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...
In the Quantum World, Even Points of View Are Uncertain
The reference frames from which observers view quantum events can themselves have multiple possible...
a month ago
The reference frames from which observers view quantum events can themselves have multiple possible locations at once — an insight with potentially major ramifications.
The post In the Quantum World, Even Points of View Are Uncertain first appeared on Quanta Magazine
ToughSF
Inter-Orbital Kinetic Energy Exchanges: Part I
Electrical power can be transferred between planets using high velocity masses. Kinetic Energy...
over a year ago
Electrical power can be transferred between planets using high velocity masses. Kinetic Energy Exchanges are an efficient concept that can output more energy than it consumes and only gets better with distance.
Guest writer Zerraspace (Zach Hajj) works out the details and...
IEEE Spectrum
How This Record Company Engineer Invented the CT Scanner
The inspiration for computed tomography (CT) came from a chance conversation that research engineer...
a year ago
The inspiration for computed tomography (CT) came from a chance conversation that research engineer Godfrey Hounsfield had with a doctor while on vacation in the 1960s. The physician complained that X-ray images of the brain were too grainy and only two-dimensional.
Hounsfield...
NeuroLogica Blog
New Whale Fossil – Possibly Heaviest Animal Ever
The largest and heaviest animal to ever live on the Earth, as far as we know, is the blue whale,...
a year ago
The largest and heaviest animal to ever live on the Earth, as far as we know, is the blue whale, which is extant today. The blue whale is larger than any dinosaur, even the giant sauropods. The average weight of a blue whale is 160 tons, with the largest specimen being 190 tons,...
IEEE Spectrum
The Incredible Story Behind the First Transistor Radio
But that’s pretty much what Pat Haggerty, vice president of Texas Instruments, did in 1954. The...
2 months ago
But that’s pretty much what Pat Haggerty, vice president of Texas Instruments, did in 1954. The result was the
Regency TR-1, the world’s first commercial transistor radio, which debuted 70 years ago this month. The engineers delivered on Haggerty’s audacious goal, and I...
Math Is Still...
Insects and Other Animals Have Consciousness, Experts Declare
A group of prominent biologists and philosophers announced a new consensus: There’s “a realistic...
8 months ago
A group of prominent biologists and philosophers announced a new consensus: There’s “a realistic possibility” that insects, octopuses, crustaceans, fish and other overlooked animals experience consciousness.
The post Insects and Other Animals Have Consciousness,...
Explorations of an...
The Iberá Wetlands
The national and provincial parks of Iberá form the largest protected area in Argentina. These parks...
a year ago
The national and provincial parks of Iberá form the largest protected area in Argentina. These parks protect a portion of the Iberá Wetlands, which is the second largest wetland complex in South America after Brazil's Pantanal. The Iberá Wetlands is a vitally important area for...
NeuroLogica Blog
Is AI Sentient Revisited
On the SGU this week we interviewed Blake Lemoine, the ex-Google employee who believes that Google’s...
a year ago
On the SGU this week we interviewed Blake Lemoine, the ex-Google employee who believes that Google’s LaMDA may be sentient, based on his interactions with it. This was a fascinating discussion, and even though I think we did a pretty deep dive in the time we had, it also felt...
Math Is Still...
Rogue Worlds Throw Planetary Ideas Out of Orbit
Scientists have recently discovered scores of free-floating worlds that defy classification. The new...
a year ago
Scientists have recently discovered scores of free-floating worlds that defy classification. The new observations have forced them to rethink their theories of star and planet formation.
The post Rogue Worlds Throw Planetary Ideas Out of Orbit first appeared on Quanta...
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...
Probably...
Life in a Lognormal World
At PyData Global 2023 I will present a talk, “Extremes, outliers, and GOATs: On life in a lognormal...
a year ago
At PyData Global 2023 I will present a talk, “Extremes, outliers, and GOATs: On life in a lognormal world”. It is scheduled for Wednesday 6 December at 11 am Eastern Time. Here is the abstract: The fastest runners are much faster than we expect from a Gaussian distribution, and...
nanoscale views
Seeing through your head - diffuse imaging
From the medical diagnostic perspective (and for many other applications), you can understand why it...
2 weeks ago
From the medical diagnostic perspective (and for many other applications), you can understand why it might be very convenient to be able to perform some kind of optical imaging of the interior of what you'd ordinarily consider opaque objects. Even when a wavelength range is...
symmetry magazine
From inventor to entrepreneur
Creating a startup to commercialize technology developed during research is a risky road for...
a year ago
Creating a startup to commercialize technology developed during research is a risky road for physicists and engineers, but the help of experts can improve their chances.
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...
Blog - Practical...
How Different Spillway Gates Work
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.]
In the heart of Minneapolis,...
a year ago
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.]
In the heart of Minneapolis, Minnesota on the Mississippi River is the picturesque Upper Saint Anthony Falls Lock and Dam, which originally made it possible to travel upstream on the river past the falls...
Asterisk
Fracking Eyeballs
How an alliance between psychologists and advertisers at the turn of the 20th century taught us how...
a year ago
How an alliance between psychologists and advertisers at the turn of the 20th century taught us how to measure (and monetize) human attention.
Math Is Still...
How Simple Math Moves the Needle
The spatial intuition behind a three-point turn offers an on-ramp to a century-old geometry problem....
a year ago
The spatial intuition behind a three-point turn offers an on-ramp to a century-old geometry problem.
The post How Simple Math Moves the Needle first appeared on Quanta Magazine
NeuroLogica Blog
A Climate Debate Regarding Health Effects – Part I
This is the first entry in an exchange between me and Scott Hastings, who requested the exchange....
a year ago
This is the first entry in an exchange between me and Scott Hastings, who requested the exchange. This is his opening arguments. My response will be tomorrow’s post. Part I: Hi Steven, first of all, I am tremendously grateful to you for taking time to engage with me on this...
Asterisk
China’s Silicon Future
China dreams of competing with global superpowers in the semiconductor industry. Whether its efforts...
over a year ago
China dreams of competing with global superpowers in the semiconductor industry. Whether its efforts will succeed is far from clear.
NeuroLogica Blog
Boeing Starliner Launches Soon
If all goes well, Boeing’s Starliner capsule will launch on Monday May 6th with two crew members...
7 months ago
If all goes well, Boeing’s Starliner capsule will launch on Monday May 6th with two crew members aboard, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who will be spending a week aboard the ISS. This is the last (hopefully) test of the new capsule, and if successful it will become officially...
Quantum Frontiers
The quantum gold rush
Even if you don’t recognize the name, you probably recognize the saguaro cactus. It’s the archetype...
9 months ago
Even if you don’t recognize the name, you probably recognize the saguaro cactus. It’s the archetype of the cactus, a column from which protrude arms bent at right angles like elbows. As my husband pointed out, the cactus emoji is … Continue reading →
NeuroLogica Blog
How Much Do Couples Share Traits?
Do birds of a feather flock together, or do opposites attract? These are both common aphorisms,...
a year ago
Do birds of a feather flock together, or do opposites attract? These are both common aphorisms, which means that they are commonly offered as generally accepted truths, but also that they may by wrong. People like pithy phrases, so they spread prolifically, but that does not mean...
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...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
New Health Plans Need New Operating Systems with Flume Health | Out-Of-Pocket
this claim is automatic, programmatic, hypnotic, funky fresh
a year ago
this claim is automatic, programmatic, hypnotic, funky fresh
Cremieux Recueil
Eliminating Distractions in Longevity Research
Longevity maximizers should invest in biotechnology, not modifiable lifestyle factors
2 months ago
Longevity maximizers should invest in biotechnology, not modifiable lifestyle factors
Math Is Still...
What Can Birdsong Teach Us About Human Language?
We often consider spoken language to be a feature that distinguishes humans from other forms of...
a month ago
We often consider spoken language to be a feature that distinguishes humans from other forms of animal life. Brain research, however, suggests that other creatures — including certain birds — share some of our neural circuitry related to language. In this episode, co-host Janna...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Citizen fraud detection, self-experimentation, and OOP Updates | Out-Of-Pocket
Some random musings and OOP announcements before the holiday
3 weeks ago
Some random musings and OOP announcements before the holiday
Quantum Frontiers
Let the great world spin
I first heard the song “Fireflies,” by Owl City, shortly after my junior year of college. During the...
a year ago
I first heard the song “Fireflies,” by Owl City, shortly after my junior year of college. During the refrain, singer Adam Young almost whispers, “I’d like to make myself believe / that planet Earth turns slowly.” Goosebumps prickled along my … Continue reading →
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 -...
Light from Space
The Path to the Pillars of Creation
Famously photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope, here's my first look at the Pillars of Creation...
over a year ago
Famously photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope, here's my first look at the Pillars of Creation in the Eagle Nebula (Messier 16).
Total exposure time: 16h 5m
Shot from my driveway near Tucson, AZ in April & May 2022
Telescope: William Optics RedCat 51 (250mm focal length ƒ
Chris Grossack's...
Externalizing Some Simple Topos Statements
Hey all! It’s been a minute. I’ve been super busy with
the UC strike and honestly I haven’t done...
over a year ago
Hey all! It’s been a minute. I’ve been super busy with
the UC strike and honestly I haven’t done math in any
serious capacity for almost the past month. It’s been a
lot of hard work trying to get fair contracts out of the UC,
but I had a lot of travel plans this December to...
Inverted Passion
Review of 2023
Time is strange – 2023 simultaneously felt too long and too short. It was short because I remember...
11 months ago
Time is strange – 2023 simultaneously felt too long and too short. It was short because I remember recently writing my 2022 review, and it was long because I ended up packing a lot of stuff into it. ✅ Train 5 days a week (including Mixed Martial Arts) I did manage to train 5...
IEEE Spectrum
The Costly Impact of Non-Strategic Patents
The five largest auto manufacturers will face massive U.S. patent fees within the next five years....
a year ago
The five largest auto manufacturers will face massive U.S. patent fees within the next five years. This report examines auto industry lapse trends and how a company’s decisions on keeping, selling or pruning patents can greatly impact its cost savings and revenue generation...
NeuroLogica Blog
Update on Self-Driving Cars
The story has become a classic of failed futurism – driverless or self-driving cars were supposed...
a year ago
The story has become a classic of failed futurism – driverless or self-driving cars were supposed start taking over the roads as early as 2020. But that didn’t happen – it turned that the last 5% of capability was about as difficult to develop as the first 95%. Around 2015 I...
