Fairer Chess?

I think my chess-playing friends will hate this idea: "Chess isn't fair -- so rearrange the pieces"

Encryption Update

EFF: "End-to-End Encrypted RCS Comes to Apple and Android Chats"

Now, those conversations can also benefit from the increased privacy and security that end-to-end encryption offers, making it so neither Google, Apple, nor the cellular carriers have access to the contents of messages. This feature comes courtesy of both Apple and Google supporting the GSMA RCS Universal Profile 3.0, which implements the Messaging Layer Security protocol for encryption. Metadata will likely still be collected and stored for these conversations, making alternatives like Signal still a better option for many conversations. Likewise, if you back up those conversations to the cloud, they may be stored unencrypted unless you enable Advanced Data Protection on iOS (Google Messages end-to-end encrypts the text of messages in backups, but not the media, so we’d like to see a similar offering as ADP on Android). Still, this is a significant step forward for the privacy of millions of conversations worldwide.

Rubber Band Magic

Danny Urbanus: "Penn & Teller FOOLED by a simple rubber band!" (Video, via Studio Neat.)

Two Beers And A Puppy

"2 Beers and a Puppy: A Helpful Test for Figuring Out Someone's Value in Your Life"

AI And Unit Distance Problem

"An OpenAI model has disproved a central conjecture in discrete geometry"

Fabricated AI Quotes in Book Perils Of AI Fabrications

Oops. Per the NYT: "Book on Truth in the Age of AI Contains Quotes Made Up by AI"

More Coffee Benefits

"Science Has Found Even More Ways Coffee Is Good for You"

Pringles Geometry

"The Geometry Behind Pringles"

A Pringle is a hyperbolic paraboloid. This is not a coincidence or a marketing flourish. It is a load-bearing geometric fact — and it explains everything: the stack, the snap, the can, and why the bottom chip doesn't crumble. 

Logarithmic Representation Of Observable Universe

"Logarithmic representation of the observable universe. Notable astronomical objects are annotated. Distance from Earth increases exponentially from center to edge. Celestial bodies were enlarged to appreciate their shapes."

Tao On Measure Theory

Terence Tao's new textbook, "An Introduction To Measure Theory"! (Full text, free PDF version.)

Psychedelic Science

"Science gets closer to understanding how a psychedelic trip changes the brain"

Things Not To Say To Patients

Mayo Clinic: "Never-Words: What Not to Say to Patients With Serious Illness"

For example: 

Who Gets CPR?

Women are less likely than men to receive bystander CPR. Here's why.

Shortcut To Mars

"Scientist accidentally finds shortcut to Mars that could slash travel time in half"

Viking Coins

"Largest Viking Age coin hoard ever found in Norway astonishes archaeologists". (Via H.R.)

Negative Time?

"Physicists have measured 'negative time' in the lab". Link to original paper.

Losing Infinity?

"What Can We Gain by Losing Infinity?"

AI And Water Use

"AI Is Not Draining the Colorado River. I Measured It." 

Summary from Beyond Euclid:

An engineer working on the Colorado River tracked every AI interaction he had over 11 weeks — 100 sessions, an iOS app, 15,000 words of text, countless policy documents. Total water footprint: about 5 gallons. One diesel drive from Tucson to his office that same period: 110 gallons. All US data centers account for 0.3% of the country’s total water use. Agriculture takes 80% of the Colorado River. The river’s problem isn’t AI. It’s a 1922 water-sharing agreement based on the wrong math, and a century of warming since. But what went viral was AI water use.

How To Read A Clinical Trial Report

Dr. Bishal Gyawali: "How I Read a Clinical Trial Report? A Primer for Busy Clinicians". 

Although the article is aimed at physicians, it has lots of useful tips for non-physicians seeking to properly interpret the latest "hot" medical article on some dramatic breakthrough.

Infrasonics

"Infrasound waves stop kitchen fires, but can they replace sprinklers?" (Via H.R.)