IEEE Spectrum
The Marimba Virtuoso’s Desktop Planetarium
The United States was at the time approaching “peak space.” The previous year, cosmonaut Yuri...
1st Oct 2023
The United States was at the time approaching “peak space.” The previous year, cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin had become the first human to reach outer space, and on 12 September 1962 President Kennedy would announce the United States’ intention to put a man on the moon before the...
Works in Progress...
How to write for Works in Progress
We’re looking for new authors and article pitches.
4th Apr 2025
We’re looking for new authors and article pitches.
Long Now
Arthur Ganson: Machines and the Breath of Time
### Dancing chairs
"You follow the feeling of the piece," Ganson explained, "and then wrestle it...
15th Sep 2009
### Dancing chairs
"You follow the feeling of the piece," Ganson explained, "and then wrestle it into physicality." As long as the idea is nonphysical, it is permanent; it becomes temporary as a physical device; and then it becomes permanent again in the mind of the viewer.
As...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
AI in healthcare - defensibility, capabilities, and cost reduction | Out-Of-Pocket
17th May 2024
Long Now
Saul Griffith: Climate Change Recalculated
### The Terawatt World
Engineer Griffith said he was going to make the connection between personal...
17th Jan 2009
### The Terawatt World
Engineer Griffith said he was going to make the connection between personal actions and global climate change. To do that he's been analyzing his own life in extreme detail to figure out exactly how much energy he uses and what changes might reduce the...
Works in Progress...
The story of Viktor Zhdanov
Although Viktor Zhdanov’s name is little known today, he spearheaded one of the greatest projects in...
20th Aug 2020
Although Viktor Zhdanov’s name is little known today, he spearheaded one of the greatest projects in history. Who was he and what did he do?
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Can AI solve the pain of endless hold times? | Out-Of-Pocket
A look at how it works under the hood + what Assort is doing
11th Nov 2025
A look at how it works under the hood + what Assort is doing
Tikalon Blog by Dev...
Adornment
"Form follows function" is a maxim that an object's shape and appearance should be defined only by...
2nd Sep 2024
"Form follows function" is a maxim that an object's shape and appearance should be defined only by its purpose or function. A quick perusal of any antique shop will show that this maxim is generally ignored. Humans (Homo sapiens) have been called "naked apes," but we and our...
NeuroLogica Blog
How Much Do Couples Share Traits?
Do birds of a feather flock together, or do opposites attract? These are both common aphorisms,...
5th Sep 2023
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...
Long Now
Neal Stephenson: ANATHEM Book Launch Event
### _Anathem_ book launch
Neal Stephenson's nearly thousand page tome...
9th Sep 2008
### _Anathem_ book launch
Neal Stephenson's nearly thousand page tome [_Anathem_](https://longnow.org/anathem/) was inspired in part by Long Now's [10,000 Year Clock](https://longnow.org/projects/clock/) project, and so a collaboration on the launch event was a natural fit. With...
Quanta Magazine
How a Human Smell Receptor Works Is Finally Revealed
After decades of frustration, researchers have finally determined how an airborne scent molecule...
1st May 2023
After decades of frustration, researchers have finally determined how an airborne scent molecule links to a human smell receptor.
The post How a Human Smell Receptor Works Is Finally Revealed first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Asterisk
No Retvrn
An American tradition of embracing modernity.
4th Aug 2025
An American tradition of embracing modernity.
Peder M. Isager
Bakeoff
Formspree makes it easy to receive submissions from HTML forms on your static website. Functional...
1st Jul 2019
Formspree makes it easy to receive submissions from HTML forms on your static website. Functional Form This theme has a form-to-email feature built in, thanks to the simple Formspree integration. All you need to activate the form is a valid recipient email address saved in the...
Quantum Frontiers
Can Thermodynamics Resolve the Measurement Problem?
At the recent Quantum Thermodynamics conference in Vienna (coming next year to the University of...
10th Sep 2023
At the recent Quantum Thermodynamics conference in Vienna (coming next year to the University of Maryland!), during an expert panel Q&A session, one member of the audience asked “can quantum thermodynamics address foundational problems in quantum theory?” That stuck with …...
Long Now
Drew Endy & Jim Thomas: Synthetic Biology Debate
### Terms of Biocontainment
"I want to develop tools that make biology easy to engineer," Drew Endy...
18th Nov 2008
### Terms of Biocontainment
"I want to develop tools that make biology easy to engineer," Drew Endy began. The first purpose is better understanding fundamental biological mechanisms through "learning by building." The toolkit of Synthetic Biology starts with DNA construction...
Peder M. Isager
Why experiments are considered gold standard for answering causal questions
In this blog post, I will briefly explain why experimental designs are considered so valuable by...
7th Aug 2025
In this blog post, I will briefly explain why experimental designs are considered so valuable by scientists and why we often insist that randomized experiments are necessary for answering causal questions. I will use a practical example to illustrate this point. If you’re new to...
Long Now
: Cities & Time
### A world made of cities
Cities are the human organizations with the greatest longevity but also...
9th Apr 2005
### A world made of cities
Cities are the human organizations with the greatest longevity but also the fastest rate of change. Just now the world is going massively and unstoppably urban (governments everywhere are trying to stop it, with zero success). In a globalized world,...
Beautiful Public...
Visualizing Ship Movements with AIS Data
Explore the beautiful, intricate paths of ships over a year—tracked from America's busiest ports to...
17th Sep 2024
Explore the beautiful, intricate paths of ships over a year—tracked from America's busiest ports to the open ocean via AIS marine tracking data.
The Quanta Podcast
How the Physics of Nothing Underlies Everything
The key to understanding the origin and fate of the universe may be a more complete understanding of...
7th Dec 2022
The key to understanding the origin and fate of the universe may be a more complete understanding of the vacuum. Read more at QuantaMagazine.org. Music is “Pulse” by Geographer.
Works in Progress...
The failure of the land value tax
Land value taxes are once again becoming a popular all-purpose solution to housing issues. But...
13th Mar 2025
Land value taxes are once again becoming a popular all-purpose solution to housing issues. But implementing them in early 1900s Britain destroyed the then-dominant Liberal Party.
Willem Pennings
Table tennis scoreboard
Last year, my uncles asked me to design an electronic table tennis scoreboard. Apparently, what they...
11th Nov 2025
Last year, my uncles asked me to design an electronic table tennis scoreboard. Apparently, what they wanted wasn’t for sale (at least not in New Zealand). Since they’re very enthusiastic about the game, I agreed and created a design. It features: I’m using an ESP32...
Long Now
Danny Hillis: Progress on the 10,000-year Clock
"How's the Clock coming?" Everyone connected with The Long Now Foundation or with Danny Hillis hears...
11th Sep 2004
"How's the Clock coming?" Everyone connected with The Long Now Foundation or with Danny Hillis hears that question all the time.
"Progress on the 10,000-Year Clock," Danny Hillis -- Friday, September 10, 7pm, Fort Mason Conference Center, San Francisco. Doors open for coffee and...
Works in Progress...
The secret fast track for animal drugs
Animal drugs are approved much faster than human drugs. Perhaps we could adopt the same model for...
12th Jun 2025
Animal drugs are approved much faster than human drugs. Perhaps we could adopt the same model for humans without compromising on safety.
The Quanta Podcast
A New Twist Reveals Superconductivity’s Secrets
An unexpected superconductor was beginning to look like a fluke, but a new theory and a second...
8th Jul 2021
An unexpected superconductor was beginning to look like a fluke, but a new theory and a second discovery have revealed that emergent quasiparticles may be behind the effect.
The post A New Twist Reveals Superconductivity’s Secrets first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Confessions of a...
My Teaching Philosophy
As mentioned previously, I need to complete a teaching portfolio over my year as a lecturing intern...
16th Apr 2013
As mentioned previously, I need to complete a teaching portfolio over my year as a lecturing intern as part of the PTIS scheme. Central to this portfolio is a personal teaching philosophy, detailing why teaching is important to me, what my objectives are as a teacher, what...
IEEE Spectrum
Smalltalk Blew Steve Jobs’s Mind
Late in 1979, Steve Jobs and other colleagues from Apple visited the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center...
1st Mar 2023
Late in 1979, Steve Jobs and other colleagues from Apple visited the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC). There they were introduced to the experimental Alto computer and the Smalltalk language and computing environment, developed by Alan Kay’s Learning Research Group....
