Here’s a bull case for humanoids of the future. “Enter general-purpose humanoids. Humanoids won’t just fill labor gaps, they’ll do it cheaper, faster, and at scale. At a $50,000 unit price, a humanoid robot is already cheaper per hour than human workers in most parts of the world—including China, Mexico, and even India at $2/hour.” ~ learn more
Over the past several months I’ve entertained some skeptical thoughts on this market, especially with regards to battery life (mentioned in this IEEE Spectrum feature post). There may have to be a “winter” before it’s ready for prime time. On the flip side, I recently talked with one humanoid robot investor who believes the macro tailwinds will drive investments until the tech ready for a scale-up. In any case, I…
“The researchers found that “AI and radiologist predictions are somewhat correlated, but radiologists don’t take this correlation into account.” This concept of correlated uncertainty represents a fundamental blind spot in how humans interact with AI systems. When both human judgment and AI predictions share similar biases or uncertainties, users fail to recognize this overlap, leading to compounded errors rather than improved decision-making.” ~ learn more
“While constituents are expressing comments and concerns in front of their elected officials, a former staff member for an Austin City Council member said some council staff are playing constituent ‘bingo’ behind the scenes.” This comes at an interesting time, as Kim has tuned in to a series of public hearings related to Austin school district’s upcoming reshuffling. Overhearing a bit of these calls, they struck me as an every-few-years…
“B.A.S.S. officials announced the disqualification of Elite Series angler KJ Queen from the 2025 Pro-Guide Batteries Bassmaster Elite at Mississippi River event, following two failed credibility assessments administered via polygraph. In addition to the disqualification, Queen has been fined, in accordance with Elite Series rules.” ~ learn more
“The only difference between your phone and China’s social credit system is that China tells you what they’re doing. We pretend our algorithmic reputation scores are just “user experience features.” At least Beijing admits they’re gamifying human behavior.” ~ learn more
“In July, 2024, after covering 18 miles in nearly three and a half years, [the Perseverance rover] arrived at a quarter-mile-wide river valley that is home to a 3.2-ft.-long rock NASA scientists have dubbed Cheyava Falls—and there it hit paydirt. As a new paper in Nature reports, a sample Perseverance drilled from the rock may contain potential biosignatures of long ago microbial life.” ~ learn more
In my travels I’ve noticed Europe has a lot more allergen disclosures than the US, especially at restaurants. Part of the current US administration’s agenda seems to be disclosure requirements for gluten specifically. “Around 2 million Americans have Celiac disease, a chronic digestive and immune disorder triggered by foods that contain gluten like pasta, bread and cake. While companies can voluntarily disclose when their products are gluten-free, there is no…
I guess this falls into the ‘too much of a good thing’ bucket. “But emerging research shows that some fibers used in these products, especially in high doses, could lead to health problems in some people. And a growing number of doctors and nutrition researchers say you should skip them…” ~ learn more
“This post is a compact reference list of the most (in)famous cognitive science results that failed to replicate and should, for the time being, be considered false.” ~ learn more