Full Width [alt+shift+f] Shortcuts [alt+shift+k]
Sign Up [alt+shift+s] Log In [alt+shift+l]
Top Categories > science
#startups #life #history #science #programming #technology #AI #literature #architecture #travel #design #comics #creative #finance #cartography #indiehacker Muted Categories [alt+←][alt+→]
What Is Orbitronics You have definitely heard of electronics. You may (if you are a tech nerd like me) have heard of...
1st Oct 2024
81

What Is Orbitronics

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

1st Oct 2024
You have definitely heard of electronics. You may (if you are a tech nerd like me) have heard of spintronics and photonics. Now there is also the possibility of orbitronics. What do these cool-sounding words mean? Electronic technology is one of those core technologies that has...
What I’ve been reading, March 2023 A new monthly feature, let me know what you think. Books Matt Ridley, How Innovation Works (2020)....
9th Mar 2023
61

What I’ve been reading, March 2023

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

9th Mar 2023
A new monthly feature, let me know what you think. Books Matt Ridley, How Innovation Works (2020). About halfway through, lots of interesting case studies, very readable. Vaclav Smil, Creating the Twentieth Century (2005). I read the first chapter; saving the rest of it for when...
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...
The First Ever Real-Time Video from Another Planet When you watch this video, if you find yourself thinking of the Apollo moon landings— here is why:...
5th Mar 2021
45

The First Ever Real-Time Video from Another Planet

from Wanderingspace [alt+shift+b] in science

5th Mar 2021
When you watch this video, if you find yourself thinking of the Apollo moon landings— here is why: this is the first real-time video taken from another world since 1972, and this is the first ever taken on another planet. Most “video” you see from other planetary missions are...
Think outside the screen Nobody likes stroking a pane of glass, so why do we love touchscreens so much? Let's build...
10th Nov 2018
26

Think outside the screen

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

10th Nov 2018
Nobody likes stroking a pane of glass, so why do we love touchscreens so much? Let's build distributed interfaces that work.
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...
Carl Zimmer: Viral Time ### What's time to a virus? "Everything about viruses is extreme," Zimmer began. The number of...
8th Jun 2011
1

Carl Zimmer: Viral Time

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

8th Jun 2011
### What's time to a virus? "Everything about viruses is extreme," Zimmer began. The number of viruses on Earth is estimated to be 1 followed by 31 zeroes. Small as they are, if you stacked them all up, the stack would reach 100 million light years. They are the planet's most...
Julia Watson: Design by Radical Indigenism Responding to climate change by building hard infrastructures and favoring high-tech homogenous...
6th Oct 2020
1

Julia Watson: Design by Radical Indigenism

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

6th Oct 2020
Responding to climate change by building hard infrastructures and favoring high-tech homogenous design, we are ignoring millennia-old knowledge of how to live in symbiosis with nature. Without implementing soft systems that use biodiversity as a building block, designs remain...
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...
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
Margaret Levi: The Organized Pursuit of Knowledge The human quest to understand our world continues. The Director of Stanford’s [Center for Advanced...
18th Apr 2018
1

Margaret Levi: The Organized Pursuit of Knowledge

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

18th Apr 2018
The human quest to understand our world continues. The Director of Stanford’s [Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences (CASBS)](http://casbs.stanford.edu/) discusses how academics and researchers have organized the study of human action, society, and institutions...
getting started with bayesian inference In my previous post, we spoke about hypothesis testing from a frequentist perspective. This is the...
27th Jun 2020
23

getting started with bayesian inference

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

27th Jun 2020
In my previous post, we spoke about hypothesis testing from a frequentist perspective. This is the method that is commonly taught in STAT101 classes. But for many decades, some statisticians have argued for another approach to conduct statistical analysis based on bayes...
The Rube’s Dilemma It all started with a hat. A straw boater, to be precise, with a flat, round brim and brightly...
28th Oct 2022
44

The Rube’s Dilemma

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

28th Oct 2022
It all started with a hat. A straw boater, to be precise, with a flat, round brim and brightly colored ribbon tied around the crown. Originally popularized by gondoliers in Venice, this jaunty accessory had reached the height of American couture by the turn of the 20th century....
Do you know what GDP is? I thought I knew! But the more I introspected, the hazy my understanding got. Is GDP amount of stuff...
1st May 2025
41

Do you know what GDP is?

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

1st May 2025
I thought I knew! But the more I introspected, the hazy my understanding got. Is GDP amount of stuff produced or consumed? Does it include imports or exports? What does it have to do with well being? Why does it keep increasing? So, I fired up Claude and started understanding...
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 →
Libraries of matter Libraries contain books, yes. But they also contain latex rubber, carbon fiber fabrics, and graphene...
29th Aug 2024
1

Libraries of matter

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

29th Aug 2024
Libraries contain books, yes. But they also contain latex rubber, carbon fiber fabrics, and graphene aerogel. And in some materials libraries you can cut, cast, drill, sand, scrape, and sculpt too.
Jared Diamond: How Societies Fail-And Sometimes Succeed ### On failing to think long-term Sophisticated societies from time to time collapse utterly, often...
16th Jul 2005
1

Jared Diamond: How Societies Fail-And Sometimes Succeed

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

16th Jul 2005
### On failing to think long-term Sophisticated societies from time to time collapse utterly, often leaving traces of a civilization that was at a proud peak just before the fall. Other societies facing the same dangers figure out how to adapt around them, recover, and go on to...
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...
A Fully Renewable Grid? My long-stated position (although certainly modifiable in the face of any new evidence,...
2nd Feb 2026
0

A Fully Renewable Grid?

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

2nd Feb 2026
My long-stated position (although certainly modifiable in the face of any new evidence, technological advance, or good arguments) is that the optimal pathway to most rapidly decarbonize our electrical infrastructure is to pursue all low-carbon options. I have not heard anything...
How many dimensions is this? A degree in mathematics might not save you from stacking boxes for a living.
3rd Sep 2025
1

How many dimensions is this?

