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Edith Clarke: Architect of Modern Power Distribution Edith Clarke was a powerhouse in practically every sense of the word. From the start of her career...
10th Jul 2024
123

Edith Clarke: Architect of Modern Power Distribution

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

10th Jul 2024
Edith Clarke was a powerhouse in practically every sense of the word. From the start of her career at General Electric in 1922, she was determined to develop stable, more reliable power grids. During her first years at GE she invented what came to be known as the Clarke...
Frank Gavin: Five Ways to Use History Well ### History-savvy Policy Why do policy makers and historians shun each other? Gavin observed that...
13th Jul 2010
1

Frank Gavin: Five Ways to Use History Well

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

13th Jul 2010
### History-savvy Policy Why do policy makers and historians shun each other? Gavin observed that policy people want actionable information, certainty, and simple explanations. Meanwhile historians revel in nuance, distrust simple explanations and also distrust power and those...
Hacking the terrorist timepiece The hardest part of building hardware interfaces is not having the right tools to prototype, test...
15th Aug 2022
48

Hacking the terrorist timepiece

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

15th Aug 2022
The hardest part of building hardware interfaces is not having the right tools to prototype, test and validate ideas. A behind the scenes look at my prototyping process, on a project to re-invent the famous Casio F-91W watch.
Which countries eat the most seafood per person? The top 10 seafood-consuming nations in the world, plus trends among the world’s richest countries....
11th Dec 2021
70

Which countries eat the most seafood per person?

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

11th Dec 2021
The top 10 seafood-consuming nations in the world, plus trends among the world’s richest countries. Seafood is a vital food group and form of income for millions of people around the world. The seafood industry has more than quadrupled in the last 50 years and is estimated to be...
Issue 16: I dream of genes Plus: how humans are outdoing nature's shiniest creations; the history of measuring price rises; and...
3rd Sep 2024
84

Issue 16: I dream of genes

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

3rd Sep 2024
Plus: how humans are outdoing nature's shiniest creations; the history of measuring price rises; and how America's favourite type of coffee got really, really good.
Alicia Eggert: This Moment Used To Be The Future In _The Clock of the Long Now_, Long Now founder Stewart Brand wrote, in response to Zen poet Gary...
15th Dec 2022
1

Alicia Eggert: This Moment Used To Be The Future

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

15th Dec 2022
In _The Clock of the Long Now_, Long Now founder Stewart Brand wrote, in response to Zen poet Gary Snyder, the following musing on the nature of time: >THIS PRESENT MOMENT USED TO BE THE UNIMAGINABLE FUTURE Interdisciplinary artist Alicia Eggert’s work uses neon, steel, and...
Stuff you should have been taught in college but weren’t As part of my job running Terraform Industries, I get to build an amazing team of super smart...
4th Feb 2025
83

Stuff you should have been taught in college but weren’t

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

4th Feb 2025
As part of my job running Terraform Industries, I get to build an amazing team of super smart people, and that involves interviewing hundreds of people. Over time certain patterns have become obvious, but I remember when they weren’t obvious to me on the other side of the table!...
Louis Hyman: The New Deal You Don't Know Historian Louis Hyman's work focuses on the history of American capitalism. In his book _[Borrow:...
2nd Jan 2018
1

Louis Hyman: The New Deal You Don't Know

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

2nd Jan 2018
Historian Louis Hyman's work focuses on the history of American capitalism. In his book _[Borrow: The American Way of Debt](https://www.amazon.com/Borrow-American-Debt-Vintage-Original/dp/0307741680/)_ , he examines in detail how the evolution of personal debt has not only...
Risk-Adjusted Return What are we afraid of?
15th Apr 2026
1

Risk-Adjusted Return

from Asterisk [alt+shift+b] in science

15th Apr 2026
What are we afraid of?
Can we “cure” cancer? In an excellent recent essay on “big visions for biology,” Sam Rodriques writes: Ask most biologists...
1st Feb 2023
61

Can we “cure” cancer?

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

1st Feb 2023
In an excellent recent essay on “big visions for biology,” Sam Rodriques writes: Ask most biologists about the cure for cancer, and they will tell you it doesn’t exist: cancer is many diseases that are mostly unrelated to each other, and that all have to be cured one at a...
What Asian Development Can Teach the World The Magic Development of Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, and China, and What That Tells Us about US...
7th Mar 2025
64

What Asian Development Can Teach the World

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

7th Mar 2025
The Magic Development of Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, and China, and What That Tells Us about US Tariffs, China’s Future, EU Protectionism, Japan’s Zombie Debt, Argentina’s Arrested Development, and more
Samurai city For three hundred years, Japan enjoyed enviable stability and peace. All it took was locking up its...
2nd Jun 2026
1

Samurai city

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

2nd Jun 2026
For three hundred years, Japan enjoyed enviable stability and peace. All it took was locking up its warlike samurai elite in the world’s least efficient city.
1,000 Photos of Dolphin Fins Scars, scratches and wounds abound in these photos as encounters with unknown creatures and boat...
10th Apr 2023
157

1,000 Photos of Dolphin Fins

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

10th Apr 2023
Scars, scratches and wounds abound in these photos as encounters with unknown creatures and boat propellers leave their marks, imprinting a story of close escapes and cheating death.
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...
Cognitive Legos We have all likely had the experience that when we learn a task it becomes easier to learn a...
1st Dec 2025
2

Cognitive Legos

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

1st Dec 2025
We have all likely had the experience that when we learn a task it becomes easier to learn a distinct but related task. Learning to cook one dish makes it easier to learn other dishes. Learning how to repair a radio helps you learn to repair other electronics. Even more...
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...
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
What did Henry George think about cities? Solving the terrible urban conditions of the 1800s by abolishing cities
9th May 2024
109

What did Henry George think about cities?

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

9th May 2024
Solving the terrible urban conditions of the 1800s by abolishing cities
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...
Think Java, but interactive The online version of Think Java now features interactive widgets that run the code examples in the...
22nd Aug 2026
1

Think Java, but interactive

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

22nd Aug 2026
The online version of Think Java now features interactive widgets that run the code examples in the browser. For readers, it means you can try out the examples, modify them, and test your code. And for us it means we can publish an interactive version of the book without...
Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart AIs Are? Scientists have repeatedly failed to recognize the complexity of animal cognition. Will we make the...
1st Jun 2023
26

Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart AIs Are?

from Asterisk [alt+shift+b] in science

1st Jun 2023
Scientists have repeatedly failed to recognize the complexity of animal cognition. Will we make the same mistakes with AI?
Colliding the familiar and the anti-familiar at CERN toise me at CERN was a box of chocolates. CERN is a multinational particle-physics collaboration....
22nd Jan 2024
116

Colliding the familiar and the anti-familiar at CERN

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

22nd Jan 2024
toise me at CERN was a box of chocolates. CERN is a multinational particle-physics collaboration. Based in Geneva, CERN is famous for having “the world’s largest and most powerful accelerator,” according to its website. So a physicist will take for … Continue reading →
Walter Mischel: The Marshmallow Test: Mastering Self-Control ### Thinking hot and cool **In the 1960s, Mischel** and colleagues at Stanford launched a series of...
3rd May 2016
1

Walter Mischel: The Marshmallow Test: Mastering Self-Control

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

3rd May 2016
### Thinking hot and cool **In the 1960s, Mischel** and colleagues at Stanford launched a series of delayed-gratification experiments with young children using a method that later came to be known as “the marshmallow test.” A researcher whom the child knew and trusted, after...
Is AI Sentient Revisited On the SGU this week we interviewed Blake Lemoine, the ex-Google employee who believes that Google’s...
3rd Apr 2023
65