Asterisk
We’re All One Crisis Away From Taking Unlicensed Research Peptides
For health hackers, the risk is not experimenting.
3rd Jun 2026
For health hackers, the risk is not experimenting.
The Quanta Podcast
A Long-Sought Proof, Found and Almost Lost
When a German retiree proved a famous long-standing mathematical conjecture, the response was...
1st Jun 2017
When a German retiree proved a famous long-standing mathematical conjecture, the response was underwhelming.
The post A Long-Sought Proof, Found and Almost Lost first appeared on Quanta Magazine
NeuroLogica Blog
3D Printing With Metallic Gel
One of the futuristic technologies that I find most promising is 3D printing (additive...
6th Jul 2023
One of the futuristic technologies that I find most promising is 3D printing (additive manufacturing). 3D printing has already created a revolution in manufacturing, but I think the general public does not have a high awareness of this technology because it is not yet at the...
Apoorva Srinivasan
an experiment in navigating the knowledge frontier beyond search
Lately, I've been experimenting with interfaces for large language models (LLMs) in my free time....
21st Nov 2023
Lately, I've been experimenting with interfaces for large language models (LLMs) in my free time. The fruit of this labor is something I'm calling "curie," an exploratory and sense-making tool designed to navigate complex topics.
0:00
...
Long Now
Mary Lou Jepsen: Toward Practical Telepathy
With her stunning breakthroughs in neural imaging, Mary Lou Jepsen is making the brain readable (and...
5th Nov 2018
With her stunning breakthroughs in neural imaging, Mary Lou Jepsen is making the brain readable (and stimulatable) in real time. That will revolutionize brain study and brain medicine, but what about brain communication? Could a direct high-resolution interface to the brain lead...
Long Now
Philip Tetlock: Superforecasting
### All it takes to improve forecasting is KEEP SCORE
Will Syria’s President Assad still be in...
24th Nov 2015
### All it takes to improve forecasting is KEEP SCORE
Will Syria’s President Assad still be in power at the end of next year? Will Russia and China hold joint naval exercises in the Mediterranean in the next six months? Will the Oil Volatility Index fall below 25 in 2016? Will...
The Quanta Podcast
How the Brain Compresses Our Noisy World
If you are well rested and full, your brain tells you that a bruised overripe apple is a piece of...
2 weeks ago
If you are well rested and full, your brain tells you that a bruised overripe apple is a piece of subpar fruit to be passed over. However, if you are exhausted and hungry, an overripe apple is categorized as much-needed food. But how is the brain able to categorize that same...
Long Now
Terry Hunt & Carl Lipo: The Statues Walked -- What Really Happened on Easter Island
### Easter Island reconsidered
In the most isolated place on Earth a tiny society built world-class...
18th Jan 2013
### Easter Island reconsidered
In the most isolated place on Earth a tiny society built world-class monuments. Easter Island (Rapa Nui) is 1,000 miles from the nearest Pacific island, 3,000 miles from the nearest continent. It is just six by ten miles in size, with no running...
Asterisk
We Can, Must, and Will Simulate Nematode Brains
Scientists have spent over 25 years trying — and failing — to build computer simulations of the...
5th Mar 2025
Scientists have spent over 25 years trying — and failing — to build computer simulations of the smallest brain we know. Today, we finally have the tools to pull it off.
Asterisk
The Institute Behind Taiwan’s Chip Dominance
TSMC (and most of Taiwan’s chip industry) spun out of one government research institute. How did...
16th Mar 2026
TSMC (and most of Taiwan’s chip industry) spun out of one government research institute. How did ITRI implement one of the most successful industrial policy programs of all time?
Long Now
James Holland Jones: The Science of Climate Fiction: Can Stories Lead to Social Action?
The warming planet is increasingly the subject of all kinds of fiction. Beyond entertainment or...
4th Apr 2019
The warming planet is increasingly the subject of all kinds of fiction. Beyond entertainment or distraction could climate fiction (“Cli-Fi”) actually help us in solving the climate dilemma? Biological anthropologist and environmental scientist [James Holland...
lcamtuf’s thing
How many dimensions is this?
A degree in mathematics might not save you from stacking boxes for a living.
3rd Sep 2025
A degree in mathematics might not save you from stacking boxes for a living.
Tikalon Blog by Dev...
Copper and Green Energy
The United States Department of Energy has updated its list of critically important materials. The...
1st Jul 2024
The United States Department of Energy has updated its list of critically important materials. The current list of 54 materials includes elements that are presently critical to a transition to green energy, such as the rare earth elements important to turbine generators, and...
Bartosz Ciechanowski
Sound
Invisible and relentless, sound is seemingly just there, traveling through our surroundings to carry...
18th Oct 2022
Invisible and relentless, sound is seemingly just there, traveling through our surroundings to carry beautiful music or annoying noises. In this article I’ll explain what sound is, how it’s created and propagated.
Throughout this presentation you will be hearing different sounds,...
IEEE Spectrum
Designing the First Apple Macintosh: The Engineers’ Story
In 1979 the Macintosh personal computer existed only as the pet idea of Jef Raskin, a veteran of the...
2nd Jul 2023
In 1979 the Macintosh personal computer existed only as the pet idea of Jef Raskin, a veteran of the Apple II team, who had proposed that Apple Computer Inc. make a low-cost “appliance”-type computer that would be as easy to use as a toaster. Mr. Raskin believed the computer he...
The Quanta Podcast
Milestone Experiment Proves Quantum Communication Really Is Faster
In a Paris lab, researchers have shown for the first time that quantum methods of transmitting...
7th Nov 2019
In a Paris lab, researchers have shown for the first time that quantum methods of transmitting information are superior to classical ones.
The post Milestone Experiment Proves Quantum Communication Really Is Faster first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Conservation...
It’s about TIME: Conservationist recognized as climate leader
16th Nov 2023
Chris Grossack's...
$F_2 \times F_2$ is Incoherent -- A Polite Spectral Sequence Computation
Yesterday I watched my friend Jialin Wang defend her thesis,
and as part of her background section...
3rd Sep 2025
Yesterday I watched my friend Jialin Wang defend her thesis,
and as part of her background section she mentioned that the group
$F_2 \times F_2$ is incoherent in the sense that it has a subgroup
that’s finitely generated and not finitely presented. I was curious how
one might...
Long Now
Juan Enriquez: Mapping the Frontier of Knowledge
### Mapping Life
"All life is imperfectly transmitted code," Enriquez began, "and it is...
13th Oct 2007
### Mapping Life
"All life is imperfectly transmitted code," Enriquez began, "and it is promiscuous." Thus discoveries like the one last month of an entire bacterial genome inside the DNA of a fruitfly is exploding the old tree-of-life models of evolution. The emerging map...
IEEE Spectrum
Saving the Big Bang (Antenna)
The antenna that discovered a cosmic microwave background coming from all directions in...
10th Feb 2023
The antenna that discovered a cosmic microwave background coming from all directions in space—cementing the theory that the universe was created in a big bang—now stares down its own topsy-turvy future. Its owner says the hardware will be preserved, but the fate of the historical...
Long Now
Brewster Kahle: Universal Access to All Knowledge
### All knowledge, to all people, for all time, for free
Universal access to all knowledge, Kahle...
1st Dec 2011
### All knowledge, to all people, for all time, for free
Universal access to all knowledge, Kahle declared, will be one of humanity's greatest achievements. We are already well on the way. "We're building the Library of Alexandria, version 2. We can one-up the Greeks!"
Start...
nanoscale views
NSF, spending, and the end of the fiscal year
We are less than one month away from the end of the federal fiscal year, and traditionally there are...
a week ago
We are less than one month away from the end of the federal fiscal year, and traditionally there are internal deadlines for agencies to allocate their final spending by around September 9. Right now, the NSF is on track to issue about 4000 fewer (!!) awards in FY26 than it did...
Cremieux Recueil
National IQs Are Valid
National IQ estimates are robust, reliable, and realistic
16th Jan 2025
National IQ estimates are robust, reliable, and realistic
The Quanta Podcast
Secrets of Early Animal Evolution Revealed by Chromosome 'Tectonics'
Large blocks of genes conserved through hundreds of millions of years of evolution hint at how the...
14th Apr 2022
Large blocks of genes conserved through hundreds of millions of years of evolution hint at how the first animal chromosomes came to be.
