Truly Hard Problems

"Computer Scientists Prove That Certain Problems Are Truly Hard"

AI And EU

"A quick guide to the most important AI law you've never heard of"

Building A Wormhole

"How to build a wormhole in just 3 (nearly impossible) steps"

More Desalination

"Fluorine nanostructures can desalinate water 2,400 times faster than carbon nanotubes". (Via H.R.)

Superb Demonstration Of Bernoulli's Principle

This is spectacularly good: "High School Science Teacher Explains Bernoulli’s Principle in Viral TikTok Video". (Via J.K.)

@wolf_science Bernoulli’s Principle. #science #firefighting #fan #teachersoftiktok #learnontiktok ♬ original sound - Wolf_Science

AI Race Detection

"MIT, Harvard scientists find AI can recognize race from X-rays -- and nobody knows how"

Science Of Multiverses

"Doctor Strange and the Multiverse in Science"

Fermi Paradox Solution?

"Planetary scientists suggest a solution to the Fermi paradox: Superlinear scaling leading to a singularity".

Direct link to academic paper: "Asymptotic burnout and homeostatic awakening: a possible solution to the Fermi paradox?", by Wong and Bartlett, Journal of The Royal Society Interface (2022). DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2022.0029.

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Figure 3. Perhaps hypothetical Type III civilizations are in an inaccessible region of biotechnological–population size state space, where civilization trajectories are bounded by a ‘burnout horizon’, and long-lived civilizations have consciously reoriented their trajectories away from growth in population size and length scales to explore other dimensions of biotechnological state space. Note that we do not rule out the possibility of some kind of channel that might allow a transition to the Type III region."

Midnight Sun

Video: Artic Midnight Sun.

The EBUG In The NHL

"The EBUG Edition: On hockey, rules, and goalies". 

Via Gus Van Horn, who notes, "To the best of my knowledge, in all of professional sports, only the National Hockey League has a standing rule that can result in a fan being summoned from the stands to play".

Surveillance Update

"EU plans to require backdoor to encrypted messages for child protection".

Matthew Green, cryptography teacher at Johns Hopkins University, has described the leaked plans as "the most terrifying thing I've ever seen."

More 3-D Printing

"Scientists develop rapid new method of 3D printing glass into parts with 'the thickness of hair'". (Via W.R.)

Kill Switches Pro And Con (Mostly Con)

"About those kill-switched Ukrainian tractors: What John Deere did to Russian looters, anyone can do to farmers, anywhere"

3-D Printing Update

"Stanford engineers develop new kind of 3D printing"

Engineers at Stanford and Harvard have laid the groundwork for a new system for 3D printing that doesn’t require that an object be printed from the bottom up.

Prosthetic Arm Update

"This High Schooler Invented a Low-Cost, Mind-Controlled Prosthetic Arm". (Via H.R.)

Smart Screws

"Smart Screws That Can Detect When They're Loose Could Help Save America's Bridges". (Via H.R.)

Mechanical Watchworks

Bartosz Ciechanowski: "Mechanical Watch". Great illustrations!

Bike Propeller

"What Happens If You Put A Giant Propeller On A Bike?"  (Via H.R.)

Associated video.