Is AI Sentient Revisited

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

3rd Apr 2023
On the SGU this week we interviewed Blake Lemoine, the ex-Google employee who believes that Google’s LaMDA may be sentient, based on his interactions with it. This was a fascinating discussion, and even though I think we did a pretty deep dive in the time we had, it also felt...
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...
The Race Question As a scientific concept – does race exist? Is it a useful construct, or is it more misleading than...
5th May 2025
40

The Race Question

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

5th May 2025
As a scientific concept – does race exist? Is it a useful construct, or is it more misleading than useful? I wrote about this question in 2016, and my thinking has evolved a bit since then. My bottom line conclusion has not changed – the answer is, it depends. There is no fully...
Foundations Built for a General Theory of Neural Networks Neural networks can be as unpredictable as they are powerful. Now mathematicians are beginning to...
5th Dec 2019
1

Foundations Built for a General Theory of Neural Networks

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

5th Dec 2019
Neural networks can be as unpredictable as they are powerful. Now mathematicians are beginning to reveal how a neural network’s form will influence its function. The post Foundations Built for a General Theory of Neural Networks first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Alan Turing and the Power of Negative Thinking Mathematical proofs based on a technique called diagonalization can be relentlessly contrarian, but...
5th Sep 2023
163

Alan Turing and the Power of Negative Thinking

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

5th Sep 2023
Mathematical proofs based on a technique called diagonalization can be relentlessly contrarian, but they help reveal the limits of algorithms. The post Alan Turing and the Power of Negative Thinking first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Common healthcare questions I get | Out-Of-Pocket Some of your FAQs finally answered
4th Dec 2024
88

Common healthcare questions I get | Out-Of-Pocket

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

4th Dec 2024
Some of your FAQs finally answered
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...
The Transition to Agriculture It is generally accepted that the transition from hunter-gatherer communities to agriculture was the...
3rd Apr 2025
38

The Transition to Agriculture

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

3rd Apr 2025
It is generally accepted that the transition from hunter-gatherer communities to agriculture was the single most important event in human history, ultimately giving rise to all of civilization. The transition started to take place around 12,000 years ago in the Middle East,...
Winter Solstice Arrives on Sunday Dec 21 Dec. 21 is the winter solstice. We explain what this means and how the seasons come about. The post...
19th Dec 2025
1

Winter Solstice Arrives on Sunday Dec 21

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

19th Dec 2025
Dec. 21 is the winter solstice. We explain what this means and how the seasons come about. The post Winter Solstice Arrives on Sunday Dec 21 appeared first on Andrew Fraknoi - Astronomy Lectures - Astronomy Education Resources.
The Making of an Elite: Japanese Christians Why are Japanese elites so likely to be Christian when Japan is a 99% non-Christian country?
7th Nov 2025
1

The Making of an Elite: Japanese Christians

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

7th Nov 2025
Why are Japanese elites so likely to be Christian when Japan is a 99% non-Christian country?
Shark Bay: a pristine template for marine ecosystems worldwide Here in Western Australia, we are lucky to be in the global centre of seagrass diversity.  As such,...
13th Aug 2013
75

Shark Bay: a pristine template for marine ecosystems worldwide

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

13th Aug 2013
Here in Western Australia, we are lucky to be in the global centre of seagrass diversity.  As such, we have a coastline dominated by many different species of seagrasses – from large, temperate seagrasses like Posidonia australis to small, tropical species like Halodule...
When ChatGPT Broke an Entire Field The study of natural language processing, or NLP, dates back to the 1940s. It gave Stephen Hawking a...
29th Jul 2025
1

When ChatGPT Broke an Entire Field

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

29th Jul 2025
The study of natural language processing, or NLP, dates back to the 1940s. It gave Stephen Hawking a voice, Siri a brain and social media companies another way to target us with ads. In less than five years, large language models broke NLP and made it anew. The Quanta Podcast,...
The Ruliology of Lambdas Click any diagram to get Wolfram Language code to reproduce it. What Are Lambdas? It’s a story of...
15th Sep 2025
1

The Ruliology of Lambdas

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

15th Sep 2025
Click any diagram to get Wolfram Language code to reproduce it. What Are Lambdas? It’s a story of pure, abstract computation. In fact, historically, one of the very first. But even though it’s something I for one have used in practice for nearly half a century, it’s not something...
Announcing…DATA CAMP 2026!!! | Out-Of-Pocket It’s back…with a vengeance. Or just back normally.
3rd Apr 2026
1

Announcing…DATA CAMP 2026!!! | Out-Of-Pocket

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

3rd Apr 2026
It’s back…with a vengeance. Or just back normally.
Kara Platoni: Transforming Perception, One Sense at a Time Kara Platoni, author and journalism professor at UC-Berkeley, set out to find the sensory pioneers...
3rd Jul 2017
1

Kara Platoni: Transforming Perception, One Sense at a Time

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

3rd Jul 2017
Kara Platoni, author and journalism professor at UC-Berkeley, set out to find the sensory pioneers who are changing the way we experience the world. Her boot-strapped and crowd-sourced quest led her to laboratories and workshops around the world. In her book _[We Have The...
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...
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
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...
Buyers of first resort How do technologies get off the ground? As well as seed funding, many of the best technologies...
14th Sep 2021
1

Buyers of first resort

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

14th Sep 2021
How do technologies get off the ground? As well as seed funding, many of the best technologies require Buyers of First Resort, which buy products until they improve enough to get to efficient scale.
367 | Jared Diamond on the Course of History and the Role of Leaders The course of history is affected by many things, including the political and social situations of...
7th Sep 2026
1

367 | Jared Diamond on the Course of History and the Role of Leaders

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

7th Sep 2026
The course of history is affected by many things, including the political and social situations of large groups of people, […]
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
The road from serfdom Unwinding Russian serfdom took half a century. To eventually do it in the face of powerful...
16th Feb 2024
1

The road from serfdom

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

16th Feb 2024
Unwinding Russian serfdom took half a century. To eventually do it in the face of powerful opposition took a remarkable approach that let peasants vote themselves into freedom.
The golden age of vaccine development The first vaccine was a lucky accident. Now we can design new vaccines in weeks, atom by atom.
7th Jan 2026
1

The golden age of vaccine development

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

7th Jan 2026
The first vaccine was a lucky accident. Now we can design new vaccines in weeks, atom by atom.
WWII Tank, Aircraft, and Ship Identification guides How do you tell friend from foe in a split second? These beautifully designed WWII guides used...
21st Sep 2026
1

WWII Tank, Aircraft, and Ship Identification guides

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

21st Sep 2026
How do you tell friend from foe in a split second? These beautifully designed WWII guides used silhouettes and vehicle details into a system for recognizing tanks, planes, and ships on sight.
Don’t compete The Internet is full of people winning all the time. Someone is traveling to exotic locations,...
22nd Mar 2025
80

Don’t compete

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

22nd Mar 2025
The Internet is full of people winning all the time. Someone is traveling to exotic locations, someone else is raising funds, and another person is winning awards. Essentially, everyone around you is succeeding while you do spend your days as the nature intended – sleeping,...
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...
Make your PR process resilient to AI slop One concern I have heard from AI naysayers is that AI slop will make code reviews nearly impossible....
24th Dec 2025
1

Make your PR process resilient to AI slop

from pcloadletter [alt+shift+b] in science

24th Dec 2025
One concern I have heard from AI naysayers is that AI slop will make code reviews nearly impossible. AI churns out so much code, documentation, etc. that it's just impossible for any reviewer to keep up with it... right? Wrong! If you have good PR review processes, then reviewing...
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
Virtual Walking When I use my virtual reality gear I do practical zero virtual walking – meaning that I don’t have...
1st Mar 2024
63