The post Secrets of Early Animal Evolution Revealed by Chromosome ‘Tectonics’ first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Stephen Wolfram...
Who Can Understand the Proof? A Window on Formalized Mathematics
Related writings: “Logic, Explainability and the Future of Understanding” (2018) » “The...
9th Jan 2025
Related writings: “Logic, Explainability and the Future of Understanding” (2018) » “The Physicalization of Metamathematics and Its Implications for the Foundations of Mathematics” (2022) » “Computational Knowledge and the Future of Pure Mathematics” (2014) » The Simplest Axiom...
Probably...
New Book!
I am working on a new book called You Would Choose Now: Measuring America’s Progress Toward Fairness...
a week ago
I am working on a new book called You Would Choose Now: Measuring America’s Progress Toward Fairness and Tolerance. It’s a data-driven exploration of progress (or not) in public opinion and civil rights. I posted the first two chapters as an Early Access edition on LeanPub (a...
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...
12th Jan 2024
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
Eukaryote Writes...
Who invented knitting? The plot thickens
Last time on Eukaryote Writes Blog: You learned about knitting history. You thought you were done...
4th Feb 2023
Last time on Eukaryote Writes Blog: You learned about knitting history. You thought you were done learning about knitting history? You fool. You buffoon. I wanted to double check some things in the last post and found out that the origins of knitting are even weirder than I...
Inverted Passion
2024 wrapped
This year’s review is going to be shorter than 2023 (and previous years) because I’m in Goa right...
31st Dec 2024
This year’s review is going to be shorter than 2023 (and previous years) because I’m in Goa right now for a holiday and I don’t feel like being in front of a screen for long. I mean, just look at this view and tell me that you’d rather be in front of a screen writing…
Read...
IEEE Spectrum
How Tech Automated the January 6 Investigations
Josh Coker’s Facebook page doesn’t show any MAGA memes or Trump quotes. He wasn’t live-streaming on...
5th Jan 2024
Josh Coker’s Facebook page doesn’t show any MAGA memes or Trump quotes. He wasn’t live-streaming on 6 January 2021, and no one has ever stepped forward to identify him as one of the mob that stormed the US Capitol that day.
Oregon, Ohio, with five counts connected to the failed...
Wanderingspace
The First Ever Real-Time Video from Another Planet
When you watch this video, if you find yourself thinking of the Apollo moon landings— here is why:...
5th Mar 2021
When you watch this video, if you find yourself thinking of the Apollo moon landings— here is why: this is the first real-time video taken from another world since 1972, and this is the first ever taken on another planet.
Most “video” you see from other planetary missions are...
The Quanta Podcast
At Tiny Scales, a Giant Burst on Tree of Life
A new technique for finding and characterizing microbes has boosted the number of known bacteria by...
6th Aug 2015
A new technique for finding and characterizing microbes has boosted the number of known bacteria by almost 50 percent, revealing a hidden world all around us.
The post At Tiny Scales, a Giant Burst on Tree of Life first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Quantum Frontiers
Eight highlights from publishing a science book for the general public
What’s it like to publish a book? I’ve faced the question again and again this year, as my book...
19th Dec 2022
What’s it like to publish a book? I’ve faced the question again and again this year, as my book Quantum Steampunk hit bookshelves in April. Two responses suggest themselves. On the one hand, I channel the Beatles: It’s a hard … Continue reading →
Yale E360
Alaska Wolf Found With Record Amount of Mercury, a Sign of Growing Contamination
When Alaska’s wolves began eating sea otters, it looked like a story of adaptation. Then they...
2nd Jan 2026
When Alaska’s wolves began eating sea otters, it looked like a story of adaptation. Then they started getting sick.
Read more on E360 →
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...
2nd Nov 2024
How fast will it take over, how fast are costs shrinking, why is it so cheap, what industries will it birth, how much surface will it take up, where will it appear first?
Damn Interesting
The Unceasing Cessna Hacienda
Warren “Doc” Bayley was a man of the people. When he and his wife Judy opened their Las Vegas resort...
26th Oct 2021
Warren “Doc” Bayley was a man of the people. When he and his wife Judy opened their Las Vegas resort in 1956, Bayley had no plans to compete with the flashier, corporate casinos at the center of the Strip. Instead, the Hacienda Hotel catered to families, as well as to locals who...
Long Now
Benjamin Bratton: A Philosophy of Planetary Computation
We find ourselves in a pre-paradigmatic moment in which our technology has outpaced our theories of...
20th Mar 2025
We find ourselves in a pre-paradigmatic moment in which our technology has outpaced our theories of what to do with it.
The task of philosophy today is to catch up.
In his Long Now Talk, Philosopher of Technology Benjamin Bratton took us on a whirlwind philosophical journey...
Tikalon Blog by Dev...
A.I., Wine, and Beer
There have been many studies using scientific instrumentation, mostly gas chromatography, in...
10th Jun 2024
There have been many studies using scientific instrumentation, mostly gas chromatography, in attempts to find what distinguishes a superb wine from an inexpensive house wine. A typical wine can contain more than 800 different aroma compounds. One study examined two Australian...
Long Now
Emily Levine & Jill Tarter: Long Conversation 4 of 19
**This is one conversation out of the 19 that took place as part of the Long Conversation.[Media...
16th Oct 2010
**This is one conversation out of the 19 that took place as part of the Long Conversation.[Media links for the other Conversations are available here.](https://longnow.org/seminars/02010/oct/16/long-conversation/)**
Long Conversation, an epic relay of one-to-one conversations...
Quantum Frontiers
Mo’ heights mo’ challenges – Climbing mount grad school
My wife’s love of mountain hiking and my interest in quantum thermodynamics collided in Telluride,...
4th Oct 2022
My wife’s love of mountain hiking and my interest in quantum thermodynamics collided in Telluride, Colorado. We spent ten days in Telluride, where I spoke at the Information Engines at the Frontiers of Nanoscale Thermodynamics workshop. Telluride is a gorgeous … Continue reading...
Casey Handmer's blog
Terraform Talent Development
Originally posted at the Terraform Blog on November 17, 2025. Terraform Industries is the vehicle by...
24th Nov 2025
Originally posted at the Terraform Blog on November 17, 2025. Terraform Industries is the vehicle by which I build the people that build the team I need to build the future I am determined to build. One of the unexpected privileges of founding an ambitious, future-oriented...
NeuroLogica Blog
2023 Hottest Year on Record
What everyone knew was coming is now official – 2023 was the warmest year on record. This means we...
2nd Jan 2024
What everyone knew was coming is now official – 2023 was the warmest year on record. This means we can also say that the last 10 years are the hottest decade on record. 2023 dethrones 2016 as the previous warmest year and bumps 2010 out of the top 10. Further, in the last half of...
wadertales
Moult, captured on camera
Autumn moult is an important part of the annual cycle of migratory shorebirds, typically squeezed in...
9th Oct 2025
Autumn moult is an important part of the annual cycle of migratory shorebirds, typically squeezed in between chick-rearing and the onset of winter. The process of changing an individual’s feathers lasts as long as the whole of the breeding season but is far well less well...
The Quanta Podcast
New Life Found That Lives Off Electricity
Scientists have figured out how microbes can suck energy from rocks. Such lifeforms might be more...
7th Jul 2016
Scientists have figured out how microbes can suck energy from rocks. Such lifeforms might be more widespread than anyone anticipated.
The post New Life Found That Lives Off Electricity first appeared on Quanta Magazine
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...
1st Jun 2023
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...
Eukaryote Writes...
Defending against hypothetical moon life during Apollo 11
This is how a completely abstract argument about alien germs was taken seriously and mitigated at...
7th Jan 2024
This is how a completely abstract argument about alien germs was taken seriously and mitigated at great effort and expense during the 1969 Apollo landing.
Beautiful Public...
Utah Highway LiDAR Scans
Utah's Department of Transportation uses state-of-the-art 3-D laser scanners to capture the surfaces...
3rd Oct 2022
Utah's Department of Transportation uses state-of-the-art 3-D laser scanners to capture the surfaces and area surrounding 15,000 miles of its roads.
The Works in...
Upzoning New Zealand
How a small country started building a lot of homes
1st Feb 2024
How a small country started building a lot of homes
Conservation...
