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The developing world needs more roads The cities of the developing world could be its growth engine if their streets were not so...
11th Nov 2025
1

The developing world needs more roads

from Works in Progress RSS Feed [alt+shift+b] in science

11th Nov 2025
The cities of the developing world could be its growth engine if their streets were not so gridlocked. The solution is laying out wider roads.
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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
51

The Unceasing Cessna Hacienda

from Damn Interesting [alt+shift+b] in science

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...
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Physicists Start To Pin Down How Stars Forge Heavy Atoms The precursors of heavy elements might arise in the plasma underbellies of swollen stars or in...
2nd Jul 2025
42

Physicists Start To Pin Down How Stars Forge Heavy Atoms

from Quanta Magazine [alt+shift+b] in science

2nd Jul 2025
The precursors of heavy elements might arise in the plasma underbellies of swollen stars or in smoldering stellar corpses. They definitely exist in East Lansing, Michigan. The post Physicists Start To Pin Down How Stars Forge Heavy Atoms first appeared on Quanta...
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Nestedly Recursive Functions Yet Another Ruliological Surprise Integers. Addition. Subtraction. Maybe multiplication. Surely...
27th Sep 2024
121

Nestedly Recursive Functions

from Stephen Wolfram Writings [alt+shift+b] in science

27th Sep 2024
Yet Another Ruliological Surprise Integers. Addition. Subtraction. Maybe multiplication. Surely that’s not enough to be able to generate any serious complexity. In the early 1980s I had made the very surprising discovery that very simple programs based on cellular automata could...
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Time Toxicity - A Real-World Example | Out-Of-Pocket Being sick is already annoying, now I gotta spend time on the phone???
3rd Jan 2024
60

Time Toxicity - A Real-World Example | Out-Of-Pocket

from Out-of-Pocket Blog [alt+shift+b] in science

3rd Jan 2024
Being sick is already annoying, now I gotta spend time on the phone???
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Tylenol and Autism: A Replication! A Japanese sibling control study, probabilistic sensitivity analysis, and negative control study...
3rd Oct 2025
1

Tylenol and Autism: A Replication!

from Cremieux Recueil [alt+shift+b] in science

3rd Oct 2025
A Japanese sibling control study, probabilistic sensitivity analysis, and negative control study all-in-one paper confirms there's no link!
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Ralph Cavanagh & Peter Schwartz: Nuclear Power, Climate Change and the Next 10,000 Years ### Climate change and nuclear prospects Given the power to decide who would go first-- anti-nuke...
14th Jan 2006
1

Ralph Cavanagh & Peter Schwartz: Nuclear Power, Climate Change and the Next 10,000 Years

from Long Now [alt+shift+b] in science

14th Jan 2006
### Climate change and nuclear prospects Given the power to decide who would go first-- anti-nuke Ralph Cavanagh from Natural Resources Defense Counsel or pro-nuke Peter Schwartz from Global Business Network-- the large audience Friday night voted for Schwartz to make the...
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Mathematicians Set Numbers in Motion to Unlock Their Secrets A new proof demonstrates the power of arithmetic dynamics, an emerging discipline that combines...
10th Jun 2021
1

Mathematicians Set Numbers in Motion to Unlock Their Secrets

from The Quanta Podcast [alt+shift+b] in science

10th Jun 2021
A new proof demonstrates the power of arithmetic dynamics, an emerging discipline that combines insights from number theory and dynamical systems. The post Mathematicians Set Numbers in Motion to Unlock Their Secrets first appeared on Quanta Magazine
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How deep is Tulainyo Lake? Regular readers may recall that I put a visit to Tulainyo Lake on my bucket list a few years ago....
4 weeks ago
1

How deep is Tulainyo Lake?

from Casey Handmer's blog [alt+shift+b] in science

4 weeks ago
Regular readers may recall that I put a visit to Tulainyo Lake on my bucket list a few years ago. Last week I did it. Impossibly remote, otherworldly beauty, and an enduring mystery. Just how deep was this lake? Wikipedia claims not to know. Measuring it is non-trivial. A worthy...
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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
170

How Much Do Couples Share Traits?

from NeuroLogica Blog [alt+shift+b] in science

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...
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How to tame a complex system I get a lot of pushback to the idea that humanity can “master” nature. Nature is a complex system, I...
6th Jan 2026
1

How to tame a complex system

from The Roots of Progress [alt+shift+b] in science

6th Jan 2026
I get a lot of pushback to the idea that humanity can “master” nature. Nature is a complex system, I am told, and therefore unpredictable, uncontrollable, unruly. I think this is true but irrelevant. Consider the weather, a prime example of a complex system. We can predict the...
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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...
4th Dec 2023
34

An Easy-Sounding Problem Yields Numbers Too Big for Our Universe

from Quanta Magazine [alt+shift+b] in science

4th Dec 2023
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
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John Brockman: Possible Minds John Brockman's newly released book [_Possible Minds: Twenty-Five Ways of Looking at...
13th Mar 2019
1

John Brockman: Possible Minds

from Long Now [alt+shift+b] in science

13th Mar 2019
John Brockman's newly released book [_Possible Minds: Twenty-Five Ways of Looking at AI_](https://smile.amazon.com/Possible-Minds-Twenty-Five-Ways-Looking-ebook/dp/B07D6C1X3X/ref=sr_1_1) is the springboard for this Seminar on Artificial Intelligence. Brockman will interview...
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Our work in the news, February 2026
3rd Mar 2026
1

Our work in the news, February 2026

from Conservation International [alt+shift+b] in science

3rd Mar 2026
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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...
17th Oct 2023
49

Preparing For The Habitable Worlds Observatory, Our Best Shot at Finding ET Life

from Many Worlds [alt+shift+b] in science

17th Oct 2023
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. ...
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Daniel Suarez: Daemon: Bot-mediated Reality ### Bot-dominated Reality [Daniel Suarez, originally published as Leinad Zaurus, delivered a talk...
9th Aug 2008
1

Daniel Suarez: Daemon: Bot-mediated Reality

from Long Now [alt+shift+b] in science

9th Aug 2008
### Bot-dominated Reality [Daniel Suarez, originally published as Leinad Zaurus, delivered a talk on the themes developed in his (originally self published) book __Daemon__. The book is now scheduled to be released in hard cover in January 02009 by Dutton.] Forget about...
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The power of awe Mid-afternoon, one Saturday late in September, I forgot where I was. I forgot that I was visiting...
20th Nov 2023
53

The power of awe

from Quantum Frontiers [alt+shift+b] in science

20th Nov 2023
Mid-afternoon, one Saturday late in September, I forgot where I was. I forgot that I was visiting Seattle for the second time; I forgot that I’d just finished co-organizing a workshop partially about nuclear physics for the first time. I’d … Continue reading →
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The Largest Launch Vehicles in Service – 1957 to the Present With the successful launch of NASA’s Artemis I test flight, we now have a new holder of the title...
16th Nov 2022
47

The Largest Launch Vehicles in Service – 1957 to the Present

from Drew Ex Machina [alt+shift+b] in science

16th Nov 2022
With the successful launch of NASA’s Artemis I test flight, we now have a new holder of the title “the largest launch vehicle in service”: the […]
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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
102

Tracing the Hidden Hand of Magnetism in the Galaxy

from Quanta Magazine [alt+shift+b] in science

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
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EUV lithography - a couple of quick links Welcome to the new year! I've written previously (see here, item #3) about the extreme ultraviolet...
2nd Jan 2026
1

EUV lithography - a couple of quick links

from nanoscale views [alt+shift+b] in science

2nd Jan 2026
Welcome to the new year! I've written previously (see here, item #3) about the extreme ultraviolet lithography tools used in modern computer chip fabrication.   These machines are incredible, the size of a railway car, and cost hundreds of millions of dollars each.  Veritasium...
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Hydrogen Tech I often get questions like the one below: “I live part time in Japan. Everyone sees hydrogen powered...
3rd Jul 2026
1

Hydrogen Tech

from NeuroLogica Blog [alt+shift+b] in science

3rd Jul 2026
I often get questions like the one below: “I live part time in Japan. Everyone sees hydrogen powered generators, trains, trucks, etc regularly. High density population means it’s easy to get enough synergy to justify the infrastructure. So sad we aren’t doing more to utilize this...
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Brain As Receiver Is Still Wrong I have a love-hate relationship with TikTok, as I do social media in general. It is a great...
2nd Apr 2026
2

Brain As Receiver Is Still Wrong

from NeuroLogica Blog [alt+shift+b] in science

2nd Apr 2026
I have a love-hate relationship with TikTok, as I do social media in general. It is a great communication tool and allows scientists and science communicators to get their content out to a larger audience cheaply and easily. If you know how to use the internet and social media as...
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George Dyson, Freeman Dyson, & Esther Dyson: The Difficulty of Looking Far Ahead ### Finessing the future Instead of one podium there were four chairs on the stage of Wednesday's...
6th Oct 2005
1

George Dyson, Freeman Dyson, & Esther Dyson: The Difficulty of Looking Far Ahead

from Long Now [alt+shift+b] in science

6th Oct 2005
### Finessing the future Instead of one podium there were four chairs on the stage of Wednesday's seminar. In three seats, three Dysons: Esther, George and Freeman. They were appearing together on stage for the first time. The fourth held Stewart Brand who led the three through...
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Years After the Early Death of a Math Genius, Her Ideas Gain New Life A new proof extends the work of the late Maryam Mirzakhani, cementing her legacy as a pioneer of...
3rd Mar 2025
76

Years After the Early Death of a Math Genius, Her Ideas Gain New Life

from Quanta Magazine [alt+shift+b] in science

3rd Mar 2025
A new proof extends the work of the late Maryam Mirzakhani, cementing her legacy as a pioneer of alien mathematical realms. The post Years After the Early Death of a Math Genius, Her Ideas Gain New Life first appeared on Quanta Magazine
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Jill Tarter: The Search for Extra-terrestrial Intelligence: Necessarily a Long-term Strategy ### The long search "The Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence: Necessarily a Long-term...
10th Jul 2004
1

