fun facts

A wastewater plant that grows nature.

A wastewater plant that grows nature. “The largest bio-remediation facility in the world” is cleaning Riyadh’s wastewater while building habitat along Wadi Hanifa. Permaculture instructor Andrew Millison visits the site and treats it like a working ecosystem, not just infrastructure. […]

tech, startups, internet

The world’s first bionic cat.

The world’s first bionic cat. Seems niche, but there must be many baby steps on the way to home robots that aren’t just vacuum cleaners. “It is fully responsive and has sensitive interactions. It can feel your touch, hear your […]

tech, startups, internet

Is it a bubble?

Is it a bubble? Here’s how Howard Marks of Oaktree Capital sees it. “Memories are short, and prudence and natural risk aversion are no match for the dream of getting rich on the back of a revolutionary technology that ‘everyone […]

better doing

The rich play different games.

The rich play different games. An interview with Morgan Housel. “The skills it takes to get rich are drastically different from the skills it takes to stay rich.” He discusses the distinct dynamics of wealth accumulation versus retention, emphasizing wisdom […]

under the microscope

Why do scientists lie?

“It’s natural to think of scientists as truth seekers, people driven by an intense curiosity to understand the natural world. Yet this picture of scientists and scientific inquiry sits uncomfortably with the reality and prevalence of scientific fraud. If one […]

fun facts

A map of the unknown world

“A Ghurka rifleman escaped from a Japanese prison in south Burma and walked six hundred miles alone through the jungles to freedom. The journey took him five months, but he never asked the way and he never lost the way…” […]

better doing

Making decisions in an uncertain world. 

We silly humans (aka slightly evolved apes) do not intuitively use expected value thinking, but it’s the best way to make decisions. So, we must train ourselves. This great Farnam Street post goes into details. | learn more

big ideas

3 tech breakthroughs that will help transform the world. 

Bill Joy, cofounder of Sun Microsystems, discusses his investments in big ideas that are going to change the world – cheaper batteries, sustainable concrete, and sustainable meat. According to him, these investments can, and do, pan out, and we need […]

thoughts of food

How The Netherlands feeds the world. 

“The Netherlands is a small, densely populated country, with more than 1,300 inhabitants per square mile. It’s bereft of almost every resource long thought to be necessary for large-scale agriculture. Yet it’s the globe’s number two exporter of food as […]