‘Surf and turf’ can have carbon footprint of cross-country road trip: study
16th Jan 2024
Yale E360
In an Already Broiling Summer, El Niño Is About to Turn Up the Heat
El Niño is expected to intensify in the weeks ahead, fueling more severe heat across the globe,...
3rd Aug 2026
El Niño is expected to intensify in the weeks ahead, fueling more severe heat across the globe, according to the U.N. World Meteorological Organization. The forecast comes as blistering heat shatters temperature records from Europe to Asia.
Read more on E360 →
nanoscale views
Vortices everywhere
The 2026 APS Oliver E. Buckley Prize in condensed matter physics was announced this week, and it's a...
8th Nov 2025
The 2026 APS Oliver E. Buckley Prize in condensed matter physics was announced this week, and it's a really interesting combination of topics that, to a lay person, may seem to be completely unrelated.
Fig. 1 from this follow-up PRB.
On the one hand, John Reppy (at age 94!)...
Stephen Wolfram...
What Can We Learn about Engineering and Innovation from Half a Century of the Game of Life Cellular...
Metaengineering and Laws of Innovation Things are invented. Things are discovered. And somehow...
18th Mar 2025
Metaengineering and Laws of Innovation Things are invented. Things are discovered. And somehow there’s an arc of progress that’s formed. But are there what amount to “laws of innovation” that govern that arc of progress? There are some exponential and other laws that purport to...
Quanta Magazine
When Data Is Missing, Scientists Guess. Then Guess Again.
Across the social and biological sciences, statisticians use a technique that leverages randomness...
2nd Oct 2024
Across the social and biological sciences, statisticians use a technique that leverages randomness to deal with the unknown.
The post When Data Is Missing, Scientists Guess. Then Guess Again. first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Works in Progress...
Advancing antivenom
Snakebites kill between 80,000 and 140,000 people every year. Better antivenom should be a high...
8th Dec 2022
Snakebites kill between 80,000 and 140,000 people every year. Better antivenom should be a high priority – thankfully new technology can help.
Asterisk
The Case for Insect Consciousness
The evidence that insects feel pain is mounting, however we approach the issue.
1st Jan 2025
The evidence that insects feel pain is mounting, however we approach the issue.
Stephen Wolfram...
What Is Ruliology?
Ruliology is taking off! And more and more people are talking about it. But what is ruliology? Since...
12th Jan 2026
Ruliology is taking off! And more and more people are talking about it. But what is ruliology? Since I invented the term, I decided I should write something to explain it. But then I realized: I actually already wrote something back in 2021 when I first invented the term. What I...
Works in Progress...
The decline and fall of the British economy
When America’s economy overtook Britain’s a century ago, it remade the world order. How it happened...
21st Jul 2022
When America’s economy overtook Britain’s a century ago, it remade the world order. How it happened is still debated.
Stephen Wolfram...
Games between Programs: The Ruliology of Competition
The Basic Setup
Whether one’s dealing with biology, economics, politics or a host of other fields,...
4th Jun 2026
The Basic Setup
Whether one’s dealing with biology, economics, politics or a host of other fields, it’s common to encounter situations that can be modeled as involving two agents that repeatedly compete with each other. One imagines that at each step each agent can take one of a...
Conservation...
A climate ally needs support — but at what cost?
8th Jul 2025
Sean Carroll
367 | Jared Diamond on the Course of History and the Role of Leaders
The course of history is affected by many things, including the political and social situations of...
a week ago
The course of history is affected by many things, including the political and social situations of large groups of people, […]
The Quanta Podcast
Machine Learning’s ‘Amazing’ Ability to Predict Chaos
In new computer experiments, artificial-intelligence algorithms can tell the future of chaotic...
14th Feb 2019
In new computer experiments, artificial-intelligence algorithms can tell the future of chaotic systems.
The post Machine Learning’s ‘Amazing’ Ability to Predict Chaos first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Damn Interesting
A Taste of Italy
In the mid-1800s, Italy was consumed by two parallel fights: one to rid itself of Austrian...
14th May 2021
In the mid-1800s, Italy was consumed by two parallel fights: one to rid itself of Austrian domination (a holdover from the Holy Roman Empire) and the other for unification. At the time, Europe’s boot was a curious conglomeration of separate states, not all of which got along....
Probably...
Confidence In the Press
This is the fifth in a series of excerpts from Elements of Data Science, now available from Lulu.com...
4th Jan 2025
This is the fifth in a series of excerpts from Elements of Data Science, now available from Lulu.com and online booksellers. It’s based on Chapter 16, which is part of the political alignment case study. You can read the complete example here, or run the Jupyter notebook on...
SubAnima
Have We Already Found Life On Mars?
Definitions are a funny thing..
4th May 2022
Definitions are a funny thing..
Damn Interesting
A Blight on Soviet Science
On a hazy afternoon in March 1927, a Russian scientist was walking through the dense forests of...
4th Mar 2021
On a hazy afternoon in March 1927, a Russian scientist was walking through the dense forests of Abyssinia, ducking under low-hanging branches and stopping to inspect the wild coffee trees lining his path. Accompanied by a group of local guides, the young traveller had been hiking...
Cremieux Recueil
Fast Fact Check: Does Hep B Vaccination Cause Autism?
Obviously not
5th Mar 2026
Uncharted...
Should You Be Able to Experiment on Your Own Cancer?
A researcher in virology and immunotherapy got bad news: Her cancer was back with a vengeance; the...
26th Sep 2024
A researcher in virology and immunotherapy got bad news: Her cancer was back with a vengeance; the treatments weren’t working. She decided to treat it herself.
The Works in...
The prehistoric psychopath
Life in the state of nature was less violent than you might think. But this made them vulnerable to...
1st Apr 2025
Life in the state of nature was less violent than you might think. But this made them vulnerable to a few psychopaths.
Works in Progress...
Against the survival of the prettiest
Many modern buildings put up today seem uglier than traditional ones around them. Some say this is...
21st Jan 2022
Many modern buildings put up today seem uglier than traditional ones around them. Some say this is because we’ve torn down the ugly old buildings, and only see the survivors. Are they right?
Quanta Magazine
Covid-19 mRNA Vaccines Win Nobel Prize for Medicine 2023
Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman have been awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine...
2nd Oct 2023
Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman have been awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries leading to mRNA vaccines, such as those that protect against COVID-19.
The post Covid-19 mRNA Vaccines Win Nobel Prize for Medicine 2023 first appeared on...
Long Now
Jennifer Granick: Modern Surveillance: Why You Should Care and What You Can Do
The future of privacy begins with the current state of surveillance. The 21st century practices of...
4th May 2020
The future of privacy begins with the current state of surveillance. The 21st century practices of US intelligence agencies push the technological, legal and political limits of lawful surveillance. Jennifer Granick is a civil liberties and privacy law expert with the American...
Peder M. Isager
Typography Styles & Element Examples
Font Sizes A A A A A A A A 6rem
(96px) 5rem
(80px) 3rem
(48px) 2.25rem
(36px) 1.5rem
(24px)...
18th Feb 2019
Font Sizes A A A A A A A A 6rem
(96px) 5rem
(80px) 3rem
(48px) 2.25rem
(36px) 1.5rem
(24px) 1.25rem
(20px) 1rem
(16px) .875rem
(14px) Type Samples Headline Subheadline Level 1 Heading One page to rule them all...well, not really. This page displays sample typography and page...
Long Now
Daniel Everett: Endangered languages, lost knowledge and the future
### Language Revolution
The Piraha tribe in the heart of the Amazon numbers only 360, spread in...
21st Mar 2009
### Language Revolution
The Piraha tribe in the heart of the Amazon numbers only 360, spread in small groups over 300 miles. An exceptionally cheerful people, they live with a focus on immediacy, empiricism, and physical rigor that has shaped their unique language, claims...
The Quanta Podcast
The Brain Processes Speech in Parallel With Other Sounds
Scientists thought that the brain’s hearing centers might just process speech along with other...
6th Jan 2022
Scientists thought that the brain’s hearing centers might just process speech along with other sounds. But new work suggests that speech gets some special treatment very early on.
The post The Brain Processes Speech in Parallel With Other Sounds first appeared on...
Chris Grossack's...
Monoidal Monoidoidoids
So I was on the nlab the other day, and I saw a fantastic joke:
A 2-category is “just” a monoidal...