Jill Tarter: The Search for Extra-terrestrial Intelligence: Necessarily a Long-term Strategy

from Long Now [alt+shift+b] in science

10th Jul 2004
### The long search "The Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence: Necessarily a Long-term Strategy" is the title for Jill Tarter's Seminar About Long-term Thinking this Friday. There's no deeper question than "Are we alone in the universe?" And there's no quick way to answer...
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What to Replicate? Justifications of study choice from 85 replication studies.
9th Jun 2018
1

What to Replicate?

from Peder M. Isager [alt+shift+b] in science

9th Jun 2018
Justifications of study choice from 85 replication studies.
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Marine science, the environment, and the 2013 Australian election I’ve been a bit reluctant to write about the upcoming election in this blog; after all the point of...
10th Sep 2013
86

Marine science, the environment, and the 2013 Australian election

from Confessions of a Marine Ecologist [alt+shift+b] in science

10th Sep 2013
I’ve been a bit reluctant to write about the upcoming election in this blog; after all the point of this blog has never been about anything political!  However, for better or worse the state of our  environment (including our oceans) are inextricably linked to politics, so here...
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Notes on Progress: The stats gap Students understand just enough statistics to get by
4th Jan 2023
53

Notes on Progress: The stats gap

from The Works in Progress Newsletter [alt+shift+b] in science

4th Jan 2023
Students understand just enough statistics to get by
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Philip Tetlock: Why Foxes Are Better Forecasters Than Hedgehogs ### Ignore confident forecasters "What is it about politics that makes people so dumb?" From his...
27th Jan 2007
1

Philip Tetlock: Why Foxes Are Better Forecasters Than Hedgehogs

from Long Now [alt+shift+b] in science

27th Jan 2007
### Ignore confident forecasters "What is it about politics that makes people so dumb?" From his perspective as a psychology researcher, Philip Tetlock watched political advisors on the left and the right make bizarre rationalizations about their wrong predictions at the time...
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License My blog posts are released under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International...
1st Jan 2001
1

License

from Peder M. Isager [alt+shift+b] in science

1st Jan 2001
My blog posts are released under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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Cursed circuits #5: capacitance multiplier Capacitor vendors don't want you to know this! Save money on capacitors by spending more on other...
5th Jul 2026
1

Cursed circuits #5: capacitance multiplier

from lcamtuf’s thing [alt+shift+b] in science

5th Jul 2026
Capacitor vendors don't want you to know this! Save money on capacitors by spending more on other components
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What Is a Manifold? In the mid-19th century, Bernhard Riemann conceived of a new way to think about mathematical spaces,...
3rd Nov 2025
12

What Is a Manifold?

from Quanta Magazine [alt+shift+b] in science

3rd Nov 2025
In the mid-19th century, Bernhard Riemann conceived of a new way to think about mathematical spaces, providing the foundation for modern geometry and physics. The post What Is a Manifold? first appeared on Quanta Magazine
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To Conquer the Primary Energy Consumption Layer of Our Entire Civilization [Originally posted on the Terraform blog April 3, 2025.] Three years ago we set out to make cheap...
8th Apr 2025
81

To Conquer the Primary Energy Consumption Layer of Our Entire Civilization

from Casey Handmer's blog [alt+shift+b] in science

8th Apr 2025
[Originally posted on the Terraform blog April 3, 2025.] Three years ago we set out to make cheap synthetic natural gas from sunlight and air. At the time I didn’t fully appreciate that we had kicked off the process of recompiling the foundation layer of our entire industrial...
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Modelling my brain A 22 hour medical experiment breathing 12% oxygen, and the 7000 images of my brain that came out of...
29th Mar 2021
31

Modelling my brain

from Interaction Magic - George Cave [alt+shift+b] in science

29th Mar 2021
A 22 hour medical experiment breathing 12% oxygen, and the 7000 images of my brain that came out of it.
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Why Everything in the Universe Turns More Complex A new suggestion that complexity increases over time, not just in living organisms but in the...
2nd Apr 2025
56

Why Everything in the Universe Turns More Complex

from Quanta Magazine [alt+shift+b] in science

2nd Apr 2025
A new suggestion that complexity increases over time, not just in living organisms but in the nonliving world, promises to rewrite notions of time and evolution. The post Why Everything in the Universe Turns More Complex first appeared on Quanta Magazine
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Dwarf Planet Ring Mystery Scientists love mysteries, because that is where new discoveries lay. It is nice to find evidence...
9th Feb 2023
57

Dwarf Planet Ring Mystery

from NeuroLogica Blog [alt+shift+b] in science

9th Feb 2023
Scientists love mysteries, because that is where new discoveries lay. It is nice to find evidence consistent with existing theories, providing further confirmation, but it’s exciting to find evidence that cannot be explained with existing theories. Astronomers may have found such...
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3 things our experts loved in May
26th Jun 2024
1

3 things our experts loved in May

from Conservation International [alt+shift+b] in science

26th Jun 2024
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Open Source in Healthcare Is An Opportunity | Out-Of-Pocket Can AI bring the benefits of open source to a slow, sclerotic industry?
6th Mar 2026
1

Open Source in Healthcare Is An Opportunity | Out-Of-Pocket

from Out-of-Pocket Blog [alt+shift+b] in science

6th Mar 2026
Can AI bring the benefits of open source to a slow, sclerotic industry?
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Things I’m watching in healthcare 2023 | Out-Of-Pocket it's been a weird year
5th Mar 2024
110

Things I’m watching in healthcare 2023 | Out-Of-Pocket

from Out-of-Pocket Blog [alt+shift+b] in science

5th Mar 2024
it's been a weird year
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Brian Fagan: We Are Not the First to Suffer Through Climate Change ### Catastrophic drought is coming back There are two kinds of historians, Brian Fagan says,...
10th Mar 2007
1

Brian Fagan: We Are Not the First to Suffer Through Climate Change

from Long Now [alt+shift+b] in science

10th Mar 2007
### Catastrophic drought is coming back There are two kinds of historians, Brian Fagan says, parachutists and truffle hunters. Parachutists command an overview of the landscape, while truffle hunters dig deeply to uncover marvelous treasures. Fagan is a parachutist. In his talk...
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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
35

an experiment in navigating the knowledge frontier beyond search

from Apoorva Srinivasan [alt+shift+b] in science

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 ...
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AI hype is excessive, but its productivity gains are real I'm kind of writing this to "past" me, who I assume is "current" you for a number of folks out...
19th Oct 2025
31

AI hype is excessive, but its productivity gains are real

from pcloadletter [alt+shift+b] in science

19th Oct 2025
I'm kind of writing this to "past" me, who I assume is "current" you for a number of folks out there. For the rest of you, this might just sound like ramblings of an old fogey super late to the party. Yes, AI is over-hyped. LLMs will not solve every problem under the sun but,...
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My friend Mark Wise Mark Wise, the John A. McCone Professor of High Energy Physics at Caltech, passed away on July 10 at...
18th Jul 2026
1

My friend Mark Wise

from Quantum Frontiers [alt+shift+b] in science

18th Jul 2026
Mark Wise, the John A. McCone Professor of High Energy Physics at Caltech, passed away on July 10 at age 72. At a recent memorial service, John Preskill made these remarks. I’m John Preskill, Mark’s colleague on the Caltech physics … Continue reading →
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Merging Fields, Mathematicians Go the Distance On Old Problem Mathematicians have illuminated what sets of points can look like if the distances between them are...
1st Apr 2024
110

Merging Fields, Mathematicians Go the Distance On Old Problem

from Quanta Magazine [alt+shift+b] in science

1st Apr 2024
Mathematicians have illuminated what sets of points can look like if the distances between them are all whole numbers. The post Merging Fields, Mathematicians Go the Distance On Old Problem first appeared on Quanta Magazine
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An Eclipse of the Sun Coming to N. America April 8th A rare eclipse of the Sun will be visible all over North America on April 8th. The post An Eclipse...
23rd Mar 2024
48

An Eclipse of the Sun Coming to N. America April 8th

from Andrew Fraknoi – Astronomy Lectures – Astronomy Education Resources [alt+shift+b] in science

23rd Mar 2024
A rare eclipse of the Sun will be visible all over North America on April 8th. The post An Eclipse of the Sun Coming to N. America April 8th appeared first on Andrew Fraknoi - Astronomy Lectures - Astronomy Education Resources.
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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...
5th Jun 2023
187

What I’ve been reading, June 2023

from The Roots of Progress | Articles [alt+shift+b] in science

5th Jun 2023
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,...
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Why horses have stopped becoming faster The limits of breeding for speed
6th Aug 2026
2

Why horses have stopped becoming faster

from The Works in Progress Newsletter [alt+shift+b] in science

6th Aug 2026
The limits of breeding for speed
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David Rooney: A History of Civilization in Twelve Clocks As with all Long Now Talks, David Rooney’s talk on Thursday, September 9, 02021 began with a few...
23rd Dec 2021
1

David Rooney: A History of Civilization in Twelve Clocks

from Long Now [alt+shift+b] in science

23rd Dec 2021
As with all Long Now Talks, David Rooney’s talk on Thursday, September 9, 02021 began with a few tones from Brian Eno’s January 07003: Bell Studies for The Clock of the Long Now, based on the original algorithm for the Clock’s ever-changing chimes designed by Danny Hillis. These...
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What I’ve been reading, September 2023 A quasi-monthly feature. Recent blog posts and news stories are generally omitted; you can find them...
6th Sep 2023
313

What I’ve been reading, September 2023

from The Roots of Progress | Articles [alt+shift+b] in science

6th Sep 2023
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...
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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
55

Eight highlights from publishing a science book for the general public

from Quantum Frontiers [alt+shift+b] in science

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 →
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Saturn Vortex “This is a view of a ~2,000-km-wide vortex of swirling clouds above Saturn's north pole, imaged in...
1st Dec 2024
88

Saturn Vortex

from Wanderingspace [alt+shift+b] in science

1st Dec 2024
“This is a view of a ~2,000-km-wide vortex of swirling clouds above Saturn's north pole, imaged in polarized light with Cassini's narrow-angle camera on November 27, 2012. I've processed the original monochrome image to approximate the color of the area at the time.” — Jason...
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Scam Cities Criminal networks throughout Southeast Asia are demonstrating the dangers of making “the ultimate...
6th Oct 2025
1