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

3rd Sep 2025
A degree in mathematics might not save you from stacking boxes for a living.
Chris D. Thomas: Are We Initiating The Great Anthropocene Speciation Event? The bad news (not news to most): Many wild species are under severe duress. The good news (total...
26th Jun 2018
1
26th Jun 2018
The bad news (not news to most): Many wild species are under severe duress. The good news (total news to most): “Nature is thriving in an age of extinction.” Ecologist and evolutionary biologist Chris Thomas has examined a little-noticed phenomenon around the world, that as an...
Internal Group Actions as Enriched Functors Earlier today this month on the Category Theory Zulip, Bernd Losert asked an extremely natural...
18th Feb 2024
59

Internal Group Actions as Enriched Functors

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

18th Feb 2024
Earlier today this month on the Category Theory Zulip, Bernd Losert asked an extremely natural question about how we might study topological group actions via the functorial approach beloved by category theorists. The usual story is to treat a group $G$ as a one-object...
Why we duel Duels can be brutal and even lethal. But duels emerged in societies around the world for an...
21st Apr 2022
1

Why we duel

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

21st Apr 2022
Duels can be brutal and even lethal. But duels emerged in societies around the world for an important reason: to control and manage violence, not just to celebrate it.
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...
A Climate Debate Regarding Health Effects – Part III Part 3 Hi Steve, and thank you for your timely response, and for even considering hosting this...
6th Mar 2023
57

A Climate Debate Regarding Health Effects – Part III

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

6th Mar 2023
Part 3 Hi Steve, and thank you for your timely response, and for even considering hosting this debate. There has been, and continues to be a “blackout” on almost all discussion regarding the science behind climate change. If “The science” is truly “settled”, it is a pretty shaky...
What Can We Learn about Engineering and Innovation from Half a Century of the Game of Life Cellular... Metaengineering and Laws of Innovation Things are invented. Things are discovered. And somehow...
18th Mar 2025
89
18th Mar 2025
Metaengineering and Laws of Innovation Things are invented. Things are discovered. And somehow there’s an arc of progress that’s formed. But are there what amount to “laws of innovation” that govern that arc of progress? There are some exponential and other laws that purport to...
Annual Nobel speculation thread It’s that time of year again.  The physics Nobel will be announced next Tuesday, and the chemistry...
1st Oct 2025
1

Annual Nobel speculation thread

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

1st Oct 2025
It’s that time of year again.  The physics Nobel will be announced next Tuesday, and the chemistry prize on Wednesday.  Who will it be this time?  Please speculate in the comments.  As is my annual futile tradition, I will put forward that the physics prize could...
How I didn’t become a philosopher (but wound up presenting a named philosophy lecture anyway) Many people ask why I became a theoretical physicist. The answer runs through philosophy—which I...
15th Apr 2024
157
15th Apr 2024
Many people ask why I became a theoretical physicist. The answer runs through philosophy—which I thought, for years, I’d left behind in college. My formal relationship with philosophy originated with Mr. Bohrer. My high school classified him as a religion … Continue reading →
Some Climate Change Trends and Thoughts Climate change is a challenging issue on multiple levels – it’s challenging for scientists to...
2nd Dec 2024
76

Some Climate Change Trends and Thoughts

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

2nd Dec 2024
Climate change is a challenging issue on multiple levels – it’s challenging for scientists to understand all of the complexities of a changing climate, it’s difficult to know how to optimally communicate to the public about climate change, and of course we face an enormous...
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...
Mapping the Sea Floor USGS research vessels equipped with cameras, sonar and scanners created a map of 125 square miles of...
29th Dec 2022
87

Mapping the Sea Floor

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

29th Dec 2022
USGS research vessels equipped with cameras, sonar and scanners created a map of 125 square miles of the sea floor off Cape Ann, MA.
At Tiny Scales, a Giant Burst on Tree of Life A new technique for finding and characterizing microbes has boosted the number of known bacteria by...
6th Aug 2015
1

At Tiny Scales, a Giant Burst on Tree of Life

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

6th Aug 2015
A new technique for finding and characterizing microbes has boosted the number of known bacteria by almost 50 percent, revealing a hidden world all around us. The post At Tiny Scales, a Giant Burst on Tree of Life first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Balancing cube This cube manages to balance itself on a corner, and can simultaneously rotate around its axis in a...
10th Feb 2024
56

Balancing cube

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

10th Feb 2024
This cube manages to balance itself on a corner, and can simultaneously rotate around its axis in a controlled manner. It does so using clever controls and a set of three reaction wheels. The original idea for this device comes from researchers at ETH Zürich, who demonstrate...
Sci-fi and Hi-fi Many a technologist has been inspired by science fiction. Some have even built, or rebuilt, entire...
4th Mar 2024
66

Sci-fi and Hi-fi

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

4th Mar 2024
Many a technologist has been inspired by science fiction. Some have even built, or rebuilt, entire companies around an idea introduced in a story they read, as the founders of Second Life and Meta did, working from the metaverse as imagined by Neal Stephenson in his seminal 1992...
Announcing the quantum-steampunk creative-writing course! Why not run a quantum-steampunk creative-writing course? Quantum steampunk, as Quantum Frontiers...
19th Sep 2024
97

Announcing the quantum-steampunk creative-writing course!

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

19th Sep 2024
Why not run a quantum-steampunk creative-writing course? Quantum steampunk, as Quantum Frontiers regulars know, is the aesthetic and spirit of a growing scientific field. Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction. In it, futuristic technologies invade Victorian-era settings:...
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...
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.
Do AI Models Agree On How They Encode Reality? In the allegory of Plato’s cave, prisoners see the world only through shadows. Extending this...
3rd Feb 2026
1

Do AI Models Agree On How They Encode Reality?

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

3rd Feb 2026
In the allegory of Plato’s cave, prisoners see the world only through shadows. Extending this metaphor to AI, AI models are the prisoners and the shadows are streams of data. Are all models converging on a singular representation of reality? On this week’s episode of The Quanta...
The evolution of bacteria Generations of microbes evolve in hours, not millennia. By speeding up Darwin’s clock, scientists...
5th Nov 2025
1

The evolution of bacteria

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

5th Nov 2025
Generations of microbes evolve in hours, not millennia. By speeding up Darwin’s clock, scientists have watched evolution happen in real time, and it’s changed how we understand natural selection.
How the 'Diamond of the Plant World' Helped Land Plants Evolve Structural studies of the robust material called sporopollenin reveal how it made plants hardy...
9th Nov 2022
1

How the 'Diamond of the Plant World' Helped Land Plants Evolve

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

9th Nov 2022
Structural studies of the robust material called sporopollenin reveal how it made plants hardy enough to reproduce on dry land. Read more at QuantaMagazine.org. Music is “Redwood Trail” by Audionautix.
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...
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...
Riding Sunbeams with Solar Sails Reset your expectations of solar sails. They are a fast and free way to travel to any point in the...
26th May 2023
1

Riding Sunbeams with Solar Sails

from ToughSF [alt+shift+b] in science

26th May 2023
Reset your expectations of solar sails. They are a fast and free way to travel to any point in the Solar System, as many times as you want, any time of the year. Solar sails can carry passengers and they have a nearly unlimited number of uses. You just have to... think...
1st Apr 2025
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.
David Keith: Patient Geoengineering ## Practical geoengineering “Temporary, moderate, and responsive” should be the guidelines of...
18th Feb 2015
1

