The hottest Experiment Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
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Top Health & Wellness Topics

Talking science communication with a Mythbuster

Science Forever • 119 implied HN points • 26 Feb 24
🔬 Science Communication Research Experiment Climate change Myths
  1. Science communication should be personalized and emotional to engage people effectively.
  2. Revisiting and retesting myths is an essential part of the scientific process and can lead to different results.
  3. Encouraging transparency in scientific publishing, advocating for open access, and embracing the self-correcting nature of science can help address the reproducibility crisis.

Neuroscience/AI - Can rats ‘think’? A paper by Chongxi Lai and colleagues on cognitive teleportation in rats [8 min read]

James W. Phillips' Newsletter • 157 implied HN points • 10 Apr 23
🔬 Science Neuroscience AI Cognition Experiment
  1. There is a paper on cognitive teleportation in rats, pushing the boundaries of what we understand about rodent cognition.
  2. The research involves tasks where rats navigate in virtual reality based on their brain signals, not physical movements.
  3. The study successfully shows rats 'thinking' by rewarding them for imagining being in a particular location, showcasing impressive advancements in neuroscience and AI.

Extremely Open Science

Rabbit Thoughts • 39 implied HN points • 17 Jan 24
🔬 Science Open Science Research Experiment Data Tool
  1. The author will work on a scientific project completely in the open in 2024, streaming and recording sessions for an hour per week.
  2. The project aims to show the process from scratch to help junior researchers understand and learn from the experience of dealing with minor issues.
  3. The author is choosing a question for the project that can be followed along at home with just a personal laptop or desktop computer.

LiveBlogging a Pizza in the Cause of n=1 Science

The Heart Attack Diet • 39 implied HN points • 08 Aug 23
🍲 Food & Drink Cooking Food Science Experiment Personal Experience
  1. The author conducted an experiment by live-blogging the process of eating a pizza to observe its effects on their energy levels.
  2. Eating pizza seemed to cause temporary effects like eye strain and mental fatigue, but overall, the author felt energetic and productive after the meal.
  3. The author concluded that their experience with carbs causing drowsiness was likely a transient issue, noting that pizza served as good fuel for their writing.
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The infinite monkey theorem

A Piece of the Pi: mathematics explained • 18 implied HN points • 11 Mar 24
🔬 Science Mathematics Literature Research Experiment Evolution
  1. The infinite monkey theorem states that given enough time and randomness, a monkey could type out the complete works of Shakespeare on a keyboard.
  2. Generating longer phrases by random means, as shown in simulations, becomes exponentially more difficult as the phrase length increases.
  3. The famous infinite monkey paradox has been explored through history, including Cicero's speculation in 45 BC and modern computer simulations using actual monkeys with disappointing results.

Accelerating Code Reviews With Nudges

Engineering Enablement • 19 implied HN points • 09 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Development Productivity Tech Culture Experiment Software Engineering
  1. Code reviews at Meta were taking too long, so they experimented with NudgeBot to speed up the process.
  2. The team identified a correlation between slow code reviews and dissatisfaction, leading to the implementation of NudgeBot.
  3. By using NudgeBot to nudge reviewers to act on 'stale' diffs, Meta successfully reduced the time taken for code reviews.

Content structure survey

Quantum Formalism • 19 implied HN points • 04 Jun 20
🔬 Science Mathematics Physics Experiment Structure
  1. The content structure of the Quantum Formalism newsletter involves foundational content on mathematics concepts like set theory, abstract algebra, topology, and analysis.
  2. Specific Quantum Formalism content focuses on topics like the genesis of quantum formalism, functional analysis, measure theory, and the formalism of quantum mechanics.
  3. The newsletter team is open to subscriber feedback through a survey to adjust and tailor the content structure to meet the needs of their diverse audience.

When Standing At the Brink of the Abyss, Staring Into the Great Unknown, We Randomize

Harnessing the Power of Nutrients • 19 implied HN points • 17 Dec 11
🔬 Science Research Observation Experiment
  1. Randomization is key in experiments to help remove the influence of known and unknown confounders.
  2. The vast unknown in scientific research is likely much greater than what is presently known, reminding us to approach findings with humility and caution.
  3. Observational evidence is useful for generating hypotheses, but randomized controlled experiments are crucial for supporting or refuting cause-and-effect relationships.

Early Results: Do LLMs complete false equations with false equations?

From AI to ZI • 0 implied HN points • 30 Mar 23
🔬 Science AI Research Experiment Results Discussion
  1. The experiment tested if adding false information to a language model affects its output.
  2. Results showed mixed evidence for simulator theory, with the model not always producing incorrect completions as expected.
  3. Research aims to understand if small instances of bad behavior in language models can lead to more significant issues.

Your chance to change the algorithms

techandsocialcohesion • 0 implied HN points • 06 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Algorithms Social media Experiment Ranking AI
  1. The ProSocial Ranking Challenge is offering a chance to test ranking algorithms that can improve social media content and outcomes.
  2. The challenge will assess the impact of different algorithms on social media users' knowledge, feelings, and interactions.
  3. The competition involves developing and testing new ranking algorithms using a browser extension to manipulate content on Facebook, Reddit, and other platforms.