NeuroLogica Blog
The Future of (Unpaid) Work
If we think of the top inventions that had a positive impact on human society and our quality of...
a year ago
If we think of the top inventions that had a positive impact on human society and our quality of life most lists would contain things like the printing press, the wheel, or the computer. One invention that should be on everyone’s list but is easy to overlook is – the washing...
Blog - Practical...
How Engineers Straightened the Leaning Tower of Pisa
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.]
Long ago, maybe upwards of 1-2...
a year ago
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.]
Long ago, maybe upwards of 1-2 million years ago, a river in the central part of what’s now Italy, emptied into what’s now the Ligurian Sea. It still does, by the way, but it did back then too. As the sea rose...
Math Is Still...
Cryptographers Solve Decades-Old Privacy Problem
Three researchers have found a long-sought way to pull information from large databases secretly,...
a year ago
Three researchers have found a long-sought way to pull information from large databases secretly, moving us closer to fully private internet searches.
The post Cryptographers Solve Decades-Old Privacy Problem first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Asterisk
Emotional Intelligence Amplification
Love in the time of chatbots.
a year ago
Love in the time of chatbots.
nanoscale views
Materials characterization techniques – a brief glossary
Suppose someone has synthesized or found what they think is a new material. How do people studying...
11 months ago
Suppose someone has synthesized or found what they think is a new material. How do people studying materials (condensed matter physicists, materials scientists, materials chemists) figure out what they have and understand its properties? That's the puzzle-solving aspect of...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
What does longevity medicine actually mean? | Out-Of-Pocket
An interview with a practicing longevity medicine doctor
a month ago
An interview with a practicing longevity medicine doctor
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...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Some more thoughts on telemedicine | Out-Of-Pocket
a collection of the best audience responses
a year ago
a collection of the best audience responses
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.
Beautiful Public...
FAA Aviation Maps
Among all of the visual information published by the U.S. government, there may be no product with a...
10 months ago
Among all of the visual information published by the U.S. government, there may be no product with a higher information density than the Federal Aviation Administration’s aviation maps.
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...
Quantum Frontiers
What geckos have to do with quantum computing
When my brother and I were little, we sometimes played video games on weekend mornings, before our...
12 months ago
When my brother and I were little, we sometimes played video games on weekend mornings, before our parents woke up. We owned a 3DO console, which ran the game Gex. Gex is named after its main character, a gecko. Stepping … Continue reading →
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...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
"AI sucks", Quantifying EMR burden, and Loneliness | Out-Of-Pocket
3 interesting papers I like
a year ago
3 interesting papers I like
Out-of-Pocket Blog
How MainStreet gets you government $ | Out-Of-Pocket
Get government tax credits for your health startup
a year ago
Get government tax credits for your health startup
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.
Math Is Still...
A Rosetta Stone for Mathematics
In 1940 André Weil wrote a letter to his sister, Simone, outlining his vision for translating...
7 months ago
In 1940 André Weil wrote a letter to his sister, Simone, outlining his vision for translating between three distinct areas of mathematics. Eighty years later, it still animates many of the most exciting developments in the field.
The post A Rosetta Stone for...
Math Is Still...
To Move Fast, Quantum Maze Solvers Must Forget the Past
Quantum algorithms can find their way out of mazes exponentially faster than classical ones, at the...
a year ago
Quantum algorithms can find their way out of mazes exponentially faster than classical ones, at the cost of forgetting the path they took. A new result suggests that the trade-off may be inevitable.
The post To Move Fast, Quantum Maze Solvers Must Forget the Past...
IEEE Spectrum
The Meeting of the Minds That Launched AI
The Dartmouth Summer Research Project on Artificial Intelligence, held from 18 June through 17...
a year ago
The Dartmouth Summer Research Project on Artificial Intelligence, held from 18 June through 17 August of 1956, is widely considered the event that kicked off AI as a research discipline. Organized by John McCarthy, Marvin Minsky, Claude Shannon, and Nathaniel Rochester, it...
The Works in...
Notes on Progress: An environmentalist gets lunch
Why being an effective environmentalist can often feel like being a bad one
over a year ago
Why being an effective environmentalist can often feel like being a bad one
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
Chris Grossack's...
Preprint -- The RAAG Functor as a Categorical Embedding
After almost a year of sitting on my hard drive, I finally had time in
August to finish revising my...
a year ago
After almost a year of sitting on my hard drive, I finally had time in
August to finish revising my new preprint on
Right Angled Artin Groups (Raags). And in September I had time to put
it on the arxiv for people to see! Within 24 hours I had an email from
somebody who had...
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,...
nanoscale views
Guide to faculty searches, 2024 edition
As you can tell from my posting frequency lately, I have been unusually busy. I hope to be writing...
2 months ago
As you can tell from my posting frequency lately, I have been unusually busy. I hope to be writing about more condensed matter and nano science soon. In the meantime, I realized that I have not re-posted or updated my primer on how tenure-track faculty searches work in physics...
NeuroLogica Blog
Regret After Transitioning
In my last post I noted that even mentioning general vague support for the LGBTQ community was...
a year ago
In my last post I noted that even mentioning general vague support for the LGBTQ community was enough to trigger very specific feedback, often making erroneous scientific claims. Each claim requires a deep dive and article-length discussion. Even though the discussion that...
Asterisk
Why Is Everyone Suddenly Furious About AI Regulation?
Please tell us, because we're stumped.
7 months ago
Please tell us, because we're stumped.
Wanderingspace
New View of IO from JUNO!
From processor Ted Styrk, “The Juno Jupiter orbiter flew by Io, Jupiter's super-volcanic moon, on...
a year ago
From processor Ted Styrk, “The Juno Jupiter orbiter flew by Io, Jupiter's super-volcanic moon, on May 16, returning arguably the best imagery of the moon since the Galileo Orbiter around the beginning of this century. Definitely the best since New Horizons in 2006.”
NeuroLogica Blog
What Policies Affect Climate Change?
What is the potential for climate change policy to affect climate change? I often discuss, here and...
a year ago
What is the potential for climate change policy to affect climate change? I often discuss, here and on the SGU, the science of climate change, and specifically focus on what we can do about it, mostly by reducing our CO2 emissions. Often I get push back explicitly promoting the...
Beautiful Public...
The Pillbox Database
The National Library of Medicine's Pillbox dataset contained 8,693 photographs of pills, with an...
over a year ago
The National Library of Medicine's Pillbox dataset contained 8,693 photographs of pills, with an accompanying database of drug information. It was built to help with the identification of unknown pills.
Quantum Frontiers
Happy 200th birthday, Carnot’s theorem!
In Kenneth Grahame’s 1908 novel The Wind in the Willows, a Mole meets a Water Rat who lives on a...
3 weeks ago
In Kenneth Grahame’s 1908 novel The Wind in the Willows, a Mole meets a Water Rat who lives on a River. The Rat explains how the River permeates his life: “It’s brother and sister to me, and aunts, and company, … Continue reading →
Math Is Still...
What Does Milk Do for Babies?
Human nutrition begins with milk, but the wondrous biofluid does much more than feed babies. In this...
8 months ago
Human nutrition begins with milk, but the wondrous biofluid does much more than feed babies. In this episode, co-host Steven Strogatz speaks with molecular nutritionist Elizabeth Johnson about her research into the impact of human milk on a healthy microbiome.
The...
Explorations of an...
A Quest Nature Tour To Borneo: Kota Kinabalu, Mount Kinabalu, Sepilok And The Kinabatangan River
Our Quest Nature Tours group assembled in Kota Kinabalu on the evening of October 3 and the...
a month ago
Our Quest Nature Tours group assembled in Kota Kinabalu on the evening of October 3 and the following morning we were off. Kota Kinabalu is situated on the coast, but is only a two hour drive from the mountains that form the spine of Borneo and its highest peak, Mount Kinabalu....
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...
Math Is Still...
Math Proof Draws New Boundaries Around Black Hole Formation
For a half century, mathematicians have tried to define the exact circumstances under which a black...
a year ago
For a half century, mathematicians have tried to define the exact circumstances under which a black hole is destined to exist. A new proof shows how a cube can help answer the question.
The post Math Proof Draws New Boundaries Around Black Hole Formation first...
nanoscale views
APS March Meeting 2023, Day 1
Ahh, Las Vegas. I will say, I think every APS March Meeting from now on should have a giant Ferris...
a year ago
Ahh, Las Vegas. I will say, I think every APS March Meeting from now on should have a giant Ferris wheel right by the registration lobby.
Here are a few highlights from what I saw after I arrived around lunchtime today:
Given some of my current research, I spent a fair bit...
ToughSF
The Expanse's Epstein Drive
We aim to take a fictional propulsion
technology from The Expanse, and apply the appropriate science...
over a year ago
We aim to take a fictional propulsion
technology from The Expanse, and apply the appropriate science to explain its
features in a realistic manner.
This also applies to other SciFi
settings that want a similar engine for their own spacecraft.
The Epstein Drive
Title art...
NeuroLogica Blog
Germany and Nuclear Power
Germany has been thrown around a lot as an example of both what to do and what not to do in terms of...
a year ago
Germany has been thrown around a lot as an example of both what to do and what not to do in terms of addressing global warming by embracing green energy technology. It’s possible to look back now and review the numbers, to see what the effect was of its decision to embrace...
Wanderingspace
COMET 67P/CG ANIMATED FROM ROSETTA STILLS
COMET #67P/CHURYUMOV-GERASIMENKO
INTERNATIONAL #ROSETTA MISSION
Date 18 jul 2015
Distance to...
over a year ago
COMET #67P/CHURYUMOV-GERASIMENKO
INTERNATIONAL #ROSETTA MISSION
Date 18 jul 2015
Distance to Target 182 km
Orange+Blue filtershttps://t.co/ZuYVehJOLx
ESA/Rosetta/MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA/J. Roger pic.twitter.com/Fg8rNmjbNy
— landru79 (@landru79) June 13, 2022
Hit...
Probably...
Destructive Testing
Here’s another installment in Data Q&A: Answering the real questions with Python. Previous...
7 months ago
Here’s another installment in Data Q&A: Answering the real questions with Python. Previous installments are available from the Data Q&A landing page. sample_size Sample Size Selection¶ Here’s a question from the Reddit statistics forum. Hi Redditors, I am a civil engineer trying...
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?
NeuroLogica Blog
Antarctic Sea Ice Hits Record Low
For decades scientists were confused by Antarctic sea ice. Climate models predict that it should be...
7 months ago
For decades scientists were confused by Antarctic sea ice. Climate models predict that it should be decreasing, and yet it has been steadily and slowly increasing. It also made for a great talking point for climate change deniers – superficially it seems like counter evidence to...