Scam Cities

from Asterisk [alt+shift+b] in science

6th Oct 2025
Criminal networks throughout Southeast Asia are demonstrating the dangers of making “the ultimate exit.”
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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...
1st Feb 2022
69

Book Club: ‘Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia’ by Christina Thompson

from Marine Madness [alt+shift+b] in science

1st Feb 2022
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,...
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Fifty Billion Seedlings: Can Ethiopia Replant Its Ravaged Forests? A legacy of deforestation has left Ethiopia struggling with more intense flooding and drought. The...
2 weeks ago
1

Fifty Billion Seedlings: Can Ethiopia Replant Its Ravaged Forests?

from Yale E360 [alt+shift+b] in science

2 weeks ago
A legacy of deforestation has left Ethiopia struggling with more intense flooding and drought. The country is trying to restore its native forests through one of the world's most ambitious and well-funded tree-planting campaigns, but experts question whether the trees will...
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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
58

Smalltalk Blew Steve Jobs’s Mind

from IEEE Spectrum [alt+shift+b] in science

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....
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Weekend trivia: your process' memory is a file The underappreciated gem of /proc/ /mem
1st Jun 2026
1

Weekend trivia: your process' memory is a file

from lcamtuf’s thing [alt+shift+b] in science

1st Jun 2026
The underappreciated gem of /proc/ /mem
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A Comet Visible in Our Evening Sky A newly discovered comet is now faintly visible in our skies soon after sunset, if you have clear...
15th Oct 2024
84

A Comet Visible in Our Evening Sky

from Andrew Fraknoi – Astronomy Lectures – Astronomy Education Resources [alt+shift+b] in science

15th Oct 2024
A newly discovered comet is now faintly visible in our skies soon after sunset, if you have clear skies and a view low toward the west-southwest horizon. See our diagram from Sky & Telescope magazine, in which the yellow numbers show you the comet’s location in the evening sky...
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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
1

The Frog Puzzle

from Probably Overthinking It [alt+shift+b] in science

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...
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Can AI Solve Science? Note: Click any diagram to get Wolfram Language code to reproduce it. Wolfram Language code for...
5th Mar 2024
78

Can AI Solve Science?

from Stephen Wolfram Writings [alt+shift+b] in science

5th Mar 2024
Note: Click any diagram to get Wolfram Language code to reproduce it. Wolfram Language code for training the neural nets used here is also available (requires GPU). Won’t AI Eventually Be Able to Do Everything? Particularly given its recent surprise successes, there’s a somewhat...
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Could There Be Laws Of Biology? Physics has such nice equations and universal laws. Could we ever expect to find similar principles...
10th Mar 2023
40

Could There Be Laws Of Biology?

from SubAnima [alt+shift+b] in science

10th Mar 2023
Physics has such nice equations and universal laws. Could we ever expect to find similar principles or axioms for biology?
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What I’ve been reading, July–August 2023 A quasi-monthly feature (I skipped it last month, so this is a double portion). This is a longish...
7th Aug 2023
32

What I’ve been reading, July–August 2023

from The Roots of Progress | Articles [alt+shift+b] in science

7th Aug 2023
A quasi-monthly feature (I skipped it last month, so this is a double portion). This is a longish post covering many topics; feel free to skim and skip around. Recent blog posts and news stories are generally omitted; you can find them in my links digests. These updates are less...
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Alexander Rose, Brian Eno, & Stewart Brand: Long Finance: The Enduring Value Conference ### Enduring Value In February 02010, [Brian Eno](../../../../people/board/prospect4/), [Stewart...
1st Feb 2010
1

Alexander Rose, Brian Eno, & Stewart Brand: Long Finance: The Enduring Value Conference

from Long Now [alt+shift+b] in science

1st Feb 2010
### Enduring Value In February 02010, [Brian Eno](../../../../people/board/prospect4/), [Stewart Brand](../../../../people/board/sb1/), and [Alexander Rose](../../../../people/staff/zander/) spoke at the [Long Finance...
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Richard Kurin: American History in 101 Objects ### American objects Figuratively holding up one museum item after another, Kurin spun tales from...
19th Nov 2013
1

Richard Kurin: American History in 101 Objects

from Long Now [alt+shift+b] in science

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...
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David Grinspoon: Earth in Human Hands ## Cognitive planet **Thanks to the growing human domination** of natural systems on Earth, people...
20th Sep 2017
1

David Grinspoon: Earth in Human Hands

from Long Now [alt+shift+b] in science

20th Sep 2017
## Cognitive planet **Thanks to the growing human domination** of natural systems on Earth, people say we are entering an Anthropocene Epoch, Grinspoon began, but what if the term “epoch” understates the consequence of what is going on? Astrobiologists recently learned that...
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Beth Shapiro: How to Clone a Mammoth ## De-extinction science When people hear about “ancient DNA” in fossils, Shapiro began, the first...
12th May 2015
1

Beth Shapiro: How to Clone a Mammoth

from Long Now [alt+shift+b] in science

12th May 2015
## De-extinction science When people hear about “ancient DNA” in fossils, Shapiro began, the first question always is “Can we clone a dinosaur?” Dinosaurs died out so many millions of years ago, their fossils are nothing but rock (and by the way, there’s no workaround with...
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How the Higgs Field (Actually) Gives Mass to Elementary Particles In this article adapted from his new book, "Waves in an Impossible Sea," physicist Matt Strassler...
3rd Sep 2024
64

How the Higgs Field (Actually) Gives Mass to Elementary Particles

from Quanta Magazine [alt+shift+b] in science

3rd Sep 2024
In this article adapted from his new book, "Waves in an Impossible Sea," physicist Matt Strassler explains that the origin of mass in the universe has a lot to do with music. The post How the Higgs Field (Actually) Gives Mass to Elementary Particles first appeared on...
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We’re All One Crisis Away From Taking Unlicensed Research Peptides For health hackers, the risk is not experimenting.
3rd Jun 2026
1

We’re All One Crisis Away From Taking Unlicensed Research Peptides

from Asterisk [alt+shift+b] in science

3rd Jun 2026
For health hackers, the risk is not experimenting.
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Human behavior is an intuition-pump for AI risk I just finished this excellent book: If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies. This book influenced my...
17th Nov 2025
1

Human behavior is an intuition-pump for AI risk

from Inverted Passion [alt+shift+b] in science

17th Nov 2025
I just finished this excellent book: If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies. This book influenced my opinions on p(doom). Before reading the book, I was uncertain about whether AI could pose an existential risk for humanity. After reading the book, I’m starting to entertain the...
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Dittemore’s Law A quick note to formalize some observations on elite organization dysfunction. The Space Mirror...
17th Jan 2025
83

Dittemore’s Law

from Casey Handmer's blog [alt+shift+b] in science

17th Jan 2025
A quick note to formalize some observations on elite organization dysfunction. The Space Mirror Memorial at Kennedy Space Center in Florida commemorates the 25 US astronauts who have died in flight.  Ron Dittemore is the retired former Space Shuttle program manager who was...
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Hypervelocity Macron Accelerators We look at the various ways of accelerating micro-scale projectiles up to hypervelocity (10-10,000...
27th Nov 2019
1

Hypervelocity Macron Accelerators

from ToughSF [alt+shift+b] in science

27th Nov 2019
We look at the various ways of accelerating micro-scale projectiles up to hypervelocity (10-10,000 km/s) and their use in space. Going small to go fast Macrons or macroscopic particles are tiny projectiles that sit on the border between the complex structures we see under a...
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Daniel Kahneman: Thinking Fast and Slow ### On taking thought Before a packed house, Kahneman began with the distinction between what he...
14th Aug 2013
1

Daniel Kahneman: Thinking Fast and Slow

from Long Now [alt+shift+b] in science

14th Aug 2013
### On taking thought Before a packed house, Kahneman began with the distinction between what he calls mental “System 1”---fast thinking, intuition---and “System 2”---slow thinking, careful consideration and calculation. System 1 operates on the illusory principle: _What you see...
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Lichen as the common ancestor of all life on earth The alternate "Lichen as last universal common ancestor" model, which I will refer to for...
2nd Apr 2026
1

Lichen as the common ancestor of all life on earth

from Eukaryote Writes Blog [alt+shift+b] in science

2nd Apr 2026
The alternate "Lichen as last universal common ancestor" model, which I will refer to for convenience as “Big Lichen”, does not expect so little of mother nature.
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What I’ve been reading, November 2023 A ~monthly feature. Recent blog posts and news stories are generally omitted; you can find them in...
7th Nov 2023
60

What I’ve been reading, November 2023

from The Roots of Progress | Articles [alt+shift+b] in science

7th Nov 2023
A ~monthly feature. Recent blog posts and news stories are generally omitted; you can find them in my links digests. All emphasis in bold in the quotes below was added by me. Books Finished Lynn White, Medieval Technology and Social Change (1962). Last time I talked about the...
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URANUS FROM THE JAMES WEBB SPACE TELESCOPE This is not natural light, nothing is from Webb. The infrared image combines data from two filters...
21st Jul 2023
37

URANUS FROM THE JAMES WEBB SPACE TELESCOPE

from Wanderingspace [alt+shift+b] in science

21st Jul 2023
This is not natural light, nothing is from Webb. The infrared image combines data from two filters which are shown in blue and orange,. The planet displays a blue hue in the resulting representative-color image which is similar to the planet’s actual color. But in reality Uranus...
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Webb’s Jupiter So this is “false color” becuase it is infrared (like all Webb images) and made from only two...
23rd Aug 2022
45

Webb’s Jupiter

from Wanderingspace [alt+shift+b] in science

23rd Aug 2022
So this is “false color” becuase it is infrared (like all Webb images) and made from only two filters orange and cyan. However, the detail is incredible. That dot is tiny Amalthea at the left and— yes… that is Jupiter’s elusive ring. According to researcher Thierry Fouchet, “This...
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Australia will run an overt command economy by 2040 Australia’s Fiscal Point of No Return Last September I wrote about Australian economic stagnation —...
16th Apr 2026
1