David Keith: Patient Geoengineering

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

18th Feb 2015
## Practical geoengineering “Temporary, moderate, and responsive” should be the guidelines of responsible geoengineering, in David Keith’s view. For slowing global warming, and giving humanity time to bring greenhouse gas emissions down to zero (and eventually past zero with...
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...
Math’s ‘Bunkbed Conjecture’ Has Been Debunked It was intuitive, even obvious. It was also wrong. The post Math’s ‘Bunkbed Conjecture’...
1st Nov 2024
124

Math’s ‘Bunkbed Conjecture’ Has Been Debunked

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

1st Nov 2024
It was intuitive, even obvious. It was also wrong. The post Math’s ‘Bunkbed Conjecture’ Has Been Debunked first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Crony Beliefs [Note: if you prefer audio, you can listen to this essay narrated by Grognor on his excellent...
2nd Nov 2016
34

Crony Beliefs

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

2nd Nov 2016
[Note: if you prefer audio, you can listen to this essay narrated by Grognor on his excellent podcast Second Enumerations. —Ed.]   Credits up front: This essay draws heavily from Overcoming Bias, Less Wrong, Slate Star Codex, Robert Kurzban, Robert… Read more ›
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?
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...
Good posts from the Inkhaven blogging residency Cannot stress this enough: literally everyone at the writing residency was good at this. Maybe...
28th Feb 2026
1

Good posts from the Inkhaven blogging residency

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

28th Feb 2026
Cannot stress this enough: literally everyone at the writing residency was good at this. Maybe you'll find a new favorite blog among these.
Tim Flannery: Here on Earth ### Wallace beats Darwin The great insight of natural selection was published simultaneously by...
4th May 2011
1

Tim Flannery: Here on Earth

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

4th May 2011
### Wallace beats Darwin The great insight of natural selection was published simultaneously by Charles Darwin and Alfred Russell Wallace in 1858, Flannery pointed out, but their interpretations of the insight then diverged. Darwin's harsh view of "survival of the fittest" led...
London Inches Closer to Running Transit System Entirely on Renewable Power Under a new agreement, London will source enough solar power to run its light railway and tram...
1st Jul 2025
5
1st Jul 2025
Under a new agreement, London will source enough solar power to run its light railway and tram networks entirely on renewable energy. Read more on E360 →
A nicer voltmeter clock Sometimes, electronic circuit design is mostly about wood
16th May 2026
1

A nicer voltmeter clock

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

16th May 2026
Sometimes, electronic circuit design is mostly about wood
How much of HN is AI? TL;DR: As of June 2026, ~50% of daily top stories are about AI or generated by AI.
12th Mar 2026
1

How much of HN is AI?

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

12th Mar 2026
TL;DR: As of June 2026, ~50% of daily top stories are about AI or generated by AI.
Can Thermodynamics Resolve the Measurement Problem? At the recent Quantum Thermodynamics conference in Vienna (coming next year to the University of...
10th Sep 2023
69

Can Thermodynamics Resolve the Measurement Problem?

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

10th Sep 2023
At the recent Quantum Thermodynamics conference in Vienna (coming next year to the University of Maryland!), during an expert panel Q&A session, one member of the audience asked “can quantum thermodynamics address foundational problems in quantum theory?” That stuck with …...
The road from serfdom Using opt-ins to reform Russia's backwards tsarist agricultural sector
6th Mar 2024
107

The road from serfdom

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

6th Mar 2024
Using opt-ins to reform Russia's backwards tsarist agricultural sector
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!
New Theory Cracks Open the Black Box of Deep Learning A new idea is helping to explain the puzzling success of today’s artificial-intelligence algorithms...
1st Mar 2018
1

New Theory Cracks Open the Black Box of Deep Learning

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

1st Mar 2018
A new idea is helping to explain the puzzling success of today’s artificial-intelligence algorithms — and might also explain how human brains learn. The post New Theory Cracks Open the Black Box of Deep Learning first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Scientists Find a Fast Way to Describe Quantum Systems After years of false starts, a team of computer scientists has found a way to efficiently deduce the...
1st May 2024
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
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...
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
Scientists Re-Create the Microbial Dance That Sparked Complex Life Evolution was fueled by endosymbiosis, cellular alliances in which one microbe makes a permanent...
2nd Jan 2025
83

Scientists Re-Create the Microbial Dance That Sparked Complex Life

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

2nd Jan 2025
Evolution was fueled by endosymbiosis, cellular alliances in which one microbe makes a permanent home inside another. For the first time, biologists made it happen in the lab. The post Scientists Re-Create the Microbial Dance That Sparked Complex Life first appeared...
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 Beer Can Connecting old and new.
18th Mar 2023
77

The Beer Can

from brr [alt+shift+b] in science

18th Mar 2023
Connecting old and new.
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 […]
Not everything is physics The first book I ever read was The Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking. I liked it so much that...
1st Sep 2024
124

Not everything is physics

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

1st Sep 2024
The first book I ever read was The Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking. I liked it so much that I re-read it 8 times. As a young boy, the book had made a lasting impression on me, making me fall in love with ideas such as the arrow of time, black holes, entropy,… Read...
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...
Reproducibility in materials research, and an anecdote Yesterday I attended the 40th annual summer research colloquium of the Smalley-Curl Institute at...
8th Aug 2026
1

Reproducibility in materials research, and an anecdote

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

8th Aug 2026
Yesterday I attended the 40th annual summer research colloquium of the Smalley-Curl Institute at Rice, a fun internal conference that provides a great opportunity for undergrads (including visitors), graduate students, and a few postdocs to present their work.  The keynote...
Designing the First Apple Macintosh: The Engineers’ Story In 1979 the Macintosh personal computer existed only as the pet idea of Jef Raskin, a veteran of the...
2nd Jul 2023
44

Designing the First Apple Macintosh: The Engineers’ Story

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

2nd Jul 2023
In 1979 the Macintosh personal computer existed only as the pet idea of Jef Raskin, a veteran of the Apple II team, who had proposed that Apple Computer Inc. make a low-cost “appliance”-type computer that would be as easy to use as a toaster. Mr. Raskin believed the computer he...
The 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.
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...
Larry Brilliant, Richard Rockefeller, & Katherine Fulton: The Deeper News About the New... ### Philanthropic stamina 10,000 families in the US, Katherine Fulton reported, have assets of $100...
4th Nov 2006
1
4th Nov 2006
### Philanthropic stamina 10,000 families in the US, Katherine Fulton reported, have assets of $100 million or more. That's up from 7,000 just a couple years ago. Most of that money is "on the sidelines." The poor and the middle class are far more generous in their philanthropy,...
The Most Famous Paradox in Physics Nears Its End In a landmark series of calculations, physicists have proved that black holes can shed information. ...
4th Feb 2021
1

The Most Famous Paradox in Physics Nears Its End

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

4th Feb 2021
In a landmark series of calculations, physicists have proved that black holes can shed information. The post The Most Famous Paradox in Physics Nears Its End first appeared on Quanta Magazine
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.
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...
[2025 review] Life is a holiday! Ok, this was a phenomenal year for me. The vibe of the year is cleanly captured by what I had...
31st Dec 2025
1

[2025 review] Life is a holiday!

