Wanderingspace
Phobos over mount Sharp
Taken by the Curiosity rover. This is one of Mars tiny moons as seen from the ground. Impressive as...
over a year ago
Taken by the Curiosity rover. This is one of Mars tiny moons as seen from the ground. Impressive as it is only 14 long and you can actually see its shape from the surface. See Phobos below for reference.
Asterisk
From Warp Speed to 100 Days
During the COVID pandemic, we learned to design vaccines within weeks. Now, the bottleneck is...
a year ago
During the COVID pandemic, we learned to design vaccines within weeks. Now, the bottleneck is testing that they work. To get even faster, we need innovations in clinical trial design.
Math Is Still...
How Is Cell Death Essential to Life?
Cells in our bodies are constantly dying — and these countless tiny deaths are essential to human...
2 weeks ago
Cells in our bodies are constantly dying — and these countless tiny deaths are essential to human health and multicellular life itself. In this episode, co-host Steven Strogatz speaks with cellular biologist Shai Shaham about what makes a cell “alive” and the latest developments...
Math Is Still...
These Cells Spark Electricity in the Brain. They’re Not Neurons.
For decades, researchers have debated whether brain cells called astrocytes can signal like neurons....
a year ago
For decades, researchers have debated whether brain cells called astrocytes can signal like neurons. Researchers recently published the best evidence yet that some astrocytes are part of the electrical conversation.
The post These Cells Spark Electricity in the Brain....
nanoscale views
Items of interest
The time since the APS meeting has been very busy, hence the lack of posting. A few items of...
9 months ago
The time since the APS meeting has been very busy, hence the lack of posting. A few items of interest:
The present issue of Nature Physics has several articles about physics education that I really want to read.
This past week we hosted N. Peter Armitage for a really fun...
Math Is Still...
How Is Flocking Like Computing?
Birds flock. Locusts swarm. Fish school. From chaotic assemblies of life, order somehow emerges. In...
8 months ago
Birds flock. Locusts swarm. Fish school. From chaotic assemblies of life, order somehow emerges. In this episode, co-host Steven Strogatz interviews the evolutionary ecologist Iain Couzin about how and why collective behaviors arise.
The post How Is Flocking Like...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
The New (Experimental) Ways To Tackle The Mental Health Crisis | Out-Of-Pocket
let's try some new stuff to scale mental health care
a year ago
let's try some new stuff to scale mental health care
Math Is Still...
Physicists Discover ‘Unobservable’ Phase Transition in Quantum Entanglement
Measurement and entanglement both have a “spooky” nonlocal flavor to them. Now physicists are...
a year ago
Measurement and entanglement both have a “spooky” nonlocal flavor to them. Now physicists are harnessing that nonlocality to probe the spread of quantum information and control it.
The post Physicists Discover ‘Unobservable’ Phase Transition in Quantum Entanglement...
Confessions of a...
Cottesloe Fish Habitat Protection Area
Today I am teaching my first tutorial in the second year unit ‘Marine Systems‘, which will introduce...
over a year ago
Today I am teaching my first tutorial in the second year unit ‘Marine Systems‘, which will introduce students to their major project, which is centred around a field trip to the Cottelsoe Fish Habitat Protection Area (CFHPA). I’m pretty excited to introduce a few of my new ideas...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
How to analyze public healthcare datasets (even if you're non-technical) | Out-Of-Pocket
Plus: using ChatGPT to analyze datasets?
a year ago
Plus: using ChatGPT to analyze datasets?
NeuroLogica Blog
A Bit of Energy Pseudoscience
Remember the 1980 film, The Formula? Probably not, because it was a mediocre film that did not age...
a year ago
Remember the 1980 film, The Formula? Probably not, because it was a mediocre film that did not age well. The basic plot is that Nazi chemists during WWII developed a formula for synthetic gasoline. A detective investigating a murder gets embroiled in a conspiracy to cover up the...
Probably...
How Many Books?
If you like this article, you can read more about this kind of Bayesian analysis in Think Bayes....
11 months ago
If you like this article, you can read more about this kind of Bayesian analysis in Think Bayes. Recently I found a copy of Probably Overthinking It at a local bookstore and posted a picture on Twitter. Aubrey Clayton replied with this question: It’s a great question with what...
nanoscale views
What is a glass?
I want to write about a recently published paper, but to do so on an accessible level, I should...
a year ago
I want to write about a recently published paper, but to do so on an accessible level, I should really lay some ground work first.
At the primary school level, typically people are taught that there are three states of matter: solid, liquid, and gas. (Plasma may be introduced...
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
Math Is Still...
Physicists Pinpoint the Quantum Origin of the Greenhouse Effect
Carbon dioxide’s powerful heat-trapping effect has been traced to a quirk of its quantum structure....
4 months ago
Carbon dioxide’s powerful heat-trapping effect has been traced to a quirk of its quantum structure. The finding may explain climate change better than any computer model.
The post Physicists Pinpoint the Quantum Origin of the Greenhouse Effect first appeared on Quanta...
Math Is Still...
The Brain Region That Controls Movement Also Guides Feelings
The cerebellum is responsible for far more than coordinating movement. New techniques reveal that it...
11 months ago
The cerebellum is responsible for far more than coordinating movement. New techniques reveal that it is, in fact, a hub of sensory and emotional processing in the brain.
The post The Brain Region That Controls Movement Also Guides Feelings first appeared on Quanta...
brr
McMurdo's Automated Teller Machines
Cash, in Antarctica!
over a year ago
wadertales
Inland feeding by coastal godwits
Species such as Dunlin and Knot are well-served by conservation measures that aim to protect...
over a year ago
Species such as Dunlin and Knot are well-served by conservation measures that aim to protect estuaries but the same is not necessarily true for Black-tailed Godwits. In a 2022 paper in the journal Wader Study, Clément Jourdan and colleagues describe the movements of ten tagged...
Math Is Still...
AI System Beats Chess Puzzles With ‘Artificial Brainstorming’
By bringing together disparate approaches, machines can reach a new level of creative...
a year ago
By bringing together disparate approaches, machines can reach a new level of creative problem-solving.
The post AI System Beats Chess Puzzles With ‘Artificial Brainstorming’ first appeared on Quanta Magazine
IEEE Spectrum
Why L. Ron Hubbard Patented His E-Meter
zombie mysteries, historical fiction, pirate adventure tales, and westerns.
science fiction. The...
8 months ago
zombie mysteries, historical fiction, pirate adventure tales, and westerns.
science fiction. The publishers of Astounding Science Fiction approached Hubbard to write stories that focused on people, rather than robots and machines. His first story, “The Dangerous Dimension,” was...
Asterisk
A Chinese Internet Phrasebook
The latest slang on Weibo reveals a world of cynicism, ennui — and concrete pasta.
a month ago
The latest slang on Weibo reveals a world of cynicism, ennui — and concrete pasta.
Math Is Still...
Math That Lets You Think Locally but Act Globally
Knowing a little about the local connections on flight maps and other networks can reveal a lot...
a year ago
Knowing a little about the local connections on flight maps and other networks can reveal a lot about a system’s global structure.
The post Math That Lets You Think Locally but Act Globally first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Math Is Still...
‘Entropy Bagels’ and Other Complex Structures Emerge From Simple Rules
Simple rules in simple settings continue to puzzle mathematicians, even as they devise intricate...
9 months ago
Simple rules in simple settings continue to puzzle mathematicians, even as they devise intricate tools to analyze them.
The post ‘Entropy Bagels’ and Other Complex Structures Emerge From Simple Rules first appeared on Quanta Magazine
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
Asterisk
Shutting the California Prison System’s Revolving Door
Between 2009 and 2014, California passed a series of laws to reduce the population in its prison...
5 months ago
Between 2009 and 2014, California passed a series of laws to reduce the population in its prison system, which for years had operated over capacity. Determining whether those laws worked was not a straightforward task.
NeuroLogica Blog
Fruit Fly Connectome Completed
Scientists have just published in Nature that they have completed the entire connectome of a fruit...
2 months ago
Scientists have just published in Nature that they have completed the entire connectome of a fruit fly: Network statistics of the whole-brain connectome of Drosophila. The map includes 140,000 neurons and more than 50 million connections. This is an incredible achievement that...
NeuroLogica Blog
Light and Distance in an Expanding Universe
Commenter Lal asks in the topic suggestions: “Media reports that light has been travelling from that...
6 months ago
Commenter Lal asks in the topic suggestions: “Media reports that light has been travelling from that distant galaxy for 13 and a half billion years, which I assume is true, but this neither represents the original nor the current distance to that galaxy in terms of light years. I...
IEEE Spectrum
In 1926, TV Was Mechanical
John Logie Baird had a lot of ingenious ideas, not all of which caught on. His phonovision was an...
3 months ago
John Logie Baird had a lot of ingenious ideas, not all of which caught on. His phonovision was an early attempt at video recording, with the signals preserved on phonograph records. His noctovision used infrared light to see objects in the dark, which some experts claim was a...
symmetry magazine
What is neutral naturalness?
Indirectly testing this theory, motivated by the mysterious mass of the Higgs boson, could be within...
a year ago
Indirectly testing this theory, motivated by the mysterious mass of the Higgs boson, could be within reach for experiments at the Large Hadron Collider.
Probably...
Where’s My Train?
Yesterday I presented a webinar for PyMC Labs where I solved one of the exercises from Think Bayes,...
5 months ago
Yesterday I presented a webinar for PyMC Labs where I solved one of the exercises from Think Bayes, called “The Red Line Problem”. Here’s the scenario: The Red Line is a subway that connects Cambridge and Boston, Massachusetts. When I was working in Cambridge I took the Red Line...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Healthcare, but funny | Out-Of-Pocket
US healthcare is a joke. Let's make it funny.
a year ago
US healthcare is a joke. Let's make it funny.
NeuroLogica Blog
How Substance Abuse Affects the Brain
I will acknowledge up front that I never drink, ever. The concept of deliberately consuming a known...
a year ago
I will acknowledge up front that I never drink, ever. The concept of deliberately consuming a known poison to impair the functioning of your brain never appealed to me. Also, I am a bit of a supertaster, and the taste of alcohol to me is horrible – it overwhelms any other...
Drew Ex Machina
An ISS Success Story: CyMISS (Tropical Cyclone Intensity Measurements from the ISS) to the Hurricane...
The team at Tropical Weather Analytics (TWA), where this author is the Chief Scientist, had the...
