Things to argue about over the holidays instead of politics III
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Why probability probably doesn’t exist (but it is useful to act like it does)
All of statistics and much of science depends on probability — an astonishing achievement, considering no one’s really sure what it is.
why you should be talking with gpt about philosophy
some thoughts on how it's become better, and how you can too
The Dangers of Mirrored Life
Creating mirrored organisms using synthetic biology could seriously harm extant life, a 300-page report claims. While the risks from mirrored life are uncertain, it is best not to find out.
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Bringing Elon to a knife fight
Wishing for a more orderly disruption may misunderstand the nature of government reform
Nicholas Kristof’s Tried-and-True Packing List for Any Situation (Really)
New York Times opinion columnist Nicholas Kristof shares his packing list for when he reports across the world.
52 things I learned in 2024
This year I took a sabbatical, recorded a podcast with Freakonomics, designed and shipped a tiny modular synthesiser, and learned many learnings. Tom Whitwell designs open source music electronics as…
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OpenAI's Sora is an agent — LessWrong
If you haven't already, take a look at Sora, OpenAI's new text-to-video AI. Sora can create scarily-realistic videos of nearly any subject. Unlike previous…
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Sentence structure for writers: understanding weight and clarity [extract]
Some sentences just sound awkward. In order to ensure clarity, writers need to consider more than just grammar: weight is equally important. In the following…
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How France uncovered the mystery of the forbidden photos of Nazi-occupied Paris
The search for the unknown photographer began in the summer of 2020, with the discovery of an old photo album at a flea market in southern France.
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Responsible Parenting at the Arizona Trail Race
Richard Rothwell and his son James finished the 800-mile event this year and were the unofficial unsung heroes. Read their story...
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A Chance to Build
Silicon Valley has always been deeply integrated with Asia; Trump’s attempt to change trade could hurt Silicon Valley more than expected, and also present opportunities to build something new…
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Inside the Colorful and Cultish World of Nerds Gummy Clusters
Sales of Nerds have greatly increased in recent years, the company says. The secret? A multicolored orb. Nerds Gummy Clusters hit the shelves in 2020 and have…
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Trump Has Put an End to an Era. The Future Is Up for Grabs.
The post-Cold War era has ended, and we’re not going back.
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Sequence modeling and design from molecular to genome scale with Evo
Information & Authors Information Published In Science Volume 386 | Issue 6723 15 November 2024 Copyright Copyright © 2024 The Authors, some rights reserved;…
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TITAA #60.5: Blueskies after Dimension X
Migrating to 🦋 - Depth & Motion - Dark Folk - Liminality - Scythe of Birds - Geoff
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Nature’s ‘Swiss Army Knife’: What Can We Learn From Venom?
A study of Gila monster venom helped start the revolution in weight-loss drugs. But scientists think that’s just the beginning.
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How Copperfield Vanished the Statue of Liberty
Learn how David Copperfield made the Statue of Liberty vanish on live television back in 1983. Free Magic: MindBlownMagic.com
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Journey of a Single Line
[Image: A1 (1930) by WacÅ‚aw Szpakowski, via Miguel Abreu Gallery]. I meant to write about these way back when they first appeared in the Paris Review, but alas. In any case, WacÅ‚aw Szpakowski was a…
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Waclaw Szpakowski Made Labyrinthine Drawings from Single, Continuous Lines
Working in isolation, WacÅ‚aw Szpakowski made mazelike drawings from single, continuous lines. WacÅ‚aw Szpakowski, B9, 1926, ink on tracing paper, 13 3/4″ x 15…
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'The Magic Mountain' Saved My Life
When I was young and adrift, Thomas Mann’s novel gave me a sense of purpose. Today, its vision is startlingly relevant.
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Does All Semiconductor Manufacturing Depend on Spruce Pine Quartz?
Here’s an idea you see spreading across the internet every so often: that all semiconductor and solar PV manufacturing depends on extremely pure quartz from the town of Spruce Pine, North Carolina.
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What Sank the Tech Tycoon’s ‘Unsinkable’ Yacht?
A Times investigation has found that an unusually tall mast, and the design changes it required, made a superyacht owned by a British tech mogul vulnerable to capsizing.
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Making of Lilies & Roses of P.J. Redouté
“Patience” was this project’s theme. Breathing new life into Les Liliacées and Les Roses—two of Pierre-Joseph Redouté’s most well known collections—taught me a lot about it during the year I spent on this project.
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Tony Hawk wanted to track down a mysterious skateboarder from 1979. We found her.
A photographer snapped a shot of Shaunda Shane skating down her street in Fayetteville when she was 10. How did the world's most famous skateboarder see that picture 45 years later?