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

31st Dec 2025
Ok, this was a phenomenal year for me. The vibe of the year is cleanly captured by what I had scribbled on a whiteboard on Jan 3rd, 2025. To my amazement and giddiness, the feeling still holds up as the year wraps up. Let’s see what all kept this spirit alive. Brief interlude:...
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?
Inland feeding by coastal godwits Species such as Dunlin and Knot are well-served by conservation measures that aim to protect...
10th Nov 2022
54

Inland feeding by coastal godwits

from wadertales [alt+shift+b] in science

10th Nov 2022
Species such as Dunlin and Knot are well-served by conservation measures that aim to protect estuaries but the same is not necessarily true for Black-tailed Godwits. In a 2022 paper in the journal Wader Study, Clément Jourdan and colleagues describe the movements of ten tagged...
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...
The Style Guide for America’s Highways: The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices Driving across America, you will encounter a wide variety of cultures, landscapes, people and...
9th Jan 2023
61
9th Jan 2023
Driving across America, you will encounter a wide variety of cultures, landscapes, people and animals. But the one consistent thing that will stay the same from Maine to California are the signs you pass on the highway. That is because America’s roads and highways have a big, fat...
Government Comic Books Government comics have taught Americans how to prevent forest fires, survive a nuclear blast, and...
27th Nov 2023
66

Government Comic Books

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

27th Nov 2023
Government comics have taught Americans how to prevent forest fires, survive a nuclear blast, and how soldiers should handle homosexuality in the military.
Matt Ridley: Deep Optimism ### Undeniable Progress Hominids had upright walking, stone tools, fire, even language but still...
23rd Mar 2011
1

Matt Ridley: Deep Optimism

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

23rd Mar 2011
### Undeniable Progress Hominids had upright walking, stone tools, fire, even language but still remained in profound stasis. What led to humanity's global takeoff, Ridley argues, was the invention of exchange about 120,000 years ago. "That's ten times older than...
David Eagleman: Six Easy Steps to Avert the Collapse of Civilization ### Averting Collapse Civilizations always think they're immortal, Eagleman noted, but they nearly...
2nd Apr 2010
1
2nd Apr 2010
### Averting Collapse Civilizations always think they're immortal, Eagleman noted, but they nearly always perish, leaving "nothing but ruins and scattered genetics." It takes luck and new technology to survive. We may be particularly lucky to have Internet technology to help...
A Secret Flexibility Found in Life’s Blueprints A new study reveals that individual genes can create many different versions of the molecular...
5th May 2016
1

A Secret Flexibility Found in Life’s Blueprints

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

5th May 2016
A new study reveals that individual genes can create many different versions of the molecular machinery that powers the cell. The post A Secret Flexibility Found in Life’s Blueprints first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Adam Steltzner: Beyond Mars, Earth ### Mighty daring on Mars Engineer Steltzner took his rapt audience striding with him through the...
16th Oct 2013
1

Adam Steltzner: Beyond Mars, Earth

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

16th Oct 2013
### Mighty daring on Mars Engineer Steltzner took his rapt audience striding with him through the wrong solutions for landing a one-ton rover on Mars that his team worked through a decade ago. Previous rovers had weighed 50 pounds, 385 pounds. This traveling “Mars Science...
Why didn’t suicides rise during Covid? Covid-19 brought death, suffering and financial straits, so it was unsurprising that depression rose...
20th May 2021
1

Why didn’t suicides rise during Covid?

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

20th May 2021
Covid-19 brought death, suffering and financial straits, so it was unsurprising that depression rose around the world. But when the data came in, we found suicide did not – and it’s a mystery why.
The Race between Waymo, Cybercab, and Uber One of the big tech transformations of 2026 will be robotaxis.
1st Jan 2026
1

The Race between Waymo, Cybercab, and Uber

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

1st Jan 2026
One of the big tech transformations of 2026 will be robotaxis.
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 […]
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
The United States Frequency Allocation Chart This crazy, beautiful chart illustrates the incredible complexity of managing one of our nation’s...
6th Feb 2023
99

The United States Frequency Allocation Chart

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

6th Feb 2023
This crazy, beautiful chart illustrates the incredible complexity of managing one of our nation’s most crucial – and invisible – national assets: the radio spectrum.
The footprints of every building in NYC The landscape of NYC changes so much that the New York City Office of Technology and Innovation...
20th Jul 2026
2

The footprints of every building in NYC

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

20th Jul 2026
The landscape of NYC changes so much that the New York City Office of Technology and Innovation updates a dataset of building footprint shapes weekly.
AC vs DC and other Power Questions I was away last week, first at CSICON and then at a conference in Dubai. I was invited to give a 9...
4th Nov 2024
75

AC vs DC and other Power Questions

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

4th Nov 2024
I was away last week, first at CSICON and then at a conference in Dubai. I was invited to give a 9 hour seminar on scientific skepticism for the Dubai Future Foundation. That sounds like a lot of time, but it isn’t. It was a good reminder of the vast body of knowledge that is...
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.
How Japan Redrew Asia Short article
1st Oct 2026
1

How Japan Redrew Asia

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

1st Oct 2026
Short article
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
Stewart Brand: Reviving Extinct Species ### De-extinction begins The new tools of synthetic biology, I began, are about to liberate...
22nd May 2013
1

Stewart Brand: Reviving Extinct Species

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

22nd May 2013
### De-extinction begins The new tools of synthetic biology, I began, are about to liberate conservation in a spectacular way. It is becoming possible to bring some extinct species back to life. A project within Long Now called “Revive & Restore” is pushing to make...
Building a Visceral Understanding of Quantum Phenomena A great childhood memory that I have comes from first playing “The Incredible Machine” on PC in the...
6th Aug 2024
112

Building a Visceral Understanding of Quantum Phenomena

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

6th Aug 2024
A great childhood memory that I have comes from first playing “The Incredible Machine” on PC in the early 90’s. For those not in the know, this is a physics-based puzzle game about building Rube Goldberg style contraptions to achieve … Continue reading →
What distinguishes quantum from classical thermodynamics? Should you require a model for an Oxford don in a play or novel, look no farther than Andrew Briggs....
27th Nov 2025
1

What distinguishes quantum from classical thermodynamics?