4 months ago
The team at Tropical Weather Analytics (TWA), where this author is the Chief Scientist, had the honor of having our poster about our previous work on […]
Drew Ex Machina
Drew Ex Machina 10th Anniversary: Top Ten Posts
I find it difficult to believe but, it was ten years ago today that I posted the first article on my...
9 months ago
I find it difficult to believe but, it was ten years ago today that I posted the first article on my then-new website, Drew Ex Machina. […]
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Scaling Organizations, Patient Payments, and Collections with Lora Rosenblum | Out-Of-Pocket
Why am I getting bills 6 months later, Lora pls help
a year ago
Why am I getting bills 6 months later, Lora pls help
Asterisk
Is Wine Fake?
Wine commands wealth, prestige, and attention from aficionados. How much of what they admire is in...
over a year ago
Wine commands wealth, prestige, and attention from aficionados. How much of what they admire is in their heads?
Asterisk
Why Isn’t Solar Scaling in Africa?
The World Bank designed the Scaling Solar program to set Africa on a course to sustainable energy....
10 months ago
The World Bank designed the Scaling Solar program to set Africa on a course to sustainable energy. Instead, it shed light on how a lack of transparency in the climate and development industry hampers progress.
Math Is Still...
The Physicist Who Glues Together Universes
Renate Loll has helped pioneer a radically new approach to quantum gravity. She assumes that the...
a year ago
Renate Loll has helped pioneer a radically new approach to quantum gravity. She assumes that the fabric of space-time is a blend of all possible fabrics, and she has developed the computational tools needed to calculate the far-reaching implications of that assumption. ...
nanoscale views
A busy and contentious week in condensed matter physics
There were a couple of interesting and controversial things afoot this week in the condensed matter...
a year ago
There were a couple of interesting and controversial things afoot this week in the condensed matter world.
There was a new preprint from the group of Prof. Hemley at the University of Illinois Chicago featuring electronic transport measurements in samples of the putative room...
Asterisk
The Fault in Our Forecasts
It’s impossible to predict when an earthquake will strike. This puts seismologists in a nearly...
6 months ago
It’s impossible to predict when an earthquake will strike. This puts seismologists in a nearly impossible bind: how can they convince the public to take earthquakes seriously without crying wolf?
IEEE Spectrum
Taking the Measure of the Earthquake That Destroyed Tokyo
At 11:58 am on Saturday, 1 September 1923, the Kanto region of Japan started to shake. The...
a year ago
At 11:58 am on Saturday, 1 September 1923, the Kanto region of Japan started to shake. The earthquake began with a violent horizontal back-and-forth motion, followed by two vertical jolts, and then another horizontal shock even stronger than the first. The intensity of the tremor...
NeuroLogica Blog
What Happened to the Atmosphere on Mars
Of every world known to humans outside the Earth, Mars is likely the most habitable. We have not...
2 months ago
Of every world known to humans outside the Earth, Mars is likely the most habitable. We have not found any genuinely Earth-like exoplanets. They are almost sure to exist, but we just haven’t found any yet. The closest so far is Kepler 452-b, which is a super Earth, specifically...
NeuroLogica Blog
How Much Carbon do Living Things Store?
Since we are in a “all hands on deck” situation when it comes to climate change, we need to take a...
a year ago
Since we are in a “all hands on deck” situation when it comes to climate change, we need to take a look at all potential strategies for delaying and blunting global warming. The game at this point is all about peak warming – how much will the Earth warm before temperatures peak...
nanoscale views
Items for discussion, including google's latest quantum computing result
As we head toward the end of the calendar year, a few items:
Google published a new result in...
a week ago
As we head toward the end of the calendar year, a few items:
Google published a new result in Nature a few days ago. This made a big news splash, including this accompanying press piece from google themselves, this nice article in Quanta, and the always thoughtful blog post by...
Math Is Still...
In a ‘Dark Dimension,’ Physicists Search for the Universe’s Missing Matter
An idea derived from string theory suggests that dark matter is hiding in a (relatively) large extra...
10 months ago
An idea derived from string theory suggests that dark matter is hiding in a (relatively) large extra dimension. The theory makes testable predictions that physicists are investigating now.
The post In a ‘Dark Dimension,’ Physicists Search for the Universe’s Missing...
Many Worlds
A Real ET Discovery With Promise, Amid Some Other Quite Questionable Claims
Beware easy answers to the question of whether life exists beyond Earth. Be they “alien” skeletons...
a year ago
Beware easy answers to the question of whether life exists beyond Earth. Be they “alien” skeletons in Mexico City, interstellar probes that briefly pass through our solar system, UFOs of all sorts and claims to have found “biosignature” chemical byproducts of life around planets...
brr
Doors of McMurdo
Doors, in a variety of shapes and styles.
over a year ago
Doors, in a variety of shapes and styles.
nanoscale views
APS March Meeting 2023, Day 4 + wrapup
My last day at the March Meeting was a bit scattershot, but here are a few highlights:
In a...
a year ago
My last day at the March Meeting was a bit scattershot, but here are a few highlights:
In a session about spin transport, the opening invited talk by Jiaming He was a clear discussion of recent experimental results on spin Seebeck effects in the magnetic insulator LuFeO3. The...
Math Is Still...
Computer Scientists Combine Two ‘Beautiful’ Proof Methods
Three researchers have figured out how to craft a proof that spreads out information while keeping...
2 months ago
Three researchers have figured out how to craft a proof that spreads out information while keeping it perfectly secret.
The post Computer Scientists Combine Two ‘Beautiful’ Proof Methods first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Math Is Still...
How This Marine Worm Can Tell Moonglow From Sunbeams
For the first time, scientists have decoded the molecular structure of a protein that helps to sync...
a year ago
For the first time, scientists have decoded the molecular structure of a protein that helps to sync a biological clock to the phases of the moon.
The post How This Marine Worm Can Tell Moonglow From Sunbeams first appeared on Quanta Magazine
NeuroLogica Blog
Titan Disaster and Risk vs Benefit
There has been a lot of discussion regarding the recent disaster of the Titan submersible. Was the...
a year ago
There has been a lot of discussion regarding the recent disaster of the Titan submersible. Was the risk justified? Who should be responsible for the safety issues? Who should be on the hook for the millions of dollars the rescue effort took? And why did this tragedy garner more...
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 ›
symmetry magazine
Collaboration builds fantastical stories from nuggets of truth
What happens when you pair CERN scientists with science fiction writers to create short stories...
a year ago
What happens when you pair CERN scientists with science fiction writers to create short stories inspired by particle physics?
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...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Yet Another Teladongo Take | Out-Of-Pocket
You haven't read enough of them
a year ago
You haven't read enough of them
Math Is Still...
The Simple Geometry That Predicts Molecular Mosaics
By treating molecules as geometric tessellations, scientists devised a new way to forecast how 2D...
a year ago
By treating molecules as geometric tessellations, scientists devised a new way to forecast how 2D materials might self-assemble.
The post The Simple Geometry That Predicts Molecular Mosaics first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Blog - Practical...
Why Are Cooling Towers Shaped Like That?
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.]
This is not smoke. And this...
a month ago
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.]
This is not smoke. And this isn’t a smoke stack (at least not the kind we normally think of). It serves a totally different purpose at a power plant than smoke stacks whose job is moving combustion products...
Math Is Still...
Primitive Asgard Cells Show Life on the Brink of Complexity
As researchers race to cultivate more of the intriguing cells from the deep seafloor, the few cells...
a year ago
As researchers race to cultivate more of the intriguing cells from the deep seafloor, the few cells now growing in labs are giving us our best glimpses of the forerunners of all complex life.
The post Primitive Asgard Cells Show Life on the Brink of Complexity first...
NeuroLogica Blog
Have Current AI Reached Their Limit?
We are still very much in the hype phase of the latest crop of artificial intelligence applications,...
a year ago
We are still very much in the hype phase of the latest crop of artificial intelligence applications, specifically the large language models and so-called “transformers” like Chat GPT. Transformers are a deep learning model that use self-attention to differentially weight the...
Math Is Still...
He’s Gleaning the Design Rules of Life to Re-Create It
Yizhi “Patrick” Cai is coordinating a global effort to write a complete synthetic yeast genome. If...
a month ago
Yizhi “Patrick” Cai is coordinating a global effort to write a complete synthetic yeast genome. If he succeeds, the resulting cell will be the artificial life most closely related to humans to date.
The post He’s Gleaning the Design Rules of Life to Re-Create It first...
Andrew Fraknoi –...
Caves on Mars
Recently, in social media posts, Dr. Pascal Lee of the SETI Institute discussed the intriguing caves...
4 weeks ago
Recently, in social media posts, Dr. Pascal Lee of the SETI Institute discussed the intriguing caves on the side of the giant martian volcano called Arsia Mons as interesting places for future exploration and even human residences. As it happens, my very first published...
NeuroLogica Blog
Latest Starship Launch
SpaceX has conducted their most successful test launch of a Starship system to date. The system they...
2 months ago
SpaceX has conducted their most successful test launch of a Starship system to date. The system they tested has three basic components – the Super Heavy first stage rocket booster, the Starship second stage (which is the actual space ship that will go places), and the...
Math Is Still...
Brain’s ‘Background Noise’ May Explain Value of Shock Therapy
Electroconvulsive therapy is highly effective in treating major depressive disorder, but no one...
9 months ago
Electroconvulsive therapy is highly effective in treating major depressive disorder, but no one knows why it works. New research suggests it may restore balance between excitation and inhibition in the brain.
The post Brain’s ‘Background Noise’ May Explain Value of...
NeuroLogica Blog
Starship Explodes in Successful Launch
A common joke in the medical world is, “The operation was a success, but the patient died.” The...
a year ago
A common joke in the medical world is, “The operation was a success, but the patient died.” The irony comes from how we might define “success”. On April 20th SpaceX conducted the maiden launch of the fully assembled Starship, including a Starship rocket on top of a super heavy...
Asterisk
Culture Studies
Montessori classrooms don’t have much in common with the Jesuit colleges of early modern Europe. But...
5 months ago
Montessori classrooms don’t have much in common with the Jesuit colleges of early modern Europe. But students in both settings learn more than a core curriculum — instead they’re taught a distinctive culture. And then they pass it on.
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...
Asterisk
Pew Problems
A conversation about religion, fertility, and the American family.
a year ago
A conversation about religion, fertility, and the American family.
