Ugly Routers

"Why are WiFi Routers So Darned Ugly?"

 

 

Two Spaces, Yes

"The Scientific Case for Two Spaces After a Period"

Alzheimer's And Microbiome

"Link Between Alzheimer's Disease and Gut Microbiota Is Confirmed".

This is just correlation, not causation. But an interesting avenue to pursue. (Via T.K.)

100 Tips For A Better Life

Less Wrong: "100 Tips for a Better Life"

Lots of good stuff in here. I especially like #100:

100. Bad things happen dramatically (a pandemic). Good things happen gradually (malaria deaths dropping annually) and don’t feel like ‘news’. Endeavour to keep track of the good things to avoid an inaccurate and dismal view of the world.  

Tape Innovation

"IBM just shattered previous records for magnetic tape's data storage capabilities, ensuring it meets demand for the next decade". (Via H.R.)

They'll Be Watching You

IEEE Spectrum: "Augmented Reality and the Surveillance Society"

The Great American Rail-Trail

BBC: "A New Way To Travel Across The US"

Merry Christmas!

Geekpress will be taking a short holiday break to celebrate Christmas 2020. 

I hope you all enjoy the holiday weekend! We'll be back on Monday December 28.

 

High-Res Snowflake

"This Is The Highest Resolution Snowflake Photo Ever"

Why would former Microsoft chief technology officer Nathan Myhrvold spend a year and a half building a custom 100-megapixel carbon-fiber super-cooled sapphire-lensed LED-lit super camera to take pictures of snowflakes? 

Click through to see more images like these, as well as explanatory video.

 

Stanford Vaccine Debacle

"3 lessons from Stanford's Covid-19 vaccine algorithm debacle"

Drone Warfare Update

"Azerbaijan's drones owned the battlefield in Nagorno-Karabakh -- and showed future of warfare"

Kindle Convert

"Confessions of a Kindle Convert"

ARM History

"How an obscure British PC maker invented ARM and changed the world". (Via H.R.)

Fake Faces

"Wearing someone else's face: Hyper-realistic masks to go on sale in Japan"

 

Apple Safety Manual

"Apple Shares Manual on How to Lock Down Devices When Personal Safety is at Risk"

Direct link to Apple PDF document: "Device and Data Access when Personal Safety is At Risk"

Nomex

"Why racing drivers trust their lives to a fireproof fabric called Nomex". (Via H.R.)

Pfizer Vaccine!

Thank you, Pfizer and the Medical Center of Aurora! 

I'm grateful to all the hard-working scientists and researchers who developed this innovative product. Your ingenuity and efforts will help millions of people around the world.

Legal Haikus

Eugene Volokh: "Always Risky to Use Haikus as Legal Argument"

Hokusai Found

"A Great Wave of Hokusai Drawings Resurfaced at the British Museum"

Code <> Language

MIT News: "To the brain, reading computer code is not the same as reading language"

Lottery Hacking?

"66 winning lottery tickets. $6.3 million. What's up with Ivy League group's winning streak?"

Don't Let The Surgeon Operate On You On Their Birthday

BMJ: "Patient mortality after surgery on the surgeon's birthday: observational study".  Pretty good study, including good attempt to control for confounding factors.

Bottom line:

Among Medicare beneficiaries who underwent common emergency surgeries, those who received surgery on the surgeon’s birthday experienced higher mortality compared with patients who underwent surgery on other days. These findings suggest that surgeons might be distracted by life events that are not directly related to work.

Stealing Camera Data

"How to steal photos off someone's iPhone from across the street"

Professional Tag

"Inside the World of Professional Tag"

Battery Breakthrough?

"Company claims solid-state lithium-metal battery breakthrough". (Via H.R.)

Stunning Snowflakes

"These stunning images of snowflakes will make you see winter in a whole new light". (Via H.R.)

Daring Fireball On AirPods Max

John Gruber: "Heavy Is the Head That Wears the AirPods Max"

Find The Missing States

xkcd: "The contiguous 41 states". 

Without looking up a map, can you figure out which 7 US states are missing?

 

Alternate History Maps

BBC: "The intriguing maps that reveal alternate histories"

COVID Cruise To Nowhere

COVID-19 disrupts "cruise to nowhere" after passenger tests positive.

COVID And Twins

"Case Study Finds Covid-19 Infection Can Impact Identical Twins Differently"

Daring Fireball On M1 Macs

John Gruber (Daring Fireball) really likes the new M1 Macs.

Cities And Pandemics

"Contrary to popular belief, living in densely populated cities can offer many health benefits -- even during a pandemic." (Via A.A.)

Machiavellian Triumphs

"Stories of Machiavellian triumphs, part 2". (Via G.V.H.)

And Part 1, here.

Ancient Inks

"High-energy X-rays reveal the secrets of ancient Egyptian inks". (Via H.R.)

Hsieh Forbes Column: Why I Wear A Mask

My latest Forbes piece is now out: "Why I Wear A Mask".

This is my response to a question I've frequently received from friends and readers.

 

Arecibo Collapse

"Drone Video Shows Dramatic Moment of Arecibo Observatory Collapse". (Via H.R.)

Unusual Lottery Numbers

"Six in a row: Winning numbers in South African lottery are: 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10".

 Some people are asking if this was due to fraud or just a very unusual coincidence. (Of course, this set of 6 numbers is just as likely as any other set of 6 numbers).

Bayes For Today

"Can an 18th Century Statistician Help Us Think More Clearly?"

Laser Weapon Update

"How The Once Elusive Dream Of Laser Weapons Suddenly Became A Reality". 

Now I just need a "phased plasma rifle in the 40-watt range" and I'm all set!

Mathematical Art

Cool mathematical art. Available for sale. (Via H.R.)

Two Days To Design Vaccine

"Moderna Designed a Covid-19 Vaccine in Just Two Days"

Turkey Feathers

"How many turkey feathers does it take to make an ancient blanket?" (Via H.R.)

Hsieh Forbes Column: When The Doctor Becomes A Patient

My latest Forbes piece is now out: "When The Doctor Becomes A Patient: My Thanks For US Health Care".

I offer some post-Thanksgiving gratitude for the many good things of the US health system that I experienced during my recent bout of septic olecranon bursitis.