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

27th Nov 2025
Should you require a model for an Oxford don in a play or novel, look no farther than Andrew Briggs. The emeritus professor of nanomaterials speaks with a southern-English accent as crisp as shortbread, exhibits manners to which etiquette influencer … Continue reading →
Happy 200th birthday, Carnot’s theorem! In Kenneth Grahame’s 1908 novel The Wind in the Willows, a Mole meets a Water Rat who lives on a...
28th Nov 2024
103

Happy 200th birthday, Carnot’s theorem!

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

28th Nov 2024
In Kenneth Grahame’s 1908 novel The Wind in the Willows, a Mole meets a Water Rat who lives on a River. The Rat explains how the River permeates his life: “It’s brother and sister to me, and aunts, and company, … Continue reading →
Common ROI mistakes in healthcare | Out-Of-Pocket Plus some benchmark ROI numbers for you to think about
7th Jul 2025
35

Common ROI mistakes in healthcare | Out-Of-Pocket

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

7th Jul 2025
Plus some benchmark ROI numbers for you to think about
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
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...
How the Brain Compresses Our Noisy World If you are well rested and full, your brain tells you that a bruised overripe apple is a piece of...
1st Sep 2026
2

How the Brain Compresses Our Noisy World

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

1st Sep 2026
If you are well rested and full, your brain tells you that a bruised overripe apple is a piece of subpar fruit to be passed over. However, if you are exhausted and hungry, an overripe apple is categorized as much-needed food. But how is the brain able to categorize that same...
Mo’ heights mo’ challenges – Climbing mount grad school My wife’s love of mountain hiking and my interest in quantum thermodynamics collided in Telluride,...
4th Oct 2022
56

Mo’ heights mo’ challenges – Climbing mount grad school

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

4th Oct 2022
My wife’s love of mountain hiking and my interest in quantum thermodynamics collided in Telluride, Colorado. We spent ten days in Telluride, where I spoke at the Information Engines at the Frontiers of Nanoscale Thermodynamics workshop. Telluride is a gorgeous … Continue reading...
Huey Johnson: Green Planning at Nation Scale ### Green Plans Green Plans, said Johnson, are government-run environmental programs that rise to...
4th Oct 2008
1

Huey Johnson: Green Planning at Nation Scale

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

4th Oct 2008
### Green Plans Green Plans, said Johnson, are government-run environmental programs that rise to the scale and longevity of environmental problems. Instead of acting piecemeal, they are comprehensive, systemic, integrated, and accountable. Instead of pursuing an energy policy,...
Kevin Kelly: The Next 30 Digital Years ## Digital is just getting started In Kevin Kelly’s view, a dozen “inevitable” trends will drive...
15th Jul 2016
1

Kevin Kelly: The Next 30 Digital Years

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

15th Jul 2016
## Digital is just getting started In Kevin Kelly’s view, a dozen “inevitable” trends will drive the next 30 years of digital progress. Artificial smartnesses, for example, will be added to everything, all quite different from human intelligence and from each other. We will tap...
Terry Hunt & Carl Lipo: The Statues Walked -- What Really Happened on Easter Island ### Easter Island reconsidered In the most isolated place on Earth a tiny society built world-class...
18th Jan 2013
1
18th Jan 2013
### Easter Island reconsidered In the most isolated place on Earth a tiny society built world-class monuments. Easter Island (Rapa Nui) is 1,000 miles from the nearest Pacific island, 3,000 miles from the nearest continent. It is just six by ten miles in size, with no running...
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...
Frans Lanting: Life's Journey Through Time ### The deep past in the remote present It began on a New Jersey beach. Frans Lanting was...
28th Apr 2007
1

Frans Lanting: Life's Journey Through Time

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

28th Apr 2007
### The deep past in the remote present It began on a New Jersey beach. Frans Lanting was photographing horseshoe crabs for a story about how they are being ground up for eel bait and at the same time their blood is used for drug testing--a $100 million industry. The crabs have...
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 →
At 17, Hannah Cairo Solved a Major Math Mystery After finding the homeschooling life confining, the teen petitioned her way into a graduate class at...
1st Aug 2025
52

At 17, Hannah Cairo Solved a Major Math Mystery

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

1st Aug 2025
After finding the homeschooling life confining, the teen petitioned her way into a graduate class at Berkeley, where she ended up disproving a 40-year-old conjecture. The post At 17, Hannah Cairo Solved a Major Math Mystery first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Watch out for geese! My summer in Waterloo It’s the beginning of another summer, and I’m looking forward to outdoor barbecues, swimming in...
6th Jun 2024
127

Watch out for geese! My summer in Waterloo

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

6th Jun 2024
It’s the beginning of another summer, and I’m looking forward to outdoor barbecues, swimming in lakes and pools, and sharing my home-made ice cream with friends and family. One thing that I won’t encounter this summer, but I did last … Continue reading →
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.
Failure to Launch: The First Moon Race 1958-60 While it has been a few months since I have published a new post on the Drew Ex Machina website,...
2nd Jun 2023
51

Failure to Launch: The First Moon Race 1958-60

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

2nd Jun 2023
While it has been a few months since I have published a new post on the Drew Ex Machina website, that doesn’t mean that I haven’t […]
Weekend projects: Chicken Squisher 3000 If it clucks like a duck...
14th Oct 2025
1

Weekend projects: Chicken Squisher 3000

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

14th Oct 2025
If it clucks like a duck...
James Holland Jones: The Science of Climate Fiction: Can Stories Lead to Social Action? The warming planet is increasingly the subject of all kinds of fiction. Beyond entertainment or...
4th Apr 2019
1
4th Apr 2019
The warming planet is increasingly the subject of all kinds of fiction. Beyond entertainment or distraction could climate fiction (“Cli-Fi”) actually help us in solving the climate dilemma? Biological anthropologist and environmental scientist [James Holland...
Quick Hinge Health S-1 Thoughts | Out-Of-Pocket This episode of Out-Of-Pocket is brought to you by…
3rd Apr 2025
65

Quick Hinge Health S-1 Thoughts | Out-Of-Pocket

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

3rd Apr 2025
This episode of Out-Of-Pocket is brought to you by…
Accelerating science through evolvable institutions This is the written version of a talk presented to the Santa Fe Institute at a working group on...
4th Dec 2023
54

Accelerating science through evolvable institutions

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

4th Dec 2023
This is the written version of a talk presented to the Santa Fe Institute at a working group on “Accelerating Science.” We’re here to discuss “accelerating science.” I like to start on topics like this by taking the historical view: When (if ever) has science accelerated in the...
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.
New Whale Fossil – Possibly Heaviest Animal Ever The largest and heaviest animal to ever live on the Earth, as far as we know, is the blue whale,...
3rd Aug 2023
27