21st Aug 2022
So I was on the nlab the other day, and I saw a fantastic joke:
A 2-category is “just” a monoidal monoidoidoid! Here’s a screenshot
in case the nlab page for 2-categories changes someday:
There’s a thing called the Category Theorist’s “Just”, which describes
the joy that many...
Cremieux Recueil
Statins and Strength
Does lowering your LDL and saving your heart mean sacrificing muscular strength? No.
6th May 2026
Does lowering your LDL and saving your heart mean sacrificing muscular strength? No.
wadertales
How are migration sites connected?
Which are the most important migration sites and how are breeding, moulting, staging and wintering...
9th Jan 2025
Which are the most important migration sites and how are breeding, moulting, staging and wintering locations linked? Forty-four authors have collaborated to bring together ringing, colour-ringing and GPS tracking data in a paper entitled Site-level connectivity identified from...
lcamtuf’s thing
How much of HN is AI?
I have a complicated relationship with Hacker News. The site is the most important aggregator of...
12th Mar 2026
I have a complicated relationship with Hacker News. The site is the most important aggregator of geek news and a major source of traffic to this blog. At the same time, it has a fair number of toxic commenters, making it a dependable source of insults hurled in my general...
Yale E360
Suburban Sprawl Puts Western Homes at Risk from Wildfires
Recent fires in Spokane, Washington, and Reno, Nevada, illustrate the risks from suburban sprawl,...
2 weeks ago
Recent fires in Spokane, Washington, and Reno, Nevada, illustrate the risks from suburban sprawl, experts say. In both cities, encroaching flames burned homes built at the edge of wilderness.
Read more on E360 →
The Quanta Podcast
Brightest-Ever Space Explosion Reveals Possible Hints of Dark Matter
A recent gamma-ray burst known as the BOAT — “brightest of all time” — appears to have produced a...
1st Mar 2023
A recent gamma-ray burst known as the BOAT — “brightest of all time” — appears to have produced a high-energy particle that shouldn’t exist. For some, dark matter provides the explanation. Read more at QuantaMagazine.org. Music is “Pulse” by Geographer.
Yale E360
Bizarre New Creatures Discovered 30,000 Feet Under the Sea
The Titanic lies about 12,500 feet under the ocean. The pressure down there is so immense that even...
1st Aug 2025
The Titanic lies about 12,500 feet under the ocean. The pressure down there is so immense that even submersibles supposedly built for those conditions can, as we know, tragically fail. Now imagine taking a sub nearly three times deeper.
Read more on E360 →
Willem Pennings
Fixing my heating system
The heating system in my apartment building consists of a group of heat pumps that deliver warm...
3rd May 2024
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...
Uncharted...
The Race between Waymo, Cybercab, and Uber
One of the big tech transformations of 2026 will be robotaxis.
1st Jan 2026
One of the big tech transformations of 2026 will be robotaxis.
Quanta Magazine
Scientists Find a Fast Way to Describe Quantum Systems
After years of false starts, a team of computer scientists has found a way to efficiently deduce the...
1st May 2024
After years of false starts, a team of computer scientists has found a way to efficiently deduce the Hamiltonian of a physical system at any constant temperature.
The post Scientists Find a Fast Way to Describe Quantum Systems first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Quantum Frontiers
Nicole’s guide to interviewing for faculty positions
Snow is haunting weather forecasts, home owners are taking down Christmas lights, stores are...
5th Jan 2026
Snow is haunting weather forecasts, home owners are taking down Christmas lights, stores are discounting exercise equipment, and faculty-hiring committees are winnowing down applications. In-person interviews often take place between January and March but can extend from December...
Long Now
Neil Gaiman: How Stories Last
## How stories last
Stories are alive. The ones that last, Gaiman said, outcompete other stories by...
10th Jun 2015
## How stories last
Stories are alive. The ones that last, Gaiman said, outcompete other stories by changing over time. They make it from medium to medium—from oral to written to film and beyond. They lose uninteresting elements but hold on to the most compelling bits or even...
Drew Ex Machina
First Pictures: Earthrise from Apollo 8 – December 24, 1968
The year 1968 was a tumultuous one in the US with many political and cultural changes punctuated by...
24th Dec 2023
The year 1968 was a tumultuous one in the US with many political and cultural changes punctuated by the assassination of prominent public figures, violent protests […]
Long Now
Rick Prelinger: Lost Landscapes of San Francisco
### Four Dimensional Cities
Cities are designed and built in three dimensions. Watching...
20th Dec 2008
### Four Dimensional Cities
Cities are designed and built in three dimensions. Watching Prelinger's historic footage of San Francisco last night (to a more than overflowing crowd) reminds us however that one of the most compelling dimensions to a city is its fourth dimension -...
Peder M. Isager
Quantifying the corroboration of a finding
A summary of the pros and cons of multiple candidate statistics.
12th Apr 2019
A summary of the pros and cons of multiple candidate statistics.
Melting Asphalt
2015 Meta
Time for my annual blogging review. And only 11 days late! I'll keep it brief. Blog stats I...
11th Jan 2016
Time for my annual blogging review. And only 11 days late! I'll keep it brief. Blog stats I published a paltry six full essays this year. Don't get me wrong: I'm proud of them. But still, six. It would be…
Read more ›
SubAnima
How NOT To Think About Cells
Are we all just running on molecular clockwork?
14th Oct 2022
Are we all just running on molecular clockwork?
Probably...
Trust and Well-Being
In a previous article, I claimed that Young adults are not very happy. Now the World Happiness...
3rd Apr 2026
In a previous article, I claimed that Young adults are not very happy. Now the World Happiness Report 2026 has confirmed that young people in North America and Western Europe are less happy than they were fifteen years ago, and less happy than previous generations. In this...
Drew Ex Machina
Pioneer 3: JPL’s First Moonshot Attempt
With the new push by the United States and other space faring powers to renew the exploration of the...
6th Dec 2022
With the new push by the United States and other space faring powers to renew the exploration of the Moon, miniaturized spacecraft have been made part […]
Works in Progress...
Why Japan has such good railways
Japan’s railways are the finest in the world. Other countries can copy its formula.
7th Apr 2026
Japan’s railways are the finest in the world. Other countries can copy its formula.
Andrew Fraknoi –...
128 New Moons Found Around Saturn
An international team of astronomers announced recently that they had discovered 128 new, small...
9th Apr 2025
An international team of astronomers announced recently that they had discovered 128 new, small moons orbiting the planet Saturn. That brings the total number of moons known around the ringed planet to 274, breaking all planetary records. Jupiter, the runner-up, has “only” 95...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Weird health insurance concepts | Out-Of-Pocket
Intercompany eliminations, copay shenanigans, and reference-based pricing
6th Nov 2024
Intercompany eliminations, copay shenanigans, and reference-based pricing
Uncharted...
How to Beat Cancer with Viruses: An Interview with Beata Halassy
How viruses kill cancers, which viruses to use, how many injections, at what stage of the cancer,...
1st Oct 2024
How viruses kill cancers, which viruses to use, how many injections, at what stage of the cancer, and much more
Bartosz Ciechanowski
Mechanical Watch
In the world of modern portable devices, it may be hard to believe that merely a few decades ago the...
4th May 2022
In the world of modern portable devices, it may be hard to believe that merely a few decades ago the most convenient way to keep track of time was a mechanical watch. Unlike their quartz and smart siblings, mechanical watches can run without using any batteries or other...
Andrew Fraknoi –...
Enjoy the Coming Leap Day: Some Thoughts about the Calendar
This year February will have an extra day -- we discuss why?
The post Enjoy the Coming Leap Day: ...
12th Feb 2024
This year February will have an extra day -- we discuss why?
The post Enjoy the Coming Leap Day: Some Thoughts about the Calendar appeared first on Andrew Fraknoi - Astronomy Lectures - Astronomy Education Resources.
Probably...
Think Linear Algebra
I have published the first five chapters of Think Linear Algebra! You can read them here or follow...
22nd Sep 2025
I have published the first five chapters of Think Linear Algebra! You can read them here or follow these links to run the notebooks on Colab. Here are the chapters I have so far: Chapter 1: The Power of Linear AlgebraIntroduces matrix multiplication and eigenvectors through a...
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...
12th Jan 2023
The inspiration for computed tomography (CT) came from a chance conversation that research engineer Godfrey Hounsfield had with a doctor while on vacation in the 1960s. The physician complained that X-ray images of the brain were too grainy and only two-dimensional.