Math Is Still...
New Proof Threads the Needle on a Sticky Geometry Problem
A new proof marks major progress toward solving the Kakeya conjecture, a deceptively simple question...
a year ago
A new proof marks major progress toward solving the Kakeya conjecture, a deceptively simple question that underpins a tower of conjectures.
The post New Proof Threads the Needle on a Sticky Geometry Problem first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Math Is Still...
What Your Brain Is Doing When You’re Not Doing Anything
When your mind is wandering, your brain’s “default mode” network is active. Its discovery 20 years...
10 months ago
When your mind is wandering, your brain’s “default mode” network is active. Its discovery 20 years ago inspired a raft of research into networks of brain regions and how they interact with each other.
The post What Your Brain Is Doing When You’re Not Doing Anything...
NeuroLogica Blog
GMOs – Ask a Farmer
The topic of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) is a great target for science communication...
4 months ago
The topic of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) is a great target for science communication because public attitudes have largely been shaped by deliberate misinformation, and the research suggests that those attitudes can change in response to more accurate information. It is...
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...
NeuroLogica Blog
Podcast Pseudoscience
A recent BBC article highlights some of the risk of the new age of social media we have crafted for...
a week ago
A recent BBC article highlights some of the risk of the new age of social media we have crafted for ourselves. The BBC investigated the number one ranked UK podcast, Diary of a CEO with host Steven Bartlett, for the accuracy of the medical claims recently made on the show. While...
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...
Explorations of an...
Cañadon de Profundidad and Iguazú Falls
February 4, 2023
For our second day in Misiones, Laura and I ventured over to a small park only a...
a year ago
February 4, 2023
For our second day in Misiones, Laura and I ventured over to a small park only a half-hour drive from our accommodations in Posadas. Our main reason for visiting Parque Provincial Cañadón de Profundidad was to search for Creamy-bellied Gnatcatcher, of which...
Blog - Practical...
How the Hawaiian Power Grid Works
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.]
In January of 2024, right on...
9 months ago
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.]
In January of 2024, right on the heels of a serious drought across the state, a major storm slammed into the Hawaiian islands of Oahu and Kauai. Severe winds caused damage to buildings, and heavy rain flooded...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Viz.ai and why workflow > tech | Out-Of-Pocket
Also ?? about AI business models
a year ago
Also ?? about AI business models
Math Is Still...
Why Insect Memories May Not Survive Metamorphosis
The reshuffling of neurons during fruit fly metamorphosis suggests that larval memories don’t...
a year ago
The reshuffling of neurons during fruit fly metamorphosis suggests that larval memories don’t persist in adults.
The post Why Insect Memories May Not Survive Metamorphosis first appeared on Quanta Magazine
NeuroLogica Blog
Decarbonizing Aviation and Agriculture
When we talk about reducing carbon release in order to slow down and hopefully stop anthropogenic...
2 months ago
When we talk about reducing carbon release in order to slow down and hopefully stop anthropogenic global warming much of the focus is on the energy and transportation sectors. There is a good reason for this – the energy sector is responsible for 25% of greenhouse gas (GHG)...
Drew Ex Machina
Catching Up: Talking about the Weather
After an unintended four-month hiatus publishing new work on the Drew Ex Machina website, I figured...
a year ago
After an unintended four-month hiatus publishing new work on the Drew Ex Machina website, I figured it was time to catch up on what I’ve been […]
Light from Space
The Cat's Paw
Located very close to the Lobster Nebula in the southern constellation of Scorpius, the Cat's Paw...
over a year ago
Located very close to the Lobster Nebula in the southern constellation of Scorpius, the Cat's Paw Nebula (NGC 6334) does indeed have a striking resemblance to a feline footprint.
It's quite low in the sky here from Tucson (at a maximum of about 22º above
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
Fakes: Not an Internet Thing, a Human Thing
Every day, as the Internet becomes more indispensable to modern life, the drawbacks of deep...
a year ago
Every day, as the Internet becomes more indispensable to modern life, the drawbacks of deep engagement with the virtual realm capture as much attention as the wide-ranging benefits. On the Internet, of course, anyone can in all too many forums pretty much say anything—regardless...
Math Is Still...
How Does Math Keep Secrets?
Cryptography is the thread that connects Julius Caesar, World War II and quantum computing, and it...
4 months ago
Cryptography is the thread that connects Julius Caesar, World War II and quantum computing, and it now lies under nearly every part of modern life. In this week’s episode, computer scientist Boaz Barak and co-host Janna Levin discuss the past and future of secrecy. ...
Math Is Still...
Echoes of Electromagnetism Found in Number Theory
A new magnum opus posits the existence of a hidden mathematical link akin to the connection between...
a year ago
A new magnum opus posits the existence of a hidden mathematical link akin to the connection between electricity and magnetism.
The post Echoes of Electromagnetism Found in Number Theory first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Math Is Still...
A Multitalented Scientist Seeks the Origins of Multicellularity
The pathbreaking geneticist Cassandra Extavour pursues the secrets of multicellular life while...
10 months ago
The pathbreaking geneticist Cassandra Extavour pursues the secrets of multicellular life while balancing careers in both science and singing.
The post A Multitalented Scientist Seeks the Origins of Multicellularity first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Probably...
The Overton Paradox in Three Graphs
Older people are more likely to say they are conservative. And older people believe more...
a year ago
Older people are more likely to say they are conservative. And older people believe more conservative things. But if you group people by decade of birth, most groups get more liberal as they get older. So if people get more liberal, on average, why are they more likely to say...
IEEE Spectrum
Jean Sammet: An Accidental Computer Programmer
Jean Sammet rarely let anything get in the way of her professional goals. As a young student, she...
a week ago
Jean Sammet rarely let anything get in the way of her professional goals. As a young student, she was barred from attending prestigious all-boys schools, so she pursued her love of mathematics at the best institutions she could find that were open to girls and women. Following...
Asterisk
Looking Back at the Future of Humanity Institute
The rise and fall of the influential, embattled Oxford research center that brought us the concept...
a month ago
The rise and fall of the influential, embattled Oxford research center that brought us the concept of existential risk.
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Answers: How Much Info Should A Patient Get? | Out-Of-Pocket
do we need our physicians to be interpreters?
a year ago
do we need our physicians to be interpreters?
Probably...
We Have a Book!
My copy of Probably Overthinking It has arrived! If you want a copy for yourself, you can get a 30%...
a year ago
My copy of Probably Overthinking It has arrived! If you want a copy for yourself, you can get a 30% discount if you order from the publisher and use the code UCPNEW. You can also order from Amazon or, if you want to support independent bookstores, from Bookshop.org. The official...
IEEE Spectrum
This Wearable Computer Made a Fashion Statement
Google Glass debuted, the artist Lisa Krohn designed a prototype wearable computer that looked like...
5 months ago
Google Glass debuted, the artist Lisa Krohn designed a prototype wearable computer that looked like no other. The Cyberdesk was an experiment in augmented reality. At a time when computers were mostly beige and boxy, Krohn envisioned a pliable, high-tech garment that fused...
Math Is Still...
An Easy-Sounding Problem Yields Numbers Too Big for Our Universe
Researchers prove that navigating certain systems of vectors is among the most complex computational...
a year ago
Researchers prove that navigating certain systems of vectors is among the most complex computational problems.
The post An Easy-Sounding Problem Yields Numbers Too Big for Our Universe first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Some crypto x healthcare ideas | Out-Of-Pocket
Decentralized EMRs, Insurance DAOs, and Drug Picking Models
a year ago
Decentralized EMRs, Insurance DAOs, and Drug Picking Models
Blog - Practical...
Merrimack Valley Gas Explosions: What Really Happened?
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.]
On September 13, 2018, a...
a year ago
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.]
On September 13, 2018, a pipeline crew in the Merrimack Valley in Massachusetts was hard at work replacing an aging cast iron natural gas line with a new polyethylene pipe. Located just north of Boston, the...
Probably...
Think Python third edition!
I am happy to announce the third edition of Think Python, which will be published by O’Reilly Media...
10 months ago
I am happy to announce the third edition of Think Python, which will be published by O’Reilly Media later this year. You can read the online version of the book here. I’ve posted the Preface and the first four chapters — more on the way soon! You can read the Early Release and...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Weird issues in value-based care | Out-Of-Pocket
Thoughts on value-based care from people actually building in it
2 months ago
Thoughts on value-based care from people actually building in it
Blog - Practical...
What Really Happened at the New Harbor Bridge Project?
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.]
In July of 2022, the Texas...
over a year ago
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.]
In July of 2022, the Texas Department of Transportation issued an emergency suspension of work on the half-finished Harbor Bridge project in Corpus Christi, citing serious design flaws that could cause the main...
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...
The Roots of...
What I’ve been reading, September 2023
A quasi-monthly feature. Recent blog posts and news stories are generally omitted; you can find them...
a year ago
A quasi-monthly feature. Recent blog posts and news stories are generally omitted; you can find them in my links digests. I’ve been busy helping to choose the first cohort of our blogging fellowship, so my reading has been relatively light. All emphasis in bold in the quotes...
Marine Madness
Book Club: ‘Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia’ by Christina Thompson
Who first settled the islands of the remote Pacific? Where did they come from? How did they get...
over a year ago
Who first settled the islands of the remote Pacific? Where did they come from? How did they get there, and how do we know? The answers to these and more questions are all explored in this mesmerizing novel by Pacific historian Christina Thompson. For over a millennium,...
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...
Explorations of an...
Borneo 2024: Introduction And Pre-Tour Birding
About a month ago, I returned to Sabah in east Malaysia for my fourth tour of duty as a guide for...
a month ago
About a month ago, I returned to Sabah in east Malaysia for my fourth tour of duty as a guide for Quest Nature Tours. I've always said that Borneo is one of my favourite tours that I run and even after three previous trips I was looking forward to returning. One of the main...
NeuroLogica Blog
Electronic Noses
I am always sniffing around (pun intended) for new and interesting technology, especially anything...
2 months ago
I am always sniffing around (pun intended) for new and interesting technology, especially anything that I think is currently flying under the radar of public awareness but has the potential to transform our world in some way. I think electronic nose technology fits into this...
Beautiful Public...
Aerial Glacier Photographs
A collection of 100,000 striking high-resolution aerial photos of glaciers, photographed over 40...
6 months ago
A collection of 100,000 striking high-resolution aerial photos of glaciers, photographed over 40 years with a 63-pound WW II surveillance camera.