Math Is Still...
Mollusk Eyes Reveal How Future Evolution Depends on the Past
The visual systems of an obscure group of mollusks provide a rare natural example of path-dependent...
9 months ago
The visual systems of an obscure group of mollusks provide a rare natural example of path-dependent evolution, in which a critical fork in the creatures’ past determined their evolutionary futures.
The post Mollusk Eyes Reveal How Future Evolution Depends on the Past...
Math Is Still...
The Computer Scientist Peering Inside AI’s Black Boxes
Cynthia Rudin wants machine learning models, responsible for increasingly important decisions, to...
a year ago
Cynthia Rudin wants machine learning models, responsible for increasingly important decisions, to show their work.
The post The Computer Scientist Peering Inside AI’s Black Boxes first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Quantum Frontiers
To thermalize, or not to thermalize, that is the question.
If Hamlet had been a system of noncommuting charges, his famous soliloquy may have gone like this…...
8 months ago
If Hamlet had been a system of noncommuting charges, his famous soliloquy may have gone like this… To thermalize, or not to thermalize, that is the question:Whether ’tis more natural for the system to sufferThe large entanglement of thermalizing dynamics,Or … Continue reading →
Cremieux Recueil
Workers For Robots
Want to give blue collar workers the sorts of jobs they can raise a family on and revive American...
a month ago
Want to give blue collar workers the sorts of jobs they can raise a family on and revive American manufacturing? Then you should support automation
NeuroLogica Blog
Superconducting Kagome Metals
Superconductivity is an extremely interesting, and potentially extremely useful, physical...
3 months ago
Superconductivity is an extremely interesting, and potentially extremely useful, physical phenomenon. It refers to a state in which current flows through a material without resistance, and therefore without any loss of energy or waste heat. As our civilization is increasingly run...
Math Is Still...
Why Locusts Swarm, Humans Do Good and Time Marches On
The Joy of Why podcast returns for a third season, with two co-hosts, 24 brilliant guests and 24...
11 months ago
The Joy of Why podcast returns for a third season, with two co-hosts, 24 brilliant guests and 24 all-new episodes.
The post Why Locusts Swarm, Humans Do Good and Time Marches On first appeared on Quanta Magazine
NeuroLogica Blog
AI Designed Drugs
On a recent SGU live streaming discussion someone in the chat asked – aren’t frivolous AI...
8 months ago
On a recent SGU live streaming discussion someone in the chat asked – aren’t frivolous AI applications just toys without any useful output? The question was meant to downplay recent advances in generative AI. I pointed out that the question is a bit circular – aren’t frivolous...
Melting Asphalt
Going Critical
Background: This is an interactive blog post. I wanted to host it here, but don't know how to make...
over a year ago
Background: This is an interactive blog post. I wanted to host it here, but don't know how to make it play nice with WordPress. So I decided to host it on another part of the site instead. Click here for…
Read more ›
Explorations of an...
Uruguay Part 3: Lagoon Shorebirding
February 28, 2023
Our first few days in Uruguay had been very successful. We had been able to...
a year ago
February 28, 2023
Our first few days in Uruguay had been very successful. We had been able to experience a few days in the beautiful rural countryside, staying at a wonderful hacienda. We had found our first Uruguayan snake. And we had found most of the potential bird lifers that...
IEEE Spectrum
The Unlikely Inventor of the Automatic Rice Cooker
How the automatic rice cooker was invented
It isn’t often that housewives get credit in the annals...
a month ago
How the automatic rice cooker was invented
It isn’t often that housewives get credit in the annals of invention, but in the story of the automatic rice cooker, a woman takes center stage. That happened only after the first attempts at electrifying rice cooking, starting in the...
Math Is Still...
How Public Key Cryptography Really Works, Using Only Simple Math
The security system that underlies the internet makes use of a curious fact: You can broadcast part...
a month ago
The security system that underlies the internet makes use of a curious fact: You can broadcast part of your encryption to make your information much more secure.
The post How Public Key Cryptography Really Works, Using Only Simple Math 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.
Out-of-Pocket Blog
How Data Transformed Small Group Underwriting | Out-Of-Pocket
Paper forms be gone, now we anonymize and risk it all (literally).
5 months ago
Paper forms be gone, now we anonymize and risk it all (literally).
Quantum Frontiers
Discoveries at the Dibner
This past summer, our quantum thermodynamics research group had the wonderful opportunity to visit...
10 months ago
This past summer, our quantum thermodynamics research group had the wonderful opportunity to visit the Dibner Rare Book Library in D.C. Located in a small corner of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, tucked away behind flashier exhibits, the Dibner is … Continue...
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
nanoscale views
Items of interest
The start of the semester has been very busy, but here are some items that seem interesting:
As...
3 months ago
The start of the semester has been very busy, but here are some items that seem interesting:
As many know, there has been a lot of controversy in recent years about high pressure measurements of superconductivity. Here is a first-hand take by one of the people who helped bring...
ToughSF
Starship Lite: from rapid Interplanetary to Interstellar
Elon Musk
stated that a stripped-down SpaceX Starship could become an interplanetary
boost vehicle...
over a year ago
Elon Musk
stated that a stripped-down SpaceX Starship could become an interplanetary
boost vehicle able to push probes towards the farthest objects in our Solar
System.
What
other missions could the Starship ‘Lite’ do, and how quickly?
Near SSTO
Rockets performance
scales...
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...
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...
Asterisk
Why Isn’t the Whole World Rich?
The question of why some countries join the developed world while others remain in poverty has vexed...
over a year ago
The question of why some countries join the developed world while others remain in poverty has vexed economists for decades. What makes it so hard to answer?
Interaction Magic -...
The last design you'll ever make
Designing from cradle to grave is no longer good enough. We need to postpone that grave as long as...
over a year ago
Designing from cradle to grave is no longer good enough. We need to postpone that grave as long as possible. This is how to design for a right to repair.
Wanderingspace
OSIRIS-REX Leaves Bennu
The OSIRIS-REX mission in on a two year trajectory back to Earth after capturing fragments of the...
over a year ago
The OSIRIS-REX mission in on a two year trajectory back to Earth after capturing fragments of the near Earth asteroid Bennu after successfully executing a sample touchdown last fall. [LINK]
The sampling of of the asteroid’s surface is shown above.
Probably...
Estimation with Small Samples
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. gauss_bayes Estimation with Small Samples¶ Here’s a question from the Reddit statistics forum. Hey, so imagine I only have 6...
The Roots of...
What I’ve been reading, April 2023
A monthly feature. Note that I generally don’t include very recent writing here, such as the latest...
a year ago
A monthly feature. Note that I generally don’t include very recent writing here, such as the latest blog posts (for those, see my Twitter digests); this is for my deeper research.
AI
First, various historical perspectives on AI, many of which were quite prescient:
Alan Turing,...
Explorations of an...
El Valle Encantado (The Enchanted Valley), And A Bump In The Road
January 19, 2023
It is not always easy to find trails worth exploring in the Andes, and the reason...
a year ago
January 19, 2023
It is not always easy to find trails worth exploring in the Andes, and the reason for this is simple. The extreme topographical changes in the mountains, combined with frequent rainfall and thick vegetation do not lend themselves to the construction and regular...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
“Mission-driven” should be more specific | Out-Of-Pocket
everything is a set of tradeoffs, let's be honest about that
8 months ago
everything is a set of tradeoffs, let's be honest about that
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Patient Communities Should Change | Out-Of-Pocket
Evolving from ads to outcomes
a year ago
Evolving from ads to outcomes
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.
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...
What Is Machine Learning?
Neural networks and other forms of machine learning ultimately learn by trial and error, one...
5 months ago
Neural networks and other forms of machine learning ultimately learn by trial and error, one improvement at a time.
The post What Is Machine Learning? first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Explorations of an...
Potrero de Yala - Dippers, Red-faced Guans And More
Laura and I were up early to make the most of our morning at Potrero de Yala. As dawn broke, we...
a year ago
Laura and I were up early to make the most of our morning at Potrero de Yala. As dawn broke, we slowly drove in along the entrance road, keeping an eye out for guans.
We found quite a few guans on and around the road but none were our hoped-for Red-faced Guans; they were all...
symmetry magazine
Applications of quantum mechanics at the beach
How does sunscreen work on the atomic level?
a year ago
How does sunscreen work on the atomic level?
nanoscale views
A few quick highlights
It's been a very busy time, hence my lower posting frequency. It was rather intense trying to...
a year ago
It's been a very busy time, hence my lower posting frequency. It was rather intense trying to attend both the KITP conference and the morning sessions of the DOE experimental condensed matter PI meeting (pdf of agenda here). A few quick highlights that I thought were...
NeuroLogica Blog
AI As Legal Entities
Should an artificial intelligence (AI) be treated like a legal “subject” or agent? That is the...
a year ago
Should an artificial intelligence (AI) be treated like a legal “subject” or agent? That is the question discussed in a new paper by legal scholars. They recognize that this question is a bit ahead of the technology, but argue that we should work out the legal ramifications before...
brr
The Beer Can
Connecting old and new.
a year ago
Bartosz Ciechanowski
Sound
Invisible and relentless, sound is seemingly just there, traveling through our surroundings to carry...
over a year ago
Invisible and relentless, sound is seemingly just there, traveling through our surroundings to carry beautiful music or annoying noises. In this article I’ll explain what sound is, how it’s created and propagated.
Throughout this presentation you will be hearing different sounds,...
Eukaryote Writes...
Internet Harvest (2020, 2)
Internet Harvest is a selection of the most succulent links on the internet that I’ve recently...
over a year ago
Internet Harvest is a selection of the most succulent links on the internet that I’ve recently plucked from its fruitful boughs. Feel free to discuss the links in the comments. Also, semi-intentionally, none of the links in this harvest are COVID-19-related. If you want some...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Fitbits, Bundled Payments, and Rollercoasters | Out-Of-Pocket
some papers I think are cool
a year ago
some papers I think are cool
nanoscale views
APS March Meeting 2024 - coming soon
This week I'm going to be at the APS March Meeting in Minneapolis. As I've done in past years, I...
9 months ago
This week I'm going to be at the APS March Meeting in Minneapolis. As I've done in past years, I will try to write up some highlights of talks that I am able to see, though it may be hit-or-miss. If readers have suggestions for sessions or talks that they think will be...
nanoscale views
What do we want in a conference venue?