Australia will run an overt command economy by 2040

from Casey Handmer's blog [alt+shift+b] in science

16th Apr 2026
Australia’s Fiscal Point of No Return Last September I wrote about Australian economic stagnation — how taxation past the Laffer curve’s point of peak growth, zero public sector productivity improvement since 2001, and the systematic eradication of manufacturing and ICT from the...
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Why does correlation not equal causation? In this blog post I will explain why it makes sense to think about causal explanations when we see...
24th Nov 2023
1

Why does correlation not equal causation?

from Peder M. Isager [alt+shift+b] in science

24th Nov 2023
In this blog post I will explain why it makes sense to think about causal explanations when we see correlation, why correlation does not always imply causation, and which alternative causal models to consider when you are trying to figure out why two variables in your data are...
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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
52

A Month In Northern Peru, Part 18: Wattled Curassows at Muyuna Lodge (February 26, 2024)

from Explorations of an Ecologist [alt+shift+b] in science

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...
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Dust Storm On Mars A dust storm in Olympia Planum's north polar dune fields was triggered by a late Martian summer cold...
8th Apr 2024
79

Dust Storm On Mars

from Wanderingspace [alt+shift+b] in science

8th Apr 2024
A dust storm in Olympia Planum's north polar dune fields was triggered by a late Martian summer cold front. As the northern polar cap shrinks fast, it releases cold air that sometimes moves south, like on Earth. These cold fronts strengthen in late summer and early fall due to...
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Progress for progressives I was invited to speak at the Festival of Progressive Abundance, a conference to rally around...
2nd Feb 2026
0

Progress for progressives

from The Roots of Progress [alt+shift+b] in science

2nd Feb 2026
I was invited to speak at the Festival of Progressive Abundance, a conference to rally around “abundance” as a new direction for the political left. This is a writeup of what I said: my message to the left. Thank you for having me—it’s great to be here. I’m the founder and...
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The New Science of Seeing Around Corners Computer vision researchers have uncovered a world of visual signals hiding in our midst, including...
1st Aug 2019
1

The New Science of Seeing Around Corners

from The Quanta Podcast [alt+shift+b] in science

1st Aug 2019
Computer vision researchers have uncovered a world of visual signals hiding in our midst, including subtle motions that betray what’s being said and faint images of what’s around a corner. The post The New Science of Seeing Around Corners first appeared on Quanta...
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AI After Drug Development Coming up with drug candidates isn’t the bottleneck on finding new treatments. Can AI help with the...
1st Jan 1970
1

AI After Drug Development

from Asterisk [alt+shift+b] in science

1st Jan 1970
Coming up with drug candidates isn’t the bottleneck on finding new treatments. Can AI help with the things that are?
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Who cares about plagiarism? Plagiarism is unforgivable in academia but it’s not plagiarism itself that should trouble us. It’s...
21st Jan 2022
1

Who cares about plagiarism?

from Works in Progress RSS Feed [alt+shift+b] in science

21st Jan 2022
Plagiarism is unforgivable in academia but it’s not plagiarism itself that should trouble us. It’s carelessness and a lack of originality.
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Will Making Your Kids Tall Shorten Their Lives? Bonus: How to get human growth hormone (HGH) for cheap
1st Jul 2026
1

Will Making Your Kids Tall Shorten Their Lives?

from Cremieux Recueil [alt+shift+b] in science

1st Jul 2026
Bonus: How to get human growth hormone (HGH) for cheap
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Ken Dychtwald: The Consequences of Human Life Extension ### What long life means Ken Dychtwald gave a terrific talk Friday evening to a standing-room...
4th Dec 2004
1

Ken Dychtwald: The Consequences of Human Life Extension

from Long Now [alt+shift+b] in science

4th Dec 2004
### What long life means Ken Dychtwald gave a terrific talk Friday evening to a standing-room audience on "The Consequences of Human Life Extension." The growing--and soon overwhelming--prevalence of the old in developed nations is leading to a "new old." Ken described meeting...
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Brian Christian: Algorithms to Live By ### Solving hard decisions Deciding when to stop your quest for the ideal apartment, or ideal...
21st Jun 2016
1

Brian Christian: Algorithms to Live By

from Long Now [alt+shift+b] in science

21st Jun 2016
### Solving hard decisions Deciding when to stop your quest for the ideal apartment, or ideal spouse, depends entirely on how long you expect to be looking, says Brian Christian. The first one you check will be the best you’ve seen, but it’s unlikely to be the best you’ll ever...
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The Highway to NIMBYism San Francisco’s history of collective decision-making helped prevent the city from being carved up...
1st May 2024
28

The Highway to NIMBYism

from Asterisk [alt+shift+b] in science

1st May 2024
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.
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Life beyond the screen Since early 2020, I've been teaching courses in Interaction Technologies and Prototyping. Switches,...
15th Jul 2021
25

Life beyond the screen

from Interaction Magic - George Cave [alt+shift+b] in science

15th Jul 2021
Since early 2020, I've been teaching courses in Interaction Technologies and Prototyping. Switches, light, gesture, motion, sound, haptics: this is all about exploring life beyond the screen.
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Cambodian Forest Defenders at Risk for Exposing Illegal Logging The lush forests that have long sustained Cambodia’s Indigenous people have steadily fallen to...
2nd Jun 2025
6

Cambodian Forest Defenders at Risk for Exposing Illegal Logging

from Yale E360 [alt+shift+b] in science

2nd Jun 2025
The lush forests that have long sustained Cambodia’s Indigenous people have steadily fallen to illicit logging. Now, community members face intimidation and risk arrest as they patrol their forests to document the losses and try to push the government to stop the cutting. Read...
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Visualizing Rivers and Floodplains with USGS Data Using USGS elevation data to visualize stunning views of the flow of water through rivers and...
7th Nov 2022
60

Visualizing Rivers and Floodplains with USGS Data

from Beautiful Public Data [alt+shift+b] in science

7th Nov 2022
Using USGS elevation data to visualize stunning views of the flow of water through rivers and floodplains.
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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
29

We Can, Must, and Will Simulate Nematode Brains

from Asterisk [alt+shift+b] in science

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.
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A Month In Northern Peru, Part 15: More From Explorama Lodge (February 20 - 21, 2024) February 20, 2024 A Great Potoo was the first bird I heard this morning shortly after my alarm went...
1st Feb 2025
49

A Month In Northern Peru, Part 15: More From Explorama Lodge (February 20 - 21, 2024)

from Explorations of an Ecologist [alt+shift+b] in science

1st Feb 2025
February 20, 2024 A Great Potoo was the first bird I heard this morning shortly after my alarm went off at 5:00 AM. It was going to be a good day.  At dinner the previous night Luis, Laura and I had come up with a plan for our full day at Explorama Lodge. We would begin by taking...
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$F_2 \times F_2$ 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
39

$F_2 \times F_2$ is Incoherent -- A Polite Spectral Sequence Computation

from Chris Grossack's Blog [alt+shift+b] in science

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...
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Sculpting quantum steampunk In 2020, many of us logged experiences that we’d never anticipated. I wrote a nonfiction book and...
28th Oct 2024
81

Sculpting quantum steampunk

from Quantum Frontiers [alt+shift+b] in science

28th Oct 2024
In 2020, many of us logged experiences that we’d never anticipated. I wrote a nonfiction book and got married outside the Harvard Faculty Club (because nobody was around to shoo us away). Equally unexpectedly, I received an invitation to collaborate … Continue reading →
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Notes on Progress: Artificial flavoring "Artificial" didn't scare Americans in the 19th century. Why does it scare us now?
6th Apr 2023
47

Notes on Progress: Artificial flavoring

from The Works in Progress Newsletter [alt+shift+b] in science

6th Apr 2023
"Artificial" didn't scare Americans in the 19th century. Why does it scare us now?
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Eric Cline: 1177 B.C.: When Civilization Collapsed ### When chaos overwhelmed civilization Archaeologist Cline began by declaring that the time he...
12th Jan 2016
1

Eric Cline: 1177 B.C.: When Civilization Collapsed

from Long Now [alt+shift+b] in science

12th Jan 2016
### When chaos overwhelmed civilization Archaeologist Cline began by declaring that the time he would most like to be transported to is the Late Bronze Age in the Mediterranean—the five centuries between 1700 and 1200 B.C. In those centuries eight advanced societies were densely...
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Notes on Progress: An environmentalist gets lunch Why being an effective environmentalist can often feel like being a bad one
5th Sep 2022
49

Notes on Progress: An environmentalist gets lunch

from The Works in Progress Newsletter [alt+shift+b] in science

5th Sep 2022
Why being an effective environmentalist can often feel like being a bad one
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Habitable Planet Reality Check: TOI-700e Discovered by NASA’s TESS Mission During a press conference held on January 6, 2020 at the 235th meeting of the American Astronomical...
23rd Jan 2023
48

Habitable Planet Reality Check: TOI-700e Discovered by NASA’s TESS Mission

from Drew Ex Machina [alt+shift+b] in science

23rd Jan 2023
During a press conference held on January 6, 2020 at the 235th meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) in Honolulu, Emily Gilbert (then a graduate […]
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Hunting For Kobyla On a January day in 1964, something remarkable happened: Simon Wiesenthal took the afternoon off. He...
7th Feb 2022
46

Hunting For Kobyla

from Damn Interesting [alt+shift+b] in science

7th Feb 2022
On a January day in 1964, something remarkable happened: Simon Wiesenthal took the afternoon off. He parked himself at a table on the terrace of Tel Aviv’s Café Roval, soaking up the sunshine as if he wished to bottle it. The friend he’d come to meet was late, but Wiesenthal had...
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Making The Most Of Winter The winter of 2025-2026 is shaping up to be a proper one. Since basically the start of December we...
4th Feb 2026
1

