fun facts
How we chat online 1998-2024.
Data visualization of chat app active users dating back to the days when AOL Instant Messenger and ICQ each had only a few million users. ~ learn more
big ideas
Hereticon II: Apocalypse Ball.
This “conference for thoughtcrime” happened last week, and this link will take you to a sample of speakers and ideas. Here’s one wild thing that happened there: “Hereticon attendees genetically modified frogs, and that’s not clickbait. This frog embryo workstation […]
big ideas
Here’s to a future where products can grow from—and reincarnate into—plant matter.
“Meet O° – a collection of shoes and textiles whose creation and reincarnation starts and ends with biology. 100% biodegradable. 0% petrochemicals. 0% microplastics. 0% forever chemicals. No assemblies. No glues.” Product 1 seems to be 3D printed shoes made […]
big ideas
We can terraform the American west.
Casey Handmer has not yet run out of big ideas. Bravo! “The western US is a parched opportunity to create millions of acres of prime land for the next billion Americans to live on. Only one ingredient is missing – […]
under the microscope
Giving yourself brain zaps at home can safely treat depression.
This study was published in Nature Medicine and funded by Flow Neuroscience, a company that makes a $500 brain stimulation headset. It, “aimed to prove the efficacy of a non-invasive technology called transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS). A weak current […]
under the microscope
An emulation target trial on semaglutide and Alzheimer’s.
I had to look up this type of trial, where researchers use a large dataset to put together a hypothetical trial to try and glean causality from correlations. “Semaglutide was associated with 40% to 70% reduced risks of first-time [Alzheimer’s] […]
to your health
The perverse consequences of tuition-free medical school.
Earlier this year I thought it seemed admirable when sharing a related link. A reader replied with the contrarian view that predicted free tuition wouldn’t achieve the sponsor’s goals. Seems that it’s not working… “Perhaps most alarming of all, doing […]
tech, startups, internet
LLMD for interpreting longitudinal medical records.
“LLMD – an LLM trained like an MD – is our AI model for interpreting a patient’s medical records.” From the look of this performance chart, this thing crushes. ~ learn more
tech, startups, internet
Embeddings are underrated.
This is a fun nerdy explanation of embeddings, a sort of math function that’s behind our favorite new LLM technology. ~ learn more
tech, startups, internet
Finally, robots that can fold messy laundry.
“To paraphrase Moravec’s paradox, winning a game of chess or discovering a new drug represent “easy” problems for AI to solve, but folding a shirt or cleaning up a table requires solving some of the most difficult engineering problems ever […]