The APS March Meeting was in Las Vegas this year, and I have yet to talk to a single attendee who...
a year ago
The APS March Meeting was in Las Vegas this year, and I have yet to talk to a single attendee who liked that decision in hindsight. In brief, the conference venue seemed about 10% too small (severe crowding issues in hallways between sessions); while the APS deal on hotels was...
Beautiful Public...
Design for the People: The US Web Design System and the Public Sans Typeface
The United States has an official web design system and a custom typeface that belongs to the...
5 months ago
The United States has an official web design system and a custom typeface that belongs to the people. This thoughtful public design system aims to make government websites not only look good, but to make them accessible and functional for all.
Out-of-Pocket Blog
The New Price Transparency Laws And Turquoise Health | Out-Of-Pocket
Are we actually moving to a healthcare shopping experience?
9 months ago
Are we actually moving to a healthcare shopping experience?
Light from Space
The Dense & Dusty Orion Nebula
Next to the Andromeda Galaxy, the Orion Nebula (also referred to as “Great Nebula in Orion” in older...
over a year ago
Next to the Andromeda Galaxy, the Orion Nebula (also referred to as “Great Nebula in Orion” in older texts) is likely the first target for any fledgling amateur astrophotographer in the Northern Hemisphere.
It's so bright it actually appears to the naked eye essentially like a
nanoscale views
Recent papers to distract....
Time for blogging has continued to be scarce, but here are a few papers to distract (and for readers...
a month ago
Time for blogging has continued to be scarce, but here are a few papers to distract (and for readers who are US citizens: vote if you have not already done so!).
Reaching back, this preprint by Aharonov, Collins, Popescu talks about a thought experiment in which angular...
IEEE Spectrum
Touchscreens Are Out, and Tactile Controls Are Back
Tactile controls are back in vogue. Apple added two new buttons to the iPhone 16, home appliances...
a month ago
Tactile controls are back in vogue. Apple added two new buttons to the iPhone 16, home appliances like stoves and washing machines are returning to knobs, and several car manufacturers are reintroducing buttons and dials to dashboards and steering wheels.
With this...
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...
Math Is Still...
She Studies How Addiction Hijacks Learning in the Brain
Erin Calipari works to understand how drugs like opioids and cocaine alter learning circuits and...
a year ago
Erin Calipari works to understand how drugs like opioids and cocaine alter learning circuits and neurochemistry in one of the country's epicenters of substance use disorder and addiction.
The post She Studies How Addiction Hijacks Learning in the Brain first appeared...
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
Math Is Still...
Exoplanets Could Help Us Learn How Planets Make Magnetism
New observations of a faraway rocky world that might have its own magnetic field could help...
a year ago
New observations of a faraway rocky world that might have its own magnetic field could help astronomers understand the seemingly haphazard magnetic fields swaddling our solar system’s planets.
The post Exoplanets Could Help Us Learn How Planets Make Magnetism first...
Blog - Practical...
Why Are Texas Interchanges Texas So Tall?
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.]
This is the Dallas High Five,...
4 months ago
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.]
This is the Dallas High Five, one of the tallest highway interchanges in the world. It gets its name from the fact that there are five different levels of roadways crossing each other in this one spot. In some...
Uncharted...
🪐 How Will We Ride to Mars?
Do we need a station on the Moon? How hard is it to get to Mars? What are the main challenges?
2 months ago
Do we need a station on the Moon? How hard is it to get to Mars? What are the main challenges?
Willem Pennings
Balancing cube
This cube manages to balance itself on a corner, and can simultaneously rotate around its axis in a...
10 months ago
This cube manages to balance itself on a corner, and can simultaneously rotate around its axis in a controlled manner. It does so using clever controls and a set of three reaction wheels. The original idea for this device comes from researchers at ETH Zürich, who demonstrate...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Some cool AI healthcare projects | Out-Of-Pocket
What was built at the OOP hackathon?
4 months ago
What was built at the OOP hackathon?
Asterisk
What I Won’t Eat
A reflection on ethics, animal cognition, and chocolate cake.
a year ago
A reflection on ethics, animal cognition, and chocolate cake.
The Works in...
Introducing Gentle Density
A new series from Works in Progress
a year ago
A new series from Works in Progress
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...
Explorations of an...
A Month In Northern Peru, Part 8: Pale-billed Antpittas In The Elfin Forest (February 10, 2024)
February 10, 2024
The Pale-billed Antpitta is a large, fancy-looking Grallaria antpitta only found...
6 months ago
February 10, 2024
The Pale-billed Antpitta is a large, fancy-looking Grallaria antpitta only found in the high Andes of northern Peru. Because of its proclivity towards dense forest with an abundance of bamboo, there are few places where this species can be easily found. These...
Math Is Still...
Can Math and Physics Save an Arrhythmic Heart?
Abnormal waves of electrical activity can cause a heart’s muscle cells to beat out of sync. In this...
a year ago
Abnormal waves of electrical activity can cause a heart’s muscle cells to beat out of sync. In this episode, Flavio Fenton, an expert in cardiac dynamics, talks with Steve Strogatz about ways to treat heart arrhythmias without resorting to painful defibrillators.
The...
Asterisk
The Misery Bomb
Children across the Western world are getting less happy. If we can’t find a way to reverse the...
5 months ago
Children across the Western world are getting less happy. If we can’t find a way to reverse the trend, it might have an outsized impact on their future.
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...
brr
Brr Wants A Job
8 months post-ice, it's time for something new!
5 months ago
8 months post-ice, it's time for something new!
Sean Carroll
Energy Conservation and Non-Conservation in Quantum Mechanics
Conservation of energy is a somewhat sacred principle in physics, though it can be tricky in certain...
over a year ago
Conservation of energy is a somewhat sacred principle in physics, though it can be tricky in certain circumstances, such as an expanding universe. Quantum mechanics is another context in which energy conservation is a subtle thing — so much so that it’s still worth writing papers...
The Works in...
Getting people to donate their organs
Too few people donate their organs, dead or alive. How can we make it easier?
8 months ago
Too few people donate their organs, dead or alive. How can we make it easier?
Math Is Still...
Quaking Giants Might Solve the Mysteries of Stellar Magnetism
In their jiggles and shakes, red giant stars encode a record of the magnetic fields near their...
a year ago
In their jiggles and shakes, red giant stars encode a record of the magnetic fields near their cores.
The post Quaking Giants Might Solve the Mysteries of Stellar Magnetism first appeared on Quanta Magazine
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 […]
wadertales
Conservation beyond boundaries
When an environmental impact assessment concludes that only a small number of shorebirds will be...
a year ago
When an environmental impact assessment concludes that only a small number of shorebirds will be affected by a new airport, because relatively small flocks are counted during field surveys, is there an assumption that the birds encountered are always the same individuals? What if...
The Works in...
Heat waves
Why a hotter world might be a more dangerous, violent, and less productive one
5 months ago
Why a hotter world might be a more dangerous, violent, and less productive one
Math Is Still...
The ‘Beautiful Confusion’ of the First Billion Years Comes Into View
Astronomers are reveling in the James Webb Space Telescope’s discoveries about the formative epoch...
2 months ago
Astronomers are reveling in the James Webb Space Telescope’s discoveries about the formative epoch of cosmic history.
The post The ‘Beautiful Confusion’ of the First Billion Years Comes Into View first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Explorations of an...
Borneo: Tour Extension To Peninsular Malaysia
After the main Borneo tour had finished, eight of the travellers joined Laura and I on a tour...
a year ago
After the main Borneo tour had finished, eight of the travellers joined Laura and I on a tour extension to peninsular Malaysia. We split our time between two distinct regions: the foothill forests at Fraser’s Hill, and the steamy lowlands of Taman Negara.
Dusky Leaf Monkey -...
Math Is Still...
The Viral Paleontologist Who Unearths Pathogens’ Deep Histories
Sébastien Calvignac-Spencer searches museum jars for genetic traces of flu, measles and other...
4 months ago
Sébastien Calvignac-Spencer searches museum jars for genetic traces of flu, measles and other viruses. Their evolutionary stories can help treat modern outbreaks and prepare for future ones.
The post The Viral Paleontologist Who Unearths Pathogens’ Deep Histories...
NeuroLogica Blog
The Hardware Demands of AI
I am of the generation that essentially lived through the introduction and evolution of the personal...
a year ago
I am of the generation that essentially lived through the introduction and evolution of the personal computer. I have decades of experience as an active user and enthusiast, so I have been able to notice some patterns. One pattern is the relationship between the power of...
Explorations of an...
Heading East Into The Atlantic Forest
The Atlantic Forest (Mata Atlântica in Portuguese) stretches across the southeastern coastal region...
a year ago
The Atlantic Forest (Mata Atlântica in Portuguese) stretches across the southeastern coastal region of Brazil, reaching inland as far as southeastern Paraguay and northeastern Argentina. In broad terms, the Atlantic Forest is formed and continues to be maintained by...
Math Is Still...
Are There Reasons to Believe in a Multiverse?
Several areas of physics suggest reasons to think that unobservable universes with different natural...
a year ago
Several areas of physics suggest reasons to think that unobservable universes with different natural laws could lie beyond ours. The theoretical physicist David Kaplan talks with Steven Strogatz about the mysteries that a multiverse would solve.
The post Are There...
Math Is Still...
Nobel Prize Honors Inventors of ‘Quantum Dot’ Nanoparticles
The Nobel Prize for Chemistry has been awarded to three researchers who harnessed the quantum...
a year ago
The Nobel Prize for Chemistry has been awarded to three researchers who harnessed the quantum behaviors of semiconductor nanocrystals.
The post Nobel Prize Honors Inventors of ‘Quantum Dot’ Nanoparticles first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Asterisk
Through the Looking Glass, and What Zheludev et al. (2024) Found There
Every time microbiologists develop a new way of looking, they find that there’s more to see than...
5 months ago
Every time microbiologists develop a new way of looking, they find that there’s more to see than they expected.
Probably...
Small percentiles and missing data
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. low_percentile Bootstrapping percentiles¶ Here’s a question from the Reddit statistics forum. I’m trying to figure out how to...