Making The Most Of Winter

from Explorations of an Ecologist [alt+shift+b] in science

4th Feb 2026
The winter of 2025-2026 is shaping up to be a proper one. Since basically the start of December we have experienced below average temperatures and an abundance of snow. We haven't had much respite from the cold, other than a brief warm spell in January quickly followed by an...
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Orville Schell: China Thinks Long-term, But Can It Relearn to Act Long-term? ### Giant contradictions “China is the most unresolved nation of consequence in the world,” Orville...
23rd Sep 2006
1

Orville Schell: China Thinks Long-term, But Can It Relearn to Act Long-term?

from Long Now [alt+shift+b] in science

23rd Sep 2006
### Giant contradictions “China is the most unresolved nation of consequence in the world,” Orville Schell began. It is defined by its massive contradictions. And by its massiveness— China’s population is estimated to be 1.25 to 1.3 billion; the margin of error in the estimate...
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Taking stock: some federal science news Some general science news:  The New York Times ran an interactive article this week that shows what...
6th Dec 2025
2

Taking stock: some federal science news

from nanoscale views [alt+shift+b] in science

6th Dec 2025
Some general science news:  The New York Times ran an interactive article this week that shows what we all know.  This past year was a very bizarre funding environment.  The article focuses on NIH and NSF, but the major points are generalizable.  The combination of circumstances...
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Meta: 7,000 Although I try to keep navel-gazing to a minimum, I’m happy to report that this publication has...
4th Aug 2026
1

Meta: 7,000

from lcamtuf’s thing [alt+shift+b] in science

4th Aug 2026
Although I try to keep navel-gazing to a minimum, I’m happy to report that this publication has crossed 7,000 email subscribers (plus an unknown number of RSS weirdos).
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Deep Learning Poised to 'Blow Up' Famed Fluid Equations For centuries, mathematicians have tried to prove that Euler’s fluid equations can produce...
3rd Aug 2022
1

Deep Learning Poised to 'Blow Up' Famed Fluid Equations

from The Quanta Podcast [alt+shift+b] in science

3rd Aug 2022
For centuries, mathematicians have tried to prove that Euler’s fluid equations can produce nonsensical answers. A new approach to machine learning has researchers betting that “blowup” is near. Read more at quantamagazine.org. Music is “Pulse” by Geographer.
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Cryptography That Is Provably Secure Researchers have just released hacker-proof cryptographic code — programs with the same level of...
6th Feb 2020
1

Cryptography That Is Provably Secure

from The Quanta Podcast [alt+shift+b] in science

6th Feb 2020
Researchers have just released hacker-proof cryptographic code — programs with the same level of invincibility as a mathematical proof. The post Cryptography That Is Provably Secure first appeared on Quanta Magazine
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A Debate Over the Physics of Time According to our best theories of physics, the universe is a fixed block where time only appears to...
8th Sep 2016
1

A Debate Over the Physics of Time

from The Quanta Podcast [alt+shift+b] in science

8th Sep 2016
According to our best theories of physics, the universe is a fixed block where time only appears to pass. The post A Debate Over the Physics of Time first appeared on Quanta Magazine
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Perseid Meteor Shower Aug 12-13, 2023 We make suggestions for how best to see the 2023 Perseid meteor shower. The post Perseid Meteor...
5th Aug 2023
34

Perseid Meteor Shower Aug 12-13, 2023

from Andrew Fraknoi – Astronomy Lectures – Astronomy Education Resources [alt+shift+b] in science

5th Aug 2023
We make suggestions for how best to see the 2023 Perseid meteor shower. The post Perseid Meteor Shower Aug 12-13, 2023 appeared first on Andrew Fraknoi - Astronomy Lectures - Astronomy Education Resources.
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On the Nature of Time The Computational View of Time Time is a central feature of human experience. But what actually is...
8th Oct 2024
145

On the Nature of Time

from Stephen Wolfram Writings [alt+shift+b] in science

8th Oct 2024
The Computational View of Time Time is a central feature of human experience. But what actually is it? In traditional scientific accounts it’s often represented as some kind of coordinate much like space (though a coordinate that for some reason is always systematically...
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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
1

The failure of the land value tax

from Works in Progress RSS Feed [alt+shift+b] in science

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.
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A Course Via Zoom on Atomic Science for Everyone I am teaching a new Zoom course on the mysterious world of the atom, with lots of visuals and no...
20th Sep 2025
36

A Course Via Zoom on Atomic Science for Everyone

from Andrew Fraknoi – Astronomy Lectures – Astronomy Education Resources [alt+shift+b] in science

20th Sep 2025
I am teaching a new Zoom course on the mysterious world of the atom, with lots of visuals and no math. It’s a six-week class for retired people: Join me for a richly illustrated tour of the atomic world that lies beneath our everyday conception of reality. Using historical...
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Andrew McAfee: More From Less Andrew McAfee draws on a wide range of evidence to show that the world is already on the right track...
2nd Dec 2019
1

Andrew McAfee: More From Less

from Long Now [alt+shift+b] in science

2nd Dec 2019
Andrew McAfee draws on a wide range of evidence to show that the world is already on the right track toward long-term health when it combines 1) technological progress, 2) capitalism, 3) responsive government, and 4) public awareness. That blend demonstrably gets humanity “more...
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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
113

Defending against hypothetical moon life during Apollo 11

from Eukaryote Writes Blog [alt+shift+b] in science

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.
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Curlew nest survival The Eurasian Curlew is designated as ‘Near-Threatened’ by IUCN/BirdLife. It is Red-listed in the UK,...
4th Jan 2023
61

Curlew nest survival

from wadertales [alt+shift+b] in science

4th Jan 2023
The Eurasian Curlew is designated as ‘Near-Threatened’ by IUCN/BirdLife. It is Red-listed in the UK,  largely due to a rapid decline in breeding numbers. In this context, the fact that there are a few pink squares (indicating increased numbers) on the map showing breeding...
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How do wader chicks respond to being handled? Every wader researcher knows that their actions can have negative consequences for the birds they...
5th Oct 2024
95

How do wader chicks respond to being handled?

from wadertales [alt+shift+b] in science

5th Oct 2024
Every wader researcher knows that their actions can have negative consequences for the birds they are studying. Given that most shorebird species are in trouble or causing concern, conservation science is a tricky balancing act between ‘need to understand’ and ‘disturbance’. In...
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Brief items - Static electricity, quantum geometry, Hubbard model, + news It's been a busy time that has cut into my blogging, but I wanted to point out some links from the...
8th Aug 2025
1

Brief items - Static electricity, quantum geometry, Hubbard model, + news

from nanoscale views [alt+shift+b] in science

8th Aug 2025
It's been a busy time that has cut into my blogging, but I wanted to point out some links from the past couple of weeks. Physics Today has a cover article this past issue about what is colloquially known as static electricity, but what is more technically described as...
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Melody Jue: Ocean Memory The ocean is not empty. It is a vast storage facility of memory agents. Ocean bodies use the...
9th Apr 2026
1

Melody Jue: Ocean Memory

from Long Now [alt+shift+b] in science

9th Apr 2026
The ocean is not empty. It is a vast storage facility of memory agents. Ocean bodies use the chemical signatures of seawater for memory and intelligence in ways we can barely imagine. In her Talk, Melody Jue said our struggle to understand ocean memory comes from our terrestrial...
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A young Oystercatcher’s first adventure I find it amazing that, when they depart on autumn migration, juvenile waders can be faced with a...
3rd Sep 2026
1

A young Oystercatcher’s first adventure

from wadertales [alt+shift+b] in science

3rd Sep 2026
I find it amazing that, when they depart on autumn migration, juvenile waders can be faced with a journey of hundreds or thousands of kilometres. In the latest phase of their Oystercatcher studies in Iceland, Verónica Méndez and colleagues have been tagging young birds, just at...
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The eye of the tiger What makes tigers different from one another?
8th Jun 2023
69

The eye of the tiger

from The Works in Progress Newsletter [alt+shift+b] in science

8th Jun 2023
What makes tigers different from one another?
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The Top 50 US Cities: Why Are They Where They Are? The geographic and historical reasons that have made some spots in the country the most populated...
8th Jan 2025
76

The Top 50 US Cities: Why Are They Where They Are?

from Uncharted Territories [alt+shift+b] in science

8th Jan 2025
The geographic and historical reasons that have made some spots in the country the most populated ones
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Words are minimum-viable coordination tools Words have a bewitching tendency as we assume they point to some deep essences. But, game...
4th Feb 2026
1

Words are minimum-viable coordination tools

from Inverted Passion [alt+shift+b] in science

4th Feb 2026
Words have a bewitching tendency as we assume they point to some deep essences. But, game theoretically speaking, words exist to get a job done so they operate at the level of coarse graining that’s sufficient to get the job done of the speaker. Evolution doesn’t like to waste...
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A Nihilist's Guide to Meaning I've never been plagued by the big existential questions. You know, like What's my purpose? or What...
11th Jul 2016
35

A Nihilist's Guide to Meaning

from Melting Asphalt [alt+shift+b] in science

11th Jul 2016
I've never been plagued by the big existential questions. You know, like What's my purpose? or What does it all mean? Growing up I was a very science-minded kid — still am — and from an early age I learned… Read more ›
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2015 Meta Time for my annual blogging review. And only 11 days late! I'll keep it brief. Blog stats I...
11th Jan 2016
35

2015 Meta

from Melting Asphalt [alt+shift+b] in science

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 ›
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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
44

How to Beat Cancer with Viruses: An Interview with Beata Halassy

from Uncharted Territories [alt+shift+b] in science

1st Oct 2024
How viruses kill cancers, which viruses to use, how many injections, at what stage of the cancer, and much more
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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
1

Against the survival of the prettiest

from Works in Progress RSS Feed [alt+shift+b] in science

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?
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Can patients be good healthcare shoppers? | Out-Of-Pocket Should their be limits to patient agency?
8th Aug 2024
91

Can patients be good healthcare shoppers? | Out-Of-Pocket

from Out-of-Pocket Blog [alt+shift+b] in science

8th Aug 2024
Should their be limits to patient agency?
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George Dyson: No Time Is There ### The digital big bang When the digital universe began, in 1951 in New Jersey, it was just 5...
20th Mar 2013
1