New Whale Fossil – Possibly Heaviest Animal Ever

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

3rd Aug 2023
The largest and heaviest animal to ever live on the Earth, as far as we know, is the blue whale, which is extant today. The blue whale is larger than any dinosaur, even the giant sauropods. The average weight of a blue whale is 160 tons, with the largest specimen being 190 tons,...
COVID-19 FAQ A lot of people have been asking me questions about the COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) outbreak, in my...
12th Mar 2020
58

COVID-19 FAQ

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

12th Mar 2020
A lot of people have been asking me questions about the COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) outbreak, in my informal capacity as “local biodefense person”.
How to Live on Other Planets: Uranus The weirdest of the planets. A blue giant, resting on its side. Could we find a home in...
22nd Aug 2019
1

How to Live on Other Planets: Uranus

from ToughSF [alt+shift+b] in science

22nd Aug 2019
The weirdest of the planets. A blue giant, resting on its side. Could we find a home in the Uranian system? Description Uranus is the fourth-largest planet and the first ‘ice giant’. It orbits between 18.3 and 20.1 AU from the Sun, making it four times more distant than...
From MANUALS to YOUTUBE A new section from Stewart Brand's Maintenance on Books in Progress
14th Aug 2023
62

From MANUALS to YOUTUBE

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

14th Aug 2023
A new section from Stewart Brand's Maintenance on Books in Progress
The end of lead How a single taxi ride saved millions of lives
3rd Jul 2025
41

The end of lead

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

3rd Jul 2025
How a single taxi ride saved millions of lives
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.
Memories of Project RAMOS (Russian American Observation Satellites) 1991 – 2004 During the course of my professional career, one of the more important projects I had the pleasure...
29th Sep 2023
54
29th Sep 2023
During the course of my professional career, one of the more important projects I had the pleasure to work on was the joint US/Russian Federation (RF) […]
The most steampunk qubit I never imagined that an artist would update me about quantum-computing research. Last year,...
25th May 2025
47

The most steampunk qubit

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

25th May 2025
I never imagined that an artist would update me about quantum-computing research. Last year, steampunk artist Bruce Rosenbaum forwarded me a notification about a news article published in Science. The article reported on an experiment performed in physicist Yiwen Chu’s … Continue...
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,...
Memories of things past My best friend—who’s held the title of best friend since kindergarten—calls me the keeper of her...
6th Mar 2023
67

Memories of things past

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

6th Mar 2023
My best friend—who’s held the title of best friend since kindergarten—calls me the keeper of her childhood memories. I recall which toys we played with, the first time I visited her house,1 and which beverages our classmates drank during snack … Continue reading →
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?
Octopus, solar & e-paper energy dashboards I built a custom energy dashboard for my house using this beautiful, 2-bit colour, e-paper display....
19th May 2025
1

Octopus, solar & e-paper energy dashboards

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

19th May 2025
I built a custom energy dashboard for my house using this beautiful, 2-bit colour, e-paper display. Hardware, software, data and design.
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.
Towards a Computational Formalization for Foundations of Medicine A Theory of Medicine? As it’s practiced today, medicine is almost always about particulars: “this...
3rd Feb 2025
92

Towards a Computational Formalization for Foundations of Medicine

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

3rd Feb 2025
A Theory of Medicine? As it’s practiced today, medicine is almost always about particulars: “this has gone wrong; this is how to fix it”. But might it also be possible to talk about medicine in a more general, more abstract way—and perhaps to create a framework in which one can...
Learn to write well BEFORE you have something worth saying Lessons learned from trip reports and journal articles.
29th Dec 2024
116

Learn to write well BEFORE you have something worth saying

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

29th Dec 2024
Lessons learned from trip reports and journal articles.
Bayesian Decision Analysis At PyData Global 2025 I presented a workshop on Bayesian Decision Analysis with PyMC. The video is...
9th Jan 2026
1

Bayesian Decision Analysis

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

9th Jan 2026
At PyData Global 2025 I presented a workshop on Bayesian Decision Analysis with PyMC. The video is available now. This workshop is based on the first session of the Applied Bayesian Modeling Workshop I teach along with my colleagues at PyMC Labs. If you would like to learn more,...
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.
Neil Gaiman: How Stories Last ## How stories last Stories are alive. The ones that last, Gaiman said, outcompete other stories by...
10th Jun 2015
1

Neil Gaiman: How Stories Last

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

10th Jun 2015
## How stories last Stories are alive. The ones that last, Gaiman said, outcompete other stories by changing over time. They make it from medium to medium—from oral to written to film and beyond. They lose uninteresting elements but hold on to the most compelling bits or even...
A Domesticated Dingo? No, but Some Are Getting Less Wild Near an Australian desert mining camp, wild dingoes are losing their fear of humans. Their genetic...
9th Aug 2018
1

A Domesticated Dingo? No, but Some Are Getting Less Wild

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

9th Aug 2018
Near an Australian desert mining camp, wild dingoes are losing their fear of humans. Their genetic and behavioral changes may echo those from the domestication of dogs. The post A Domesticated Dingo? No, but Some Are Getting Less Wild first appeared on Quanta Magazine
How to build a lunar mass driver Casey Handmer May 2026 What? Elon has recently (late 2025, early 2026) been talking about building...
8th May 2026
1

How to build a lunar mass driver

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

8th May 2026
Casey Handmer May 2026 What? Elon has recently (late 2025, early 2026) been talking about building many terawatts of orbital AI compute and launching some components from Moon factories with a mass driver. This is an old idea, enabled by …
Danny Hillis & Brian Eno: The Long Now, now ### Make the next legal U-turn "Bitching Betty," they call the robotic voice of the car’s GPS...
22nd Jan 2014
1

Danny Hillis & Brian Eno: The Long Now, now

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

22nd Jan 2014
### Make the next legal U-turn "Bitching Betty," they call the robotic voice of the car’s GPS guidance system. Eno and Hillis, on their road trips, always become so engrossed in conversation that they get lost—one time, driving to Monterey they wound up in Sacramento, 200 miles...
Book review: Air-borne by Carl Zimmer Man, it’s embarrassing to be part of a field of study (biosecurity, in this case) that had such a...
15th Jun 2025
43

Book review: Air-borne by Carl Zimmer

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

15th Jun 2025
Man, it’s embarrassing to be part of a field of study (biosecurity, in this case) that had such a public moment of unambiguously whiffing it.
Iran: The Day After What's going to happen in the coming days and weeks?
3rd Mar 2026
6

Iran: The Day After

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

3rd Mar 2026
What's going to happen in the coming days and weeks?
New Proofs Probe the Limits of Mathematical Truth By proving a broader version of Hilbert’s famous 10th problem, two groups of mathematicians have...
3rd Feb 2025
80