Virtual Walking

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

1st Mar 2024
When I use my virtual reality gear I do practical zero virtual walking – meaning that I don’t have my avatar walk while I am not walking. I general play standing up which means I can move around the space in my office mapped by my VR software – so I am physically walking to...
Scientists Find a Fast Way to Describe Quantum Systems After years of false starts, a team of computer scientists has found a way to efficiently deduce the...
1st May 2024
76

Scientists Find a Fast Way to Describe Quantum Systems

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

1st May 2024
After years of false starts, a team of computer scientists has found a way to efficiently deduce the Hamiltonian of a physical system at any constant temperature. The post Scientists Find a Fast Way to Describe Quantum Systems first appeared on Quanta Magazine
James Carse: Religious War In Light of the Infinite Game ### Finite and infinite games Countless readers have been hooked by the opening line of James P....
15th Jan 2005
1

James Carse: Religious War In Light of the Infinite Game

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

15th Jan 2005
### Finite and infinite games Countless readers have been hooked by the opening line of James P. Carse's [_Finite and Infinite Games_](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0345341848/qid=1105811409/lono0a-20) -- "There are at least two kinds of games. One could be...
Dmitry Orlov: Social Collapse Best Practices ### Managing social collapse With vintage Russian black humor, Orlov described the social collapse...
14th Feb 2009
1

Dmitry Orlov: Social Collapse Best Practices

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

14th Feb 2009
### Managing social collapse With vintage Russian black humor, Orlov described the social collapse he witnessed in Russia in the 1990s and spelled out its practical lessons for the American social collapse he sees as inevitable. The American economy in the 1990s described itself...
Priyamvada Natarajan: Solving Dark Matter and Dark Energy ## The darkness of dark matter and dark energy ALL THAT WE KNOW of the universe we get from...
12th Apr 2016
1

Priyamvada Natarajan: Solving Dark Matter and Dark Energy

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

12th Apr 2016
## The darkness of dark matter and dark energy ALL THAT WE KNOW of the universe we get from observing photons, Natarajan pointed out. But dark matter, which makes up 90 percent of the total mass in the universe, is called dark because it neither emits nor reflects photons — and...
Nicholas Negroponte: Beyond Digital ### A world of convergence In education, Negroponte explained, there’s a fundamental distinction...
18th Apr 2013
1

Nicholas Negroponte: Beyond Digital

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

18th Apr 2013
### A world of convergence In education, Negroponte explained, there’s a fundamental distinction between "instructionism" and "constructionism." "Constructionism is learning by discovery, by doing, by making. Instructionism is learning by being told." Negroponte’s lifelong...
Here Be Sermons I've long turned up my nose at sermons and related forms of mass moralizing. One reason, quite...
11th Sep 2017
42

Here Be Sermons

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

11th Sep 2017
I've long turned up my nose at sermons and related forms of mass moralizing. One reason, quite simply, is that they bore me. Honesty good. Violence bad. My eyes glaze over. Empathy, rah! Racism, boo! Please, don't we know this… Read more ›
Which variables to control for, and why In this post, we will use a practical example to explore the power of statistical control,...
17th Nov 2025
1

Which variables to control for, and why

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

17th Nov 2025
In this post, we will use a practical example to explore the power of statistical control, explaining why adjusting for the right variables clarifies relationships and why adjusting for the wrong ones can introduce new, serious biases.
Should We Eradicate Mosquitoes? They kill us and bother us, but is that enough to eradicate them, or their role in the environment...
1st Sep 2026
2

Should We Eradicate Mosquitoes?

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

1st Sep 2026
They kill us and bother us, but is that enough to eradicate them, or their role in the environment is too important?
Did Unions End Long Work Hours? Is it growth or organized labor that's more responsible for giving us shorter workdays?
4th Sep 2024
37

Did Unions End Long Work Hours?

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

4th Sep 2024
Is it growth or organized labor that's more responsible for giving us shorter workdays?
The great reinforcer Alongside all the successes of science in the Covid era, the pandemic has also sparked an outbreak...
8th Feb 2021
1

The great reinforcer

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

8th Feb 2021
Alongside all the successes of science in the Covid era, the pandemic has also sparked an outbreak of viral misinformation and sloppy research, revealing the glaring flaws in our scientific system.
A Taste of Italy In the mid-1800s, Italy was consumed by two parallel fights: one to rid itself of Austrian...
14th May 2021
30

A Taste of Italy

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

14th May 2021
In the mid-1800s, Italy was consumed by two parallel fights: one to rid itself of Austrian domination (a holdover from the Holy Roman Empire) and the other for unification. At the time, Europe’s boot was a curious conglomeration of separate states, not all of which got along....
1st Nov 2024
Emergent, Fringe Behaviors in Healthcare | Out-Of-Pocket tweeting out your labs, induced mental states, and more
2nd May 2025
29

Emergent, Fringe Behaviors in Healthcare | Out-Of-Pocket

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

2nd May 2025
tweeting out your labs, induced mental states, and more
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?
what's happened since the human genome project When the human genome project was deemed “complete” in 2003, it was met with incredible fanfare. The...
17th May 2022
33

what's happened since the human genome project

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

17th May 2022
When the human genome project was deemed “complete” in 2003, it was met with incredible fanfare. The entire project leading up to that moment had all the drama to keep its audience enthralled. Fierce rivalry between a public and private institution, multiple countries involved,...
How Randomness Improves Algorithms Unpredictability can help computer scientists solve otherwise intractable problems. The...
3rd Apr 2023
74

How Randomness Improves Algorithms

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

3rd Apr 2023
Unpredictability can help computer scientists solve otherwise intractable problems. The post How Randomness Improves Algorithms first appeared on Quanta Magazine
In Indonesia’s Rainforest, a Mega-Farm Project Is Plowing Ahead The Indonesian government is fast-tracking a massive agricultural project that is turning 7 million...
2nd Sep 2025
9

In Indonesia’s Rainforest, a Mega-Farm Project Is Plowing Ahead

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

2nd Sep 2025
The Indonesian government is fast-tracking a massive agricultural project that is turning 7 million acres of tropical forest into rice and sugarcane farms. Critics say it is the world’s largest deforestation project and would upend the lives of thousands of Indigenous...
A Massive Subterranean ‘Tree’ Is Moving Magma to Earth’s Surface Deep in the mantle, a branching plume of intensely hot material appears to be the engine powering...
9th Dec 2021
1

A Massive Subterranean ‘Tree’ Is Moving Magma to Earth’s Surface

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

9th Dec 2021
Deep in the mantle, a branching plume of intensely hot material appears to be the engine powering vast volcanic activity. The post A Massive Subterranean ‘Tree’ Is Moving Magma to Earth’s Surface first appeared on Quanta Magazine
The Hurricane Hunter Satellites: A Weather Nanosatellite Constellation As part of ongoing outreach efforts by Tropical Weather Analytics (TWA) to the meteorological...
17th Apr 2025
57

The Hurricane Hunter Satellites: A Weather Nanosatellite Constellation

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

17th Apr 2025
As part of ongoing outreach efforts by Tropical Weather Analytics (TWA) to the meteorological community, TWA’s Chief Scientist, Andrew LePage, attended the National Tropical Weather Conference […]
What is progress? In one sense, the concept of progress is simple, straightforward, and uncontroversial. In another...
9th Mar 2024
156

What is progress?

