Even on a quick walk around your neighborhood, you’re surrounded by creatures who perceive the world in strange and amazing ways. Bees have blurry vision, but they see colors that humans can barely conceptualize. Spiders can “fly” using air currents that we can’t sense without special equipment. And dogs can divine the past, present, and […]
This Guy Is NOT Worried For The Polar Bears
Bjorn Lomborg has a rather unusual position on climate change: he thinks it’s real, but not that bad. In False Alarm, the Danish author and think tank leader explains his position as a “skeptical environmentalist,” which is exactly what it sounds like. He once referred to polar bears as “the global pin-up ‘victim’ of global warming.” […]
Why Tiny Tech Runs The World
As China and the United States compete for world supremacy, both countries are fixated on controlling the computing industry’s future. Semiconductors are shaping international politics, impacting the global economy, and affecting the balance of military power. What should we expect? Our Instaread on Chip War looks at the past, present, and future of this critical technology. Risky […]
Spiders from Mars?
Humanity’s biggest problems seem very small from space. Astronauts orbit Earth at about 250 miles above sea level, a view from which our civilization becomes unrecognizable. Borders, ethnicities, and religions aren’t visible from space—which makes us wonder how much they matter, in the great scheme of things. Cosmic Perspective In Starry Messenger, celebrity astrophysicist Neil deGrasse […]
Invisible Enemies
Automating the modern world has made our lives infinitely easier. But it has also introduced new threats into society, including state-sponsored hacking. In our latest Instaread, technology journalist Andy Greenberg shares the story of the Russian hacking group Sandworm. A Rising ThreatCyberspies used to be a bigger problem. Now, the issue has escalated to cyberwar. When […]
The Story of Everything
The big picture of human history can be terrifying or comforting, depending on how you look at it. In the grand scheme of things, as individuals, we don’t matter much at all. Stars will die and black holes will swallow galaxies. Entropy will eventually destroy everything—including us. What can we accomplish as a society before that […]
Should We Pull The Plug on Social Media?
What have social media platforms done to our society? That’s the unsettling question that international reporter Max Fisher explores in The Chaos Machine. With many examples of how Big Tech has earned billions of dollars by spreading violence, misinformation, and hate speech, Fisher examines how Facebook and other platforms have caused chaos all over the world. […]
Data Doesn’t Lie
Your intuition is a liar. It’s safer to trust the numbers, but data-driven answers are often not what you would expect. They may point to different decisions than what your instincts are telling you. In Don’t Trust Your Gut, data scientist Seth Stephens-Davidowitz demonstrates how data-driven decision making can improve every area of your life. Make More […]
What AI Doesn’t Know
Artificial intelligence has made a lot of headlines this year, but for now, data is still pretty dumb. The human brain can grasp cause and effect, which keeps us a step ahead. But AI isn’t too far behind. We have the edge because we use sophisticated models to think about problems. These models help us […]
Why We Need Machines, and Machines Need Us
This week, the internet has been freaking out over ChatGPT, a new chatbot fueled by artificial intelligence. Designed by OpenAI, the company that released a popular image generator earlier this year, the bot can even crack jokes. Algorithms are what drive innovation in the AI space, but they also make up the basic infrastructure of […]