New Proofs Probe the Limits of Mathematical Truth

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

3rd Feb 2025
By proving a broader version of Hilbert’s famous 10th problem, two groups of mathematicians have expanded the realm of mathematical unknowability. The post New Proofs Probe the Limits of Mathematical Truth first appeared on Quanta Magazine
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...
Fertility Policy For Rich Countries A brief proposal to fix Social Security and grow the population
1st Apr 2025
57

Fertility Policy For Rich Countries

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

1st Apr 2025
A brief proposal to fix Social Security and grow the population
SLS is still a national disgrace Four years ago, unable to find a comprehensive summary of the ongoing abject failure known as the...
2nd Oct 2024
51

SLS is still a national disgrace

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

2nd Oct 2024
Four years ago, unable to find a comprehensive summary of the ongoing abject failure known as the NASA SLS (Space Launch System), I wrote one. If you’re unfamiliar with the topic, you should read it first.  It is hard to …
New Features Everywhere: Launching Version 14.3 of Wolfram Language & Mathematica #blog a.bottomstripe { max-width: 100%; } #blog .post_content .inline-table-of-contents {...
5th Aug 2025
1

New Features Everywhere: Launching Version 14.3 of Wolfram Language & Mathematica

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

5th Aug 2025
#blog a.bottomstripe { max-width: 100%; } #blog .post_content .inline-table-of-contents { background-color: #f6fcff; border: solid 1px #bbdbe8; padding: 24px 20px 10px 20px; } #blog .post_content .inline-table-of-contents div a { color: #19749a; font-size: 14px; line-height:...
You’re Invited to a Colonoscopy! Colonoscopies are the first-line method for preventing colorectal cancer in America —and almost...
1st Oct 2023
26

You’re Invited to a Colonoscopy!

from Asterisk [alt+shift+b] in science

1st Oct 2023
Colonoscopies are the first-line method for preventing colorectal cancer in America —and almost nowhere else. But do they work? We finally have a comprehensive trial, but it’s left gastroenterologists with more questions than answers.
The decline and fall of the British economy When America’s economy overtook Britain’s a century ago, it remade the world order. How it happened...
21st Jul 2022
1

The decline and fall of the British economy

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

21st Jul 2022
When America’s economy overtook Britain’s a century ago, it remade the world order. How it happened is still debated.
Clickbait and Misinformation Which is worse – clickbaity headlines for news articles that are factually correct, but may be...
3rd Jun 2024
96

Clickbait and Misinformation

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

3rd Jun 2024
Which is worse – clickbaity headlines for news articles that are factually correct, but may be playing up a sensational angle, or straight-up misinformation? It depends on what you mean by “worse”. A new study tries to address this information, with some interesting findings....
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
Philip Tetlock: Superforecasting ### All it takes to improve forecasting is KEEP SCORE Will Syria’s President Assad still be in...
24th Nov 2015
1

Philip Tetlock: Superforecasting

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

24th Nov 2015
### All it takes to improve forecasting is KEEP SCORE Will Syria’s President Assad still be in power at the end of next year? Will Russia and China hold joint naval exercises in the Mediterranean in the next six months? Will the Oil Volatility Index fall below 25 in 2016? Will...
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...
To Make Sense of the Present, Brains May Predict the Future A controversial theory suggests that perception, motor control, memory and other brain functions all...
9th May 2019
1

To Make Sense of the Present, Brains May Predict the Future

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

9th May 2019
A controversial theory suggests that perception, motor control, memory and other brain functions all depend on comparisons between ongoing actual experiences and the brain’s modeled expectations. The post To Make Sense of the Present, Brains May Predict the Future...
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
GOES Video of Solar Eclipse – October 14, 2023 Solar eclipses have fascinated humanity since ancient times and the annular eclipse of October 14,...
14th Oct 2023
71

GOES Video of Solar Eclipse – October 14, 2023

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

14th Oct 2023
Solar eclipses have fascinated humanity since ancient times and the annular eclipse of October 14, 2023 was no different. Unlike a total solar eclipse where the […]
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...
Recommendation: reports on the search for missing hiker Bill Ewasko How to find someone who has died in the wilderness.
31st Jul 2024
113

Recommendation: reports on the search for missing hiker Bill Ewasko

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

31st Jul 2024
How to find someone who has died in the wilderness.
Talk -- Factorization Homology and Quantum Character Stacks Today Yesterday in the Representation Theory Seminar at UCR I gave a talk about Factorization...
20th Feb 2026
2

Talk -- Factorization Homology and Quantum Character Stacks

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

20th Feb 2026
Today Yesterday in the Representation Theory Seminar at UCR I gave a talk about Factorization Homology and how it lets us compute a “Quantum Character Stack”. This is all based on a great paper, Integrating Quantum Groups Over Surfaces by Ben-Zvi, Brochier, and Jordan, which...
The New TIGR-Tas Gene Editing System Remember CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) – that new gene-editing...
3rd Mar 2025
52

The New TIGR-Tas Gene Editing System

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

3rd Mar 2025
Remember CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) – that new gene-editing system which is faster and cheaper than anything that came before it? CRISPR is derived from bacterial systems which uses guide RNA to target a specific sequence on a DNA strand....
Colombia: Santa Marta Mountains And Caribbean Coast I have recently returned from an excellent tour of northern Colombia for Quest Nature Tours. This...
4th Apr 2026
1

Colombia: Santa Marta Mountains And Caribbean Coast

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

4th Apr 2026
I have recently returned from an excellent tour of northern Colombia for Quest Nature Tours. This was my fourth time guiding for Quest here, in the birdiest country in the world. Birdiest may be a bold claim, but eBird shows 1,956 species recorded for Colombia, while the...
Things you can do with diodes Paying homage to the component we usually don't think about.
2nd Nov 2025
1

Things you can do with diodes

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

2nd Nov 2025
Paying homage to the component we usually don't think about.
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
What does it mean to create a topological qubit? I’ve worked on topological quantum computation, one of Alexei Kitaev’s brilliant innovations, for...
6th Mar 2025
71

What does it mean to create a topological qubit?