NeuroLogica Blog
T-rex Had Lips
One of the challenges of paleontology is that we are trying to infer and entire animal just from the...
a year ago
One of the challenges of paleontology is that we are trying to infer and entire animal just from the hard parts that fossilize, mostly bones and teeth (and sometimes just teeth). But if we look at animals today there are a lot of details we could not guess from their bones alone...
Math Is Still...
The Biggest Smallest Triangle Just Got Smaller
A new proof breaks a decades-long drought of progress on the problem of estimating the size of...
a year ago
A new proof breaks a decades-long drought of progress on the problem of estimating the size of triangles created by cramming points into a square.
The post The Biggest Smallest Triangle Just Got Smaller first appeared on Quanta Magazine
NeuroLogica Blog
How We Determine What to Believe as True
Psychologists have been studying a very basic cognitive function that appears to be of increasing...
a year ago
Psychologists have been studying a very basic cognitive function that appears to be of increasing importance – how do we choose what to believe as true or false? We live in a world awash in information, and access to essentially the world’s store of knowledge is now a trivial...
Uncharted...
Where Geniuses Hide Today
Where are today’s Michelangelos?
2 weeks ago
Where are today’s Michelangelos?
Math Is Still...
Evolution: Fast or Slow? Lizards Help Resolve a Paradox.
Why does natural selection appear to happen slowly on long timescales and quickly on short ones? A...
11 months ago
Why does natural selection appear to happen slowly on long timescales and quickly on short ones? A multigenerational study of four lizard species addresses biology’s “paradox of stasis.”
The post Evolution: Fast or Slow? Lizards Help Resolve a Paradox. first appeared...
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,...
The Roots of...
The origins of the steam engine
This is a guest post written by Anton Howes and animated by Matt Brown of Extraordinary Facility....
a year ago
This is a guest post written by Anton Howes and animated by Matt Brown of Extraordinary Facility. This project was sponsored by The Roots of Progress, with funding generously provided by The Institute.
Steam power did not begin with the steam engine. Long before...
wadertales
WaderTales blogs in 2022
Here are brief summaries of the sixteen WaderTales blogs that were published in 2022. I have grouped...
over a year ago
Here are brief summaries of the sixteen WaderTales blogs that were published in 2022. I have grouped the blogs into sections; problems with trees, more research from Iceland, Curlews, news from the East Asian-Australasian Flyway, tracking and updates. As ever, I am grateful to...
NeuroLogica Blog
Evidence and the Nanny State
One side benefit of our federalist system is that the US essentially has 50 experiments in...
a year ago
One side benefit of our federalist system is that the US essentially has 50 experiments in democracy. States hold a lot of power, which provides an opportunity to compare the effects of different public policies. There are lots of other variables at play, such as economics, rural...
Math Is Still...
AI Needs Enormous Computing Power. Could Light-Based Chips Help?
Optical neural networks, which use photons instead of electrons, have advantages over traditional...
7 months ago
Optical neural networks, which use photons instead of electrons, have advantages over traditional systems. They also face major obstacles.
The post AI Needs Enormous Computing Power. Could Light-Based Chips Help? first appeared on Quanta Magazine
brr
Mud Murdo
The beautiful ambiance of a McMurdo summer.
over a year ago
The beautiful ambiance of a McMurdo summer.
NeuroLogica Blog
Harvesting Energy from Water Vapor
I did not plan to write yet another post about energy, but this popped up and I had to write about...
a year ago
I did not plan to write yet another post about energy, but this popped up and I had to write about it. UMASS researchers have produced a device that generates electricity by harvesting charge from water vapor. They write: The common feature of these materials is that they are...
Math Is Still...
What Is Analog Computing?
You don’t need 0s and 1s to perform computations, and in some cases it’s better to avoid them. ...
4 months ago
You don’t need 0s and 1s to perform computations, and in some cases it’s better to avoid them.
The post What Is Analog Computing? first appeared on Quanta Magazine
symmetry magazine
The magnet detectives
During a routine test, two HL-LHC magnets unexpectedly flatlined. Was it just a coincidence, or did...
a year ago
During a routine test, two HL-LHC magnets unexpectedly flatlined. Was it just a coincidence, or did they have a common foe?
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...
Uncharted...
6 Questions You Asked Yourself about Solar
How fast will it take over, how fast are costs shrinking, why is it so cheap, what industries will...
a month ago
How fast will it take over, how fast are costs shrinking, why is it so cheap, what industries will it birth, how much surface will it take up, where will it appear first?
NeuroLogica Blog
A Climate Debate Regarding Health Effects – Part III
Part 3 Hi Steve, and thank you for your timely response, and for even considering hosting this...
a year ago
Part 3 Hi Steve, and thank you for your timely response, and for even considering hosting this debate. There has been, and continues to be a “blackout” on almost all discussion regarding the science behind climate change. If “The science” is truly “settled”, it is a pretty shaky...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Placebos Are Getting Stronger | Out-Of-Pocket
Should we incorporate them into clinical practice?
a year ago
Should we incorporate them into clinical practice?
NeuroLogica Blog
A Galaxy Without Dark Matter
Dark matter is one of the greatest current scientific mysteries. It’s a fascinating story playing...
a year ago
Dark matter is one of the greatest current scientific mysteries. It’s a fascinating story playing out in real time, although over years, so you have to be patient. Future generations might be able to binge the dark matter show, but not us. We have to wait for each episode to...
Asterisk
The Myth of the Loneliness Epidemic
Are we really living through a uniquely lonely moment in American history? When it comes to...
a month ago
Are we really living through a uniquely lonely moment in American history? When it comes to friendship, this isn’t the first time that authorities have cried wolf.
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
IEEE Spectrum
Quantum Technology’s Unsung Heroes
In a world where quantum technologies are on the rise in computing, cryptography, materials,...
a year ago
In a world where quantum technologies are on the rise in computing, cryptography, materials, sensors, telecom, biomed, and AI, it’s easy to forget that not so long ago the words “quantum” and “technology” rarely fit comfortably into a sentence together. A range of trailblazers...
symmetry magazine
India’s gem at CERN: Archana Sharma
The first Indian scientist to join CERN was recently recognized with the highest honor of India for...
a year ago
The first Indian scientist to join CERN was recently recognized with the highest honor of India for overseas citizens.
Asterisk
Read This, Not That: The Hidden Cost of Nutrition Misinformation
Our daily lives are inundated with misleading claims about nutrition. That’s not just distracting —...
a year ago
Our daily lives are inundated with misleading claims about nutrition. That’s not just distracting — it’s also harming our health.
Math Is Still...
In the Milky Way’s Stars, a History of Violence
Our galaxy's stars keep a record of its past. By reading those stories, astronomers are learning...
a year ago
Our galaxy's stars keep a record of its past. By reading those stories, astronomers are learning more about how the Milky Way came to be — and about the galaxy we live in today.
The post In the Milky Way’s Stars, a History of Violence first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Math Is Still...
Never-Repeating Tiles Can Safeguard Quantum Information
Two researchers have proved that Penrose tilings, famous patterns that never repeat, are...
10 months ago
Two researchers have proved that Penrose tilings, famous patterns that never repeat, are mathematically equivalent to a kind of quantum error correction.
The post Never-Repeating Tiles Can Safeguard Quantum Information first appeared on Quanta Magazine
NeuroLogica Blog
Some Climate Change Trends and Thoughts
Climate change is a challenging issue on multiple levels – it’s challenging for scientists to...
2 weeks ago
Climate change is a challenging issue on multiple levels – it’s challenging for scientists to understand all of the complexities of a changing climate, it’s difficult to know how to optimally communicate to the public about climate change, and of course we face an enormous...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
How To Self-Publish A Children's Book and How Much You Can Expect To Make | Out-Of-Pocket
spoiler: you will make very little lol
a year ago
spoiler: you will make very little lol
Articles - Chris...
My $500M Mars Rover Mistake: A Failure Story
Some mistakes feel worse than death.
a year ago
Some mistakes feel worse than death.
The Works in...
The Power of the Earth
On the future of geothermal energy
10 months ago
On the future of geothermal energy
Explorations of an...
HWY 101 - Forest Birding Near Iguazú
Highway 101 is the main corridor that runs east-west along the top end of Misiones Province in...
a year ago
Highway 101 is the main corridor that runs east-west along the top end of Misiones Province in Argentina. Though this road looks like a major artery on Google Maps, in practice it is nothing more than a clay track that receives very little traffic - mainly, just a few locals...
Math Is Still...
The Year in Physics
Physicists discovered strange supersolids, constructed new kinds of superconductors, and continued...
5 days ago
Physicists discovered strange supersolids, constructed new kinds of superconductors, and continued to make the case that the cosmos is far weirder than anyone suspected.
The post The Year in Physics first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Math Is Still...
The Mystery of the Missing Multicellular Prokaryotes
Why have bacteria never evolved complex multicellularity? A new hypothesis suggests that it could...
7 months ago
Why have bacteria never evolved complex multicellularity? A new hypothesis suggests that it could come down to how prokaryotic genomes respond to a small population size.
The post The Mystery of the Missing Multicellular Prokaryotes first appeared on Quanta...
nanoscale views
Lots to read, including fab for quantum and "Immaterial Science"
Sometimes there are upticks in the rate of fun reading material. In the last few days:
A...
3 months ago
Sometimes there are upticks in the rate of fun reading material. In the last few days:
A Nature paper has been published by a group of authors predominantly from IMEC in Belgium, in which they demonstrate CMOS-compatible manufacturing of superconducting qubit hardware...
symmetry magazine
Do hidden influences give neutrinos their tiny mass?
The quest to understand the small mass of neutrinos is also a quest to discover new particles.
...
a year ago
The quest to understand the small mass of neutrinos is also a quest to discover new particles.
Neutrinos are the byproducts of astronomical events that give us life.
They shoot out from the nuclear fusion reaction within the sun and radiate from supernovas....
pcloadletter
Coding interviews are effective
Coding interviews are controversial. It can be unpleasant to code in front of someone else, knowing...
10 months ago
Coding interviews are controversial. It can be unpleasant to code in front of someone else, knowing you're being judged. And who likes failing? Especially when it feels like you failed intellectually.
But, coding interviews are effective.
One big criticism of coding interviews is...
NeuroLogica Blog
Living a Hybrid Life
The cultural effects of the COVID pandemic can still be felt reverberating through society. One of...
