“You wouldn’t think that chess players, who sit for hours on end and extend their arms only from time to time, would struggle with weight loss. But they do. Inside the very real, very bizarre metabolic phenomenon gripping chess.” | learn more
This is an old post from Tim Urban at Wait But Why, and I don’t think I’ve shared it before. It’s an amazing reminder of how short life can be, and therefore a timely reminder to appreciate life now. | learn more
“The test satellites, essentially just sensors, were deployed in a batch in March. They captured data, communicated with one another, and then after a couple of days in orbit, as was planned, burned up as they reentered the atmosphere.” | learn more
Last year, betaworks had a discussion session about so-called Synthetic media, “… the term we use at betaworks to describe algorithmically created or modified media — the nefarious version of this are deepfakes.” The write-up is interesting, as is the […]
Ben Thompson of Stratechery takes us on a tour of tech companies over the decades to build a framework to classify whether a company fits the description. His framework is a great one (IMHO). Then he applies it to WeWork […]
“Train operators, bus drivers, and station agents are the heart of Chicago’s circulatory system. Seeing the city through their eyes reveals us at our best and our worst.” | learn more
“The North American Vexillological Association ranked Illinois’s flag 49th out of 72 state and provincial flags. So, what gives?” (From Wikipedia: Vexillology is the study of the history, symbolism and usage of flags or, by extension, any interest in flags […]
Two researchers decided to find out. “As you might expect, religious people were willing to pay to be prayed for (more if it’s a priest, not a stranger). Rather more surprising, was the fact that the non-religious were willing to […]
This 2019 data helped slightly open my eyes to how the world is changing. The U.S. is #3 with 329mm people, a 0.60% growth rate and a median age of 38. The country ranked #7 has a population of 200mm, […]