Hounsfield...
NeuroLogica Blog
BBC Gets Into UFOs
Paranormal phenomena tend to wax and wane in the public interest. Typically a generation will become...
1st Jul 2024
Paranormal phenomena tend to wax and wane in the public interest. Typically a generation will become fascinated with a topic, but eventually the novelty will wear thin and interest will fade. But the flame will be kept alive by the hardcore believers. Wait long enough, and...
The Works in...
Flipping the switch on far-UVC
We’ve known about far-UVC’s promise for a decade. Why isn't it everywhere?
10th Mar 2025
We’ve known about far-UVC’s promise for a decade. Why isn't it everywhere?
Conservation...
Landmark debt swap to protect Indonesia’s coral reefs
15th Jan 2025
The Works in...
Issue 17: No great stagnation in cruise ships
Plus: animals as chemical factories, how progress lost its glamour, and how Madrid built 120 miles...
5th Dec 2024
Plus: animals as chemical factories, how progress lost its glamour, and how Madrid built 120 miles of metro in twelve years.
SubAnima
Can Biology Be Reduced To Physics?
"Physics is the most fundamental and all-inclusive of the sciences." Or is it?
11th Nov 2022
"Physics is the most fundamental and all-inclusive of the sciences." Or is it?
Long Now
Rip Anderson & Gwyneth Cravens: Power to Save the World
### Nuclear Footprint
In the early 1980s Gwyneth Cravens was one of the protesters against the...
15th Sep 2007
### Nuclear Footprint
In the early 1980s Gwyneth Cravens was one of the protesters against the Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant on Long Island, and also participated in ban-the-bomb rallies. After 15 years of deepening familiarity with nuclear power, she says she still would ban the...
SubAnima
You've Been Lied To About Genetics
Should we give Mendel's peas a chance? Nah, we've moved on.
20th Jan 2023
Should we give Mendel's peas a chance? Nah, we've moved on.
Confessions of a...
Shark Bay: a pristine template for marine ecosystems worldwide
Here in Western Australia, we are lucky to be in the global centre of seagrass diversity. As such,...
13th Aug 2013
Here in Western Australia, we are lucky to be in the global centre of seagrass diversity. As such, we have a coastline dominated by many different species of seagrasses – from large, temperate seagrasses like Posidonia australis to small, tropical species like Halodule...
IEEE Spectrum
The Saga of AD-X2, the Battery Additive That Roiled the NBS
Senate hearings, a post office ban, the resignation of the director of the National Bureau of...
1st Aug 2024
Senate hearings, a post office ban, the resignation of the director of the National Bureau of Standards, and his reinstatement after more than 400 scientists threatened to resign. Who knew a little box of salt could stir up such drama?
What was AD-X2?
It all started in 1947 when...
Peder M. Isager
Which variables to control for, and why
In this post, we will use a practical example to explore the power of statistical control,...
17th Nov 2025
In this post, we will use a practical example to explore the power of statistical control, explaining why adjusting for the right variables clarifies relationships and why adjusting for the wrong ones can introduce new, serious biases.
Chris Grossack's...
$\mathsf{B}\text{Diff}(\Sigma)$ Classifies $\Sigma$-bundles
I’ve been trying to learn all about topological (quantum) field theories, the
cobordism hypothesis,...
21st Dec 2024
I’ve been trying to learn all about topological (quantum) field theories, the
cobordism hypothesis, and how to use $(\infty,n)$-categories. This is all
in service of some stuff I’m doing with skein algebras (which are part of a
“$3+1$ TQFT” often named after Crane–Yetter, but...
Long Now
Richard Kurin: American History in 101 Objects
### American objects
Figuratively holding up one museum item after another, Kurin spun tales from...
19th Nov 2013
### American objects
Figuratively holding up one museum item after another, Kurin spun tales from them. (The Smithsonian has 137 million objects; he displayed just thirty or so.)
The Burgess Shale shows fossilized soft-tissue creatures ("very early North Americans") from 500...
Asterisk
Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart AIs Are?
Scientists have repeatedly failed to recognize the complexity of animal cognition. Will we make the...
1st Jun 2023
Scientists have repeatedly failed to recognize the complexity of animal cognition. Will we make the same mistakes with AI?
The Quanta Podcast
Neutrinos Lead to Unexpected Discovery in Basic Math
Three physicists stumbled across an unexpected relationship between some of the most ubiquitous...
8th Oct 2020
Three physicists stumbled across an unexpected relationship between some of the most ubiquitous objects in math.
The post Neutrinos Lead to Unexpected Discovery in Basic Math first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Drew Ex Machina
First Pictures: View of the Earth from NASA’s Explorer 6 – August 14, 1959
Today we take for granted that we can instantly access images of almost any part of the Earth taken...
14th Aug 2024
Today we take for granted that we can instantly access images of almost any part of the Earth taken from space using an ever growing collection […]
Explorations of an...
A Month In Northern Peru, Part 18: Wattled Curassows at Muyuna Lodge (February 26, 2024)
February 26, 2024
As dawn broke, Laura, Moises and I slowly cruised along a quiet watercourse. The...
4th Apr 2025
February 26, 2024
As dawn broke, Laura, Moises and I slowly cruised along a quiet watercourse. The dawn chorus was active and included species like Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl, Zimmer's Woodcreeper and Black-tailed Antbird, but I stayed focused on the treeline, hoping that a...
Stephen Wolfram...
What If We Had Bigger Brains? Imagining Minds beyond Ours
Cats Don’t Talk
We humans have perhaps 100 billion neurons in our brains. But what if we had many...
21st May 2025
Cats Don’t Talk
We humans have perhaps 100 billion neurons in our brains. But what if we had many more? Or what if the AIs we built effectively had many more? What kinds of things might then become possible? At 100 billion neurons, we know, for example, that compositional...
Peder M. Isager
Ganging Up on Psychological Science
Sometimes, the costs of doing good science outgrow the resources available to the individual...
31st Aug 2018
Sometimes, the costs of doing good science outgrow the resources available to the individual scientist. Large scale collaboration projects are quickly becoming our best tool for dealing with this problem in psychology.
The Quanta Podcast
Sphere Packing Solved in Higher Dimensions
The Ukrainian mathematician Maryna Viazovska has solved the centuries-old sphere-packing problem in...
7th Apr 2016
The Ukrainian mathematician Maryna Viazovska has solved the centuries-old sphere-packing problem in dimensions eight and 24.
The post Sphere Packing Solved in Higher Dimensions first appeared on Quanta Magazine
wadertales
A Whimbrel’s year
There’s a lot to fit into twelve months if you’re a Whimbrel. In the last paper from his PhD, Camilo...
22nd Sep 2022
There’s a lot to fit into twelve months if you’re a Whimbrel. In the last paper from his PhD, Camilo Carneiro assesses whether Icelandic Whimbrel can always manage to complete the annual cycle of migrate-breed-fatten-migrate-moult-fatten in just 365 days. What happens if a pair...
Cremieux Recueil
Your Allergies Are Probably Fake
You might be avoiding medications that don't do anything to you
4th Feb 2026
You might be avoiding medications that don't do anything to you
Conservation...
In climate fight, ‘nature vs tech’ a false debate
2nd Dec 2024
Damn Interesting
This is Dang Interesting
Happy New Year! This has nothing to do with the new year.
We at this website know, reluctantly, that...
2nd Jan 2023
Happy New Year! This has nothing to do with the new year.
We at this website know, reluctantly, that “d*mn” is not always a welcome word. Additionally, we are aware that we have a few articles sporting even saltier vocabularies (settle down, Colonel Sanders!). Countless school...
Long Now
Paul Hawken: The Long Green
### The long green
The environmental movement has moved on. It has become so deep and wide that it...
16th Oct 2004
### The long green
The environmental movement has moved on. It has become so deep and wide that it adds up to something new entirely, still unnamed. Whatever it is, it is now the largest movement in the world and the least ideological. Driven by science and patience, it is...
Andrew Fraknoi –...
Eclipse of the Sun Coming in One Week
Saturday Oct. 14 North America will be treated to an eclipse of the Sun.
The post Eclipse of the Sun...
8th Oct 2023
Saturday Oct. 14 North America will be treated to an eclipse of the Sun.
