Pieces
The Viral 'Debate' Video That Proves Most MAGA Voters Are a Lost Cause
The article discusses a YouTube video debate between liberal commentator Sam Seder and twenty young conservatives. The author notes the conservatives' lack of faith in science and American institutions, and their reliance on feelings rather than facts. The author concludes that the MAGA worldview is immune to facts and dismisses data, representing a wholesale rejection of the traditional American project.
The Mattress Tycoon Funding the Far Right in Texas
This article discusses Mattress Mack, a Houston businessman, and his significant political contributions to right-wing causes in Texas. It explores his history, business practices, and motivations behind his political involvement, highlighting the contrast between his public image and his actions.
To Fight Absenteeism, Schools Turn to Private Companies
Absenteeism has nearly doubled since the pandemic. With state and federal governments largely abdicating any role in getting kids back into classrooms, some schools have turned to private companies for a reimagined version of the truant officer.
Why axolotls are everywhere – but a rarity in the one lake they call home
The axolotl, a critically endangered salamander found only in Lake Xochimilco, Mexico, has become an internet sensation. Its popularity, fueled by appearances in video games and online, contrasts sharply with its dwindling numbers in the wild. The article explores the scientific mystery of the axolotl's neoteny (failure to fully mature), the threats to its habitat (pollution, invasive species, and human encroachment), and conservation efforts underway to protect this unique amphibian.
The DOGE Takeover Is Worse Than You Think
The article discusses the significant negative impacts of DOGE's actions on various US government agencies and programs, including staff firings, budget cuts, and disruptions to crucial services. It highlights the widespread consequences and the long-term implications for science, public health, and national security.
"The Spirit of Liberty" Speech by Judge Learned Hand, 1944
This article contains the full text of Judge Learned Hand's speech, "The Spirit of Liberty," delivered in 1944. The speech discusses the true meaning of liberty, emphasizing that it resides in the hearts of men and women, not merely in laws or constitutions. Hand argues that the spirit of liberty involves understanding others, weighing their interests, and remembering the importance of all individuals. He connects this spirit to the teachings of Jesus and concludes with a call to reaffirm faith in America's destiny.
The End of the Dark Universe? – Nautilus
A new approach to solving a problem which is almost a century old - how to combine quantum physics with gravity. The new idea comes from Johnathan Oppenheim, a professor of quantum theory at University College London, and he has dubbed it "Post-Quantum Gravity." This theory explains dark matter and dark energy. The problem is that quantum physics and gravity don't get along with each other very well. Oppenheim's new approach overcomes this problem by leaving gravity a non-quantum theory, but giving it a random element. This randomness changes the law of gravity such that it does away with the need for both dark matter and dark energy.
The Long Quest for Artificial Blood
The quest for artificial blood has been underway for centuries, driven by the need for a readily available, safe, and universally compatible blood substitute. This article explores the history of blood transfusions, the challenges of creating effective artificial blood products, and the potential for synthetic blood to revolutionize trauma care and military medicine. It delves into the scientific research behind several different approaches, including the creation of artificial red blood cells and the use of nanoparticles. The article highlights the limitations of current blood supplies and the promising possibilities of emerging technologies.
Marking the Web's 35th Birthday: An Open Letter
Sir Tim Berners-Lee reflects on the Web's 35th anniversary, addressing issues of power concentration, data exploitation, and the need for reform. He calls for collaboration, innovative solutions, and stronger accountability to create a more human-centered web.
IAM Is The Worst
This article discusses the complexities and frustrations of managing identity and access management (IAM) in cloud environments, particularly in Google Cloud Platform (GCP). The author highlights the challenges of navigating numerous roles and permissions, the difficulty of maintaining accurate access control lists, and the constant state of flux with roles and their permissions. The article also suggests a more straightforward approach, using automated tools to track permissions usage and adjust accordingly, ensuring the principal of least privilege.
Can the Human Body Endure a Voyage to Mars? | The New Yorker
This article explores the potential effects of space travel on the human body, drawing on research from the NASA Twins Study and other studies of astronauts' health. It discusses the challenges of long-duration spaceflight, including radiation exposure, microgravity, and the psychological toll on astronauts. The article also touches on the possibility of terraforming Mars and the ethical considerations of colonizing other planets.
Weather forecasts have become much more accurate; we now need to make them available to everyone
This article discusses the significant improvements in weather forecasting accuracy over time, highlighting the role of technological advancements and data improvements. It also emphasizes the global inequalities in access to accurate weather forecasts, particularly affecting low-income countries and their agricultural sectors. The article underscores the need for increased investment and technological solutions to bridge this gap and ensure equitable access to life-saving weather information.
The Erasing of American Science
The Trump administration's actions have severely hampered scientific research in the United States. Research funds have been frozen, publications halted, data erased, and studies terminated. The administration's actions are intended to derail "wasteful" DEI programs and purge any references to “gender ideology.” Scientists are concerned about the long-term effects of these actions on the health of the nation and the future of scientific research.