NeuroLogica Blog
Student Attitudes Toward AI in the Class
Researchers recently published an extensive survey of almost 6,000 students across academic...
a year ago
Researchers recently published an extensive survey of almost 6,000 students across academic institution in Sweden. The results are not surprising, but they do give a snapshot of where we are with the recent introduction of large language model AIs. Most students, 56%, reported...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Answers: Too much money in digital health? | Out-Of-Pocket
Here's what some of you had to say
a year ago
Here's what some of you had to say
Beautiful Public...
Trademark Design Codes
The United States Patent and Trademark Office has a system of 1,400 descriptive "design codes"...
8 months ago
The United States Patent and Trademark Office has a system of 1,400 descriptive "design codes" allowing you to search for trademarks with “Rickshaws”, “Centaurs” or “Mechanical women”.
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.
Andrew Fraknoi –...
Drone Madness: Here is the Antidote
For those of us who, through the years, have been through wave after wave of uncritical and...
6 days ago
For those of us who, through the years, have been through wave after wave of uncritical and sensational UFO stories in the media, the current obsession with (and jumping to unwarranted conclusions about) mysterious drones seems all too familiar. As before, untrained observers,...
Quantum Frontiers
A classical foreshadow of John Preskill’s Bell Prize
Editor’s Note: This post was co-authored by Hsin-Yuan Huang (Robert) and Richard Kueng. John...
10 months ago
Editor’s Note: This post was co-authored by Hsin-Yuan Huang (Robert) and Richard Kueng. John Preskill, Richard P. Feynman Professor of Theoretical Physics at Caltech, has been named the 2024 John Stewart Bell Prize recipient. The prize honors John’s contributions in … Continue...
The Works in...
Youtube Rules
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
NeuroLogica Blog
A Circular CO2 Economy
Big picture time – as I have discussed before, we have just passed 8 billion people on this planet...
a year ago
Big picture time – as I have discussed before, we have just passed 8 billion people on this planet and will likely top 10 billion before populations stabilize (which is quite possible, but that’s another story). What this means is that anything we collectively do is big. It...
The Works in...
The Power of the Earth
On the future of geothermal energy
10 months ago
On the future of geothermal energy
Math Is Still...
Simple Equation Predicts the Shapes of Carbon-Capturing Wetlands
To calculate the amount of carbon stored inside peatlands, researchers developed a unified theory of...
6 months ago
To calculate the amount of carbon stored inside peatlands, researchers developed a unified theory of “bog physics” applicable around the world.
The post Simple Equation Predicts the Shapes of Carbon-Capturing Wetlands first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Asterisk
What We Owe The Future
William MacAskill’s latest book presents itself as an introduction to the burgeoning longtermist...
over a year ago
William MacAskill’s latest book presents itself as an introduction to the burgeoning longtermist movement. But his views are eccentric – even within the movement he founded.
Eukaryote Writes...
Web-surfing tips for strange times
Meditations on what's bad about the internet lately and how to use it anyhow.
6 months ago
Meditations on what's bad about the internet lately and how to use it anyhow.
Probably...
The World Population Singularity
One of the exercises in Modeling and Simulation in Python invites readers to download estimates of...
a year ago
One of the exercises in Modeling and Simulation in Python invites readers to download estimates of world population from 10,000 BCE to the present, and to see if they are well modeled by any simple mathematical function. Here’s what the estimates look like (aggregated on...
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...
Math Is Still...
The Best Neighborhoods for Starting a Life in the Galaxy
Some neighborhoods in the Milky Way may be better suited for making habitable planets than others. ...
11 months ago
Some neighborhoods in the Milky Way may be better suited for making habitable planets than others.
The post The Best Neighborhoods for Starting a Life in the Galaxy first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Explorations of an...
A Month In Northern Peru, Part 1: Introduction
Ever since wrapping up our extensive traveling last spring, Laura and I have been itching to get...
9 months ago
Ever since wrapping up our extensive traveling last spring, Laura and I have been itching to get back on the road in Latin America. After returning to Ontario, finding a rental house and obtaining employment, our lives have been a little more grounded. I still have been on some...
Sean Carroll
Johns Hopkins
As far as I remember, the first time I stepped onto a university campus was in junior high school,...
over a year ago
As far as I remember, the first time I stepped onto a university campus was in junior high school, when I visited Johns Hopkins for an awards ceremony for the Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth. (I grew up in an environment that didn’t involve spending a lot of time on...
Wanderingspace
ISS Looks Like a Toy
These animated gifs of The International Space Station look just like metal toys — but they are...
over a year ago
These animated gifs of The International Space Station look just like metal toys — but they are real. Each frame is taken with ground based amateur telescopes and then pieced together with common image software like Adobe Photoshop.
It is incredible to me that there are people...
Blog - Practical...
Why Locomotives Don't Have Tires
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.]
Formula 1 is, by many...
10 months ago
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.]
Formula 1 is, by many accounts, the pinnacle of car racing. F1 cars are among the fastest in the world, particularly around the tight corners of the various paved tracks across the globe. Drivers can experience...
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...
The Roots of...
2023 in review
2023 was another big year for me and The Roots of Progress.
It was a year when ROP as an...
11 months ago
2023 was another big year for me and The Roots of Progress.
It was a year when ROP as an organization really started to take off. Even though the org itself was formed in 2021, at first it was just a vehicle for my own intellectual work, plus a few side projects. Last year we...
Math Is Still...
The Mathematician Who Finds the Poetry in Math and the Math in Poetry
The links between math, music and art have been explored for thousands of years. Sarah Hart is now...
11 months ago
The links between math, music and art have been explored for thousands of years. Sarah Hart is now turning a mathematical eye to literature.
The post The Mathematician Who Finds the Poetry in Math and the Math in Poetry first appeared on Quanta Magazine
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
Math Is Still...
Overexposure Distorted the Science of Mirror Neurons
After a decade out of the spotlight, the brain cells once alleged to explain empathy, autism and...
8 months ago
After a decade out of the spotlight, the brain cells once alleged to explain empathy, autism and theory of mind are being refined and redefined.
The post Overexposure Distorted the Science of Mirror Neurons first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Willem Pennings
ClockSquared Mini, a word clock wristwatch
About a year ago, I had some time to spare over the summer and decided to challenge myself with a...
over a year ago
About a year ago, I had some time to spare over the summer and decided to challenge myself with a project that I call “Clocksquared Mini”. It is Clocksquared, but in a tiny wristwatch package. This gives rise to a major challenge, as everything has to be shrunk down approximately...
nanoscale views
Brief items
With the end of the semester approaching and various grant deadlines, it's been a very busy time. ...
a year ago
With the end of the semester approaching and various grant deadlines, it's been a very busy time. Here are some items I spotted this week (some new, some old):
This article from Quanta about the "Einstein tile" is great - I particularly like the animated illustration. This...
The Roots of...
What I’ve been reading, June 2023
A monthly feature. As usual, recent blog posts and news stories are omitted from this; you can find...
a year ago
A monthly feature. As usual, recent blog posts and news stories are omitted from this; you can find them in my links digests. In all quotes below, any emphasis in bold was added by me.
Books
Thomas S. Ashton, The Industrial Revolution, 1760–1830 (1948). A classic in the field,...
Blog - Practical...
How Long Would Society Last During a Total Grid Collapse?
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.]
In February 2021, a winter...
over a year ago
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.]
In February 2021, a winter storm that swept through Texas caused one of the most severe power crises in American history. The cold weather created shockingly high electricity demands as people tried to keep...
Blog - Practical...
What Is A Black Start Of The Power Grid?
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.]
November 1965 saw one of the...
over a year ago
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.]
November 1965 saw one of the most widespread power outages in North American history. On the freezing cold evening of the 9th, the grid was operating at maximum capacity as people tried to stay warm when a...
Beautiful Public...
Special Database 18: 3,248 Mugshots Used for Training Image Recognition Systems
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has maintained a dataset of mugshot photos...
a year ago
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has maintained a dataset of mugshot photos of 1,573 people for decades, including 175 minors, until we asked about them.
Damn Interesting
The Rube’s Dilemma
It all started with a hat. A straw boater, to be precise, with a flat, round brim and brightly...
over a year ago
It all started with a hat. A straw boater, to be precise, with a flat, round brim and brightly colored ribbon tied around the crown. Originally popularized by gondoliers in Venice, this jaunty accessory had reached the height of American couture by the turn of the 20th century....
Asterisk
California vs. Big Soda
Sugar-sweetened beverage taxes work. But during the time it took to figure this out, enacting them...
6 months ago
Sugar-sweetened beverage taxes work. But during the time it took to figure this out, enacting them became much harder.
Math Is Still...
Unfolding the Mysteries of Polygonal Billiards
The surprisingly subtle geometry of a familiar game shows how quickly math gets complicated. ...
10 months ago
The surprisingly subtle geometry of a familiar game shows how quickly math gets complicated.
The post Unfolding the Mysteries of Polygonal Billiards first appeared on Quanta Magazine
symmetry magazine
IceCube and NANOGrav open new windows onto the universe
New results from a neutrino telescope and a gravitational-wave observatory show how astronomers use...
a year ago
New results from a neutrino telescope and a gravitational-wave observatory show how astronomers use different forms of messengers to study the cosmos.
Math Is Still...
The S-Matrix Is the Oracle Physicists Turn To in Times of Crisis
Particle physicists in search of the next theory of reality are consulting a mathematical structure...
7 months ago
Particle physicists in search of the next theory of reality are consulting a mathematical structure that they know will never fail: a table of possibilities known as the S-matrix.
The post The S-Matrix Is the Oracle Physicists Turn To in Times of Crisis first appeared...
Math Is Still...
A New Generation of Mathematicians Pushes Prime Number Barriers
New work attacks a long-standing barrier to understanding how prime numbers are distributed. ...
a year ago
New work attacks a long-standing barrier to understanding how prime numbers are distributed.
The post A New Generation of Mathematicians Pushes Prime Number Barriers first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Six Healthcare Startup Ideas | Out-Of-Pocket
In collaboration with The Generalist
a year ago
In collaboration with The Generalist
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
IEEE Spectrum
Meet Mr. Internet: Vint Cerf
It was June 1973. For the past three months, Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn had been working together on a...
a year ago
It was June 1973. For the past three months, Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn had been working together on a problem Kahn had been pondering for some time: how to connect ground-based military computers seamlessly to communications satellites and mobile radios.
The two had been...
Interaction Magic -...
Orientation
Using Mahony & Madgwick to calibrate and process Arduino orientation data.
over a year ago
Using Mahony & Madgwick to calibrate and process Arduino orientation data.