The post Eclipse of the Sun Coming in One Week appeared first on Andrew Fraknoi - Astronomy Lectures - Astronomy Education Resources.
Light from Space
Andromeda: Our Galactic Neighbor
Many things have been said about the Andromeda Galaxy, arguably the most majestic galaxy that...
27th Sep 2024
Many things have been said about the Andromeda Galaxy, arguably the most majestic galaxy that amateur astronomers can image due to it's sheer size in the sky—many times larger than the Moon appears to us, but also many times dimmer.
With the naked eye, even in
Probably...
Think Java, but interactive
The online version of Think Java now features interactive widgets that run the code examples in the...
3 weeks ago
The online version of Think Java now features interactive widgets that run the code examples in the browser. For readers, it means you can try out the examples, modify them, and test your code. And for us it means we can publish an interactive version of the book without...
Long Now
Geoffrey B West: Why Cities Keep on Growing, Corporations Always Die, and Life Gets Faster
### Superlinear Cities
"It's hard to kill a city," West began, "but easy to kill a company." The...
26th Jul 2011
### Superlinear Cities
"It's hard to kill a city," West began, "but easy to kill a company." The mean life of companies is 10 years. Cities routinely survive even nuclear bombs. And "cities are the crucible of civilization." They are the major source of innovation and wealth...
IEEE Spectrum
Ethernet is Still Going Strong After 50 Years
The Xerox Palo Alto Research Center in California has spawned many pioneering computer technologies...
16th Nov 2023
The Xerox Palo Alto Research Center in California has spawned many pioneering computer technologies including the Alto—the first personal computer to use a graphical user interface—and the first laser printer.
The PARC facility also is known for the invention of Ethernet, a...
Long Now
Robert Fuller: Patient Revolution: Human Rights Past and Future
### The culminating human right
What does it take to change human habits of cruelty (such as...
13th Aug 2005
### The culminating human right
What does it take to change human habits of cruelty (such as slavery, genocide) and humiliation (racism, sexism)?
What do past and present efforts for human rights tell about their future?…
Robert Fuller is author of the ground-breaking...
Inverted Passion
Crossposting from X to my WordPress
Today I built a nifty little utility that monitors which of my tweets has /syndicated tag in it, and...
10th Jan 2026
Today I built a nifty little utility that monitors which of my tweets has /syndicated tag in it, and then crossposts automatically to my blog (invertedpassion). This is done via webhooks from Typefully, the app I use to post my tweets. If all goes well, I should see this both as...
Long Now
Spencer Beebe: Very Long-term Very Large-scale Biomimicry
### The rainforests of home
Spencer Beebe is founder and head of Ecotrust, the Portland-based...
12th Mar 2005
### The rainforests of home
Spencer Beebe is founder and head of Ecotrust, the Portland-based organization that is setting in motion a permanently prosperous conservation economy for the entire Pacific Coast from San Francisco north to Alaska-- the temperate rain forest also...
Andrew Fraknoi –...
Good Meteor Shower Coming August 11-12
The Perseid Meteor Shower is one of the best of the year for the untrained observer
The post Good...
27th Jul 2024
The Perseid Meteor Shower is one of the best of the year for the untrained observer
The post Good Meteor Shower Coming August 11-12 appeared first on Andrew Fraknoi - Astronomy Lectures - Astronomy Education Resources.
Blog - Practical...
Why Are There No Short Arch Dams?
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.]
Flaming Gorge Dam rises from...
5th Aug 2025
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.]
Flaming Gorge Dam rises from the Green River in northern Utah like a concrete wedge driven into the canyon, anchored against the sheer rock walls that flank it. It’s quintessential, in a way. It’s what we...
Marine Madness
Book Club: ‘The Island of Sea Women’ by Lisa See
Little is known about Jeju- a Korean island- occupied by brutal Japanese troops in the 1930s and...
1st Sep 2021
Little is known about Jeju- a Korean island- occupied by brutal Japanese troops in the 1930s and ’40s, later liberated by US forces and turned over to the even more barbarous Korean regime whose wrongdoings were overlooked by both American and U.N. occupiers. Lisa See travels...
Peder M. Isager
Proposing a theory committee at the Psychological Science Accelerator
(written in collaboration with Nicholas A. Coles)
The Psychological Science Accelerator (PSA) is a...
25th Aug 2019
(written in collaboration with Nicholas A. Coles)
The Psychological Science Accelerator (PSA) is a global network of psychological laboratories that organizes large-scale empirical research projects. The organization aims “to accelerate the accumulation of reliable and...
Drew Ex Machina
The Dream: The First Probe to the Moon
The past decade or so has seen a marked increase in interest to reach the Moon for exploration as...
2nd Jan 2024
The past decade or so has seen a marked increase in interest to reach the Moon for exploration as well as the potential exploitation of its […]
Andrew Fraknoi –...
Good Meteor Shower This Week
Wednesday evening and Thursday morning (Dec. 13-14) is the peak time for one of the best meteor...
10th Dec 2023
Wednesday evening and Thursday morning (Dec. 13-14) is the peak time for one of the best meteor showers of the year – the Geminids.
The post Good Meteor Shower This Week appeared first on Andrew Fraknoi - Astronomy Lectures - Astronomy Education Resources.
Works in Progress...
Advancing antivenom
Snakebites kill between 80,000 and 140,000 people every year. Better antivenom should be a high...
8th Dec 2022
Snakebites kill between 80,000 and 140,000 people every year. Better antivenom should be a high priority – thankfully new technology can help.
Eukaryote Writes...
Speciesquest 2026
A multiplayer distributed game where you find as many species in a year as you can.
31st Dec 2025
A multiplayer distributed game where you find as many species in a year as you can.
Long Now
David Rumsey: Mapping Time
### Maps and time
David Rumsey's spectacularly illustrated lecture, "Mapping Time" is not just...
15th May 2004
### Maps and time
David Rumsey's spectacularly illustrated lecture, "Mapping Time" is not just about maps. It is the future of data and knowledge handling. People literally gasp at the things Rumsey shows can be done.
I love it when techies, artists, and historians all gasp at...
Andrew Fraknoi –...
A 1-Day Virtual Symposium on Future of Astronomy
For those of you with a deeper interest in astronomy and how we learn about the universe, this may...
8th Aug 2025
For those of you with a deeper interest in astronomy and how we learn about the universe, this may be of interest. There is a good discount if you register before Aug. 10. The Astronomical Society of the Pacific Presents: Eyes on the Cosmos: Cutting Edge Instruments and Ideas in...
pcloadletter
Generative AI will probably make blogs better
Generative AI will probably make blogs better.
Have you ever searched for something on Google and...
30th May 2025
Generative AI will probably make blogs better.
Have you ever searched for something on Google and found the first one, two, or three blog posts to be utter nonsense? That's because these blog posts have been optimized not for human consumption, but rather to entertain the search...
Beautiful Public...
The Naughty Words the FAA Removed From the Sky
New FOIA records from the FAA shed light on the frantic effort in 2015 to rename navigation...
28th May 2024
New FOIA records from the FAA shed light on the frantic effort in 2015 to rename navigation waypoints related to Donald Trump and reveal the list of naughty waypoint names that were changed over the years.
brr
Polar Night
Surreal and otherworldly.
22nd May 2023
Surreal and otherworldly.
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Patient Messaging Conundrum pt. 2 | Out-Of-Pocket
Some thoughts from an academic, a behavioral scientist, a patient, and more
3rd Oct 2023
Some thoughts from an academic, a behavioral scientist, a patient, and more
Uncharted...
How Can Europe Improve Its Immigration
Through getting better immigrants, rejecting coutnerproductive ones, and managing the existing ones...
2nd Jun 2026
Through getting better immigrants, rejecting coutnerproductive ones, and managing the existing ones better.
NeuroLogica Blog
It’s Just A Correlation
Did you know that the number of Google searches for cat memes correlates tightly (P-value < 0.01)...
5th Aug 2025
Did you know that the number of Google searches for cat memes correlates tightly (P-value < 0.01) with England’s performance in cricket World Cups? What’s going on here? Is interest in funny cat videos driven by the excitement created by cricket victories. Perhaps cat memes are...
Long Now
Peter Schwartz: The Art Of The Really Long View
### The art of the really long view
For such a weighty subject there was a lot of guffawing going...
13th Dec 2003
### The art of the really long view
For such a weighty subject there was a lot of guffawing going on in the Seminar Thursday night.