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

9th Mar 2024
In one sense, the concept of progress is simple, straightforward, and uncontroversial. In another sense, it contains an entire worldview. The most basic meaning of “progress” is simply advancement along a path, or more generally from one state to another that is considered more...
Nearly Half of Wolves in Italy Are Now Part Dog Italy has seen a growing number of wolf-dog hybrids, raising concerns about the future of its...
1st May 2026
1

Nearly Half of Wolves in Italy Are Now Part Dog

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

1st May 2026
Italy has seen a growing number of wolf-dog hybrids, raising concerns about the future of its wolves. Read more on E360 →
To Live Your Best Life, Do Mathematics The ancient Greeks argued that the best life was filled with beauty, truth, justice, play and love....
2nd Mar 2017
1

To Live Your Best Life, Do Mathematics

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

2nd Mar 2017
The ancient Greeks argued that the best life was filled with beauty, truth, justice, play and love. The mathematician Francis Su knows just where to find them. The post To Live Your Best Life, Do Mathematics first appeared on Quanta Magazine
The sequel This October, fantasy readers are devouring a sequel: the final installment in Philip Pullman’s...
27th Oct 2025
32

The sequel

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

27th Oct 2025
This October, fantasy readers are devouring a sequel: the final installment in Philip Pullman’s trilogy The Book of Dust. The series follows student Lyra Silvertongue as she journeys from Oxford to the far east. Her story features alternate worlds, souls … Continue reading →
Predation of juvenile reef fish in coral patches at Ningaloo Reef The second research article I have decided to discuss is one I had the pleasure to be involved with!...
11th Feb 2013
61

Predation of juvenile reef fish in coral patches at Ningaloo Reef

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

11th Feb 2013
The second research article I have decided to discuss is one I had the pleasure to be involved with!  In fact, it was the first paper I was a co-author on, after linking up with the Department of Environment and Conservation through an ANNiMS internship program.  The paper was...
USAF Project Able-1: The First Attempt to Reach the Moon In the years leading up to the beginning of the Space Age, there were many studies made in the West...
17th Aug 2022
47

USAF Project Able-1: The First Attempt to Reach the Moon

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

17th Aug 2022
In the years leading up to the beginning of the Space Age, there were many studies made in the West about lunar missions which gripped the […]
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...
The Pilgrimage to Mecca Is Becoming More Dangerous as Mideast Warms Global heating has “fundamentally altered” the climate of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, and is exposing...
1st Jun 2026
1

The Pilgrimage to Mecca Is Becoming More Dangerous as Mideast Warms

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

1st Jun 2026
Global heating has “fundamentally altered” the climate of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, and is exposing millions of hajj pilgrims to extreme and dangerous heat even in months outside summer, a new analysis has found. Read more on E360 →
The Invention of Islamic Invention How a rogue Wikipedia editor credited Muslims with... everything
3 weeks ago
1

The Invention of Islamic Invention

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

3 weeks ago
How a rogue Wikipedia editor credited Muslims with... everything
Interaction20 Round-up Summary of all the amazing, curious and challenging ideas from last week's IXDA Interaction 20...
13th Feb 2020
22

Interaction20 Round-up

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

13th Feb 2020
Summary of all the amazing, curious and challenging ideas from last week's IXDA Interaction 20 conference.
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...
Joline Blais & Jon Ippolito: At the Edge of Art ### Artibodies Art, like the antibodies in our immune system, creates alien forces in service of...
15th Dec 2007
1

Joline Blais & Jon Ippolito: At the Edge of Art

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

15th Dec 2007
### Artibodies Art, like the antibodies in our immune system, creates alien forces in service of the whole. It anticipates threats and models them. It is a diversity agent. Two forms of that process were explained and shown by Ippolito and Blais: perversion, and execution. One...
Esther Dyson: The Short Now: What Addiction, Day Trading, and Most of Society’s Ills Have in Common Long Now board member Esther Dyson shares her ongoing work to move communities away from short-term...
9th Jan 2020
1
9th Jan 2020
Long Now board member Esther Dyson shares her ongoing work to move communities away from short-term thinking and into health. In conversation with previous Interval speaker [Kara Platoni](http://www.karaplatoni.com/), she discusses how short-term desire is addiction, affecting...
How AI Will Change Media Work with me to make it happen
3rd Apr 2026
1

How AI Will Change Media

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

3rd Apr 2026
Work with me to make it happen
How are migration sites connected? Which are the most important migration sites and how are breeding, moulting, staging and wintering...
9th Jan 2025
158

How are migration sites connected?

from wadertales [alt+shift+b] in science

9th Jan 2025
Which are the most important migration sites and how are breeding, moulting, staging and wintering locations linked? Forty-four authors have collaborated to bring together ringing, colour-ringing and GPS tracking data in a paper entitled Site-level connectivity identified from...
The Quantum Secret to Superconductivity In a virtuoso experiment, physicists have revealed details of a “quantum critical point” that...
3rd Mar 2016
1

The Quantum Secret to Superconductivity

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

3rd Mar 2016
In a virtuoso experiment, physicists have revealed details of a “quantum critical point” that underlies high-temperature superconductivity. The post The Quantum Secret to Superconductivity first appeared on Quanta Magazine
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
Congratulations, class of 2025! Words from a new graduate Editor’s note (Nicole Yunger Halpern): Jade LeSchack, the Quantum Steampunk Laboratory’s first...
10th Jun 2025
36

Congratulations, class of 2025! Words from a new graduate

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

10th Jun 2025
Editor’s note (Nicole Yunger Halpern): Jade LeSchack, the Quantum Steampunk Laboratory’s first undergraduate, received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland this spring. Kermit the Frog presented the valedictory address, but Jade gave the following speech at the...
Liberté, égalité, radioactivité France built 40 nuclear reactors in a decade. Here’s how they did it, and how the world can follow...
4th Sep 2025
1

Liberté, égalité, radioactivité

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

4th Sep 2025
France built 40 nuclear reactors in a decade. Here’s how they did it, and how the world can follow their lead today.
Harvesting Energy from Water Vapor I did not plan to write yet another post about energy, but this popped up and I had to write about...
1st Jun 2023
91

Harvesting Energy from Water Vapor

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

1st Jun 2023
I did not plan to write yet another post about energy, but this popped up and I had to write about it. UMASS researchers have produced a device that generates electricity by harvesting charge from water vapor. They write: The common feature of these materials is that they are...
The Fossil Footprint Nebula A rarely imaged target as it is very dim. This image took me over 50h of total exposure time. Total...
12th Jan 2024
72

The Fossil Footprint Nebula

from Light from Space [alt+shift+b] in science

12th Jan 2024
A rarely imaged target as it is very dim. This image took me over 50h of total exposure time. Total exposure time: 52h 40' Image resolution: 4,490 × 4,552px (0.96″/px) Shot from my driveway near Tucson, AZ in late 2023 Telescope: William Optics RedCat
Interspecies Hybrids Play a Vital Role in Evolution Hybrids, once treated as biological misfits, play a vital role in the evolution of many animal...
18th Jan 2018
1

Interspecies Hybrids Play a Vital Role in Evolution

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

18th Jan 2018
Hybrids, once treated as biological misfits, play a vital role in the evolution of many animal species. Now conservationists are trying to reconcile that truth with policies. The post Interspecies Hybrids Play a Vital Role in Evolution first appeared on Quanta...
First Pictures: Earthrise from Apollo 8 – December 24, 1968 The year 1968 was a tumultuous one in the US with many political and cultural changes punctuated by...
24th Dec 2023
74

First Pictures: Earthrise from Apollo 8 – December 24, 1968

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

24th Dec 2023
The year 1968 was a tumultuous one in the US with many political and cultural changes punctuated by the assassination of prominent public figures, violent protests […]
Bruce Sterling: The Singularity: Your Future as a Black Hole One reason lots of people don't want to think long term these days is because technology keeps...
12th Jun 2004
1

