fun facts
Research says big words make you look dumb.
“The research paper‘s title is apt: ‘Consequences of Erudite Vernacular Utilized Irrespective of Necessity: Problems with Using Long Words Needlessly.’” ~ learn more
fun facts
What happens in a dead salmon’s brain when you show it human photos?
Nothing, of course. But some fMRI scans might show things anyway. This study warns researchers to beware of false positives. ~ learn more
under the microscope
Epigenetic edits to cut cholesterol.
“Scientists achieved this effect by changing each animal’s ‘epigenome’, one feature of which is a collection of chemical tags that are bound to DNA and affect gene activity. After the treatment, activity of the targeted gene dropped and remained low […]
under the microscope
Biomarkers 10-15 years before dementia diagnosis.
A win for machine learning algorithms. The article does quote a critic who says this is not yet good enough to be a legit test. “The proteins were able to predict all-cause dementia as well as particular types, including Alzheimer’s […]
fun facts
How America lost its mojo.
“U.S. dynamism is in the dumps: Americans are less likely to switch jobs, move to another state, or create new companies than they were 30 years ago (or 100 years ago). What’s going on?” ~ learn more
retail therapy
Visa & Mastercard settle antitrust suit over swipe fees.
One of two big settlements this month that’ll eventually trickle down to impact consumers. This one will make credit card acceptance more fragmented and complex, but potentially save merchants money. ~ learn more
better doing
Growing a small home services with acquisitions.
I enjoyed listening to this interview with John Wilson, who took over his family’s small and very stable HVAC business and used it as a launchpad to quickly expand. ~ learn more
tech, startups, internet
The inside story of AI transformers, invented at Google.
“Approaching its seventh anniversary, the “Attention” paper has attained legendary status. The authors started with a thriving and improving technology—a variety of AI called neural networks—and made it into something else: a digital system so powerful that its output can […]
retail therapy
Shopify warns about fake performance apps in its marketplace.
“We uncovered a set of apps and fake experts cheating the performance metrics. We found those practices in almost 15% of extensions that promised one-click optimizations. This means that a large number of merchant sites are affected.” ~ learn more
fun facts
Desalination or desalinization?
“I suppose the test would be: what are you hoping to end up making? If it’s a puddle of water: you are desalinating. If it’s a pile of salt: you are desalinizing.” ~ learn more