Asterisk
Why We Shut Down
In international development, it’s not enough to try to do good. We need the tools to tell if a...
5 months ago
In international development, it’s not enough to try to do good. We need the tools to tell if a project is really working — and the incentive to end it if it’s not.
ToughSF
Riding Sunbeams with Solar Sails
Reset your expectations of solar sails. They are a fast and free way to travel to any point in the...
a year ago
Reset your expectations of solar sails. They are a fast and free way to travel to any point in the Solar System, as many times as you want, any time of the year.
Solar sails can carry passengers and they have a nearly unlimited number of uses. You just have to... think...
brr
Showering at the South Pole
Potable water, and not much of it.
a year ago
Potable water, and not much of it.
The Works in...
The eye of the tiger
What makes tigers different from one another?
a year ago
What makes tigers different from one another?
Beautiful Public...
Mapping the Sea Floor
USGS research vessels equipped with cameras, sonar and scanners created a map of 125 square miles of...
a year ago
USGS research vessels equipped with cameras, sonar and scanners created a map of 125 square miles of the sea floor off Cape Ann, MA.
Drew Ex Machina
Rockets Falling from Orbit: The Saturn V That Launched NASA’s Skylab
In recent years, the uncontrolled reentries of the spent 22-metric ton core stages of China’s new...
over a year ago
In recent years, the uncontrolled reentries of the spent 22-metric ton core stages of China’s new Long March 5B heavy lift launch vehicle, used to orbit […]
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Musings on CVS, two-way negotiation, and dynamic pricing | Out-Of-Pocket
+ we're hosting another dinner! and courses ending!
8 months ago
+ we're hosting another dinner! and courses ending!
Marine Madness
Fear factor: How sensationalised shark documentaries undermine conservation efforts
Experts explain why misleading documentaries about sharks can be problematic. When Brendon Sing...
over a year ago
Experts explain why misleading documentaries about sharks can be problematic. When Brendon Sing first encountered sharks he was as a young boy behind the safety of aquarium glass in his native South Africa. Like many children of his generation, Brendon’s limited knowledge about...
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
ToughSF
Piracy in Space is Possible Part II: Armed Merchants and Pirate Patrols
There's more to piracy than just attacking a target and running away afterwards.
Put yourself in...
over a year ago
There's more to piracy than just attacking a target and running away afterwards.
Put yourself in the shoes of a pirate, a merchant or the authorities. What would you do?
Fighting back
Pirates intercepting, attacking and ransoming a merchant crew should be...
Chris Grossack's...
A Quick Application of Model Categories
Almost exactly a year ago (time flies!) I was thinking really hard about
model categories in...
a year ago
Almost exactly a year ago (time flies!) I was thinking really hard about
model categories in preparation for the HoTTEST summer school. I learned
a TON doing this, but I’ve just today seen a really nice (and somewhat concrete)
reason to care about the whole endeavor! I’d love...
The Roots of...
Neither EA nor e/acc is what we need to build the future
Over the last few years, effective altruism has gone through a rise-and-fall story arc worthy of any...
a year ago
Over the last few years, effective altruism has gone through a rise-and-fall story arc worthy of any dramatic tragedy.
The pandemic made them look prescient for warning about global catastrophic risks, including biosafety. A masterful book launch put them on the cover of TIME....
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...
Apoorva Srinivasan
niceR code with functional programming
At the end of this blog post, you will be able to:
Describe functional programming concepts
Write...
over a year ago
At the end of this blog post, you will be able to:
Describe functional programming concepts
Write functional programming code using purrr package in R
If you are anything like me, you probably focused primarily on learning statistics, machine learning and programming on a...
symmetry magazine
A call to cite Black women and gender minorities
Theoretical astrophysicist Chanda Prescod-Weinstein recently unveiled the Cite Black Women+ in...
a year ago
Theoretical astrophysicist Chanda Prescod-Weinstein recently unveiled the Cite Black Women+ in Physics and Astronomy Bibliography.
Math Is Still...
Researchers Refute a Widespread Belief About Online Algorithms
Three computer scientists have disproved a long-standing conjecture about a fundamental problem...
a year ago
Three computer scientists have disproved a long-standing conjecture about a fundamental problem involving imperfect information.
The post Researchers Refute a Widespread Belief About Online Algorithms first appeared on Quanta Magazine
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
NeuroLogica Blog
A Climate Debate Regarding Health Effects – Part II
Yesterday’s post was the first in an exchange about the effects of climate change on public health....
a year ago
Yesterday’s post was the first in an exchange about the effects of climate change on public health. Today’s post is my response. Part II Climate change is a critically important topic for society today, and it’s important that the public have a working knowledge of the facts,...
Math Is Still...
Complexity Theory’s 50-Year Journey to the Limits of Knowledge
How hard is it to prove that problems are hard to solve? Meta-complexity theorists have been asking...
a year ago
How hard is it to prove that problems are hard to solve? Meta-complexity theorists have been asking questions like this for decades. A string of recent results has started to deliver answers.
The post Complexity Theory’s 50-Year Journey to the Limits of Knowledge...
The Works in...
How Poor Maintenance Loses Wars: 1973, Israel Maintains
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
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.
nanoscale views
Brief items - light-driven diamagnetism, nuclear recoil, spin transport in VO2
Real life continues to make itself felt in various ways this summer (and that's not even an allusion...
5 months ago
Real life continues to make itself felt in various ways this summer (and that's not even an allusion to political madness), but here are three papers (two from others and a self-indulgent plug for our work) you might find interesting.
There has been a lot of work in recent...
Asterisk
The Depths of Wikipedians
A conversation about yogurt wars, German hymns, tropical cyclones, and the people who make Wikipedia...
a month ago
A conversation about yogurt wars, German hymns, tropical cyclones, and the people who make Wikipedia function.
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 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...
NeuroLogica Blog
Serial Dependence Bias
As I have discussed numerous times on this blog, our brains did not evolve to be optimal precise...
a year ago
As I have discussed numerous times on this blog, our brains did not evolve to be optimal precise perceivers and processors of information. Here is an infographic showing 188 documents cognitive biases. These biases are not all bad – they are tradeoffs. Evolutionary forces care...
Wanderingspace
Triton Image from Voyager Colored
Nice update to an old Voyager image with colors added based on actual colors captured in other...
over a year ago
Nice update to an old Voyager image with colors added based on actual colors captured in other images. See original post here by Jason Major.
Blog - Practical...
How Flood Tunnels Work
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.]
This is Waterloo Park in...
a year ago
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.]
This is Waterloo Park in downtown Austin, Texas, just a couple of blocks away from the state capitol building. It’s got walking trails, an ampitheater, Waller Creek runs right through the center, and it has...
Asterisk
Prediction Markets Have an Elections Problem
Weeks after it was clear that Donald Trump lost the 2020 election, you could still make pennies on...
10 months ago
Weeks after it was clear that Donald Trump lost the 2020 election, you could still make pennies on the dollar betting Joe Biden would win. Why doesn’t smart money drive out dumb money in election markets?
Interaction Magic -...
Units: the forgotten half of the statistic
From the millihelen to the microcentury, via jerk, pirate-ninjas and the Mongolian vowel separator.
over a year ago
From the millihelen to the microcentury, via jerk, pirate-ninjas and the Mongolian vowel separator.
Math Is Still...
How the Square Root of 2 Became a Number
Useful mathematical concepts, like the number line, can linger for millennia before they are...
6 months ago
Useful mathematical concepts, like the number line, can linger for millennia before they are rigorously defined.
The post How the Square Root of 2 Became a Number first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Probably...
Hazard and Survival
Here’s a question from the Reddit statistics forum. If I have a tumor that I’ve been told has a...
3 weeks ago
Here’s a question from the Reddit statistics forum. If I have a tumor that I’ve been told has a malignancy rate of 2% per year, does that compound? So after 5 years there’s a 10% chance it will turn malignant? This turns out to be an interesting question, because the answer...
brr
South Pole Topography
The relentless accumulation (and management) of snow.
a year ago
The relentless accumulation (and management) of snow.
Math Is Still...
What Is Entropy? A Measure of Just How Little We Really Know.
Exactly 200 years ago, a French engineer introduced an idea that would quantify the universe’s...
a week ago
Exactly 200 years ago, a French engineer introduced an idea that would quantify the universe’s inexorable slide into decay. But entropy, as it’s currently understood, is less a fact about the world than a reflection of our growing ignorance. Embracing that truth is leading to a...
Explorations of an...
A Month In Northern Peru, Part 5: The Marañón Valley (February 7, 2024)
February 7, 2024
The Marañón Valley is one of the most important biogeographical boundaries in the...
8 months ago
February 7, 2024
The Marañón Valley is one of the most important biogeographical boundaries in the Andes. Situated in northwestern Peru, the valley follows the Marañón River which flows northward across plateaus in the Andes. After cutting through a very deep, heavily eroded...
Casey Handmer's blog
Part 6 Guns Under The Table
Part of the Mars Trilogy Technical Commentary Series. Contains spoilers for this chapter and earlier...
a week ago
Part of the Mars Trilogy Technical Commentary Series. Contains spoilers for this chapter and earlier chapters. Google Mars .kml. Literary commentary podcast. It’s hard to believe it’s been a year since the last update of this – in that time I read my children all of Green Mars...
Math Is Still...
Game Theory Can Make AI More Correct and Efficient
Researchers are drawing on ideas from game theory to improve large language models and make them...
7 months ago
Researchers are drawing on ideas from game theory to improve large language models and make them more consistent.
The post Game Theory Can Make AI More Correct and Efficient first appeared on Quanta Magazine
symmetry magazine
Seeing the full picture with line-intensity mapping
Astronomers are championing a relatively new technique as a method to understand the structure of...
a year ago
Astronomers are championing a relatively new technique as a method to understand the structure of the early universe in three dimensions.
NeuroLogica Blog
Fossil Fuels – Reduce Demand or Supply?
This is a bit of a false choice – we can do both, or neither – but it is an important question and a...
a year ago
This is a bit of a false choice – we can do both, or neither – but it is an important question and a somewhat of a dilemma. Is the optimal path to reductions and eventual elimination of fossil fuel burning through reduced demand or supply? There are some interesting tradeoffs...
Light from Space
Iris Nebula and the Ghost of Cepheus
The Iris Nebula is a reflection nebula in Cepheus. A popular target with amateur astronomers, the...
over a year ago
The Iris Nebula is a reflection nebula in Cepheus. A popular target with amateur astronomers, the sourrounding flux nebulas are harder to photograph and require long integration times.