George Dyson: No Time Is There

from Long Now [alt+shift+b] in science

20th Mar 2013
### The digital big bang When the digital universe began, in 1951 in New Jersey, it was just 5 kilobytes in size. "That's just half a second of MP3 audio now," said Dyson. The place was the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton. The builder was engineer Julian Bigelow. The...
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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
75

Issue 17: No great stagnation in cruise ships

from The Works in Progress Newsletter [alt+shift+b] in science

5th Dec 2024
Plus: animals as chemical factories, how progress lost its glamour, and how Madrid built 120 miles of metro in twelve years.
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How the Computer Graphics Industry Got Started at the University of Utah Animation has come a long way since 1900, when J. Stuart Blackton created The Enchanted Drawing, the...
9th Jun 2023
30

How the Computer Graphics Industry Got Started at the University of Utah

from IEEE Spectrum [alt+shift+b] in science

9th Jun 2023
Animation has come a long way since 1900, when J. Stuart Blackton created The Enchanted Drawing, the earliest known animated film. The 90-second movie was created using stop-motion techniques, as flat characters, props, and backgrounds were drawn on an easel or made from...
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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
44

The prehistoric psychopath

from The Works in Progress Newsletter [alt+shift+b] in science

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.
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Neutrinos Lead to Unexpected Discovery in Basic Math Three physicists stumbled across an unexpected relationship between some of the most ubiquitous...
8th Oct 2020
1

Neutrinos Lead to Unexpected Discovery in Basic Math

from The Quanta Podcast [alt+shift+b] in science

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
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Brain’s ‘Background Noise’ May Hold Clues to Persistent Mysteries By digging out signals hidden within the brain’s electrical chatter, scientists are getting new...
13th May 2021
1

Brain’s ‘Background Noise’ May Hold Clues to Persistent Mysteries

from The Quanta Podcast [alt+shift+b] in science

13th May 2021
By digging out signals hidden within the brain’s electrical chatter, scientists are getting new insights into sleep, aging and more. The post Brain’s ‘Background Noise’ May Hold Clues to Persistent Mysteries first appeared on Quanta Magazine
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OMB proposed rule changes - act now For non-US folks, feel free to skip.  For US folks:  The Office of Management and Budget, which for...
6th Jul 2026
1

OMB proposed rule changes - act now

from nanoscale views [alt+shift+b] in science

6th Jul 2026
For non-US folks, feel free to skip.  For US folks:  The Office of Management and Budget, which for much of its history has been a comparatively uncontroversial element of the executive branch, has set rules and guidelines for how many executive-branch agencies conduct business...
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The Monty Hall Problem, a side-by-side simulation I saw a cool version of the Monty Hall game here recently: https://monty.donk.systems. This is...
1st Jan 2026
1

The Monty Hall Problem, a side-by-side simulation

from pcloadletter [alt+shift+b] in science

1st Jan 2026
I saw a cool version of the Monty Hall game here recently: https://monty.donk.systems. This is really cool! But I had an itch I wanted to scratch: rather than manually test out the probabilities, I wanted to run two games side-by-side: one where a switch happened and one where a...
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How to Cut Cake Fairly and Finally Eat It Too Computer scientists have come up with a bounded algorithm that can fairly divide a cake among any...
10th Nov 2016
1

How to Cut Cake Fairly and Finally Eat It Too

from The Quanta Podcast [alt+shift+b] in science

10th Nov 2016
Computer scientists have come up with a bounded algorithm that can fairly divide a cake among any number of people. The post How to Cut Cake Fairly and Finally Eat It Too first appeared on Quanta Magazine
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Kishore Mahbubani: Has the West Lost It? Can Asia Save It? In Kishore Mahbubani’s view, global power is shifting from the West to the Rest—from Europe and...
1st May 2018
1

Kishore Mahbubani: Has the West Lost It? Can Asia Save It?

from Long Now [alt+shift+b] in science

1st May 2018
In Kishore Mahbubani’s view, global power is shifting from the West to the Rest—from Europe and North America to Asia and Africa. He argues that changes will be required both in the West and the Rest to manage the shift gracefully for long-term stability. The rest of the world...
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Michael West: The Prospects of Human Life Extension ### Ever longer life Our germline cells (eggs and sperm) are already immortal. What if the rest of...
13th Nov 2004
1

Michael West: The Prospects of Human Life Extension

from Long Now [alt+shift+b] in science

13th Nov 2004
### Ever longer life Our germline cells (eggs and sperm) are already immortal. What if the rest of the cells of our body could acquire the same ability? Tissue by tissue, one degenerative disease after another, it could gradually happen in the course of one or two human...
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Bolivia brings an Incan legend to life with new protected park
3rd Nov 2025
1

Bolivia brings an Incan legend to life with new protected park

from Conservation International [alt+shift+b] in science

3rd Nov 2025
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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
1

Geoffrey B West: Why Cities Keep on Growing, Corporations Always Die, and Life Gets Faster

from Long Now [alt+shift+b] in science

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...
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My favorite rocket scientist Whenever someone protests, “I’m not a rocket scientist,” I think of my friend Jamie Rankin. Jamie is...
8th Jul 2024
113

My favorite rocket scientist

from Quantum Frontiers [alt+shift+b] in science

8th Jul 2024
Whenever someone protests, “I’m not a rocket scientist,” I think of my friend Jamie Rankin. Jamie is a researcher at Princeton University, and she showed me her lab this June. When I first met Jamie, she was testing instruments to … Continue reading →
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Sea Monkeys, Jupiter, and the Mystery of Turbulence Turbulence is all around us: bumping our planes, roiling our rivers, swirling milk into our coffee....
a week ago
2

Sea Monkeys, Jupiter, and the Mystery of Turbulence

from The Quanta Podcast [alt+shift+b] in science

a week ago
Turbulence is all around us: bumping our planes, roiling our rivers, swirling milk into our coffee. These systems quickly become extremely chaotic and complex. On this episode of The Quanta Podcast, host Samir Patel speaks with contributing writer Stephen Ornes about a recent...
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(Ethically dubious) ways to give patients more choice | Out-Of-Pocket Do these ideas give you the ick? Or is there something interesting here
4th Sep 2025
31

(Ethically dubious) ways to give patients more choice | Out-Of-Pocket

from Out-of-Pocket Blog [alt+shift+b] in science

4th Sep 2025
Do these ideas give you the ick? Or is there something interesting here
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The Makeup of Red Dwarf Solar Systems May Seriously Limit the Formation of Habitable Planets Jupiter is often described as the “big brother” planet of our solar system that made the formation...
7th Jun 2023
38

The Makeup of Red Dwarf Solar Systems May Seriously Limit the Formation of Habitable Planets

from Many Worlds [alt+shift+b] in science

7th Jun 2023
Jupiter is often described as the “big brother” planet of our solar system that made the formation and evolution of Earth possible. In the early days of the solar system, massive Jupiter helped the planet grow rapidly while serving as a gravity well that shielded the planet from...
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Advancing antivenom Snakebites kill between 80,000 and 140,000 people every year. Better antivenom should be a high...
8th Dec 2022
1

Advancing antivenom

from Works in Progress RSS Feed [alt+shift+b] in science

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.
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The quantum gold rush Even if you don’t recognize the name, you probably recognize the saguaro cactus. It’s the archetype...
18th Mar 2024
154

The quantum gold rush

from Quantum Frontiers [alt+shift+b] in science

18th Mar 2024
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 →
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Grand Unification Dream Kept at Bay Physicists have failed to find disintegrating protons, throwing into limbo the beloved theory that...
2nd Feb 2017
1

Grand Unification Dream Kept at Bay

from The Quanta Podcast [alt+shift+b] in science

2nd Feb 2017
Physicists have failed to find disintegrating protons, throwing into limbo the beloved theory that the forces of nature were unified at the beginning of time. The post Grand Unification Dream Kept at Bay first appeared on Quanta Magazine
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The arXiv - where it's been and where it's going Back in the ancient mists of time, scientists and mathematicians would circulate preprints of their...
2 weeks ago
1

The arXiv - where it's been and where it's going

from nanoscale views [alt+shift+b] in science

2 weeks ago
Back in the ancient mists of time, scientists and mathematicians would circulate preprints of their articles among friends and colleagues via the postal service, as a courtesy, to get feedback and to try to make sure people in the community were aware of their forthcoming work. ...
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Why do bees die when they sting you? Suicide is a truly bizarre evolutionary strategy. Why does it exist?
4th Oct 2021
25

Why do bees die when they sting you?

from SubAnima [alt+shift+b] in science

4th Oct 2021
Suicide is a truly bizarre evolutionary strategy. Why does it exist?
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Every grain of rice As climate change threatens crop yields, we need a second Green Revolution – one that, this time, is...
22nd May 2023
1

Every grain of rice

from Works in Progress RSS Feed [alt+shift+b] in science

22nd May 2023
As climate change threatens crop yields, we need a second Green Revolution – one that, this time, is driven by genetic engineering.
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Four one-sided test of significance (FOST). Dear reader, does this make sense? In this blog post I propose a four one-sided test of significance (FOST) that can be used to test...
24th May 2024
1

Four one-sided test of significance (FOST). Dear reader, does this make sense?

from Peder M. Isager [alt+shift+b] in science

24th May 2024
In this blog post I propose a four one-sided test of significance (FOST) that can be used to test whether an effect is smaller than OR larger than OR equivalent to the smallest effect size of interest. I lay out the general setup and interpretation of FOST, and ask readers to...
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China's Fossil Fuel Emissions Dropped Last Year as Solar Boomed In China, the world's leading carbon emitter, a massive buildout of solar power is beginning to push...
2nd Mar 2026
1

China's Fossil Fuel Emissions Dropped Last Year as Solar Boomed

from Yale E360 [alt+shift+b] in science

2nd Mar 2026
In China, the world's leading carbon emitter, a massive buildout of solar power is beginning to push fossil fuels into decline. Last year China saw its emissions drop, even as demand for energy rose.  Read more on E360 →
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What Actually Causes Lightning? Thunderstorms have captivated humanity for millennia, and yet their inner workings remain deeply...
2nd Jun 2026
1

