23:59 Rule

"Why 23:59 Is The Coolest Airline Rule For Travelers"

Trunk Cutting

"How tree trunks are cut to produce lumber with different shapes, grains, and uses".

Car Scam

"Why nobody ever wins the car at the mall"

Frozen Margarita History

"The Uniquely Texan Origins of the Frozen Margarita"

Robot Dragon

"Scientists built a transforming flying robot dragon".

Here's the video:

Exclamation Mark Inflation

"Read This Article!!! How many exclamation points do you need to seem genuinely enthusiastic?"

Droplets Vs Enigma

"How 2,000 Droplets Broke the Enigma Code in 13 Minutes"

Aldrin Vs. Family

"Buzz Aldrin Is Suing His Family for 'Elder Exploitation'"

Machine Learning Update

"Ways to think about machine learning"

[Off Topic] Hsieh WSJ Column On Doctors And Guns

[Off topic] I am honored and delighted to have been invited by the Wall Street Journal to write a column on the topic, "Should Doctors Routinely Talk to Patients About Gun Use?".

They invited two physicians to take opposite sides, with Dr. Megan L. Ranney of Brown University taking the "yes" side and myself taking the "no" position. Many thanks to all who helped provide quotes!

(I know that some readers might not be able to read the full piece because of the paywall. I'll see if I can post screenshots or excerpts of my piece later. You can often read the full text of the piece by searching for the title on Twitter and then viewing the piece through the Twitter link -- for example via this Tweet by Ari Armstrong.)

The link to the pair of pieces can be found here.

Faucet Plinks

"The Physics Behind a Leaky Faucet's Maddening 'Plink'"

Robot Overlord Update

"A new kind of deep-learning machine has taught itself to solve a Rubik's Cube without any human assistance."

Detecting Fake Art

"How to spot a perfect fake: The world's top art forgery detective"

Spotting Fake Photos

"Adobe is using AI to catch Photoshopped images". (Via H.R.)

Privacy Update

"Supreme Court says police can't use your cellphone to track you without a court order"

Bad Mars Simlulation

"When a Mars Simulation Goes Wrong"

Light Posting Notice

Admin note: Posting may be lighter than usual the rest of this week and all next week due to external obligations.

Body Power

"How the body could power pacemakers and other implantable devices"

No Star Wars

"What if Star Wars never happened?"

Modified 7 Minute Workout

"Can't Do the 7-Minute Workout? Neither Can I"