Also visible in this wide-field image, near the bottom left, is the Ghost Nebula.
Click or...
The Works in...
How America Made Machines Make Machines
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...
What’s a Chartist?
Recently I heard the word “chartist” for the first time in my life (that I recall). And then later...
a month ago
Recently I heard the word “chartist” for the first time in my life (that I recall). And then later the same day, I heard it again. So that raises two questions: To answer the second question first, it’s someone who supported chartism, which was “a working-class movement for...
NeuroLogica Blog
Solution Aversion Fallacy
I like to think deeply about informal logical fallacies. I write about them a lot, and even have an...
a year ago
I like to think deeply about informal logical fallacies. I write about them a lot, and even have an occasional segment of the SGU dedicated to them. They are a great way to crystalize our thinking about the many ways in which logic can go wrong. Formal logic deals with arguments...
NeuroLogica Blog
Building A Robotic Hand
Roboticists are often engaged in a process of reinventing the wheel – duplicating the function of...
a year ago
Roboticists are often engaged in a process of reinventing the wheel – duplicating the function of biological bodies in rubber, metal, and plastic. This is a difficult task because biological organisms are often wondrous machines. The human hand, in particular, is a feat of...
Math Is Still...
Do We Need a New Theory of Gravity?
Since Newton had his initial revelation about gravity, our understanding of this fundamental concept...
3 months ago
Since Newton had his initial revelation about gravity, our understanding of this fundamental concept has evolved in unexpected ways. In this week’s episode, theoretical physicist Claudia de Rham and co-host Janna Levin discuss the ways our current understanding of gravity needs...
Math Is Still...
Bats Use the Same Brain Cells to Map Physical and Social Worlds
New research in social bats raises the intriguing possibility that evolution can reprogram the...
a year ago
New research in social bats raises the intriguing possibility that evolution can reprogram the brain’s “place cells,” which are typically associated with location, to encode all kinds of environmental information.
The post Bats Use the Same Brain Cells to Map Physical...
NeuroLogica Blog
Why Do Species Evolve to Get Bigger or Smaller
Have you heard of Cope’s Rule or Foster’s Rule? American paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope first...
11 months ago
Have you heard of Cope’s Rule or Foster’s Rule? American paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope first noticed a trend in the fossil record that certain animal lineages tend to get bigger over evolutionary time. Most famously this was noticed in the horse lineage, beginning with small...
Asterisk
Lies, Damned Lies, and Manometer Readings
America’s HVAC labor force is plagued by dishonesty and frequently incapable of meeting industry...
10 months ago
America’s HVAC labor force is plagued by dishonesty and frequently incapable of meeting industry standards. Interventions in indoor air quality are the next frontier in pandemic prevention — but are they up to the task?
Chris Grossack's...
Monoidal Monoidoidoids
So I was on the nlab the other day, and I saw a fantastic joke:
A 2-category is “just” a monoidal...
over a year ago
So I was on the nlab the other day, and I saw a fantastic joke:
A 2-category is “just” a monoidal monoidoidoid! Here’s a screenshot
in case the nlab page for 2-categories changes someday:
There’s a thing called the Category Theorist’s “Just”, which describes
the joy that many...
Math Is Still...
What Makes Life Tick? Mitochondria May Keep Time for Cells
Every species develops at its own unique tempo, leaving scientist to wonder what governed their...
a year ago
Every species develops at its own unique tempo, leaving scientist to wonder what governed their timing. A suite of new findings suggests that cells use basic metabolic processes as clocks.
The post What Makes Life Tick? Mitochondria May Keep Time for Cells first...
IEEE Spectrum
The Invention That Let Fiber Optics Span the Globe
Plenty of big stories from the year 1985 had their moment in the sun and are now all but forgotten:...
a year ago
Plenty of big stories from the year 1985 had their moment in the sun and are now all but forgotten: New Coke, “We Are the World,” the rise of desktop publishing. But one at-the-time obscure invention from that year has long eclipsed the frothy headlines of its time, because it...
Explorations of an...
Uruguay Part 2: The Saffron-cowled Blackbird Search
February 26, 2023
Laura and I left the hacienda behind and and headed southeast towards the coast....
a year ago
February 26, 2023
Laura and I left the hacienda behind and and headed southeast towards the coast. Our route was a meandering one and we took our time on the potholed roads. The countryside was birdy and we didn't mind the relaxed pace.
We had booked an AirBnB property in the...
Willem Pennings
Home Assistant-compatible air quality sensor
I recently moved and our new home is equipped with a ventilation system that distributes fresh...
over a year ago
I recently moved and our new home is equipped with a ventilation system that distributes fresh (outside) air through the house and recoups heat from the air that is exhausted. There is a problem with this system, though. Sometimes, for example when a neighbour lights their wood...
NeuroLogica Blog
3D Printing Superalloys
This is a cool material science development that nicely illustrates recent technological...
a year ago
This is a cool material science development that nicely illustrates recent technological advancements. Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories have created a superalloy using additive manufacturing (3D printing). That may not sound that impressive at first, but consider the...
Tikalon Blog by Dev...
Quantum Year 2025
Children decide early in life to become scientists when they find that topics such as the...
4 months ago
Children decide early in life to become scientists when they find that topics such as the Pythagorean theorem and the hydrological cycle are more interesting and more important than knowing which state is noted for corn. My childhood was notable for witnessing the launch of the...
Math Is Still...
Diminishing Dark Energy May Evade the ‘Swampland’ of Impossible Universes
The largest-ever 3D map of the cosmos hints that the dark energy that’s fueling the universe’s...
4 months ago
The largest-ever 3D map of the cosmos hints that the dark energy that’s fueling the universe’s expansion may be weakening. One community of theoretical physicists expected as much.
The post Diminishing Dark Energy May Evade the ‘Swampland’ of Impossible Universes...
Wanderingspace
Goodbye Ingenuity
Mission completed. Ingenuity is left alone on Mars after damage to one of its blades renders it...
10 months ago
Mission completed. Ingenuity is left alone on Mars after damage to one of its blades renders it inoperable..
Math Is Still...
How a NASA Probe Solved a Scorching Solar Mystery
The outer layers of the sun’s atmosphere are a blistering million degrees hotter than its surface....
7 months ago
The outer layers of the sun’s atmosphere are a blistering million degrees hotter than its surface. The hidden culprit? Magnetic activity.
The post How a NASA Probe Solved a Scorching Solar Mystery first appeared on Quanta Magazine
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.
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Exits & Outcomes Is Good | Out-Of-Pocket
moar newsletters
a year ago
NeuroLogica Blog
Update on Quantum Computers
There has been a lot of quantum computer news since I last wrote about the topic. But this is still...
a year ago
There has been a lot of quantum computer news since I last wrote about the topic. But this is still a technology that is slowly advancing in the background, while actual applications have been limited. There is a threshold effect at play – at some point, quantum computers will be...
The Works in...
Notes on Progress: Selective breeding and chicken welfare
We've bred larger and larger chickens. Now can we breed happier ones?
over a year ago
We've bred larger and larger chickens. Now can we breed happier ones?
Out-of-Pocket Blog
My investing theses | Out-Of-Pocket
Hit up ya boi
a year ago
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...
symmetry magazine
Spacetime: All the universe’s a stage
In the 1900s, Albert Einstein unified the concepts of space and time, giving us a useful new way to...
a year ago
In the 1900s, Albert Einstein unified the concepts of space and time, giving us a useful new way to picture the universe.
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...
IEEE Spectrum
Why Are We Still Doing What Simon Says?
In 1976, Ralph Baer and Howard Morrison, two game designers, happened to see a trade show...
a year ago
In 1976, Ralph Baer and Howard Morrison, two game designers, happened to see a trade show demonstration of an Atari arcade game called Touch Me. The game’s waist-high cabinet featured four large buttons on the top, which lit up in random sequence; the player had to push the...
NeuroLogica Blog
Pledge to Triple Nuclear by 2050
It’s interesting that there isn’t much discussion about this in the mainstream media, but the Biden...
a month ago
It’s interesting that there isn’t much discussion about this in the mainstream media, but the Biden administration recently pledged to triple US nuclear power capacity by 2050. At COP28 last year the US was among 25 signatories who also pledged to triple world nuclear power...
Math Is Still...
Exotic New Superconductors Delight and Confound
Three new species of superconductivity were spotted this year, illustrating the myriad ways...
2 weeks ago
Three new species of superconductivity were spotted this year, illustrating the myriad ways electrons can join together to form a frictionless quantum soup.
The post Exotic New Superconductors Delight and Confound first appeared on Quanta Magazine
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...
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
Out-of-Pocket Blog
SWORD Health And Virtual Musculoskeletal Care | Out-Of-Pocket
A first person account
a year ago
Asterisk
Development Finance Done Right
A veteran diplomat explains how to navigate the U.S. development ecosystem, master the interagency...
5 months ago
A veteran diplomat explains how to navigate the U.S. development ecosystem, master the interagency process, and bring electricity to 200 million people.
Math Is Still...
Cells Across the Tree of Life Exchange ‘Text Messages’ Using RNA
Cells across the tree of life can swap short-lived messages encoded by RNA — missives that resemble...
3 months ago
Cells across the tree of life can swap short-lived messages encoded by RNA — missives that resemble a quick text rather than a formal memo on letterhead.
The post Cells Across the Tree of Life Exchange ‘Text Messages’ Using RNA first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Melting Asphalt
2015 Meta
Time for my annual blogging review. And only 11 days late! I'll keep it brief. Blog stats I...
over a year ago
Time for my annual blogging review. And only 11 days late! I'll keep it brief. Blog stats I published a paltry six full essays this year. Don't get me wrong: I'm proud of them. But still, six. It would be…
Read more ›
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...
Math Is Still...
Researchers Approach New Speed Limit for Seminal Problem
Integer linear programming can help find the answer to a variety of real-world problems. Now...
10 months ago
Integer linear programming can help find the answer to a variety of real-world problems. Now researchers have found a much faster way to do it.
The post Researchers Approach New Speed Limit for Seminal Problem first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Math Is Still...
The Enduring Mystery of How Water Freezes
Making ice requires more than subzero temperatures. The unpredictable process takes microscopic...