4 months ago
The cultural effects of the COVID pandemic can still be felt reverberating through society. One of the positive effects, in my opinion, was the sudden boost to remote technology – connecting remotely for meetings and other uses through Zoom or a similar application. This...
wadertales
When mates behave differently
Iceland’s 40,000 Oystercatchers are an interesting mix of resident birds and migrants, providing an...
over a year ago
Iceland’s 40,000 Oystercatchers are an interesting mix of resident birds and migrants, providing an ideal system in which to study the costs and benefits of the two options, and to try to work out what influences whether an individual becomes a ‘resident’ or a ‘migrant’. I’ve...
Asterisk
A Field Guide to AI Safety
AI safety is starting to go mainstream, but the researchers who’ve been immersed in it for over a...
a year ago
AI safety is starting to go mainstream, but the researchers who’ve been immersed in it for over a decade still have strong disagreements.
Math Is Still...
The Physics of Cold Water May Have Jump-Started Complex Life
When seawater gets cold, it gets viscous. This fact could explain how single-celled ocean creatures...
5 months ago
When seawater gets cold, it gets viscous. This fact could explain how single-celled ocean creatures became multicellular when the planet was frozen during “Snowball Earth,” according to experiments.
The post The Physics of Cold Water May Have Jump-Started Complex Life...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
"We Should Sell To Self-Insured Employers" | Out-Of-Pocket
Six Stages Of Health Tech Grief Pt. 2
a year ago
Six Stages Of Health Tech Grief Pt. 2
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...
NeuroLogica Blog
3D Printing With Metallic Gel
One of the futuristic technologies that I find most promising is 3D printing (additive...
a year ago
One of the futuristic technologies that I find most promising is 3D printing (additive manufacturing). 3D printing has already created a revolution in manufacturing, but I think the general public does not have a high awareness of this technology because it is not yet at the...
Eukaryote Writes...
A love letter to civilian OSINT
What is civilian OSINT, and could it be used altruistically?
over a year ago
What is civilian OSINT, and could it be used altruistically?
The Works in...
What did Henry George think about cities?
Solving the terrible urban conditions of the 1800s by abolishing cities
7 months ago
Solving the terrible urban conditions of the 1800s by abolishing cities
nanoscale views
Some interesting recent papers - lots to ponder
As we bid apparent farewell to LK99, it's important to note that several other pretty exciting...
a year ago
As we bid apparent farewell to LK99, it's important to note that several other pretty exciting things have been happening in the condensed matter/nano world. Here are a few papers that look intriguing (caveat emptor: I have not had a chance to read these in any real depth, so...
Many Worlds
All Six Element Needed For Life as We Know It Have Now Been Found in The Watery Plumes of Enceladus
The elements needed for life as we know it are carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen sulfur and...
a year ago
The elements needed for life as we know it are carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen sulfur and phosphorus. Before today, planetary scientists could say that five of those crucial elements had been found in the watery spray that spurts out of the Saturn’s moon, Enceladus. All that...
symmetry magazine
Kétévi Assamagan pays it forward
Kétévi Assamagan's contributions to physics go beyond his research at the Large Hadron...
a year ago
Kétévi Assamagan's contributions to physics go beyond his research at the Large Hadron Collider.
Kétévi Assamagan first became interested in physics in high school—because he had to be. His school in Togo, in West Africa, required students to declare a major....
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...
Interaction Magic -...
Hacking the terrorist timepiece
The hardest part of building hardware interfaces is not having the right tools to prototype, test...
over a year ago
The hardest part of building hardware interfaces is not having the right tools to prototype, test and validate ideas. A behind the scenes look at my prototyping process, on a project to re-invent the famous Casio F-91W watch.
Math Is Still...
Clashing Cosmic Numbers Challenge Our Best Theory of the Universe
As measurements of distant stars and galaxies become more precise, cosmologists are struggling to...
11 months ago
As measurements of distant stars and galaxies become more precise, cosmologists are struggling to make sense of sparring values.
The post Clashing Cosmic Numbers Challenge Our Best Theory of the Universe first appeared on Quanta Magazine
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.
IEEE Spectrum
The Man Who Coined The Word "Robot" Defends Himself
You’re familiar with Karel Čapek, right? If not, you should be—he’s the guy who (along with his...
11 months ago
You’re familiar with Karel Čapek, right? If not, you should be—he’s the guy who (along with his brother Josef) invented the word “robot.” Čapek introduced robots to the world in 1921, when his play “R.U.R.” (subtitled “Rossum’s Universal Robots”) was first performed in Prague. It...
Explorations of an...
2023 Part 2: Early March through April (Brazil)
March
On March 4, Laura and I landed in São Paulo. It was our first time in Brazil. Even though we...
12 months ago
March
On March 4, Laura and I landed in São Paulo. It was our first time in Brazil. Even though we had planned to spend much of the next two months exploring Brazil, the country is so large that we could only see a small portion of it. We restricted our route to only include...
Explorations of an...
Borneo, October 2022
Borneo, the third largest island in the world behind Greenland and New Guinea, is home to some of...
a year ago
Borneo, the third largest island in the world behind Greenland and New Guinea, is home to some of the planet’s oldest rainforests, containing a stunning array of biodiversity. The conditions in Borneo forests have stimulated the evolution of many different organisms that are...
Cremieux Recueil
Focusing on Healthcare’s Administrative Costs Is Misguided
Substantial thinking about healthcare reform starts with acknowledging that administrative bloat...
2 weeks ago
Substantial thinking about healthcare reform starts with acknowledging that administrative bloat isn't the big problem
Out-of-Pocket Blog
The Ins-and-Outs of Cancer Care Navigators With Laura Stratte | Out-Of-Pocket
What are cancer care navigators and what issues do they face?
a year ago
What are cancer care navigators and what issues do they face?
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
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
IEEE Spectrum
Tiny Exploding Houses Promoted 18th-Century Lightning Rods
Imagine if engineers were required to build a working model to demonstrate every new technological...
a year ago
Imagine if engineers were required to build a working model to demonstrate every new technological concept to the general public. Done right, tech literacy might soar! A compelling visual example can really help people understand the applications and implications of new...
Math Is Still...
The Researcher Who Explores Computation by Conjuring New Worlds
Russell Impagliazzo studies hard problems, the limits of cryptography, the nature of randomness and...
9 months ago
Russell Impagliazzo studies hard problems, the limits of cryptography, the nature of randomness and more.
The post The Researcher Who Explores Computation by Conjuring New Worlds first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Probably...
Rip-off ETF?
An article in a recent issue of The Economist suggests, right in the title, “Investors should avoid...
3 months ago
An article in a recent issue of The Economist suggests, right in the title, “Investors should avoid a new generation of rip-off ETFs”. An ETF is an exchange-traded fund, which holds a collection of assets and trades on an exchange like a single stock. For example, the SPDR S&P...
Math Is Still...
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
Probably...
The Political Gender Gap is Not Growing
In a previous article, I used data from the General Social Survey (GSS) to see if there is a growing...
10 months ago
In a previous article, I used data from the General Social Survey (GSS) to see if there is a growing gender gap among young people in political alignment, party affiliation, or political attitudes. So far, the answer is no. Ryan Burge has done a similar analysis with data from...
symmetry magazine
Life along the future DUNE beamline
Unseen neutrinos, visible lives: A photographer journeys through the Midwest.
a year ago
Unseen neutrinos, visible lives: A photographer journeys through the Midwest.
The Works in...
The Maintenance Race was just the beginning
A new book from Stewart Brand, serialized on Works in Progress
a year ago
A new book from Stewart Brand, serialized on Works in Progress
IEEE Spectrum
The Tremendous VR and CG Systems—of the 1960s
Ivan Sutherland has blazed a truly unique trail through computing over the past six decades. One of...
a year ago
Ivan Sutherland has blazed a truly unique trail through computing over the past six decades. One of the most influential figures in the story of computing, he helped to open new pathways for others to explore and dramatically extend: interactive computer graphics, virtual...
NeuroLogica Blog
Quiet Supersonic Aircraft Ready for Testing
It was six years ago that I first wrote about NASA’s X-59 QueSST project, contracted to Lockheed...
a year ago
It was six years ago that I first wrote about NASA’s X-59 QueSST project, contracted to Lockheed Martin. Now the plane has finally been built and is ready for testing. At the time it was reported that NASA “had a design” for a quiet supersonic jet, one that would not create a...
nanoscale views
The difficult need for creativity on demand
Thoughts at the end of another busy year…. Good science is a creative enterprise. Some stereotypes...
a year ago
Thoughts at the end of another busy year…. Good science is a creative enterprise. Some stereotypes paint most scientists as toiling away, so deeply constrained by logic that they function more like automatons grinding out the next incremental advance in a steady if slow march of...
Asterisk
Salt, Sugar, Water, Zinc: How Scientists Learned to Treat the 20th Century’s Biggest Killer of...
Oral rehydration therapy is now the standard treatment for dehydration. It’s saved millions of...
a year ago
Oral rehydration therapy is now the standard treatment for dehydration. It’s saved millions of lives, and can be prepared at home in minutes. So why did it take so long to discover?
symmetry magazine
Is dark matter the most powerful wave in the universe?
Dark matter could consist of particles so ultralight, they behave more like waves.
...
a year ago
Dark matter could consist of particles so ultralight, they behave more like waves.
Although the motions of galaxies provide evidence that dark matter exists, scientists have yet to directly detect the invisible stuff, or figure out what it could be made...
Math Is Still...
In New Paradox, Black Holes Appear to Evade Heat Death
The puzzling behavior of black hole interiors has led researchers to propose a new physical law: the...
a year ago
The puzzling behavior of black hole interiors has led researchers to propose a new physical law: the second law of quantum complexity.
The post In New Paradox, Black Holes Appear to Evade Heat Death first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Tikalon Blog by Dev...
Tikalon Blog Archive
Tikalon Blog is now in archive mode. Here's a directory of links to easily printed and saved...
3 months ago
Tikalon Blog is now in archive mode. Here's a directory of links to easily printed and saved articles. If you're willing to wait a while for the download, a zip file of all the blog articles can be found at the link below. Note, however, that these articles are copyrighted and...
Interaction Magic -...
Engineering beneath the ice sheet
Living in Greenland, deploying electronic beacons deep beneath the ice.
3 weeks ago
Living in Greenland, deploying electronic beacons deep beneath the ice.
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...
NeuroLogica Blog
Mach Effect Thrusters Fail
When thinking about potential future technology, one way to divide possible future tech is into...
9 months ago
When thinking about potential future technology, one way to divide possible future tech is into probable and speculative. Probable future technology involves extrapolating existing technology into the future, such as imaging what advanced computers might be like. This category...
