fun facts
The math of card shuffling
“Here’s a question: how many times do you have to riffle a deck of cards before it is completely shuffled?” | learn more
on the blockchain
All about yield farming
“This wave of hype is centered around “yield farming,” wherein investors chase massive profits by supplying liquidity to various interlocking on-chain financial protocols.” | learn more
big ideas
Orthodox privilege
Another recent essay by Paul Graham. “I’m going to call it orthodox privilege: The more conventional-minded someone is, the more it seems to them that it’s safe for everyone to express their opinions.” | learn more
teaching the kids
20% of Harvard’s first-year class has deferred
I’ve thought for the past few months about what I’d do if I were about to start college: defer! One in five students starting at Harvard are making the same choice. What will happen at schools with less prestige? | learn more
teaching the kids
The future of education (bankruptcy).
Discussion of the link between education, finance and muni bonds. “I fear that the changes in store for higher education are going to look a lot like the painful changes we’ve seen in retail, travel, news, and entertainment.” | learn more
teaching the kids
What are microschools?
“Microschools, also known as pandemic pods due to their rise in popularity as a result of COVID-19, are small groups of families or friends, usually no more than 10, who meet in person to be taught daily by a single […]
thoughts of food
The rise, fall, and rise of the status pineapple
“For a couple of centuries, the British were in an unlikely frenzy for the exotic fruit.” | learn more
thoughts of food
Oatly: the new Coke?
This week we have more talk of Oatly! First, you can read this comparison of Oatly to Coke, sugar and cigarettes along the lines of misleading health marketing. But don’t stop there, because the comments criticizing the comparison are salient.
under the microscope
Experimental blood test detects cancer up to four years before symptoms appear
“What we showed is: up to four years before these people walk into the hospital, there are already signatures in their blood that show they have cancer,” says Kun Zhang, a bioengineer at the University of California, San Diego, and […]
retail therapy
Hertz must offload almost 200k cars by year end
A timely example of second-order consequences. Due to the company’s bankruptcy, they have to sell a lot of cars in a hurry. | learn more