Bruce Sterling: The Singularity: Your Future as a Black Hole

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

12th Jun 2004
One reason lots of people don't want to think long term these days is because technology keeps accelerating so rapidly, we assume the world will become unrecognizable in a few years and then move on to unimaginable. Long-term thinking must be either impossible or irrelevant. The...
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...
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...
Geoffrey B West: The Universal Laws of Growth and Pace ## Why cities live forever **West focussed on cities** in his discussion of the newly discovered...
24th May 2017
1

Geoffrey B West: The Universal Laws of Growth and Pace

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

24th May 2017
## Why cities live forever **West focussed on cities** in his discussion of the newly discovered exponential scaling laws that govern everything alive. “We live,” he said, “in an exponentially expanding socio-economic universe.” Global urbanization has reached the point that...
Fossil DNA Reveals New Twists in Modern Human Origins Modern humans and more ancient hominins interbred many times throughout Eurasia and Africa, and the...
13th Aug 2020
1

Fossil DNA Reveals New Twists in Modern Human Origins

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

13th Aug 2020
Modern humans and more ancient hominins interbred many times throughout Eurasia and Africa, and the genetic flow went both ways. The post Fossil DNA Reveals New Twists in Modern Human Origins first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Sunday is Both Father’s Day and the Summer Solstice June 21 is not just father's day but the day of the summer solstice The post Sunday is Both Father’s...
19th Jun 2026
0

Sunday is Both Father’s Day and the Summer Solstice

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

19th Jun 2026
June 21 is not just father's day but the day of the summer solstice The post Sunday is Both Father’s Day and the Summer Solstice appeared first on Andrew Fraknoi - Astronomy Lectures - Astronomy Education Resources.
A 1-Day Virtual Symposium on Future of Astronomy For those of you with a deeper interest in astronomy and how we learn about the universe, this may...
8th Aug 2025
19

A 1-Day Virtual Symposium on Future of Astronomy

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

8th Aug 2025
For those of you with a deeper interest in astronomy and how we learn about the universe, this may be of interest.  There is a good discount if you register before Aug. 10. The Astronomical Society of the Pacific Presents: Eyes on the Cosmos: Cutting Edge Instruments and Ideas in...
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
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.
The Data Reveals Top Patent Portfolios Eight years is a long time in the world of patents. When we last published what we then called the...
1st Jun 2025
26

The Data Reveals Top Patent Portfolios

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

1st Jun 2025
Eight years is a long time in the world of patents. When we last published what we then called the Patent Power Scorecard, in 2017, it was a different technological and social landscape—Google had just filed a patent application on the transformer architecture, a momentous...
2024 wrapped This year’s review is going to be shorter than 2023 (and previous years) because I’m in Goa right...
31st Dec 2024
121

2024 wrapped

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

31st Dec 2024
This year’s review is going to be shorter than 2023 (and previous years) because I’m in Goa right now for a holiday and I don’t feel like being in front of a screen for long. I mean, just look at this view and tell me that you’d rather be in front of a screen writing… Read...
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...
There’s no such thing as a tree (phylogenetically) Dendronization – Evolving into a tree-like morphology. (In the style of “carcinization".) From...
3rd May 2021
64

There’s no such thing as a tree (phylogenetically)

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

3rd May 2021
Dendronization – Evolving into a tree-like morphology. (In the style of “carcinization".) From 'dendro', the ancient Greek root for tree.
There was no great stagnation We may not have flying cars but we do have incredible information technology. We’re mismeasuring the...
12th Oct 2022
1

There was no great stagnation

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

12th Oct 2022
We may not have flying cars but we do have incredible information technology. We’re mismeasuring the huge benefits it is bringing.
Bicycle There is something delightful about riding a bicycle. Once mastered, the simple action of pedaling...
28th Mar 2023
162

Bicycle

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

28th Mar 2023
There is something delightful about riding a bicycle. Once mastered, the simple action of pedaling to move forward and turning the handlebars to steer makes bike riding an effortless activity. In the demonstration below, you can guide the rider with the slider, and you can also...
Kevin Kelly: Technium Unbound ## Holos Rising When Kevin Kelly looked up the definition of “superorganism” on Wikipedia, he found...
13th Nov 2014
1

Kevin Kelly: Technium Unbound

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

13th Nov 2014
## Holos Rising When Kevin Kelly looked up the definition of “superorganism” on Wikipedia, he found this: “A collection of agents which can act in concert to produce phenomena governed by the collective.” The source cited was Kevin Kelly, in his 01994 book, Out of Control. His...
A Newfound Source of Cellular Order in the Chemistry of Life Inside cells, droplets of biomolecules called condensates merge, divide and dissolve. Their dance...
1st Apr 2021
1

A Newfound Source of Cellular Order in the Chemistry of Life

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

1st Apr 2021
Inside cells, droplets of biomolecules called condensates merge, divide and dissolve. Their dance may regulate vital processes. The post A Newfound Source of Cellular Order in the Chemistry of Life first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Ethernet is Still Going Strong After 50 Years The Xerox Palo Alto Research Center in California has spawned many pioneering computer technologies...
16th Nov 2023
69

Ethernet is Still Going Strong After 50 Years

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

16th Nov 2023
The Xerox Palo Alto Research Center in California has spawned many pioneering computer technologies including the Alto—the first personal computer to use a graphical user interface—and the first laser printer. The PARC facility also is known for the invention of Ethernet, a...
Can AI Predict the Quantum Universe? AI promises to revolutionize the way we do science, which raises a central technological question of...
11th Dec 2025
1

Can AI Predict the Quantum Universe?

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

11th Dec 2025
AI promises to revolutionize the way we do science, which raises a central technological question of our time: Can classical AI understand all natural phenomena, or are some fundamentally beyond its reach? Many proponents of artificial intelligence argue that any … Continue...
What If We Had Bigger Brains? Imagining Minds beyond Ours Cats Don’t Talk We humans have perhaps 100 billion neurons in our brains. But what if we had many...
21st May 2025
1

What If We Had Bigger Brains? Imagining Minds beyond Ours

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

21st May 2025
Cats Don’t Talk We humans have perhaps 100 billion neurons in our brains. But what if we had many more? Or what if the AIs we built effectively had many more? What kinds of things might then become possible? At 100 billion neurons, we know, for example, that compositional...
Good Meteor Shower Coming August 11-12 The Perseid Meteor Shower is one of the best of the year for the untrained observer The post Good...
27th Jul 2024
102

Good Meteor Shower Coming August 11-12

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

27th Jul 2024
The Perseid Meteor Shower is one of the best of the year for the untrained observer The post Good Meteor Shower Coming August 11-12 appeared first on Andrew Fraknoi - Astronomy Lectures - Astronomy Education Resources.
The Familiar, Yet So Different, Hydrocarbon Rivers of Titan There are three planets or moons in our solar system known to now have, or once had, surface rivers,...
19th Jul 2023
45

The Familiar, Yet So Different, Hydrocarbon Rivers of Titan

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

19th Jul 2023
There are three planets or moons in our solar system known to now have, or once had, surface rivers, lakes, deltas and a hydrologic system.  There’s Earth, of course, Mars long ago when it was warmer and wetter, and the so different yet so similar rivers of hydrocarbons on...
The Army and Navy Style Guides These fascinating Army and Navy brand style guides define the look, feel and voice of our armed...
4th Oct 2023
168

The Army and Navy Style Guides

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

4th Oct 2023
These fascinating Army and Navy brand style guides define the look, feel and voice of our armed forces.
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...
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 […]
Martin Rees: Prospects for Humanity To think usefully about humanity’s future, you have to bear everything in mind simultaneously....
22nd Jan 2019
1

Martin Rees: Prospects for Humanity

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

22nd Jan 2019
To think usefully about humanity’s future, you have to bear everything in mind simultaneously. Nobody has managed that better than Martin Rees in his succinct summing-up book: _ON THE FUTURE: Prospects for Humanity_. As the recent President of the Royal Society (and longtime...
Stewart Brand: Rethinking Green ### Globalizing Green Brand built his case for rethinking environmental goals and methods on two...
10th Oct 2009
1