What Actually Causes Lightning?

from The Quanta Podcast [alt+shift+b] in science

2nd Jun 2026
Thunderstorms have captivated humanity for millennia, and yet their inner workings remain deeply mysterious. On this episode of The Quanta Podcast, guest host and Quanta senior editor Hannah Waters speaks with staff writer Charlie Wood about the new technologies that are helping...
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The last design you'll ever make Designing from cradle to grave is no longer good enough. We need to postpone that grave as long as...
7th Dec 2021
23

The last design you'll ever make

from Interaction Magic - George Cave [alt+shift+b] in science

7th Dec 2021
Designing from cradle to grave is no longer good enough. We need to postpone that grave as long as possible. This is how to design for a right to repair.
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Sunset Hunkering down for the winter!
9th Apr 2023
66

Sunset

from brr [alt+shift+b] in science

9th Apr 2023
Hunkering down for the winter!
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Iqbal Quadir: Technology Empowers the Poorest ### Making Money WITH the Poor When Iqbal Quadir applied to US colleges from his home town in...
22nd May 2008
1

Iqbal Quadir: Technology Empowers the Poorest

from Long Now [alt+shift+b] in science

22nd May 2008
### Making Money WITH the Poor When Iqbal Quadir applied to US colleges from his home town in Bangladesh he was surprised to discover that not all American universities were found in Washington, DC. That's how it was in Bangladesh, where everything of importance was centralized...
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How To (Properly) Text Patients | Out-Of-Pocket Do’s and don’ts + tactical tips from an actual doctor
10th Apr 2024
81

How To (Properly) Text Patients | Out-Of-Pocket

from Out-of-Pocket Blog [alt+shift+b] in science

10th Apr 2024
Do’s and don’ts + tactical tips from an actual doctor
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‘Surf and turf’ can have carbon footprint of cross-country road trip: study
16th Jan 2024
1

‘Surf and turf’ can have carbon footprint of cross-country road trip: study

from Conservation International [alt+shift+b] in science

16th Jan 2024
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Larry Harvey: Why The Man Keeps Burning ## The Hundred Year Burn "Burning Man is like one of those birthday candles you can’t blow out,”...
21st Oct 2014
1

Larry Harvey: Why The Man Keeps Burning

from Long Now [alt+shift+b] in science

21st Oct 2014
## The Hundred Year Burn "Burning Man is like one of those birthday candles you can’t blow out,” observed Burning Man’s primary founder and Chief Philosophical Officer. Indeed, Burning Man has thrived in the face of Burners and skeptics alike declaring it dead after each of its...
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Saturn Family Portrait From planetary.org: On July 29, 2011, Cassini captured five of Saturn’s moons in a single frame with...
1st Jul 2022
53

Saturn Family Portrait

from Wanderingspace [alt+shift+b] in science

1st Jul 2022
From planetary.org: On July 29, 2011, Cassini captured five of Saturn’s moons in a single frame with its narrow-angle camera: Janus, Pandora, Enceladus, Rhea, and Mimas. NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute. This is a full-color look at a view that was originally published in...
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370 | Daniel Akerib on a Faint Hint of Dark Matter One reason it's been so hard to directly detect the dark matter is that we're not sure what it is....
2 weeks ago
1

370 | Daniel Akerib on a Faint Hint of Dark Matter

from Sean Carroll [alt+shift+b] in science

2 weeks ago
One reason it's been so hard to directly detect the dark matter is that we're not sure what it is. […]
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Edward Burtynsky: The 10,000-year Gallery ### Stone Ink Gallery Photographer Edward Burtynsky made a formal proposal for a permanent art...
24th Jul 2008
1

Edward Burtynsky: The 10,000-year Gallery

from Long Now [alt+shift+b] in science

24th Jul 2008
### Stone Ink Gallery Photographer Edward Burtynsky made a formal proposal for a permanent art gallery in the chamber that encloses the 10,000-year Clock in its Nevada mountain. The gallery would consist of art in materials as durable as the alloy steel and jade of the Clock...
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Colliding Black Holes Tell New Story of Stars Just months after their discovery, gravitational waves coming from the mergers of black holes...
13th Oct 2016
1

Colliding Black Holes Tell New Story of Stars

from The Quanta Podcast [alt+shift+b] in science

13th Oct 2016
Just months after their discovery, gravitational waves coming from the mergers of black holes are shaking up astrophysics. The post Colliding Black Holes Tell New Story of Stars first appeared on Quanta Magazine
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The Core of Fermat’s Last Theorem Just Got Superpowered By extending the scope of the key insight behind Fermat’s Last Theorem, four mathematicians have...
2nd Jun 2025
51

The Core of Fermat’s Last Theorem Just Got Superpowered

from Quanta Magazine [alt+shift+b] in science

2nd Jun 2025
By extending the scope of the key insight behind Fermat’s Last Theorem, four mathematicians have made great strides toward building a “grand unified theory” of math. The post The Core of Fermat’s Last Theorem Just Got Superpowered first appeared on Quanta Magazine
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Tim O'Reilly: Birth of the Global Mind ### The global mind is us, augmented As a student of the classics at Harvard in the 1970s, O’Reilly...
6th Sep 2012
1

Tim O'Reilly: Birth of the Global Mind

from Long Now [alt+shift+b] in science

6th Sep 2012
### The global mind is us, augmented As a student of the classics at Harvard in the 1970s, O’Reilly was impressed by a book titled _The Discovery of the Mind: In Greek Philosophy and Literature_ , by Bruno Snell. In the four centuries between Homer and classical Athens, wrote...
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Physicists Find a Way to See the ‘Grin’ of Quantum Gravity A recently proposed experiment would confirm that gravity is a quantum force. The post...
6th Dec 2018
1

Physicists Find a Way to See the ‘Grin’ of Quantum Gravity

from The Quanta Podcast [alt+shift+b] in science

6th Dec 2018
A recently proposed experiment would confirm that gravity is a quantum force. The post Physicists Find a Way to See the ‘Grin’ of Quantum Gravity first appeared on Quanta Magazine
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The Brain Has a 'Low-Power Mode' That Blunts Our Senses Neuroscientists uncovered an energy-saving mode in vision-system neurons that works at the cost of...
12th Oct 2022
1

The Brain Has a 'Low-Power Mode' That Blunts Our Senses

from The Quanta Podcast [alt+shift+b] in science

12th Oct 2022
Neuroscientists uncovered an energy-saving mode in vision-system neurons that works at the cost of being able to see fine-grained details. Read more at QuantaMagazine.org. Music is “Unanswered Questions” by Kevin MacLeod.
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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
1

The story of Viktor Zhdanov

from Works in Progress RSS Feed [alt+shift+b] in science

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?
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Australian Economic Stagnation It’s not news, at least in my circles, that much of the developed world is seeing economic...
4th Sep 2025
1

Australian Economic Stagnation

from Casey Handmer's blog [alt+shift+b] in science

4th Sep 2025
It’s not news, at least in my circles, that much of the developed world is seeing economic stagnation.  Last month Australia convened a Productivity Summit/Economic Reform Roundtable to try to better address the sluggish growth of the economy relative, in particular, to ever...
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Cory Doctorow: The Coming Century of War Against Your Computer ### Who governs digital trust? Doctorow framed the question this way: "Computers are everywhere....
1st Aug 2012
1

Cory Doctorow: The Coming Century of War Against Your Computer

from Long Now [alt+shift+b] in science

1st Aug 2012
### Who governs digital trust? Doctorow framed the question this way: "Computers are everywhere. They are now something we put our whole bodies into---airplanes, cars---and something we put into our bodies---pacemakers, cochlear implants. They HAVE to be trustworthy." Sometimes...
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Rust in Numbers Why do manure spreaders have life cycles?
6th May 2026
1

Rust in Numbers

from Asterisk [alt+shift+b] in science

6th May 2026
Why do manure spreaders have life cycles?
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'My son's son will see this elephant'
6th Jul 2026
2

'My son's son will see this elephant'

from Conservation International [alt+shift+b] in science

6th Jul 2026
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Table tennis scoreboard Last year, my uncles asked me to design an electronic table tennis scoreboard. Apparently, what they...
11th Nov 2025
1

Table tennis scoreboard

from Willem Pennings [alt+shift+b] in science

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...
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Sound Invisible and relentless, sound is seemingly just there, traveling through our surroundings to carry...
18th Oct 2022
73

Sound

from Bartosz Ciechanowski [alt+shift+b] in science

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,...
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2026 Healthcare Predictions Part 2 | Out-Of-Pocket [add]
5th Jan 2026
1

2026 Healthcare Predictions Part 2 | Out-Of-Pocket

from Out-of-Pocket Blog [alt+shift+b] in science

5th Jan 2026
[add]
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What is a biological individual? Some individuals have no clear boundaries. Here’s an assortment of some of the most interesting...
6th Sep 2021
20

What is a biological individual?

from SubAnima [alt+shift+b] in science

6th Sep 2021
Some individuals have no clear boundaries. Here’s an assortment of some of the most interesting problem cases
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Why Am I Left-Handed? Why are only 10% of people left-handed? Geneticists, developmental biologists, neuroscientists, and...
4th Aug 2026
1

Why Am I Left-Handed?

from The Quanta Podcast [alt+shift+b] in science

4th Aug 2026
Why are only 10% of people left-handed? Geneticists, developmental biologists, neuroscientists, and evolutionary biologists have all sought explanations, resulting in an astronomical amount of research into the mystery of handedness. No one has put all the pieces together yet,...
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South Pole Water Infrastructure Fresh water from snow, at 70 below!
8th Jun 2024
146

South Pole Water Infrastructure

from brr [alt+shift+b] in science

8th Jun 2024
Fresh water from snow, at 70 below!
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The Infinite Heist - Part 1 In 1874, Georg Cantor published one of the most important papers in math’s 4,000-year history. Some...
3rd Mar 2026
1