Many Worlds
Preparing For The Habitable Worlds Observatory, Our Best Shot at Finding ET Life
In a solar system far, far away, life of some sort is just waiting to be found. Or so the world of...
a year ago
In a solar system far, far away, life of some sort is just waiting to be found. Or so the world of astrobiology sure hopes it is. The new player in the astrobiology world, now called the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO), is planned to launch in the 2040s if all goes well. ...
The Roots of...
Highlights from The Industrial Revolution, by T. S. Ashton
The Industrial Revolution, 1760-1830, by Thomas S. Ashton, is classic in the field, published in...
a year ago
The Industrial Revolution, 1760-1830, by Thomas S. Ashton, is classic in the field, published in 1948. Here are some of my highlights from it. (Emphasis in bold added by me.)
The role of chance
What was the role of chance in the inventions of the Industrial Revolution?
It is true...
Asterisk
What Comes After COVID
The next pandemic is coming. Is it possible to say when?
a year ago
The next pandemic is coming. Is it possible to say when?
Marine Madness
Farming Fiasco: The world’s first commercial octopus breeding programme
It seems ironic that shortly after an amendment to the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill stating...
over a year ago
It seems ironic that shortly after an amendment to the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill stating octopuses to be ‘sentient beings’ capable of a range of human-like emotions such as joy, pleasure, excitement, as well as pain, distress, and harm, plans of the word’s first commercial...
Asterisk
The Wrong Kind of City?
How much can the way cities grow tell us about the economic trajectory of their countries? According...
3 months ago
How much can the way cities grow tell us about the economic trajectory of their countries? According to the father of modern sociology, quite a lot.
NeuroLogica Blog
Journalists Fail on UAP Story
Nothing about the recent resurgence in interest in UFOs (now called UAPs for unidentified anomalous...
a year ago
Nothing about the recent resurgence in interest in UFOs (now called UAPs for unidentified anomalous phenomena) is really new. It’s basically the same stories with the same level of completely unconvincing evidence. But what is somewhat new is the level of credulity and outright...
nanoscale views
APS March Meeting 2023, Day 2
I ended up spending more time catching up with people this afternoon than going to talks after my...
a year ago
I ended up spending more time catching up with people this afternoon than going to talks after my session ended, but here are a couple of highlights:
There was an invited session about the metal halide perovskites, and there were some interesting talks. My faculty colleague...
NeuroLogica Blog
Intuitive and Analytical Thinking
Here is a relatively simple math problem: A bat and a ball cost $1.10 combined. The bat costs $1...
a year ago
Here is a relatively simple math problem: A bat and a ball cost $1.10 combined. The bat costs $1 more than the ball. How much does the ball cost? (I will provide the answer below the fold.) This problem is the basis of a large psychological literature on thinking systems in the...
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...
NeuroLogica Blog
Being Trans Is Not A Mental Illness
On the current episode of the SGU, because it is pride month, we expressed our general support for...
a year ago
On the current episode of the SGU, because it is pride month, we expressed our general support for the LGBTQ community. I also opined about how important it is to respect individual liberty, the freedom to simply live your authentic life as you choose, and how ironic it is that...
Light from Space
The Fossil Footprint Nebula
A rarely imaged target as it is very dim. This image took me over 50h of total exposure time.
Total...
11 months ago
A rarely imaged target as it is very dim. This image took me over 50h of total exposure time.
Total exposure time: 52h 40'
Image resolution: 4,490 × 4,552px (0.96″/px)
Shot from my driveway near Tucson, AZ in late 2023
Telescope: William Optics RedCat
NeuroLogica Blog
UK Building More Nuclear
The nuclear debate seems never-ending, which I guess is to be expected. Every large technology has...
a year ago
The nuclear debate seems never-ending, which I guess is to be expected. Every large technology has tradeoffs. But the need to transition our energy infrastructure to carbon neutral has shifted the equation, and it is now arguable that we cannot afford to ignore the option of...
Math Is Still...
Mathematicians Attempt to Glimpse Past the Big Bang
By studying the geometry of model space-times, researchers offer alternative views of the universe’s...
6 months ago
By studying the geometry of model space-times, researchers offer alternative views of the universe’s first moments.
The post Mathematicians Attempt to Glimpse Past the Big Bang first appeared on Quanta Magazine
ToughSF
Advanced Solar Energy in Space: Part II
In this post, we continue looking at high power density options for solar energy.
Brayton...
over a year ago
In this post, we continue looking at high power density options for solar energy.
Brayton cycle
We commonly see the Brayton cycle used to convert heat into work in jet engines and the steam turbines of power plants. There are three main components: a compressor, a heat...
NeuroLogica Blog
Checkup on Climate Change
There is good evidence that if you want to lose weight, you need to weigh yourself at least weekly....
a year ago
There is good evidence that if you want to lose weight, you need to weigh yourself at least weekly. You need the constant feedback of the scale to adjust your behavior. This is a good general principle – having outcome feedback to measure the effect of what you are doing so you...
The Works in...
The San Diego infinite housing glitch
How a bonus ADU program allows 'granny towers' in gardens
2 months ago
How a bonus ADU program allows 'granny towers' in gardens
Asterisk
The Great Inflection? A Debate About AI and Explosive Growth
A conversation about what happens to the economy when intelligence becomes too cheap to meter.
a year ago
A conversation about what happens to the economy when intelligence becomes too cheap to meter.
Math Is Still...
The AI Pioneer With Provocative Plans for Humanity
While some fret about technology’s social impacts, Raj Reddy still believes in the power of...
2 weeks ago
While some fret about technology’s social impacts, Raj Reddy still believes in the power of artificial intelligence to improve lives.
The post The AI Pioneer With Provocative Plans for Humanity first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Chris Grossack's...
Finiteness in Sheaf Topoi
The notion of “finiteness” is constructively subtle in ways that can be
tricky for people new to...
4 months ago
The notion of “finiteness” is constructively subtle in ways that can be
tricky for people new to the subject to understand. For a while now I’ve
wanted to figure out what’s going on with the different versions of “finite”
in a way that felt concrete and obvious (I mentioned...
Math Is Still...
Swirling Forces, Crushing Pressures Measured in the Proton
Long-anticipated experiments that use light to mimic gravity are revealing the distribution of...
9 months ago
Long-anticipated experiments that use light to mimic gravity are revealing the distribution of energies, forces and pressures inside a subatomic particle for the first time.
The post Swirling Forces, Crushing Pressures Measured in the Proton first appeared on Quanta...
Explorations of an...
2023 Part 4: Indonesia and Ecuador
September
The island of Sulawesi must be on the bucket list for any naturalist with a strong...
11 months ago
September
The island of Sulawesi must be on the bucket list for any naturalist with a strong interest in biogeography. Though Borneo is situated only a few hundred kilometers to the west, and the Moluccas are not far to the east, the species composition of Sulawesi is...
symmetry magazine
Imagining the future of gravitational-wave research
To understand why scientists are excited about detecting a new background, just look to the history...
a year ago
To understand why scientists are excited about detecting a new background, just look to the history of studies of the CMB.
Explorations of an...
A Month In Northern Peru, Part 10: The Owlet Lodge (February 11 and 12, 2024)
February 11, 2024
Laura and I were looking forward to our one-night visit to the Owlet Lodge. Up to...
5 months ago
February 11, 2024
Laura and I were looking forward to our one-night visit to the Owlet Lodge. Up to this point we had only stayed at cheap hotels, while we had also eaten simply, with at least two meals each day consisting of sandwiches/snacks that we prepared. For once, someone...
Beautiful Public...
Visualizing Ship Movements with AIS Data
Explore the beautiful, intricate paths of ships over a year—tracked from America's busiest ports to...
3 months ago
Explore the beautiful, intricate paths of ships over a year—tracked from America's busiest ports to the open ocean via AIS marine tracking data.
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?
brr
McMurdo's Automated Teller Machines
Cash, in Antarctica!
over a year ago
Math Is Still...
In a Monster Star’s Light, a Hint of Darkness
Astronomers are scouring the cosmos for fingerprints of the invisible — tiny clumps of pure dark...
a year ago
Astronomers are scouring the cosmos for fingerprints of the invisible — tiny clumps of pure dark matter that might solve a long-standing cosmic mystery.
The post In a Monster Star’s Light, a Hint of Darkness first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Math Is Still...
What Causes Giant Rogue Waves?
Once dismissed as myths, monstrous rogue waves that tower over ships and appear without warning are...
a year ago
Once dismissed as myths, monstrous rogue waves that tower over ships and appear without warning are real. Wave-science researcher Ton van den Bremer and Steven Strogatz discuss how rogue waves can form in relatively calm seas and whether their threat can be predicted. ...
NeuroLogica Blog
New Theory Unites Gravity and Quantum Mechanics
One of the greatest mysteries of modern science is how to unite the two overarching theories of...
a year ago
One of the greatest mysteries of modern science is how to unite the two overarching theories of physics – quantum mechanics and general relativity. If physicists could somehow unite these two theories, which currently do not play well together, then we might get to a deeper “one...
NeuroLogica Blog
Deep South – A Neuromorphic Supercomputer
Australian researchers at the International Centre for Neuromorphic Systems (ICNS) at Western Sydney...
a year ago
Australian researchers at the International Centre for Neuromorphic Systems (ICNS) at Western Sydney University have announced they are building what they are calling Deep South (based on IBM’s Deep Blue). This will be the world’s largest neuromorphic supercomputer, with 228...
Cremieux Recueil
Why America’s Racial Poverty Statistics Are a Lesson for Researchers
What if a single government employee could tell you an entire literature was wrong?
3 months ago
What if a single government employee could tell you an entire literature was wrong?
nanoscale views
Things I learned at the Packard Foundation meeting
Early in my career, I was incredibly fortunate to be awarded a David and Lucille Packard Foundation...
a year ago
Early in my career, I was incredibly fortunate to be awarded a David and Lucille Packard Foundation fellowship, and this week I attended the meeting in honor of the 35th anniversary of the fellowship program. Packard fellowships are amazing, with awardees spanning the sciences...
nanoscale views
Michio Kaku and science popularization in the Age of Shamelessness
In some ways, we live in a golden age of science popularization. There are fantastic publications...
a year ago
In some ways, we live in a golden age of science popularization. There are fantastic publications like Quanta doing tremendous work; platforms like YouTube and podcasts have made it possible for both practicing scientists and science communicators to reach enormous audiences;...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
How do hospitals spend money? | Out-Of-Pocket
it's time to look at a financial statement
6 months ago
it's time to look at a financial statement
wadertales
What happens when the mud disappears?