Stewart Brand: Rethinking Green

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

10th Oct 2009
### Globalizing Green Brand built his case for rethinking environmental goals and methods on two major changes going on in the world. The one that most people still don't take into consideration is that power is shifting to the developing world, where 5 out of 6 people live,...
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...
Notes on Progress: An Englishman in New York Reflections on the revolution in Manhattan
7th Oct 2022
50

Notes on Progress: An Englishman in New York

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

7th Oct 2022
Reflections on the revolution in Manhattan
Mariana Mazzucato: The Entrepreneurial State ### Government as radical, patient VC The iPhone, Mazzucato pointed out, is held up as a classic...
25th Mar 2014
1

Mariana Mazzucato: The Entrepreneurial State

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

25th Mar 2014
### Government as radical, patient VC The iPhone, Mazzucato pointed out, is held up as a classic example of world-changing innovation coming from business. Yet every feature of the iPhone was created, originally, by multi-decade government-funded research. From DARPA came the...
The Institute Behind Taiwan’s Chip Dominance TSMC (and most of Taiwan’s chip industry) spun out of one government research institute. How did...
16th Mar 2026
1

The Institute Behind Taiwan’s Chip Dominance

from Asterisk [alt+shift+b] in science

16th Mar 2026
TSMC (and most of Taiwan’s chip industry) spun out of one government research institute. How did ITRI implement one of the most successful industrial policy programs of all time?
Kim Stanley Robinson: Learning From Le Guin The legacy of [Ursula K Le Guin](http://www.ursulakleguin.com/) lives beyond the page in generations...
12th Jul 2019
1

Kim Stanley Robinson: Learning From Le Guin

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

12th Jul 2019
The legacy of [Ursula K Le Guin](http://www.ursulakleguin.com/) lives beyond the page in generations of writers who have learned from her. She used fantastic fiction to imagine ideals for the real world. Kim Stanley Robinson, her student 40 years ago and now a celebrated science...
Star Way of Humanity: American Space Art During the COVID-19 shutdown three years ago, I spent a lot of my time at home digging through my...
20th Aug 2023
37

Star Way of Humanity: American Space Art

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

20th Aug 2023
During the COVID-19 shutdown three years ago, I spent a lot of my time at home digging through my archives discovering all sorts of items I […]
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....
20th Sep 2026
1

How deep is Tulainyo Lake?

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

20th Sep 2026
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...
Jane Langdale: Radical Ag: C4 Rice and Beyond ## Revolutionary rice Feeding the world (and saving nature) in this populous century, Jane Langdale...
15th Mar 2016
1

Jane Langdale: Radical Ag: C4 Rice and Beyond

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

15th Mar 2016
## Revolutionary rice Feeding the world (and saving nature) in this populous century, Jane Langdale began, depends entirely on agricultural efficiency—the ability to turn a given amount of land and sunlight into ever more food. And that depends on three forms of efficiency in...
Ray Kurzweil: Kurzweil's Law ### Escape velocity Attempts to think long term, Ray Kurzweil began, keep making the mistake of...
24th Sep 2005
1

Ray Kurzweil: Kurzweil's Law

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

24th Sep 2005
### Escape velocity Attempts to think long term, Ray Kurzweil began, keep making the mistake of imagining that the pace of the future is like the pace of the past. Pondering the next ten years, we usually begin by studying the last ten years. He recommends studying the last...
Web-surfing tips for strange times Meditations on what's bad about the internet lately and how to use it anyhow.
31st May 2024
130

Web-surfing tips for strange times

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

31st May 2024
Meditations on what's bad about the internet lately and how to use it anyhow.
The Spirit We Lost, part 1 Previously: The Unlimited Horizon, part 1 and part 2. On a fine day late in May, 1883, hundreds of...
30th Sep 2025
1

The Spirit We Lost, part 1

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

30th Sep 2025
Previously: The Unlimited Horizon, part 1 and part 2. On a fine day late in May, 1883, hundreds of thousands of people gathered along the East River in New York City for a grand celebration.1 Perhaps a hundred thousand came from outside the city: by train, by boat, by wagon from...
14,000 Photos of Army Uniforms and Rations from the 70s and 80s An incredible archive of 14,000 photos of Army uniforms, military gear and rations from the 70s and...
20th Nov 2024
123

14,000 Photos of Army Uniforms and Rations from the 70s and 80s

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

20th Nov 2024
An incredible archive of 14,000 photos of Army uniforms, military gear and rations from the 70s and 80s.
James Fallows: Civilization's Infrastructure ### Infrastructure investment tricks All societies under-invest in their infrastructure—in the...
7th Oct 2015
1

James Fallows: Civilization's Infrastructure

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

7th Oct 2015
### Infrastructure investment tricks All societies under-invest in their infrastructure—in the systems that allow them to thrive. There is hardware infrastructure: clean water, paved roads, sewer systems, airports, broadband; and, Fallows suggested, software infrastructure:...
Weird issues in value-based care | Out-Of-Pocket Thoughts on value-based care from people actually building in it
1st Oct 2024
79

Weird issues in value-based care | Out-Of-Pocket

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

1st Oct 2024
Thoughts on value-based care from people actually building in it
The first non-opioid painkiller For nearly two centuries, pain relief meant effective but addictive opioids. Scientists have finally...
6th Oct 2025
1

The first non-opioid painkiller

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

6th Oct 2025
For nearly two centuries, pain relief meant effective but addictive opioids. Scientists have finally made something better.
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...
What Do Hospitals Care About? | Out-Of-Pocket Let’s look at three big priorities and a real hospital
11th Feb 2025
58

What Do Hospitals Care About? | Out-Of-Pocket

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

11th Feb 2025
Let’s look at three big priorities and a real hospital
Detecting Online Predatory Journals The World Wide Web has proven to be a transformative communication technology (we are using it right...
2nd Sep 2025
37

Detecting Online Predatory Journals

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

2nd Sep 2025
The World Wide Web has proven to be a transformative communication technology (we are using it right now). At the same time there have been some rather negative unforeseen consequences. Significantly lowering the threshold for establishing a communications outlet has democratized...
Euclid Space Telescope Delivers Great Images The first images are coming in from the new Euclid Space Telescope and they are spectacular. The...
8th Nov 2023
42

Euclid Space Telescope Delivers Great Images

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

8th Nov 2023
The first images are coming in from the new Euclid Space Telescope and they are spectacular. The post Euclid Space Telescope Delivers Great Images appeared first on Andrew Fraknoi - Astronomy Lectures - Astronomy Education Resources.
Machines Learn Better if We Teach Them the Basics A wave of research improves reinforcement learning algorithms by pre-training them as if they were...
5th Jul 2023
1

Machines Learn Better if We Teach Them the Basics

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

5th Jul 2023
A wave of research improves reinforcement learning algorithms by pre-training them as if they were human. Read more at QuantaMagazine.org. Music is “Quasi Motion” by Kevin MacLeod.
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...
Dark Matter Recipe Calls for One Part Superfluid A different kind of dark matter could help to resolve an old celestial conundrum. The...
25th Aug 2017
1

Dark Matter Recipe Calls for One Part Superfluid

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

25th Aug 2017
A different kind of dark matter could help to resolve an old celestial conundrum. The post Dark Matter Recipe Calls for One Part Superfluid first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Astrobiology meets quantum computation? The origin of life appears to share little with quantum computation, apart from the difficulty of...
23rd Oct 2023
86

Astrobiology meets quantum computation?