Texas fires follow Warren Buffett's warning on utilities
Massive wildfires sparked by power lines, once considered a California problem, are now occurring across the western US. Climate change and aging infrastructure are contributing factors. The article discusses the bankruptcy of PG&E Corp. in 2019 due to fire-related issues and Warren Buffett's warning about the financial risks faced by utilities. The recent Texas wildfires, blamed on power lines, highlight the increasing danger and costs faced by utility companies.
mRNA vaccines: let's be sick a whole lot less and maybe cure cancer
This article discusses the potential of mRNA vaccines to treat a wide range of diseases, including chronic fatigue syndromes and cancer. The author explores the concept of pathogenic persistence, where pathogens remain in the body even after the initial infection has been cleared, and how mRNA vaccines may be able to address this problem. The article also highlights the speed and flexibility of mRNA vaccine development, making them ideal for addressing emerging pathogens and personalized cancer treatments.
Learning Styles Don't Actually Exist, Studies Show
This article challenges the widely held belief in learning styles, citing numerous studies that have debunked the concept. It argues that while students may have preferences on how they learn, there's no evidence that catering to these preferences improves learning outcomes. The author also questions other assumptions in the education system and encourages a critical examination of common practices.
Did a whale swallow a kayaker? The truth behind the viral video
A humpback whale briefly engulfed a kayaker off the coast of Chile in an incident caught on camera. Experts say it couldn't have swallowed him even if it wanted to. The most likely explanation is that the kayaker happened to be in the way of a feeding whale. Whales can't swallow humans because their throats are much smaller than their mouths.
Antarctica Publications Tried to Hide Danger in Fiction and Strange Stories
Early Antarctic explorers used creative writing to cope with the harsh conditions of their expeditions. They produced newspapers and books filled with fantastical stories, often parodying their experiences or using humor to deal with difficult situations. However, as time went on, the articles revealed more about the real perils of their expeditions, transitioning from lighthearted tales to more serious accounts as the danger increased.
7 Covid Mysteries Scientists Are Starting to Unravel
This article discusses seven lingering questions about COVID-19 that scientists are still trying to unravel, including why some people experience the disease more severely than others, how the virus spreads, and whether there is a seasonal pattern to its outbreaks. The article explores various hypotheses around the immune response, the role of aerosols vs. droplets in transmission, and the impact of factors like age, underlying health conditions and prior vaccination on the severity of illness. It also delves into the unusual symptoms of Long COVID.
You can not simply publicly access private secure links, can you?
Popular malware/url analysis tools like urlscan.io, Hybrid Analysis and Cloudflare radar url scanner store a large number of links for intelligence gathering and sharing. It is however not so widely known that these services also store a large amount of private and sensitive links, thanks to: Sensitive links mistakenly submitted by users for scanning unaware that these are public information Misconfigured scanners and extensions submitting private links scanned from emails as public data
How I Learned to Concentrate
A reflection on the author's experience in the Theory of Computation group at MIT, where the emphasis on concentration and deep thinking shaped his views on productivity and work.
We Hacked Google A.I. for $50,000 - Lupin & Holmes
What happens in Vegas doesn't always stay in Vegas, especially when it involves uncovering vulnerabilities in Google's systems. The story involves vulnerabilities found in Google's systems during the LLM bugSWAT event, focusing on insecure direct object references (IDOR) in Bard (now Gemini) and a denial-of-service (DoS) vulnerability in the Google Cloud Console's GraphQL API. The authors detail their findings, including exploitation of a GraphQL directive overloading vulnerability and the exfiltration of user data through a markdown injection vulnerability in Bard's integration with Google Workspace. The article concludes with the team's financial rewards from the bug bounty program.
An asteroid could hit Earth in 7 years. Here's how astronomers are tracking it
The article discusses the discovery of asteroid 2024 YR4 and the efforts of astronomers to track its trajectory and determine the probability of it impacting Earth in 2032. It details how NEOs are located, tracked, and their potential impact, as well as the methods used to determine an asteroid's size and distance from Earth. The article also mentions the DART mission and its success in redirecting an asteroid.
Measuring GitHub Copilot's Impact on Productivity – Communications of the ACM
Code-completion systems offering suggestions to a developer in their integrated development environment (IDE) have become the most frequently used kind of programmer assistance. When generating whole snippets of code, they typically use a large language model (LLM) to predict what the user might type next from the context of what they are working on. This system allows for completions at any position in the code, often spanning multiple lines at once. This article investigates whether usage measurements of developer interactions with GitHub Copilot can predict perceived productivity as reported by developers. The study analyzes survey responses from developers using GitHub Copilot and matches their responses to measurements collected from the IDE. The findings indicate that acceptance rate of shown suggestions is a better predictor of perceived productivity than alternative measures. The study also finds that acceptance rate varies significantly over the developer population as well as over time.