The Yellow Sea provides important ‘service stations’ for shorebirds on the East Asian-Australasian...
over a year ago
The Yellow Sea provides important ‘service stations’ for shorebirds on the East Asian-Australasian Flyway, especially on their way north to Russian and Alaskan breeding areas. In a thought-provoking paper in Biological Conservation, Xiaodan Wang and colleagues consider how...
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
Scientific travel
Particularly in these post-pandemic, climate-change-addled, zoom-enabled times, I appreciate the...
a year ago
Particularly in these post-pandemic, climate-change-addled, zoom-enabled times, I appreciate the argument that it's always worth asking, "Is this trip really necessary?" We are in the age of remote work and zoom seminars that are attended by people from all over the world. Is...
NeuroLogica Blog
911 Conspiracy Theories Persist
On September 11, 2001, as part of a planned terrorist attack, commercial planes were hijacked and...
a month ago
On September 11, 2001, as part of a planned terrorist attack, commercial planes were hijacked and flown into each of the two towers at the World Trade Center in New York. A third plane was flown into the Pentagon, and a fourth crashed after the passengers fought back. This, of...
The Roots of...
What I’ve been reading, March 2023
A new monthly feature, let me know what you think.
Books
Matt Ridley, How Innovation Works (2020)....
a year ago
A new monthly feature, let me know what you think.
Books
Matt Ridley, How Innovation Works (2020). About halfway through, lots of interesting case studies, very readable.
Vaclav Smil, Creating the Twentieth Century (2005). I read the first chapter; saving the rest of it for when...
Explorations of an...
Final Argentina Post - Hudson's Canasteros, Shorebirds and Jaegers at Punta Rasa
February 20, 2023
As we traveled south from Buenos Aires, the landscape opened up. The small towns...
a year ago
February 20, 2023
As we traveled south from Buenos Aires, the landscape opened up. The small towns and communities became less frequent, giving way to vast expanses of pasture and agriculture with nary a tree in sight, other than the occasional hedgerow. Several hours later, and...
Blog - Practical...
Is the World Really Running Out of Sand?
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.]
If you have to know the answer...
2 months ago
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.]
If you have to know the answer right away, it’s no; or at least, my goal with this video is to convince you that the world is not running out of sand. But if it were that simple, I wouldn’t be here (right?) and...
Math Is Still...
Can Thermodynamics Go Quantum?
The Industrial Revolution brought us the laws of thermodynamics, and new ideas about work, energy...
3 months ago
The Industrial Revolution brought us the laws of thermodynamics, and new ideas about work, energy and efficiency. In this episode, co-host Steven Strogatz speaks with theoretical physicist Nicole Yunger Halpern about what these concepts might mean in the age of quantum mechanics....
Apoorva Srinivasan
getting started with bayesian inference
In my previous post, we spoke about hypothesis testing from a frequentist perspective. This is the...
over a year ago
In my previous post, we spoke about hypothesis testing from a frequentist perspective. This is the method that is commonly taught in STAT101 classes. But for many decades, some statisticians have argued for another approach to conduct statistical analysis based on bayes...
NeuroLogica Blog
For Movies – Animals Don’t Sound Real Enough
What does a majestic eagle sound like, or the hoot of a spider monkey, or the roar of a bear? Unless...
a year ago
What does a majestic eagle sound like, or the hoot of a spider monkey, or the roar of a bear? Unless you have an interest in movie tropes, or listen regularly to the SGU, you may have a complete misconception about the sounds these and many other animals make. Eagles, for...
The Works in...
The road from serfdom
Using opt-ins to reform Russia's backwards tsarist agricultural sector
9 months ago
Using opt-ins to reform Russia's backwards tsarist agricultural sector
Andrew Fraknoi –...
A Movie about a Galaxy Far, Far Away & Long, Long Ago (from Webb Telescope)
Explains a new movie of distant galaxies and remote time from the Webb Telescope.
The post A Movie...
a year ago
Explains a new movie of distant galaxies and remote time from the Webb Telescope.
The post A Movie about a Galaxy Far, Far Away & Long, Long Ago (from Webb Telescope) appeared first on Andrew Fraknoi - Astronomy Lectures - Astronomy Education Resources.
symmetry magazine
Tending to a giant
In a race against the clock, CERN engineers and technicians pulled together to find and fix a leak...
a year ago
In a race against the clock, CERN engineers and technicians pulled together to find and fix a leak inside the Large Hadron Collider.
Out-of-Pocket Blog
"Non"-Profit Hospitals | Out-Of-Pocket
"We're investing in ourselves"
a year ago
"We're investing in ourselves"
nanoscale views
Faculty positions at Rice - follow-up
I had mentioned about 6 weeks ago that my department at Rice is searching in the quantum/AMO space...
a year ago
I had mentioned about 6 weeks ago that my department at Rice is searching in the quantum/AMO space for experiment and theory. Now I want to put the larger context of this out there - Rice has four quantum-related searches going on right now:
Quantum theory (PHYA):...
nanoscale views
Very brief end of the year round-up
It's hard to believe that it's already the end of 2023. It's been a busy year for condensed matter;...
11 months ago
It's hard to believe that it's already the end of 2023. It's been a busy year for condensed matter; it's unfortunate that two of the biggest stories (problems with high pressure superconductivity papers; the brief excitement about LK99, the not-actually-a-superconductor) were...
NeuroLogica Blog
Trust in New Technology
In an optimally rational person, what should govern their perception of risk? Of course, people are...
5 months ago
In an optimally rational person, what should govern their perception of risk? Of course, people are generally not “optimally rational”. It’s therefore an interesting thought experiment – what would be optimal, and how does that differ from how people actually assess risk? Risk is...
Math Is Still...
What Can Jellyfish Teach Us About Fluid Dynamics?
Jellyfish and other aquatic creatures embody solutions to diverse problems in engineering, medicine...
a year ago
Jellyfish and other aquatic creatures embody solutions to diverse problems in engineering, medicine and mathematics. John Dabiri, a fluid dynamics expert, talks with Steven Strogatz about what jellyfish can teach us about going with the flow.
The post What Can...
Quantum Frontiers
Let gravity do its work
One day, early this spring, I found myself in a hotel elevator with three other people. The cohort...
7 months ago
One day, early this spring, I found myself in a hotel elevator with three other people. The cohort consisted of two theoretical physicists, one computer scientist, and what appeared to be a normal person. I pressed the elevator’s 4 button, … Continue reading →
Math Is Still...
How Math Achieved Transcendence
Transcendental numbers include famous examples like e and π, but it took mathematicians centuries to...
a year ago
Transcendental numbers include famous examples like e and π, but it took mathematicians centuries to understand them.
The post How Math Achieved Transcendence first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Quantum Frontiers
Noncommuting charges are much like Batman
Understanding a character’s origins enriches their narrative and motivates their actions. Take...
9 months ago
Understanding a character’s origins enriches their narrative and motivates their actions. Take Batman as an example: without knowing his backstory, he appears merely as a billionaire who might achieve more by donating his wealth rather than masquerading as a bat … Continue...
Blog - Practical...
How French Drains Work
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.]
In February of 2017, one of...
4 months ago
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.]
In February of 2017, one of the largest spillways in the world, the one at Oroville Dam in northern California, was severely damaged during releases from heavy rain. You might remember this. I made a video...
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.
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...
NeuroLogica Blog
Hunter-Gatherers and Childcare
What is “natural” for humans? It’s often hard to say, and in my opinion this is a highly overused...
a year ago
What is “natural” for humans? It’s often hard to say, and in my opinion this is a highly overused concept. Primarily this is because humans are adaptable – we adapt to our environment, our situation, and our culture. So it is “natural” for us not to have a natural state. But this...
Math Is Still...
The Scientist Who Decodes the Songs of Undersea Volcanoes
In the rumbles and groans of underwater volcanoes, Jackie Caplan-Auerbach finds her favorite...
a year ago
In the rumbles and groans of underwater volcanoes, Jackie Caplan-Auerbach finds her favorite harmonies — and clues to the Earth’s interior.
The post The Scientist Who Decodes the Songs of Undersea Volcanoes first appeared on Quanta Magazine
nanoscale views
Really doing mechanics at the quantum level
A helpful ad from Science Made Stupid.
Since before the development of micro- and...
a month ago
A helpful ad from Science Made Stupid.
Since before the development of micro- and nanoelectromechanical techniques, there has been an interest in making actual mechanical widgets that show quantum behavior. There is no reason that we should not be able to make a mechanical...
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
NeuroLogica Blog
The Exoplanet Radius Gap
As of this writing, there are 5,573 confirmed exoplanets in 4,146 planetary systems. That is enough...
10 months ago
As of this writing, there are 5,573 confirmed exoplanets in 4,146 planetary systems. That is enough exoplanets, planets around stars other than our own sun, that we can do some statistics to describe what’s out there. One curious pattern that has emerged is a relative gap in the...
Willem Pennings
Fixing my heating system
The heating system in my apartment building consists of a group of heat pumps that deliver warm...
7 months ago
The heating system in my apartment building consists of a group of heat pumps that deliver warm water to the underfloor heating system of about a dozen apartments, including mine. During the warm summer months, the system supplies cool water instead. The heat pumps figure out...
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!
Math Is Still...
New Proof Shows That ‘Expander’ Graphs Synchronize
The proof establishes new conditions that cause connected oscillators to sway in sync. ...
a year ago
The proof establishes new conditions that cause connected oscillators to sway in sync.
The post New Proof Shows That ‘Expander’ Graphs Synchronize first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Math Is Still...
In Our Cellular Clocks, She’s Found a Lifetime of Discoveries
For decades, Carrie Partch has led pioneering structural research on the protein clockwork that...
a year ago
For decades, Carrie Partch has led pioneering structural research on the protein clockwork that keeps time for our circadian rhythm. Is time still on her side?
The post In Our Cellular Clocks, She’s Found a Lifetime of Discoveries first appeared on Quanta Magazine
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
IEEE Spectrum
Robert Kahn: The Great Interconnector
In the mid-1960s, Robert Kahn began thinking about how computers with different operating systems...
8 months ago
In the mid-1960s, Robert Kahn began thinking about how computers with different operating systems could talk to each other across a network. He didn’t think much about what they would say to one another, though. He was a theoretical guy, on leave from the faculty of the...
nanoscale views
What is a spin glass?
As mentioned previously, structural glasses are materials in which there is no periodic lattice (no...
a year ago
As mentioned previously, structural glasses are materials in which there is no periodic lattice (no long-range spatial order) and the building blocks get "stuck" in some configuration, kinetically unable to get to the true energetic minimum state which would almost certainly be a...