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

23rd Oct 2023
The origin of life appears to share little with quantum computation, apart from the difficulty of achieving it and its potential for clickbait. Yet similar notions of complexity have recently garnered attention in both fields. Each topic’s researchers expect only … Continue...
Let’s argue against the Shark Cull with science There’s been a lot in the news recently about the implementation of the Shark Cull (or, as the...
1st Feb 2014
109

Let’s argue against the Shark Cull with science

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

1st Feb 2014
There’s been a lot in the news recently about the implementation of the Shark Cull (or, as the Government put it, the “shark protection measures”) here in Western Australia.  Just as I am not a climate scientist, I am not a shark biologist, and cannot claim to be a shark expert....
How Loneliness Reshapes the Brain Feelings of loneliness prompt changes in the brain that further isolate people from social contact....
2nd Aug 2023
1

How Loneliness Reshapes the Brain

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

2nd Aug 2023
Feelings of loneliness prompt changes in the brain that further isolate people from social contact. Read more at QuantaMagazine.org. Music is “Slow Burn” by Kevin MacLeod.
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...
Event, Feb 29: “Towards a New Philosophy of Progress” in Boston and on Zoom On Thursday, February 29, I’ll be giving my talk “Towards a New Philosophy of Progress” to the New...
21st Feb 2024
109

Event, Feb 29: “Towards a New Philosophy of Progress” in Boston and on Zoom

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

21st Feb 2024
On Thursday, February 29, I’ll be giving my talk “Towards a New Philosophy of Progress” to the New England Legal Foundation, for their Economic Liberty Speaker Series. The talk will be held over breakfast at NELF’s offices in Boston, and will also be livestreamed over Zoom. See...
Talk - Where Are The Open Sets? I was invited to give a talk at HoTTEST 2022, and was more than happy to accept! Ever since I was...
6th Oct 2022
41

Talk - Where Are The Open Sets?

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

6th Oct 2022
I was invited to give a talk at HoTTEST 2022, and was more than happy to accept! Ever since I was first learning HoTT I was curious how we could be sure that theorems in HoTT give us corresponding theorems in “classical” homotopy theory. Earlier this summer I spent a lot of...
Michael Pollan: Deep Agriculture ### Making farmers cool again Farming has become an occupation and cultural force of the past....
6th May 2009
1

Michael Pollan: Deep Agriculture

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

6th May 2009
### Making farmers cool again Farming has become an occupation and cultural force of the past. Michael Pollan's talk promoted the premise - and hope - that farming can become an occupation and force of the future. In the past century American farmers were given the assignment to...
Internet Harvest (2020, 1) Internet Harvest is a selection of the most succulent links on the internet that I’ve recently...
1st Feb 2020
67

Internet Harvest (2020, 1)

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

1st Feb 2020
Internet Harvest is a selection of the most succulent links on the internet that I’ve recently plucked from its fruitful boughs.
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
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...
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...
In a ‘Dark Dimension,’ Physicists Search for the Universe’s Missing Matter An idea derived from string theory suggests that dark matter is hiding in a (relatively) large extra...
1st Feb 2024
141
1st Feb 2024
An idea derived from string theory suggests that dark matter is hiding in a (relatively) large extra dimension. The theory makes testable predictions that physicists are investigating now. The post In a ‘Dark Dimension,’ Physicists Search for the Universe’s Missing...
Just bury your trash What if everything we know about recycling is wrong?
1st Sep 2026
1

Just bury your trash

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

1st Sep 2026
What if everything we know about recycling is wrong?
niceR code with functional programming At the end of this blog post, you will be able to: Describe functional programming concepts Write...
15th Oct 2020
34

niceR code with functional programming

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

15th Oct 2020
At the end of this blog post, you will be able to: Describe functional programming concepts Write functional programming code using purrr package in R If you are anything like me, you probably focused primarily on learning statistics, machine learning and programming on a...
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 →
If you wish to make an apple pie, you must first become dictator of the universe The word “robot” is derived from the Czech robota, which means “serfdom.” It was introduced over a...
5th Jul 2023
53

If you wish to make an apple pie, you must first become dictator of the universe

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

5th Jul 2023
The word “robot” is derived from the Czech robota, which means “serfdom.” It was introduced over a century ago by the Czech play R.U.R., for “Rossum’s Universal Robots.” In the play, the smartest and best-educated of the robots leads a slave revolt that wipes out most of...
3 weeks ago
1

A weird corner of healthcare: indemnity insurance | Out-Of-Pocket

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

3 weeks ago
the economics are especially interesting
Suburban Sprawl Puts Western Homes at Risk from Wildfires Recent fires in Spokane, Washington, and Reno, Nevada, illustrate the risks from suburban sprawl,...
1st Sep 2026
1

Suburban Sprawl Puts Western Homes at Risk from Wildfires

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

1st Sep 2026
Recent fires in Spokane, Washington, and Reno, Nevada, illustrate the risks from suburban sprawl, experts say. In both cities, encroaching flames burned homes built at the edge of wilderness. Read more on E360 →
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,...
A Bird’s-Eye View of Nature’s Hidden Order Scientists are exploring a mysterious pattern, found in birds’ eyes, boxes of marbles and other...
5th Aug 2016
1

A Bird’s-Eye View of Nature’s Hidden Order

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

5th Aug 2016
Scientists are exploring a mysterious pattern, found in birds’ eyes, boxes of marbles and other surprising places, that is neither regular nor random. The post A Bird’s-Eye View of Nature’s Hidden Order first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Adornment "Form follows function" is a maxim that an object's shape and appearance should be defined only by...
2nd Sep 2024
44

Adornment

from Tikalon Blog by Dev Gualtieri [alt+shift+b] in science

2nd Sep 2024
"Form follows function" is a maxim that an object's shape and appearance should be defined only by its purpose or function. A quick perusal of any antique shop will show that this maxim is generally ignored. Humans (Homo sapiens) have been called "naked apes," but we and our...
Nuclear Photon Rockets: Flashlights to the Stars In this post, we will have a look at the concept of using a nuclear photon rocket for interstellar...
16th Nov 2020
1

Nuclear Photon Rockets: Flashlights to the Stars

from ToughSF [alt+shift+b] in science

16th Nov 2020
In this post, we will have a look at the concept of using a nuclear photon rocket for interstellar travel. They are an old concept that should theoretically be the ultimate form of relativistic propulsion. However, today they are unknown or unpopular. Why might that be the...
How Mutant Viral Swarms Spread Disease A new understanding of viral swarms is helping researchers predict how viruses will evolve and where...
3rd Sep 2015
1

How Mutant Viral Swarms Spread Disease

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

3rd Sep 2015
A new understanding of viral swarms is helping researchers predict how viruses will evolve and where disease is likely to spread. The post How Mutant Viral Swarms Spread Disease first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Saving Academics from Themselves The university will survive AI. That doesn’t mean we’ll like what it turns into.
1st Jul 2026
1

Saving Academics from Themselves

from Asterisk [alt+shift+b] in science

1st Jul 2026
The university will survive AI. That doesn’t mean we’ll like what it turns into.
Are All the Good Men Married? Why do married men earn so much? Is it because the good men get married, or does marriage make men...
13th Sep 2025
1

Are All the Good Men Married?