6 months ago
Making ice requires more than subzero temperatures. The unpredictable process takes microscopic scaffolding, random jiggling and often a little bit of bacteria.
The post The Enduring Mystery of How Water Freezes first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Casey Handmer's blog
Anti-aging tech fixes demographic collapse
With the latest studies on GLP-1 drugs showing not just a drop in all-cause mortality but also an...
3 months ago
With the latest studies on GLP-1 drugs showing not just a drop in all-cause mortality but also an apparent slowing of aging, I thought I’d write a quick note on how I think this technology, if it replicates, can drastically improve our lives. It’s hard to believe I’m writing...
nanoscale views
Fiber optics + a different approach to fab
Two very brief items of interest:
This article is a nice popular discussion of the history of...
3 months ago
Two very brief items of interest:
This article is a nice popular discussion of the history of fiber optics and the remarkable progress it's made for telecommunications. If you're interested in a more expansive but very accessible take on this, I highly recommend City of...
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
brr
South Pole Water Infrastructure
Fresh water from snow, at 70 below!
6 months ago
Fresh water from snow, at 70 below!
Probably...
Ears Are Weird
In a previous article, I looked at 93 measurements from the ANSUR-II dataset and found that ear...
3 months ago
In a previous article, I looked at 93 measurements from the ANSUR-II dataset and found that ear protrusion is not correlated with any other measurement. In a followup article, I used principle component analysis to explore the correlation structure of the measurements, and found...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Some Thoughts On Startups Overpromising | Out-Of-Pocket
the role RFPs play, how it's difficult to define patient harm, and more
9 months ago
the role RFPs play, how it's difficult to define patient harm, and more
Beautiful Public...
All of the 8,291 License Plates in America
States now offer a vast menu of personalized plate options for a dizzying array of organizations,...
a year ago
States now offer a vast menu of personalized plate options for a dizzying array of organizations, professions, sports teams, causes and other groups.
symmetry magazine
Physics on tour
A group called the Big Bang Collective sets up physics discovery stations at rather unexpected...
a year ago
A group called the Big Bang Collective sets up physics discovery stations at rather unexpected venues: music festivals.
Marine Madness
Penguin Problems: Are human-induced food shortages driving population declines?
We all love penguins. Clumsy and awkward on land, stealthy and precise underwater- these charismatic...
over a year ago
We all love penguins. Clumsy and awkward on land, stealthy and precise underwater- these charismatic creatures have captured our hearts ever since the release of March of the Penguins. Unfortunately, penguin populations across the globe (especially in South Africa and Antarctica)...
Quantum Frontiers
The Book of Mark
Mark Srednicki doesn’t look like a high priest. He’s a professor of physics at the University of...
a year ago
Mark Srednicki doesn’t look like a high priest. He’s a professor of physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB); and you’ll sooner find him in khakis than in sacred vestments. Humor suits his round face better than channeling … Continue reading →
NeuroLogica Blog
Non-Invasive Deep Brain Stimulation
We are rapidly entering the era of neuromodulation – using electrical and magnetic fields in order...
6 months ago
We are rapidly entering the era of neuromodulation – using electrical and magnetic fields in order to increase or decrease the activity of specific regions and circuits in the brain. Such treatments are already shown to be effective in treating some Parkinson’s symptoms,...
pcloadletter
My articles don't belong on certain social networks
I write this blog because I enjoy writing. Some people enjoy reading what I write, which makes me...
6 months ago
I write this blog because I enjoy writing. Some people enjoy reading what I write, which makes me feel really great!
Recently, I took down a post and stopped writing for a few months because I didn't love the reaction I was getting on social media sites like Reddit and Hacker...
wadertales
Juvenile settlement in Black-tailed Godwits
Adult waders tend to be exceptionally consistent in their use of time and space, with marked...
3 months ago
Adult waders tend to be exceptionally consistent in their use of time and space, with marked individuals turning up on the same estuaries at the same time year after year, as discussed in the Whimbrel blog ‘Whimbrel: time to leave’. How do these patterns become established? Do...
NeuroLogica Blog
Passive Solar Water Desalination
I know we are supposed to be worried about the world supply of fresh water. I have been hearing that...
a year ago
I know we are supposed to be worried about the world supply of fresh water. I have been hearing that at least for the last 40 years, and the statistics are alarming. According to the Global Commission on the Economics of Water: “We are seeing the consequences not of freak events,...
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...
The Works in...
Issue 16: I dream of genes
Plus: how humans are outdoing nature's shiniest creations; the history of measuring price rises; and...
3 months ago
Plus: how humans are outdoing nature's shiniest creations; the history of measuring price rises; and how America's favourite type of coffee got really, really good.
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
Eukaryote Writes...
Defending against hypothetical moon life during Apollo 11
This is how a completely abstract argument about alien germs was taken seriously and mitigated at...
11 months ago
This is how a completely abstract argument about alien germs was taken seriously and mitigated at great effort and expense during the 1969 Apollo landing.
Math Is Still...
Math That Goes On Forever but Never Repeats
Simple math can help explain the complexities of the newly discovered aperiodic monotile. ...
a year ago
Simple math can help explain the complexities of the newly discovered aperiodic monotile.
The post Math That Goes On Forever but Never Repeats first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Asterisk
Michael Lewis’s Blind Side
In Going Infinite, the famed chronicler of American finance proves he’s more interested in myths...
10 months ago
In Going Infinite, the famed chronicler of American finance proves he’s more interested in myths than morals — or even math.
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,...
Uncharted...
Should You Be Able to Experiment on Your Own Cancer?
A researcher in virology and immunotherapy got bad news: Her cancer was back with a vengeance; the...
2 months ago
A researcher in virology and immunotherapy got bad news: Her cancer was back with a vengeance; the treatments weren’t working. She decided to treat it herself.
Probably...
Think Python Goes to Production
Think Python has moved into production, on schedule for the official publication date in July — but...
9 months ago
Think Python has moved into production, on schedule for the official publication date in July — but maybe earlier if things go well. To celebrate, I have posted the next batch of chapters on the new site, up through Chapter 12, which is about Markov text analysis and generation,...
NeuroLogica Blog
AI Copilots Are Coming
I’m going to do something I rarely do and make a straight-up prediction – I think we are close to...
2 months ago
I’m going to do something I rarely do and make a straight-up prediction – I think we are close to having AI apps that will function as our all-purpose digital assistants. That’s not really a tough call, we already have digital assistants and they are progressing rapidly. So I am...
Drew Ex Machina
NASA’s Explorer 18: The First Interplanetary Monitoring Platform
Among the greatest scientific achievements of the opening years of the Space Age was the...
a year ago
Among the greatest scientific achievements of the opening years of the Space Age was the characterization of Earth’s magnetic field and the discovery of what became […]
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...
Topologists Tackle the Trouble With Poll Placement
Mathematicians are using topological abstractions to find places where it’s hard to vote. ...
9 months ago
Mathematicians are using topological abstractions to find places where it’s hard to vote.
The post Topologists Tackle the Trouble With Poll Placement first appeared on Quanta Magazine
NeuroLogica Blog
The Moon Race is On
Back in the 1960 there was a race to land people on the Moon between the US and the Soviet Union....
6 months ago
Back in the 1960 there was a race to land people on the Moon between the US and the Soviet Union. This was very much a part of the cold war, with each country interested in showing off its technical prowess to the world with a technology closely related to that needed to deliver...
NeuroLogica Blog
Artificial Diamond Boom
The history of aluminum, and what is now happening in the artificial diamond market, may tell us...
a year ago
The history of aluminum, and what is now happening in the artificial diamond market, may tell us something about a post-scarcity world. Aluminum is the most abundant metal in the Earth’s crust. However, it like to form with other elements and therefore it was very difficulty to...
IEEE Spectrum
James Wimshurst’s Electrostatic Immortality
James Wimshurst did not invent the machine that bears his name. But thanks to his many refinements...
a year ago
James Wimshurst did not invent the machine that bears his name. But thanks to his many refinements to a distinctive type of electrostatic generator, we now have the Wimshurst influence machine.
What does a Wimshurst machine do?
Influence machines date back to the 18th century....
Math Is Still...
Fish Have a Brain Microbiome. Could Humans Have One Too?
The discovery that other vertebrates have healthy, microbial brains is fueling the still...
2 weeks ago
The discovery that other vertebrates have healthy, microbial brains is fueling the still controversial possibility that we might have them as well.
The post Fish Have a Brain Microbiome. Could Humans Have One Too? first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Out-of-Pocket Blog
AI in healthcare - defensibility, capabilities, and cost reduction | Out-Of-Pocket
7 months ago
nanoscale views
CHIP and Science, NSF support, and hypocrisy
Note: this post is a semi-rant about US funding for science education; if this isn't your cup of...
4 months ago
Note: this post is a semi-rant about US funding for science education; if this isn't your cup of tea, read no further.
Two years ago, the CHIPS and Science Act (link goes to the full text of the bill, via the excellent congress.gov service of the Library of Congress) was signed...
The Works in...
Issue 11: Nuclear sandboxes
Plus: Why Britain can’t seem to fix its housing market, gene-edited super-rice, and one weird trick...
a year ago
Plus: Why Britain can’t seem to fix its housing market, gene-edited super-rice, and one weird trick to reverse climate change.
Math Is Still...
The Experimental Cosmologist Hunting for the First Sunrise
To catch even a whiff of the universe’s earliest epochs — an age of darkness, and one of new light —...
a year ago
To catch even a whiff of the universe’s earliest epochs — an age of darkness, and one of new light — Cynthia Chiang builds her own equipment. Then she deploys it at the ends of the Earth.
The post The Experimental Cosmologist Hunting for the First Sunrise first...
NeuroLogica Blog
A Discussion about Biological Sex
At CSICON this year I gave talk about topics over which skeptics have and continue to disagree with...
a month ago
At CSICON this year I gave talk about topics over which skeptics have and continue to disagree with each other. My core theme was that these are the topics we absolutely should be discussing with each other, especially at skeptical conferences. Nothing should be taboo or too...
Quantum Frontiers
Beyond NISQ: The Megaquop Machine
On December 11, I gave a keynote address at the Q2B 2024 Conference in Silicon Valley. This is a...
a week ago
On December 11, I gave a keynote address at the Q2B 2024 Conference in Silicon Valley. This is a transcript of my remarks. The slides I presented are here. NISQ and beyond I’m honored to be back at Q2B for … Continue reading →
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