Explorations of an...
Río Bigal Biological Reserve - Pristine Foothill Forest In Eastern Ecuador
"What has been your favourite country that you have visited?"
People often ask me various...
a year ago
"What has been your favourite country that you have visited?"
People often ask me various iterations of this question when they hear about the traveling that Laura and I have been fortunate to have done. Sometimes I say Colombia, sometimes I say Peru, but usually I don't name a...
Math Is Still...
Are Robots About to Level Up?
Today’s AI largely lives in computers, but acting and reacting in the real world — that’s the realm...
4 months ago
Today’s AI largely lives in computers, but acting and reacting in the real world — that’s the realm of robots. In this week’s episode, co-host Steven Strogatz talks with pioneering roboticist Daniela Rus about creativity, collaboration, and the unusual forms robots of the future...
nanoscale views
ARPA-E Roadshow
Today, Rice hosted the ARPA-E Roadshow, a series of presentations by ARPA-E program officers, MC-ed...
a year ago
Today, Rice hosted the ARPA-E Roadshow, a series of presentations by ARPA-E program officers, MC-ed by the director, Prof. Evelyn Wang. It was all about the energy transition, and it was pretty fascinating, particularly hearing from leaders of startups who were making...
Asterisk
Mysticism & Empiricism
The best way to predict if you’ll benefit from psychedelic therapy is a questionnaire asking if...
a year ago
The best way to predict if you’ll benefit from psychedelic therapy is a questionnaire asking if you’ve met God. Where did it come from, and what is it really measuring?
nanoscale views
Items of interest
For the first post of the new calendar year, here are a few items that I thought were...
11 months ago
For the first post of the new calendar year, here are a few items that I thought were interesting:
Here is a feature article in Science that talks about the experimental quest for detecting Majorana fermions in solid state systems, bookended by the story of Majorana's...
NeuroLogica Blog
Hybrid Biopolymer Transistors – Implications for Brain Machine Interface
There are several technologies which seem likely to be transformative in the coming decades. Genetic...
a year ago
There are several technologies which seem likely to be transformative in the coming decades. Genetic bioengineering gives us the ability to control the basic machinery of life, including ourselves. Artificial intelligence is a suite of active, learning, information tools....
Math Is Still...
Mathematicians Discover Novel Way to Predict Structure in Graphs
In new work on graphs’ hidden structure, mathematicians probe the limits of randomness. ...
a year ago
In new work on graphs’ hidden structure, mathematicians probe the limits of randomness.
The post Mathematicians Discover Novel Way to Predict Structure in Graphs first appeared on Quanta Magazine
NeuroLogica Blog
AC vs DC and other Power Questions
I was away last week, first at CSICON and then at a conference in Dubai. I was invited to give a 9...
a month ago
I was away last week, first at CSICON and then at a conference in Dubai. I was invited to give a 9 hour seminar on scientific skepticism for the Dubai Future Foundation. That sounds like a lot of time, but it isn’t. It was a good reminder of the vast body of knowledge that is...
Probably...
Data Q&A
Today I’m starting a new project with the working title Data Q&A: Answering the real questions with...
8 months ago
Today I’m starting a new project with the working title Data Q&A: Answering the real questions with Python. In each installment, I’ll take a question from Reddit’s statistics forum and answer it, using Python code to demonstrate. The first installment is a question about the...
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
Math Is Still...
Thirty Years Later, a Speed Boost for Quantum Factoring
Shor’s algorithm will enable future quantum computers to factor large numbers quickly, undermining...
a year ago
Shor’s algorithm will enable future quantum computers to factor large numbers quickly, undermining many online security protocols. Now a researcher has shown how to do it even faster.
The post Thirty Years Later, a Speed Boost for Quantum Factoring first appeared on...
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...
Probably...
What does a confidence interval mean?
Here’s another installment in Data Q&A: Answering the real questions with Python. In general, I will...
8 months ago
Here’s another installment in Data Q&A: Answering the real questions with Python. In general, I will try to focus on practical problems, but this one is a little more philosophical. confidence What does a confidence interval mean?¶ Here’s a question from the Reddit statistics...
Math Is Still...
Physicists Who Explored Tiny Glimpses of Time Win Nobel Prize
The development of attosecond pulses of light allowed researchers to explore the frame-by-frame...
a year ago
The development of attosecond pulses of light allowed researchers to explore the frame-by-frame movement of electrons.
The post Physicists Who Explored Tiny Glimpses of Time Win Nobel Prize first appeared on Quanta Magazine
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
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...
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...
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!
Probably...
Another step toward a two-hour marathon
This is an update to an analysis I run each time the marathon world record is broken. If you like...
a year ago
This is an update to an analysis I run each time the marathon world record is broken. If you like this sort of thing, you will like my forthcoming book, Probably Overthinking It, which is available for preorder now. On October 8, 2023, Kelvin Kiptum ran the Chicago Marathon in...
Quantum Frontiers
A peek inside Northrop Grumman’s subatomic endeavors
As the weather turns colder and we trade outdoor pools for pumpkin spice and then Christmas carols,...
over a year ago
As the weather turns colder and we trade outdoor pools for pumpkin spice and then Christmas carols, perhaps you’re longing for summer’s warmth. For me, it is not just warmth I yearn for: This past summer, I worked as a … Continue reading →
NeuroLogica Blog
What to Make of Havana Syndrome
I have not written before about Havana Syndrome, mostly because I have not been able to come to any...
8 months ago
I have not written before about Havana Syndrome, mostly because I have not been able to come to any strong conclusions about it. In 2016 there was a cluster of strange neurological symptoms among people working at the US Embassy in Havana, Cuba. They would suddenly experience...
Asterisk
The Highway to NIMBYism
San Francisco’s history of collective decision-making helped prevent the city from being carved up...
7 months ago
San Francisco’s history of collective decision-making helped prevent the city from being carved up by highways. Today, that same legacy prevents the city from building what it desperately needs: more housing.
Asterisk
Manufacturing Bliss
A growing community centered on the Bay Area is rediscovering the jhanas, a meditation technique...
8 months ago
A growing community centered on the Bay Area is rediscovering the jhanas, a meditation technique that practitioners claim could upend how we think about the brain — and transform our lives in the process.
Asterisk
Through a Glass Darkly
Nobody predicted the AI revolution, except for the 352 experts who were asked to predict it.
a year ago
Nobody predicted the AI revolution, except for the 352 experts who were asked to predict it.
Math Is Still...
How Randomness Improves Algorithms
Unpredictability can help computer scientists solve otherwise intractable problems.
The...
a year ago
Unpredictability can help computer scientists solve otherwise intractable problems.
The post How Randomness Improves Algorithms first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Many Worlds
Webb Telescope Finds No Signs of a Thick Atmosphere Around a Second TRAPPIST-1 Planet
Among the most eagerly awaited results from the early observations of the James Webb Space Telescope...
a year ago
Among the most eagerly awaited results from the early observations of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is whether or not the seven rocky planets of the TRAPPIST-1 system have atmospheres. The TRAPPIST-1 planets are close to us (40 light-years away), are all solid rather than...
nanoscale views
Reading material - orders of magnitude and difficult times
Over the past couple of weeks (and more) I have found a number of things to read that I wanted to...
a year ago
Over the past couple of weeks (and more) I have found a number of things to read that I wanted to pass on. First, if you'd like a break from the seemingly continual stream of bad news in the world and enjoy good "think like a physicist"/dimensional analysis/order of magnitude...
Probably...
Bootstrapping a Proportion
It’s another installment in Data Q&A: Answering the real questions with Python. Previous...
2 months ago
It’s another installment in Data Q&A: Answering the real questions with Python. Previous installments are available from the Data Q&A landing page. Here’s a question from the Reddit statistics forum. How do I use bootstrapping to generate confidence intervals for a...
The Works in...
Links in Progress: What are children for?
And how the UN’s birth rate forecasts keep getting it wrong
a month ago
And how the UN’s birth rate forecasts keep getting it wrong
brr
Showering at the South Pole
Potable water, and not much of it.
a year ago
Potable water, and not much of it.
Math Is Still...
How Did Altruism Evolve?
If evolution favors the survival of the fittest, where did the impulse to help others come from?...
10 months ago
If evolution favors the survival of the fittest, where did the impulse to help others come from? Host Janna Levin speaks with Stephanie Preston, a neuropsychologist who studies the biology of altruism.
The post How Did Altruism Evolve? first appeared on Quanta...
Casey Handmer's blog
SLS is still a national disgrace
Four years ago, unable to find a comprehensive summary of the ongoing abject failure known as the...
2 months ago
Four years ago, unable to find a comprehensive summary of the ongoing abject failure known as the NASA SLS (Space Launch System), I wrote one. If you’re unfamiliar with the topic, you should read it first. It is hard to …
Wanderingspace
Venus from Earth (with Stacking)
Image taken by @TheVastReaches. According to the photographer, “It takes just a few minutes to...
over a year ago
Image taken by @TheVastReaches. According to the photographer, “It takes just a few minutes to collect all the frames. This started as 6 video files, 45,000 frames total. Then they are stacked and combined.”
The Works in...
Notes on Progress: The stats gap
Students understand just enough statistics to get by
a year ago
Students understand just enough statistics to get by
Tikalon Blog by Dev...
Wiedemann-Franz Law
Science is most useful when it makes predictions. Predictions are based on theory, and one problem...
6 months ago
Science is most useful when it makes predictions. Predictions are based on theory, and one problem with most theories in materials science is that they are based on data that might not exist for all of the intended class of materials. Simple rules were developed to remedy this...
nanoscale views
Some recent papers of interest
A couple of recent papers that seem interesting and I need to read more closely:
This paper in...
a year ago
A couple of recent papers that seem interesting and I need to read more closely:
This paper in Nature, a collaboration between folks at Ohio University and Argonne, is a neat combination of scanning tunneling microscopy and (synchrotron-enabled) resonant x-ray absorption. The...
Uncharted...
Is Desalination Everywhere Realistic?
Which countries are doing it already? Are they happy? Is desalinated water safe to drink? Does it...
a month ago
Which countries are doing it already? Are they happy? Is desalinated water safe to drink? Does it taste good? Does it pollute too much? Can we shrink its cost?
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 →
The Works in...
Issue 14: A peasant surprise
Plus: Giving yourself the Zika virus, cut-and-cover railway tunnels, and more reasons to donate your...
10 months ago
Plus: Giving yourself the Zika virus, cut-and-cover railway tunnels, and more reasons to donate your organs.
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?
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