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

13th Sep 2025
Why do married men earn so much? Is it because the good men get married, or does marriage make men good?
Frank Ostaseski: What the Dying Teach the Living ## Death’s Honesty **In one of Long Now’s most moving talks** , Ostaseski began: “I’m not romantic...
11th Apr 2017
1

Frank Ostaseski: What the Dying Teach the Living

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

11th Apr 2017
## Death’s Honesty **In one of Long Now’s most moving talks** , Ostaseski began: “I’m not romantic about dying. This is the hardest work you will ever do. It is tough. It’s sad and it’s messy and it’s cruel and it’s beautiful sometimes and mysterious, but above all that, it’s...
The Lofstrom Loop: A Bridge to Space Imagine you could take a train ride to space. Tracks that slope up into the sky, higher and higher,...
9th Dec 2023
1

The Lofstrom Loop: A Bridge to Space

from ToughSF [alt+shift+b] in science

9th Dec 2023
Imagine you could take a train ride to space. Tracks that slope up into the sky, higher and higher, until you reach a plateau above the planet where it’s a straight line up to orbital velocity. That’s what’s possible with a Lofstrom Loop. But sending you into orbit is just one...
Xerox Donates Legendary PARC Research Center Xerox is donating its legendary research lab PARC to the nonprofit research institute SRI...
2nd May 2023
30

Xerox Donates Legendary PARC Research Center

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

2nd May 2023
Xerox is donating its legendary research lab PARC to the nonprofit research institute SRI International. The subsidiary’s pioneering research in the 1970s helped give birth to the era of personal computing. Xerox says the move will allow it to focus on its core business. The...
Your Allergies Are Probably Fake You might be avoiding medications that don't do anything to you
4th Feb 2026
2

Your Allergies Are Probably Fake

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

4th Feb 2026
You might be avoiding medications that don't do anything to you
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,...
Ed Moses: Clean Fusion Power This Decade ### Imminent fusion power All the light we see from the sky, Moses pointed out, comes from fusion...
17th Jun 2010
1

Ed Moses: Clean Fusion Power This Decade

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

17th Jun 2010
### Imminent fusion power All the light we see from the sky, Moses pointed out, comes from fusion power burning hydrogen, the commonest element in the universe---3/4 of all mass. A byproduct of the cosmic fusion is the star-stuff that we and the Earth are made of. On Earth, 4...
Lazar Kunstmann & Jon Lackman: Preservation without Permission ### Preservation Without Permission Their video showed clandestine urban “infiltration”...
14th Nov 2012
1

Lazar Kunstmann & Jon Lackman: Preservation without Permission

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

14th Nov 2012
### Preservation Without Permission Their video showed clandestine urban “infiltration” (trespassing) at its most creative. Paris’s Urban Experiment group (UX), now in their fourth decade, have a restoration branch called Untergunther. They evade authorities to carry out secret...
The Hidden Connection That Changed Number Theory Quadratic reciprocity lurks around many corners in mathematics. By proving it, number theorists...
1st Nov 2023
70

The Hidden Connection That Changed Number Theory

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

1st Nov 2023
Quadratic reciprocity lurks around many corners in mathematics. By proving it, number theorists reimagined their whole field. The post The Hidden Connection That Changed Number Theory first appeared on Quanta Magazine
NSF, spending, and the end of the fiscal year We are less than one month away from the end of the federal fiscal year, and traditionally there are...
5th Sep 2026
0

NSF, spending, and the end of the fiscal year

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

5th Sep 2026
We are less than one month away from the end of the federal fiscal year, and traditionally there are internal deadlines for agencies to allocate their final spending by around September 9. Right now, the NSF is on track to issue about 4000 fewer (!!) awards in FY26 than it did...
Counting breeding shorebirds using listening devices With more demands upon the space that is currently occupied by breeding waders, from developments...
4th Dec 2024
102

Counting breeding shorebirds using listening devices

from wadertales [alt+shift+b] in science

4th Dec 2024
With more demands upon the space that is currently occupied by breeding waders, from developments such as wind turbines and monoculture forestry, conservationists are often asked to assess the potential effects of landscape change. Do passive acoustic devices have a role to play...
See it with your lying ears This blog has a history of answering questions that no one should be asking. Today, we continue that...
10th Jan 2026
2

See it with your lying ears

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

10th Jan 2026
This blog has a history of answering questions that no one should be asking. Today, we continue that proud legacy.
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.
Becoming a Republic The following is the essay I had submitted as part of the one week summer course I took at the...
1st Aug 2025
38

Becoming a Republic

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

1st Aug 2025
The following is the essay I had submitted as part of the one week summer course I took at the Oxford University, where we read Plato’s Republic. The essay includes a few references to structure and specific content from the book, so if something doesn’t make sense, it’s probably...
Rose McDermott: Ideology in our Genes: The Biological Basis for Political Traits While traditionally social factors have been considered to have primary influence on political...
1st Dec 2017
1
1st Dec 2017
While traditionally social factors have been considered to have primary influence on political behaviors and preferences, more recent research shows that there's also a strong heritable component to ideological attitudes. Rose McDermott, professor of International Relations at...
The road from serfdom Unwinding Russian serfdom took half a century. To eventually do it in the face of powerful...
16th Feb 2024
1

The road from serfdom

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

16th Feb 2024
Unwinding Russian serfdom took half a century. To eventually do it in the face of powerful opposition took a remarkable approach that let peasants vote themselves into freedom.
What Are My Politics? And my unrefined thoughts on US politics
1st Apr 2025
44

What Are My Politics?

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

1st Apr 2025
And my unrefined thoughts on US politics
Fixing my heating system The heating system in my apartment building consists of a group of heat pumps that deliver warm...
3rd May 2024
76

Fixing my heating system

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

3rd May 2024
The heating system in my apartment building consists of a group of heat pumps that deliver warm water to the underfloor heating system of about a dozen apartments, including mine. During the warm summer months, the system supplies cool water instead. The heat pumps figure out...
Social Status II: Cults and Loyalty So my previous post on social status was recently treated to a review/​critique by Scott Alexander...
2nd Nov 2015
37

Social Status II: Cults and Loyalty

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

2nd Nov 2015
So my previous post on social status was recently treated to a review/​critique by Scott Alexander over at Slate Star Codex. I expect most of my readers are already big fans of Scott's blog (as am I). But for those… Read more ›
Jason Scott: The Web In An Eye Blink Jason Scott is an activist archiver who preserves artifacts of digital culture for the future. Users...
1st Nov 2017
1

Jason Scott: The Web In An Eye Blink

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

1st Nov 2017
Jason Scott is an activist archiver who preserves artifacts of digital culture for the future. Users today have many ways to create content online, but they often lack the skills, tools or guidance to preserve the media they make. As startups fail, platforms disappear, and...
The Perplexing Appeal of <i>The Telepathy Tapes</i> The Telepathy Tapes claims that autistic children have the ability to read minds. Where do their...
6th Nov 2025
1

The Perplexing Appeal of <i>The Telepathy Tapes</i>

from Asterisk [alt+shift+b] in science

6th Nov 2025
The Telepathy Tapes claims that autistic children have the ability to read minds. Where do their claims come from — and why do so many people believe them?
Rick Prelinger: Lost Landscapes of San Francisco 4 ### Gas Stations, Not Flowers The fourth incarnation of _Lost Landscapes of San Francisco_ played...
5th Dec 2009
1

Rick Prelinger: Lost Landscapes of San Francisco 4

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

5th Dec 2009
### Gas Stations, Not Flowers The fourth incarnation of _Lost Landscapes of San Francisco_ played to a sold out house at the Herbst Theater with the chanteuse Suzanne Ramsey opening the evening with a selection of historical San Francisco songs including the 01926 gem [Masculine...
Becky Chambers & Annalee Newitz: Resisting Dystopia One of our guiding principles at Long Now is that in order to get to a future that we want to live...
15th Jun 2023
1

Becky Chambers & Annalee Newitz: Resisting Dystopia

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

15th Jun 2023
One of our guiding principles at Long Now is that in order to get to a future that we want to live in, we must first be able to imagine it. For many, it is much easier to imagine a dystopia than a thriving civilization. Our cultural visions of the future are increasingly...
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...
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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