The topic was "The Art of the Really Long View." Peter Schwartz chatted through his slides for tonight's lecture, then the discussion waded in....
Works in Progress...
Liberté, égalité, radioactivité
France built 40 nuclear reactors in a decade. Here’s how they did it, and how the world can follow...
4th Sep 2025
France built 40 nuclear reactors in a decade. Here’s how they did it, and how the world can follow their lead today.
lcamtuf’s thing
See it with your lying ears
This blog has a history of answering questions that no one should be asking. Today, we continue that...
10th Jan 2026
This blog has a history of answering questions that no one should be asking. Today, we continue that proud legacy.
Explorations of an...
Borneo: Ridiculous Mothing At Trus Madi Entomology Camp
When doing research on the few possible "lifer" birds that I could find on this trip to Sabah, and...
14th Dec 2024
When doing research on the few possible "lifer" birds that I could find on this trip to Sabah, and in particular, looking for sites to find the Bornean Frogmouth, I read about the Trus Madi Entomology Camp. This piqued my interest, as there is almost nothing I like more than...
Long Now
Wade Davis: The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World
### Native guidance
What does it mean to be human and alive?
The thousands of different cultures...
14th Jan 2010
### Native guidance
What does it mean to be human and alive?
The thousands of different cultures and languages on Earth have compellingly different answers to that question. "We are a wildly imaginative and creative species," Davis declared, and then proved it with his accounts...
IEEE Spectrum
Why the Art of Invention Is Always Being Reinvented
Every invention begins with a problem—and the creative act of seeing a problem where others might...
1st Nov 2024
Every invention begins with a problem—and the creative act of seeing a problem where others might just see unchangeable reality. For one 5-year-old, the problem was simple: She liked to have her tummy rubbed as she fell asleep. But her mom, exhausted from working two jobs, often...
Probably...
The Frog Puzzle
Here’s a probability puzzle from a TED-Ed video called Can you solve the frog riddle? by Derek...
4th Jun 2026
Here’s a probability puzzle from a TED-Ed video called Can you solve the frog riddle? by Derek Abbott. It came up recently in this Reddit thread: You’re stranded in a rainforest after accidentally eating a poisonous mushroom. To survive the poison, you need to lick a certain...
Long Now
Mary Catherine Bateson: Live Longer, Think Longer
### Parenting Earth
The birth of a first child is the most intense disruption that most adults...
10th Feb 2011
### Parenting Earth
The birth of a first child is the most intense disruption that most adults experience. Suddenly the new parents have no sleep, no social life, no sex, and they have to keep up with a child that changes from week to week. "Two ignorant adults learn from the...
The Quanta Podcast
Will We Ever Be Able To Forecast Volcanic Eruptions Like Weather?
Volcano forecasting can save countless lives. But most of the time warnings are more like educated...
7th Jul 2026
Volcano forecasting can save countless lives. But most of the time warnings are more like educated guesses. How close are we to forecasting volcano behavior the way we forecast the weather? On this episode of The Quanta Podcast, host Hannah Waters speaks with writer and volcano...
Works in Progress...
The beauty of concrete
Why are buildings today simple and austere, while buildings of the past were ornate and elaborately...
17th May 2024
Why are buildings today simple and austere, while buildings of the past were ornate and elaborately ornamented? The answer is not the cost of labor.
Eukaryote Writes...
Recommendation: reports on the search for missing hiker Bill Ewasko
How to find someone who has died in the wilderness.
31st Jul 2024
How to find someone who has died in the wilderness.
Casey Handmer's blog
How to build a crazy awesome Australian immigration system
The Australian immigration system must exclude dickheads, bullshitters, and bludgers. This post has...
10th Jun 2026
The Australian immigration system must exclude dickheads, bullshitters, and bludgers. This post has been inspired by Joe Walker’s recent set of three exemplary interviews (Martin Parkinson (former Treasury, author of 2023 migration review), Mark Cully (historian), Mike Pezzullo...
Asterisk
The Illogic of Nuclear Escalation
How much is enough? It’s the most basic question in the nuclear arms race. For over sixty years, few...
1st Nov 2022
How much is enough? It’s the most basic question in the nuclear arms race. For over sixty years, few have asked it, and even fewer have received an answer.
Uncharted...
How AI Will Change Media
Work with me to make it happen
3rd Apr 2026
Work with me to make it happen
Chris Grossack's...
Finiteness in Sheaf Topoi
The notion of “finiteness” is constructively subtle in ways that can be
tricky for people new to...
19th Aug 2024
The notion of “finiteness” is constructively subtle in ways that can be
tricky for people new to the subject to understand. For a while now I’ve
wanted to figure out what’s going on with the different versions of “finite”
in a way that felt concrete and obvious (I mentioned...
Casey Handmer's blog
Anti-aging tech fixes demographic collapse
With the latest studies on GLP-1 drugs showing not just a drop in all-cause mortality but also an...
2nd Sep 2024
With the latest studies on GLP-1 drugs showing not just a drop in all-cause mortality but also an apparent slowing of aging, I thought I’d write a quick note on how I think this technology, if it replicates, can drastically improve our lives. It’s hard to believe I’m writing...
Quanta Magazine
Tracing the Hidden Hand of Magnetism in the Galaxy
Susan Clark is helping to unravel the mysterious workings of the Milky Way’s magnetic field, a...
1st Jul 2024
Susan Clark is helping to unravel the mysterious workings of the Milky Way’s magnetic field, a critical missing piece of the galactic puzzle.
The post Tracing the Hidden Hand of Magnetism in the Galaxy first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Works in Progress...
Libraries of matter
Libraries contain books, yes. But they also contain latex rubber, carbon fiber fabrics, and graphene...
29th Aug 2024
Libraries contain books, yes. But they also contain latex rubber, carbon fiber fabrics, and graphene aerogel. And in some materials libraries you can cut, cast, drill, sand, scrape, and sculpt too.
IEEE Spectrum
How the Designer of the First Hydrogen Bomb Got the Gig
Richard Garwin is one of the most decorated and successful engineers of the 20th century. The IEEE...
2nd Sep 2024
Richard Garwin is one of the most decorated and successful engineers of the 20th century. The IEEE Life Fellow has won the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the National Medal of Science, France’s La Grande Médaille de l’Académie des Sciences, and is one of just a handful of people...
Long Now
John Baez: Zooming Out in Time
### Welcome to the Anthropocene
The graphs we see these days, John Baez began, all look vertical--...
14th Oct 2006
### Welcome to the Anthropocene
The graphs we see these days, John Baez began, all look vertical-- carbon burning shooting up, CO2 in the air shooting up, global temperature shooting up, and population still shooting up. How can we understand what really going on? "It's like...
Beautiful Public...
US Government UFO (UAP) Footage
For decades, the public suspected that the US Government was hiding secret intelligence about UFOs —...
10th Feb 2025
For decades, the public suspected that the US Government was hiding secret intelligence about UFOs — (now known as UAPs). Turns out…it kind of was.
Quantum Frontiers
Announcing the quantum-steampunk creative-writing course!
Why not run a quantum-steampunk creative-writing course? Quantum steampunk, as Quantum Frontiers...
19th Sep 2024
Why not run a quantum-steampunk creative-writing course? Quantum steampunk, as Quantum Frontiers regulars know, is the aesthetic and spirit of a growing scientific field. Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction. In it, futuristic technologies invade Victorian-era settings:...
ToughSF
Nuclear Conversion for Starship
There has been much discussion about converting the SpaceX Starship to use nuclear propulsion. It...
14th Oct 2021
There has been much discussion about converting the SpaceX Starship to use nuclear propulsion. It would allow for a great increase in specific impulse and a massive extension of mission capabilities.
But is it actually worthwhile?
The image above is modified from...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Weird issues in value-based care | Out-Of-Pocket
Thoughts on value-based care from people actually building in it
1st Oct 2024
Thoughts on value-based care from people actually building in it
Long Now
Steven Johnson: The Long Zoom
### Consilience defeats miasma
Steven Johnson began his long zoom survey with the "prior art" of...
12th May 2007
### Consilience defeats miasma
Steven Johnson began his long zoom survey with the "prior art" of Joyce's Stephen Daedalus locating himself in himself, his neighborhood, Dublin, on out to the universe. The value of a long zoom is in identifying and employing every scale between...
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