The Infinite Heist - Part 1

from The Quanta Podcast [alt+shift+b] in science

3rd Mar 2026
In 1874, Georg Cantor published one of the most important papers in math’s 4,000-year history. Some ideas in it were stolen. On this episode of The Quanta Podcast, the first of a two-parter, host Samir Patel speaks with math editor Jordana Cepelewicz about the hard-fought journey...
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Ants Live 10 Times Longer by Altering Their Insulin Responses Queen ants live far longer than genetically identical workers. Researchers are learning what their...
7th Jun 2023
1

Ants Live 10 Times Longer by Altering Their Insulin Responses

from The Quanta Podcast [alt+shift+b] in science

7th Jun 2023
Queen ants live far longer than genetically identical workers. Researchers are learning what their longevity secrets could mean for aging in other species. Read more at QuantaMagazine.org. Music is “Good Times” by Patrick Patrikios.
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How funny are the frontier AI models? TLDR: yes, models are getting funnier over time I love laughing. Well, who doesn’t? Good jokes have...
a week ago
1

How funny are the frontier AI models?

from Inverted Passion [alt+shift+b] in science

a week ago
TLDR: yes, models are getting funnier over time I love laughing. Well, who doesn’t? Good jokes have a certain notion of cleverness to them and I do believe that great comedians display high intelligence. Cracking a good joke requires astute observations about odd situations, and...
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Esoteric Languages Challenge Coders to Think Way Outside the Box Have you ever tried programming with a language that uses musical notation? What about a language...
4th Sep 2025
37

Esoteric Languages Challenge Coders to Think Way Outside the Box

from IEEE Spectrum [alt+shift+b] in science

4th Sep 2025
Have you ever tried programming with a language that uses musical notation? What about a language that never runs programs the same way? What about a language where you write code with photographs? All exist, among many others, in the world of esoteric programming languages, and...
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Choosing what to replicate - Efficient study selection in the modern age.
1st May 2020
1

Choosing what to replicate - Efficient study selection in the modern age.

from Peder M. Isager [alt+shift+b] in science

1st May 2020
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Get your fine, handcrafted artisanal essays right here I don’t use AI to draft my writing. These are fine handcrafted artisanal essays, every word placed...
10th Jun 2026
1

Get your fine, handcrafted artisanal essays right here

from The Roots of Progress [alt+shift+b] in science

10th Jun 2026
I don’t use AI to draft my writing. These are fine handcrafted artisanal essays, every word placed individually with loving care. I use AI a lot for researching, occasionally for brainstorming, and increasingly for fact-checking. But not for outlining, drafting, or directly...
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Answers: How Much Info Should A Patient Get? | Out-Of-Pocket do we need our physicians to be interpreters?
9th Aug 2023
35

Answers: How Much Info Should A Patient Get? | Out-Of-Pocket

from Out-of-Pocket Blog [alt+shift+b] in science

9th Aug 2023
do we need our physicians to be interpreters?
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Apollo A-002: Testing the Limits of the Launch Escape System One of the more dangerous parts of a space mission is launch which is why almost all crewed...
8th Dec 2024
111

Apollo A-002: Testing the Limits of the Launch Escape System

from Drew Ex Machina [alt+shift+b] in science

8th Dec 2024
One of the more dangerous parts of a space mission is launch which is why almost all crewed spacecraft have had launch abort options to cover […]
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The New Laws of Explosive Networks Researchers are uncovering the hidden laws that reveal how the Internet grows, how viruses spread,...
30th Jul 2015
1

The New Laws of Explosive Networks

from The Quanta Podcast [alt+shift+b] in science

30th Jul 2015
Researchers are uncovering the hidden laws that reveal how the Internet grows, how viruses spread, and how financial bubbles burst. The post The New Laws of Explosive Networks first appeared on Quanta Magazine
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The USGS Cooperative National Geologic Map A new, colorful map from the USGS synthesizes decades of state and federal geologic surveys to...
1st Dec 2025
1

The USGS Cooperative National Geologic Map

from Beautiful Public Data [alt+shift+b] in science

1st Dec 2025
A new, colorful map from the USGS synthesizes decades of state and federal geologic surveys to create the most detailed visualization of the geology of the contiguous United States to date.
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The ultra-selfish gene We now have the power to genetically modify entire species by inserting certain genes into them with...
3rd Sep 2024
1

The ultra-selfish gene

from Works in Progress RSS Feed [alt+shift+b] in science

3rd Sep 2024
We now have the power to genetically modify entire species by inserting certain genes into them with brute force. Doing this to malaria-carrying mosquitoes could allow us to wipe out humanity’s most deadly killer.
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The Unlimited Horizon, part 2 Previously: The Unlimited Horizon, part 1. Is there really that much more progress to be made in the...
27th Aug 2025
1

The Unlimited Horizon, part 2

from The Roots of Progress [alt+shift+b] in science

27th Aug 2025
Previously: The Unlimited Horizon, part 1. Is there really that much more progress to be made in the future? How many problems are left to solve? How much better could life really get? After all, we are pretty comfortable today. We have electricity, clean running water, heating...
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Tony Hsieh: Helping Revitalize a City ### The downtown company The business advice that Tony Hsieh most took to heart came from an ad...
23rd Apr 2014
1

Tony Hsieh: Helping Revitalize a City

from Long Now [alt+shift+b] in science

23rd Apr 2014
### The downtown company The business advice that Tony Hsieh most took to heart came from an ad executive: “A great brand is a story that never stops unfolding.” With his own company, Zappos, he determined that “brand equals culture,” and made quality of culture the top...
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To Remember, the Brain Must Actively Forget Researchers find evidence that neural systems actively remove memories, suggesting that forgetting...
6th Jun 2019
1

To Remember, the Brain Must Actively Forget

from The Quanta Podcast [alt+shift+b] in science

6th Jun 2019
Researchers find evidence that neural systems actively remove memories, suggesting that forgetting may be the default mode of the brain. The post To Remember, the Brain Must Actively Forget first appeared on Quanta Magazine
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Canada vs the 51st State How can Canada fight against an aggressive US?
7th May 2025
57

Canada vs the 51st State

from Uncharted Territories [alt+shift+b] in science

7th May 2025
How can Canada fight against an aggressive US?
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Why frontier labs are scaling-pilled Investors underwrite scaling laws because the alternative (having an Einstein discover better...
14th Jul 2026
1

Why frontier labs are scaling-pilled

from Inverted Passion [alt+shift+b] in science

14th Jul 2026
Investors underwrite scaling laws because the alternative (having an Einstein discover better algorithms) is high variance What would it take to make progress towards general intelligence, where general stands for any problem that might arise in our world? Since our world is big...
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First Pictures: Color View of the Earth & A Tropical Depression from Space – October 5, 1954 While today we are inundated with color images of the Earth, our earliest views from space were...
5th Oct 2024
88

First Pictures: Color View of the Earth & A Tropical Depression from Space – October 5, 1954

from Drew Ex Machina [alt+shift+b] in science

5th Oct 2024
While today we are inundated with color images of the Earth, our earliest views from space were confined to monochromatic or black and white images (see […]
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My $500M Mars Rover Mistake: A Failure Story Some mistakes feel worse than death.
27th Nov 2023
47

My $500M Mars Rover Mistake: A Failure Story

from Articles - Chris Lewicki [alt+shift+b] in science

27th Nov 2023
Some mistakes feel worse than death.
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2024 (Part 2 of 2) June and July I always sound like a broken record each year when discussing June and July. I was...
1st Jan 2025
37

2024 (Part 2 of 2)

from Explorations of an Ecologist [alt+shift+b] in science

1st Jan 2025
June and July I always sound like a broken record each year when discussing June and July. I was fortunate to have a lot of field work in 2024 which kept me occupied for most of these two months. But it's one of the best jobs in the world as I spend each and every day outside,...
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Notes on doing science and research I know it’s been awfully quiet here. I’ve not posted for a while. But I’ve been writing prolifically...
23rd Oct 2025
28

Notes on doing science and research

from Inverted Passion [alt+shift+b] in science

23rd Oct 2025
I know it’s been awfully quiet here. I’ve not posted for a while. But I’ve been writing prolifically somewhere else. Earlier this year, I started an AI lab called Lossfunk and that is what has kept me (happily) busy. We have a newsletter there called Lossfunk Letters where I...
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Who regulates the regulators? IRBs Scott Alexander reviews a book about institutional review boards (IRBs), the panels that review...
4th May 2023
97

Who regulates the regulators?

from The Roots of Progress | Articles [alt+shift+b] in science

4th May 2023
IRBs Scott Alexander reviews a book about institutional review boards (IRBs), the panels that review the ethics of medical trials: From Oversight to Overkill, by Dr. Simon Whitney. From the title alone, you can see where this is going. IRBs are supposed to (among other things)...
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Eternal Change for No Energy: A Time Crystal Finally Made Real Like a perpetual motion machine, a time crystal forever cycles between states without consuming...
14th Oct 2021
1

Eternal Change for No Energy: A Time Crystal Finally Made Real

from The Quanta Podcast [alt+shift+b] in science

14th Oct 2021
Like a perpetual motion machine, a time crystal forever cycles between states without consuming energy. Physicists claim to have built this new phase of matter inside a quantum computer.
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How Amsterdam invented the fire department In the seventeenth century, Amsterdam was likely the wealthiest city in the world. Global trade and...
1st Jul 2026
1

How Amsterdam invented the fire department

from Works in Progress RSS Feed [alt+shift+b] in science

1st Jul 2026
In the seventeenth century, Amsterdam was likely the wealthiest city in the world. Global trade and local industry financed its artistic masterpieces and furnished the abundant foods and household goods that Dutch painters immortalized in still lifes and domestic scenes. But...
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A Math Theory for Why People Hallucinate Psychedelic drugs can trigger characteristic hallucinations, which have long been thought to hold...
5th Jul 2019
1

A Math Theory for Why People Hallucinate

from The Quanta Podcast [alt+shift+b] in science

5th Jul 2019
Psychedelic drugs can trigger characteristic hallucinations, which have long been thought to hold clues about the brain’s circuitry. After nearly a century of study, a possible explanation is crystallizing. The post A Math Theory for Why People Hallucinate first...
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