This Bird Is Half Male, Half Female, and Completely Stunning
A green honeycreeper spotted on a farm in Colombia exhibits a rare biological phenomenon known as bilateral gynandromorphism. The bird is female on one side and male on the other, a condition that is not entirely clear how it comes about but is thought to result from an error during the production of egg cells in female birds.
AI Prompt Engineering Is Dead
Since ChatGPT dropped in the fall of 2022, everyone and their donkey has tried their hand at prompt engineering—finding a clever way to phrase their query to get the best results. The Internet is replete with prompt-engineering guides, cheat sheets, and advice threads. In the commercial sector, companies are now wrangling LLMs to build product copilots, automate tedious work, create personal assistants, and more. New research suggests that prompt engineering is best done by the AI model itself, and not by a human engineer. Autotuned prompts are successful and strange. Image-generation algorithms can benefit from automatically generated prompts as well. Even if autotuning prompts becomes the industry norm, prompt-engineering jobs in some form are not going away. Adapting generative AI for industry needs is a complicated, multistage endeavor that will continue requiring humans in the loop for the foreseeable future.
The women who coined the expression 'Surfing the Internet'
The story of how the term 'surfing the internet' came to be, focusing on Jean Armour Polly's role in its popularization.
Surrealism Is 100. The World's Still Surreal.
A century after its birth, Surrealism is still relevant, with exhibitions worldwide exploring its enduring impact on art and culture. The article delves into the movement's history, its philosophical and political underpinnings, and its continued influence on contemporary artists.
How water resurrected Death Valley lake after record California rain
Lake Manly, a lake in Death Valley that had dried up thousands of years ago, has reappeared due to record-setting rainfall in California. The lake's return is a rare natural phenomenon and a testament to the changing climate. Visitors are flocking to the park to see the lake. Scientists are studying the event to learn more about the dynamic ecosystems in the desert. The lake is expected to be temporary, drying up once the weather warms.
The Americans Who Need Chaos
This article explores the concept of the "need for chaos" in American politics, a mindset characterized by a desire to destroy the established order without a plan to build something better. The author examines the motivations behind this mindset, the role of conspiracy theories, and the potential implications for the future of American politics.
Here's Why Jalapeño Peppers Are Less Spicy Than Ever - D Magazine
This article discusses why jalapeño peppers are less spicy than they used to be. The main reason is that large-scale jalapeño producers prioritize consistency over spiciness for processed food products. The development of the TAM II jalapeño line, a reliably large, shiny, and mild pepper, has contributed significantly to this trend. Other factors like improved irrigation methods and a focus on visual appeal also play a role, but the primary driver is the demand for consistently mild peppers from food processing companies.
2024 is a year of reckoning for AI - The Verge
The article discusses the current state of AI hype and investment, suggesting that 2024 will be a year of reckoning as businesses evaluate the actual capabilities of AI and its impact on productivity. While there's significant interest in AI tools across industries, recent earnings reports from tech giants like Microsoft and Alphabet show that investor expectations haven't been met, leading to stock drops despite strong revenue growth. The article examines the role of Microsoft's Copilot as a key indicator of AI adoption and discusses challenges like high costs and the need for sustainable business models in the AI sector. It also highlights concerns about the over-hype of AI and the potential for disappointment if actual returns don't meet the inflated expectations.
US e-book lending boom pits publishers against libraries | Context
The increasing popularity of e-book lending in U.S. libraries is creating significant conflict with publishers, who are shifting from selling copies to restrictive and costly licensing models. This shift raises concerns among librarians about reduced access, potential reader tracking, censorship, and the erosion of library ownership essential for preservation. The tension has led to legal battles, notably publishers suing the Internet Archive over controlled digital lending and challenges to state laws attempting to ensure reasonable e-book terms for libraries. Simultaneously, new technologies like AI are being controversially used by some school districts to enforce book bans, adding another layer to the complex issues surrounding digital content access and control.
This 100-year-old woman helped save one of Bay Area's wetlands
Florence LaRiviere, at 100 years old, continues her fight to protect the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge, a vital habitat that she helped save from development decades ago. Her efforts, starting in the 1960s, involved rallying community members and working with local and federal officials to secure protection for the wetlands.
Someone is going to dim the sun, and it will be soon
This article explores the possibility of solar radiation management (SRM) to cool the planet by reflecting sunlight. It discusses the feasibility, costs, and risks of SRM, highlighting the potential for unintended consequences. The author argues that while SRM may become a necessary tool in the fight against climate change, it should be used in conjunction with deep emissions cuts and not as a replacement. The article also examines the growing interest in SRM among billionaires and institutions, and the potential for unilateral deployment of the technology by a country or individual.