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

6th Mar 2025
I’ve worked on topological quantum computation, one of Alexei Kitaev’s brilliant innovations, for around 15 years now.  It’s hard to find a more beautiful physics problem, combining spectacular quantum phenomena (non-Abelian anyons) with the promise of transformative...
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...
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...
Mongrel Microbe Tests Story of Complex Life A newly discovered class of microbe could help to resolve one of the biggest and most controversial...
12th Nov 2015
1

Mongrel Microbe Tests Story of Complex Life

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

12th Nov 2015
A newly discovered class of microbe could help to resolve one of the biggest and most controversial mysteries in evolution — how simple microbes transformed into the complex cells that produced animals, plants and fungi. The post Mongrel Microbe Tests Story of Complex...
The Ruin of Mumbai Mumbai’s land use regulations are designed to keep population density low. Instead, they force...
1st Mar 2024
41

The Ruin of Mumbai

from Asterisk [alt+shift+b] in science

1st Mar 2024
Mumbai’s land use regulations are designed to keep population density low. Instead, they force Mumbaikars into slums, while all of India pays the price.
Escape to the country What makes a successful New Town?
1st Aug 2024
79

Escape to the country

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

1st Aug 2024
What makes a successful New Town?
Bakeoff Formspree makes it easy to receive submissions from HTML forms on your static website. Functional...
1st Jul 2019
1

Bakeoff

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

1st Jul 2019
Formspree makes it easy to receive submissions from HTML forms on your static website. Functional Form This theme has a form-to-email feature built in, thanks to the simple Formspree integration. All you need to activate the form is a valid recipient email address saved in the...
The seven vices of highly effective Victorians The biggest empire the world has ever seen was run by a small elite who partied all night, drank...
3 weeks ago
1

The seven vices of highly effective Victorians

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

3 weeks ago
The biggest empire the world has ever seen was run by a small elite who partied all night, drank liters of port, and stayed in bed until the afternoon.
Potentially undervalued companies I am routinely solicited for my technical opinion on new and interesting technologies and companies...
30th Aug 2024
40

Potentially undervalued companies

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

30th Aug 2024
I am routinely solicited for my technical opinion on new and interesting technologies and companies developing them. 90% of the time, my answer is “I don’t know” but it continues to concern me that aspects of technical feasibility are evidently not legible to financial types (and...
Kevin Kelly: The Next 100 Years of Science: Long-term Trends in the Scientific Method. ### Recursion drives science The co-founding editor of “Wired” magazine and author of _Out of...
11th Mar 2006
1
11th Mar 2006
### Recursion drives science The co-founding editor of “Wired” magazine and author of _Out of Control_ is working on a new book on “what technology wants.” His research led to the first-ever history of scientific methodology. Starting from this long-term view of science’s past...
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.
A Cute Application of the Yoneda Lemma Every few weeks recently I’ve been putting a new fun problem on one of the whiteboards in the first...
17th Mar 2025
60

A Cute Application of the Yoneda Lemma

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

17th Mar 2025
Every few weeks recently I’ve been putting a new fun problem on one of the whiteboards in the first year office. These are often inspired by something I saw on MSE, and I’m usually choosing problems that force you to understand something fundamental really well. Then I usually...
Trademark Design Codes The United States Patent and Trademark Office has a system of 1,400 descriptive "design codes"...
9th Apr 2024
130

Trademark Design Codes

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

9th Apr 2024
The United States Patent and Trademark Office has a system of 1,400 descriptive "design codes" allowing you to search for trademarks with “Rickshaws”, “Centaurs” or “Mechanical women”.
An Empty Product of Nonempty Sets A few days ago I saw a cute question on mse asking about a particularly non-intuitive failing of...
4th Jun 2025
43

An Empty Product of Nonempty Sets

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

4th Jun 2025
A few days ago I saw a cute question on mse asking about a particularly non-intuitive failing of the axiom of choice. I remember when I was an undergrad talking to a friend of mine about various statements equivalent to choice, and being particularly hung up on the same...
Home Assistant-compatible air quality sensor I recently moved and our new home is equipped with a ventilation system that distributes fresh...
13th Dec 2021
45

Home Assistant-compatible air quality sensor

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

13th Dec 2021
I recently moved and our new home is equipped with a ventilation system that distributes fresh (outside) air through the house and recoups heat from the air that is exhausted. There is a problem with this system, though. Sometimes, for example when a neighbour lights their wood...
Nils Gilman: Deviant Globalization ### The anti-state economy Gilman described deviant globalization as "the unpleasant underside of...
4th May 2010
1

Nils Gilman: Deviant Globalization

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

4th May 2010
### The anti-state economy Gilman described deviant globalization as "the unpleasant underside of transnational integration." There's nice tourism, and then sex tourism, such as in Thailand and Switzerland. The vast pharmacology industry is matched by a vast traffic in illegal...
Spencer Beebe: Very Long-term Very Large-scale Biomimicry ### The rainforests of home Spencer Beebe is founder and head of Ecotrust, the Portland-based...
12th Mar 2005
1

Spencer Beebe: Very Long-term Very Large-scale Biomimicry

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

12th Mar 2005
### The rainforests of home Spencer Beebe is founder and head of Ecotrust, the Portland-based organization that is setting in motion a permanently prosperous conservation economy for the entire Pacific Coast from San Francisco north to Alaska-- the temperate rain forest also...
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...
How to share your data online with OSF The Open Science movement is here to stay. However, incorporating open practices like data sharing...
2nd Oct 2018
1

How to share your data online with OSF

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

2nd Oct 2018
The Open Science movement is here to stay. However, incorporating open practices like data sharing into your work flow can seem like a challenging task. If you have never made data available online before, the process can feel a bit daunting. Where should I put the data? What...
San Diego Photologs from the 1970s A collection of beautiful, high-resolution photolog scans reveals a colorful world of pastel-colored...
23rd Jun 2026
1

San Diego Photologs from the 1970s

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

23rd Jun 2026
A collection of beautiful, high-resolution photolog scans reveals a colorful world of pastel-colored cars and whimsical signage.
Sander van der Leeuw: The Archaeology of Innovation ### History of Innovation The development of human mental ability can be tracked through the...
19th Nov 2009
1

Sander van der Leeuw: The Archaeology of Innovation

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

19th Nov 2009
### History of Innovation The development of human mental ability can be tracked through the progressive crafting of stone tools, Van der Leeuw explained. First we learned to shape an edge---a line---then the surface, then the whole volume of the tool, then the sophisticated...
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
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
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...
Copper and Green Energy The United States Department of Energy has updated its list of critically important materials. The...
1st Jul 2024
31

Copper and Green Energy

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

1st Jul 2024
The United States Department of Energy has updated its list of critically important materials. The current list of 54 materials includes elements that are presently critical to a transition to green energy, such as the rare earth elements important to turbine generators, and...
What is the Aharonov-Bohm effect? After seeing this latest extremely good video from Veritasium, and looking back through my posts, I...
1st Feb 2026
2

What is the Aharonov-Bohm effect?

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

1st Feb 2026
After seeing this latest extremely good video from Veritasium, and looking back through my posts, I realized that while I've referenced it indirectly, I've never explicitly talked about the Aharonov-Bohm effect.  The video is excellent, and that wikipedia page is pretty good, but...
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.
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
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

We love reading as much as you do!
Every week we share the top 5 articles we enjoyed reading. Subscribe to get them in your inbox.

Subscribe

📚 BoredReading

You seem to be enjoying this.

Join free to unlock everything.

Create free account

Already have an account? Sign in