, and Lebanon do?
The Works in...
The ultra-selfish gene
Genetically modifying malaria-carrying mosquitoes could allow us to wipe out humanity’s most deadly...
a month ago
Genetically modifying malaria-carrying mosquitoes could allow us to wipe out humanity’s most deadly killer.
Math Is Still...
How Can Math Help Beat Cancer?
Cancer treatment has come a long way in recent decades. But finding the best course of treatment for...
2 months ago
Cancer treatment has come a long way in recent decades. But finding the best course of treatment for each case of this diverse, dynamic disease remains a challenge. In this episode, co-host Steven Strogatz speaks with computational biologist Franziska Michor about how math,...
Math Is Still...
Selfish, Virus-Like DNA Can Carry Genes Between Species
Genetic elements called Mavericks that have some viral features could be responsible for the...
a year ago
Genetic elements called Mavericks that have some viral features could be responsible for the large-scale smuggling of DNA between species.
The post Selfish, Virus-Like DNA Can Carry Genes Between Species first appeared on Quanta Magazine
wadertales
Counting breeding shorebirds using listening devices
With more demands upon the space that is currently occupied by breeding waders, from developments...
2 weeks ago
With more demands upon the space that is currently occupied by breeding waders, from developments such as wind turbines and monoculture forestry, conservationists are often asked to assess the potential effects of landscape change. Do passive acoustic devices have a role to play...
NeuroLogica Blog
Man Gets Pig Kidney Transplant
On March 16 surgeons transplanted a kidney taken from a pig into a human recipient, Rick Slayman. So...
9 months ago
On March 16 surgeons transplanted a kidney taken from a pig into a human recipient, Rick Slayman. So far the transplant is a success, but of course the real test will be how well the kidney functions and for how long. This is the first time such a transplant has been done into a...
nanoscale views
APS March Meeting 2023, Day 1
Ahh, Las Vegas. I will say, I think every APS March Meeting from now on should have a giant Ferris...
a year ago
Ahh, Las Vegas. I will say, I think every APS March Meeting from now on should have a giant Ferris wheel right by the registration lobby.
Here are a few highlights from what I saw after I arrived around lunchtime today:
Given some of my current research, I spent a fair bit...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Sleep health is getting interesting | Out-Of-Pocket
The consumer and clinical worlds of sleep are colliding
a month ago
The consumer and clinical worlds of sleep are colliding
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Time Toxicity - A Real-World Example | Out-Of-Pocket
Being sick is already annoying, now I gotta spend time on the phone???
11 months ago
Being sick is already annoying, now I gotta spend time on the phone???
Math Is Still...
Elliptic Curve ‘Murmurations’ Found With AI Take Flight
Mathematicians are working to fully explain unusual behaviors uncovered using artificial...
9 months ago
Mathematicians are working to fully explain unusual behaviors uncovered using artificial intelligence.
The post Elliptic Curve ‘Murmurations’ Found With AI Take Flight first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Math Is Still...
AI Starts to Sift Through String Theory’s Near-Endless Possibilities
Using machine learning, string theorists are finally showing how microscopic configurations of extra...
8 months ago
Using machine learning, string theorists are finally showing how microscopic configurations of extra dimensions translate into sets of elementary particles — though not yet those of our universe.
The post AI Starts to Sift Through String Theory’s Near-Endless...
Math Is Still...
What Is the Nature of Consciousness?
Consciousness, our experience of being in the world, is one of the mind’s greatest mysteries, but as...
a year ago
Consciousness, our experience of being in the world, is one of the mind’s greatest mysteries, but as the neuroscientist Anil Seth explains to Steven Strogatz, research is making progress in understanding this elusive phenomenon.
The post What Is the Nature of...
Probably...
Superbolts
Probably Overthinking It is available to predorder now. You can get a 30% discount if you order from...
a year ago
Probably Overthinking It is available to predorder now. You can get a 30% discount if you order from the publisher and use the code UCPNEW. You can also order from Amazon or, if you want to support independent bookstores, from Bookshop.org. Recently I read a Scientific American...
NeuroLogica Blog
AI-Fueled Scams
Digital life is getting more dangerous. Literally every day I have to fend off attempts at scamming...
7 months ago
Digital life is getting more dangerous. Literally every day I have to fend off attempts at scamming me in one way or another. I get texts trying to lure me into responding. I get e-mails hoping I will click a malicious link on a reflex. I get phone calls from people warning me...
Many Worlds
Preparing For The Habitable Worlds Observatory, Our Best Shot at Finding ET Life
In a solar system far, far away, life of some sort is just waiting to be found. Or so the world of...
a year ago
In a solar system far, far away, life of some sort is just waiting to be found. Or so the world of astrobiology sure hopes it is. The new player in the astrobiology world, now called the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO), is planned to launch in the 2040s if all goes well. ...