Falsehoods programmers believe about time zones
This article explores common misconceptions about time zones, such as the range of UTC offsets, the relationship between UTC offsets and time zones, the number of countries and time zones, daylight saving time, and more. It highlights the complexities involved in accurately representing time zones and converting between them.
The man who owes Nintendo $14m: Gary Bowser and gaming's most infamous piracy case
Gary Bowser, a programmer, was released from prison after serving 14 months of a 40-month sentence for his involvement with Team Xecuter, a group that produces dongles used to bypass anti-piracy measures on Nintendo Switch and other consoles. He owes Nintendo $14.5m and is struggling to make rent while paying it back. The article details his past, his arrest, and his current situation.
Explainer: What's R1 & Everything Else?
This article explains the recent developments in AI, focusing on reasoning models like R1, O1, and O3. It clarifies the differences between reasoning models and AI agents, discusses the importance of cheap reasoning, and explores the significance of R1 as an open-source alternative. The article also delves into scaling laws, reinforcement learning, model distillation, and geopolitical implications of AI advancements.
Caltrain's Electric Fleet More Efficient than Expected
Caltrain's new electric trains are exceeding expectations by returning approximately 23% of their consumed energy back to the grid through regenerative braking. This significantly reduces electricity costs, with estimates revised down to $16.5 million annually from an initial projection of $19.5 million. Further cost savings are expected from energy credits through the California Air Resources Board's Low Carbon Fuel Standard Program. The article highlights the efficiency of regenerative braking, a technology dating back to 1886, and emphasizes Caltrain's commitment to sustainable transportation.
Watch Me Lose My Job on TikTok
As tech companies continue to lay off employees, some workers are turning to social media to share their experiences, often in the form of videos. These videos range from quiet moments of reflection to emotional outbursts, and have gained significant views and attention. While some see this as a healthy way to process the experience, others caution against the potential downsides of sharing such personal information publicly. The trend reflects a generation's comfort with sharing every aspect of their lives online, blurring the lines between personal and professional.
Are Americans Doing Fitness Wrong?
This article explores the different approaches to fitness around the world, contrasting the American "pay-to-play" model with the more integrated and community-focused methods found in Finland, Japan, the United Kingdom, and Brazil. It highlights how cultural norms and infrastructure influence exercise habits, showcasing examples like Finland's emphasis on outdoor activities regardless of weather, Japan's widespread radio-taiso routine, the UK's community-driven Parkrun events, and Brazil's integration of fitness into social activities on the beach.
Why Are American Drivers So Deadly?
This article explores the alarming rise in traffic fatalities in the United States. The author investigates various factors contributing to this increase, including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, changes in driving behavior (such as increased speeding, distracted driving, and aggressive driving), the influence of vehicle design, and the role of law enforcement and public policy. The piece highlights the complex interplay of individual actions, technological advancements, and societal factors in shaping road safety.
How Much of the World Is It Possible to Model?
This article explores the power and limitations of mathematical models in various fields, from neurosurgery and climate prediction to election forecasting and the spread of infectious diseases. It delves into the successes and failures of different modeling approaches, highlighting the challenges of balancing simplicity and accuracy, and the need to understand the underlying mechanisms of the phenomena being modeled. The article examines the role of data, technology, and theoretical assumptions in model creation, with a focus on the balance between generalizing into the unknown and remaining faithful to observed reality. It also discusses the increasing complexity and opacity of advanced models, such as those used in artificial intelligence, raising concerns about overconfidence and the risk of conflating correlation with causation.
Emergency Powers Are About to Be Bent Beyond Recognition
The article discusses President Trump's plan to use emergency powers, including the Insurrection Act, the National Emergencies Act, and the Alien Enemies Act, to deport immigrants. The author argues that Trump's proposed actions would be a staggering abuse of power and possibly illegal, and examines the legal and constitutional issues surrounding the use of emergency powers.
Does language mirror the mind? An intellectual history
This article explores the history of linguistic relativity, tracing its development from the Enlightenment to contemporary debates. It examines the views of key figures like Herder, Humboldt, Boas, Sapir, and Whorf, highlighting their contributions and the recurring skepticism surrounding the idea that language shapes our worldview. The article also delves into the challenges of empirically testing linguistic relativity and discusses the relationship between language structure and cognition. It concludes by suggesting that both past and present scholarship offer valuable perspectives on this complex and enduring question.
Netanyahu is losing control in Israel. The U.S. is struggling to deal with
This article discusses the challenges faced by Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel, including his political struggles, the ongoing war, and the complicated relationship with the U.S. Netanyahu's reluctance to take American advice, his difficult coalition, and his own political survival are highlighted as factors affecting his decision-making during a time of crisis. The article also explores the views of U.S. officials on Netanyahu's leadership, the situation in Gaza, and potential paths forward.