under the microscope

The baffling intelligence of a single cell.

“An individual E. coli has no brain, obviously, and is even many orders of magnitude simpler than a human cell, and yet already it possesses something like a sense of smell, drive, even a memory. Chemotaxis recasts E. coli not […]

tech, startups, internet

Can Michael Dell cash in on the AI boom?

This is a nice profile of the low-key tech CEO who’s been in the game longer than anyone. “If Dell isn’t a dynamic, headline-making speaker, it may be because he’s built this four-decade run on listening—deploying his analytical skills and […]

big ideas

MethaneSAT.

Oh, the things you can do from space. “The revolution of MethaneSAT is its ability to precisely measure methane levels with high spatial resolution over wide areas, allowing it to track all methane escaping from the production of oil and […]

fun facts

The Phoenix burns trash down to ash.

“The Phoenix can thermally reduce 4-8 tons of unsorted municipal solid waste – plastic, Styrofoam, food waste – into 3% ash every 24 hours. It operates without using fuel or producing toxic emissions, and at less than half the cost […]

under the microscope

Memories are made by breaking DNA and fixing it.

What a breakthrough! This builds on the researcher’s 2021 finding that linked DNA breaks with learning. “When a long-term memory forms, some brain cells experience a rush of electrical activity so strong that it snaps their DNA. Then, an inflammatory […]

better doing

Warren Buffett, Harry Bottle and the story of Dempster Mill.

I have been reading Buffet’s early letters (pre-Berkshire) and this value investing story was in there. “In 1956, the Buffett Partnership began acquiring Dempster Mill Manufacturing Co., a producer of windmills and farm equipment in Beatrice, Nebraska, about 100 miles […]

to your health

Critical evaluation of diabetes management tools.

The PHTI is a new independant nonprofit that, “aims to provide independent, evidence-based assessments of emerging products, something that is currently lacking in the market.” Their first “blistering” report concluded that diabetes monitoring apps “do not deliver meaningful clinical benefits, […]