Damn Interesting
Breaking a Bit
It’s been a busy summer, and the large shortfall in donations last month has been demoralizing, so...
a year ago
It’s been a busy summer, and the large shortfall in donations last month has been demoralizing, so we’re taking a week off to rest and recuperate. The curated links section will be (mostly) silent, and behind the scenes we’ll be taking a brief break from our usual researching,...
The Roots of...
The American Information Revolution in Global Perspective
In “What if they gave an Industrial Revolution and nobody came?” I reviewed The British Industrial...
a year ago
In “What if they gave an Industrial Revolution and nobody came?” I reviewed The British Industrial Revolution in Global Perspective, by Robert Allen. In brief, Allen’s explanation for the Industrial Revolution is that Britain had high wages and cheap energy, which meant it was...
nanoscale views
Artificial intelligence, extrapolation, and physical constraints
Disclaimer and disclosure: The "arrogant physicist declaims about some topic far outside their...
6 months ago
Disclaimer and disclosure: The "arrogant physicist declaims about some topic far outside their domain expertise (like climate change or epidemiology or economics or geopolitics or....) like everyone actually in the field is clueless" trope is very overplayed at this point, and...
Probably...
Comparing Distributions
This is the second is a series of excerpts from Elements of Data Science which available from...
a month ago
This is the second is a series of excerpts from Elements of Data Science which available from Lulu.com and online booksellers. It’s from Chapter 8, which is about representing distribution using PMFs and CDFs. This section explains why I think CDFs are often better for plotting...
IEEE Spectrum
This Wearable Computer Made a Fashion Statement
Google Glass debuted, the artist Lisa Krohn designed a prototype wearable computer that looked like...
5 months ago
Google Glass debuted, the artist Lisa Krohn designed a prototype wearable computer that looked like no other. The Cyberdesk was an experiment in augmented reality. At a time when computers were mostly beige and boxy, Krohn envisioned a pliable, high-tech garment that fused...
Uncharted...
Wind and Solar, a Perfect Match
Also, why solar will beat wind, why they are so complementary, the nuclear renaissance, the poor...
a month ago
Also, why solar will beat wind, why they are so complementary, the nuclear renaissance, the poor state of German energy, and more.
nanoscale views
CHIPS and Science - the reality vs the aspiration
I already wrote about this issue here back in August, but I wanted to highlight a policy statement...
2 months ago
I already wrote about this issue here back in August, but I wanted to highlight a policy statement that I wrote with colleagues as part of Rice's Baker Institute's Election 2024: Policy Playbook, which "delivers nonpartisan, expert insights into key issues at stake on the 2024...
Probably...
Think Stats 3rd Edition
I am excited to announce that I have started work on a third edition of Think Stats, to be published...
2 months ago
I am excited to announce that I have started work on a third edition of Think Stats, to be published by O’Reilly Media in 2025. At this point the content is mostly settled, and I am revising chapters to get them ready for technical review. If you want to start reading now, the...
Math Is Still...
The Year in Math
Landmark results in Ramsey theory and a remarkably simple aperiodic tile capped a year of...
a year ago
Landmark results in Ramsey theory and a remarkably simple aperiodic tile capped a year of mathematical delight and discovery.
The post The Year in Math first appeared on Quanta Magazine
brr
Redeployment Part Two
Station opening, and my flight out of Pole!
11 months ago
Station opening, and my flight out of Pole!
NeuroLogica Blog
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...
8 months ago
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...
Asterisk
Crash Testing GPT-4
Can we tell if an AI model is safe before it’s released? The group that tested GPT–4 is trying to...
a year ago
Can we tell if an AI model is safe before it’s released? The group that tested GPT–4 is trying to figure out how.
Cremieux Recueil
Trump Should Finish What He Started
A guestpost calling for Trump to finish radically reforming the tax system
3 weeks ago
A guestpost calling for Trump to finish radically reforming the tax system
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...
over a year ago
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 […]
Damn Interesting
To Hell With Facebook
The earliest known version of the idiom “the straw that broke the camel’s back” was written by the...
over a year ago
The earliest known version of the idiom “the straw that broke the camel’s back” was written by the English philosopher Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury in 1677, though it was concerned with horses and feathers:
“The last Dictate of the Judgement, concerning the Good or Bad, that may...
The Works in...
Does higher density cause lower birth rates?
Assessing one recent claim that it does
7 months ago
Assessing one recent claim that it does
Damn Interesting
A Blight on Soviet Science
On a hazy afternoon in March 1927, a Russian scientist was walking through the dense forests of...
over a year ago
On a hazy afternoon in March 1927, a Russian scientist was walking through the dense forests of Abyssinia, ducking under low-hanging branches and stopping to inspect the wild coffee trees lining his path. Accompanied by a group of local guides, the young traveller had been hiking...
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